WhichOnesTheGas

Fed up with my crappy I-Trip turning my songs into nonsense. I want to either run an aux cable and drill the holes for it (I think I remember seeing a "how-to" for that) or just say eff it and get a whole new head unit.

Truth be told, I know next to nothing about car stereo equipment, I know I need a Double Din and I found some rather easy to follow removal/installation instructions that can hopefully see me through the work.

Im running an '05 GT manual, anyone have any good suggestions. I haven't really decided if I'm going with a full touchscreen or just a standard music head unit.

At the end of the day I'm really just looking for something to plug my Ipod into that won't cost me my first born.

Thanks

yourmyboybh1026

Well if you go to crutchfield.com and click outfit my car they can help you get everything you would need. They also have great customer service if you want to call them with any questions you might have. I got my pioneer 3200bt from them and love it. Its a touch screen and has bluetooth built in. There are quite a few good head units out there though so just shop around for what you might like. If you want some better sound quality you could also upgrade the speakers. I had a shaker 500 system so I just did the speakers but kept the stock subs. I'm very happy with my setup.

bakerjd

Most guys run a pioneer setup but I went with kenwood and have loved every minute of it. Crutchfield's def. the place to go to for what you need.

jrockgts197

I put in a Pioneer p4200DVD and I absolutely love it. I did the install myself, along with the relay bypass for the DVD player and the regulator to keep the factory amp from popping when it's powered up. The unit fit perfectly and it looks like it came from the factory. I ran the iPod cable under the stack and into the console. The unit made the factory speakers sound way better. If I were you, I would give the aftermarket head unit a chance to power the factory speakers before you swap out the speakers. I had a 20% off Pioneer coupon from Amazon, then found the 4200DVD in the Gold Box deals, so I ended up getting it for about $295. It's also upgradeable with bluetooth, nav, and satellite radio.

MarkMan

I just had a JVC model KD R810 put in. I needed bluetooth, XM, and Ipod control. It's a single DIN so I now have a storage shelf under the unit. Bluetooth works good and now have 2 way control of the iPod touch and satellite radio. I didn't want NAV or DVD. Had a local shop do the install and was about $400 total and it looks good!

WhichOnesTheGas

Yeah, I've been hearing alot about crutchfield. Checked them out and I guess I was just nervous that their "FITS" was kinda gimmicky and didn't know if it was for real. It seems like everyone is saying it's pretty legit.

On a scale of "1-pay to have it done", how easy is all the relay and bypass work? I was kinda hoping for just a plug and play time situation. But your the 3rd or 4th person that mentioned the popping when it powers on.

yourmyboybh1026

Its not all that hard, I had a friend help me that knew a little bit about head unit and it was a breeze. If you get stuck you can call crutchfield and they can help you. I didn't do a bypass for mine though. I didn't care about watching DVDs while I was moving and there was no popping in my system so I didn't need to put in the regulators or resistors. If you do need to though, its not hard from what I've read. I'll try to find the thread that explains how to do it.

jrockgts197

It was very easy. I had the Shaker 500 so I had to wire in the 5V regulator. The Shaker 500 factory amps require a 5V turn on signal and most good aftermarket units have 12V outputs - hence the popping when powering up. The relay was just as easy and they were both wired between the aftermarket car specific harness and the Pioneer harness, so no chopping of the car's harness is needed. I wired them in the house at my desk, soldered, shrink wrapped them individually, then shrink wrapped the whole harness. Space is tight behind the radio, so I wanted everything as compact as possible. From that point I mounted the install kit (Metra brand, very nice), plugged in the harness, and slid the radio into the dash. The whole process from taking apart the dash to putting everything back together was less than 2 hours and I took my time with the harness. There is a ton of information online about the relay/regulator wiring process (youtube, google) so don't be afraid to give it a shot after you read over everything and understand what you're doing. I liked the unit so much that I installed one in my truck, too. I will try to post some pictures tonight if you want to see it.

HERE is a pretty good write up.

Shadow7874

Crutchfield isnt always the cheapest but their customer service is top of the line. I bought my clarion NX409 from them and it came with all i needed to mount it for free. Just splice some wires together and then its pretty much plug in play. The Clarion NX409 is great with the exception of navigating the iPod menus. There may be some short cuts i dont know (in fact i believe there are) but it takes a bit of time to find specific songs. I paid $500 for mine but ive seen it as low as $400 and it used to be $800. Its discontinued now i believe but its still sold on some sites. Clarion makes great stuff as far as sound quality too. There was a noticable improvement just from adding the headunit. It comes with DVD, Nav, iPod, AUX in, optional Sirius, optional backup camera etc.

Now that ive said all that, find the thread where the guy installed an iPad. Its sick! And probably not much more $$$

WhichOnesTheGas

Yeah the bringing a friend in who knows a thing or two idea sounds like a plan.

I have a nasty knack for getting easily frustrated with wires. I have patience but I don't have any tolerance, and wires just irritate me.

Now that I've said that, I will try to face my fears and read/watch a few tutorials and see where I end up.

Alot of the headunits I'm looking at seem to be discontinued OR insanely expensive (which I kind of expected I s'pose), If I get a cd-nav, I would have to keep purchasing a new cd to get the most up to date maps correct?

I'm trying to convince myself that I don't need a touchscreen but c'mon! Then I try to convince myself I don't need navi, but whats the point of a 6in touchscreen if it doesnt have nav?

My greediness is tearing me apart!

Thanks for the input, let me know if there are any other good units to check out.