Hello,

I was wondering has anyone tried to install an aftermarket stereo. If so what after market installation kit have you used(GM, Imports)? Its hard to come across volvo kits.I had to purchase awiring harness off of e-bay. Thank you in advance

 

yeah, i have a jvc head unit in my car. the easiest way to do it is go on crutchfield and you can just enter in what year and model you have, and it shows everything that fits your car. that's what i did, and it worked perfectly fine, the harness fit all the wires and kit fit right into the spot where the old head unit was.

 

Hey now,

I used to own this, http://www.cardomain.com/ride/1717298, and bought this, http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2434331, for a winter car. Turned out that the Anvil, which is now the Quick Brick, was much more comfortable andhad everything the Hammer did except for the Pioneer AVIC-N1 Navigation setup.

I changed out the factory Volvo deck for a PioneerDEH-P3900MP as it didn't have a cdplayer and one has to have tunes.

I bought a dash kit from a automotive stereo shop about a mile from here but can't remember the brand. It came as a 2 peice kit. One was an installation kit for the head unit and the other was the storage cd pocket. I also got the a wire harness and the total for all of it was $50 CDN.

I still wanted Navi but wasn't going to spendanother $2500 CDN and an extra $500 (part of the total price) for afree flex cable repair that turned out to be a failed dvd drive. Hence, the $500 for the Free repair and return, a freakin' six weeks later [:@]. Just after that I sold the Acura Vigor GS.

The totaltime for the attachment of the wire harness and the fitment of the dash kit (comes with very clear insturctions [sm=smiley20.gif]) was 40 min. fromremoval of the OEMto tunes from the Pioneer. The kit allows you to choose whether or not to place the head uniteither above or below the pocket.

As soon as I figure out how to post some of my pictures in a post I'll show off the the head unit.

I still wanted navigation and the Pioneer has an AUX. jack so I now use an Acer Aspire 3100 as my entertainment system as I can have my navigation, cd/dvd and all of my music [sm=icon_rock.gif]. 2831 tunes and counting or about 200hrs of music.

I'm still thinking of using a web cam as a full time rear veiw/backup camera but haven't found one that I like just yet.

This is a very easy install and the only tool needed is a set of wire stripper/crimpers. The hardest part might be connecting the wire harness. Just read the colour codes for both the harness your head unit and before you know it you to will be shakin' your head to your favorite tunes.

I'll try and add the photo's that I have to my garage.

Don't worry, just find a unit that you like, either single or double din (may not need a kit for the double) grab a beverage install and enjoy.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/radiocon.php

installing a single din unit is pretty easy. you can use the radio connector info from the link above if you are handy with radios/wires and then you dont have to pay anybody to install it. good luck.

 

I agree... I think the easiest thing to do is to just go with Crutchfield. They know what fits in almost every car, so not only will they send you a free wire harness for easy hook up, but they will send you everything you need for installation -- including instructions,kit, and pocket to fill up that big double DIN space. They also have pretty good customer service which always makes a shopping experience more pleasant. Their prices are average, they're comparable to most other stores I've found. But for what you get in the wiring harness, installation kit, customer service, and installation instructions (if you're new to the aftermarket stereo game) make it well worth the extra bucks.

 

I always found crutchfield to be real expensive. I've bought stuff at installer.com for my BMWs and they were great. Here's a link to the 850 stuff:
http://www.installer.com/cars/by_car.php?carid=5797

 

Based on what I saw at installer.com, they're about 1$ cheaper than crutchfield for the same thing. I never thought Crutchfield was outrageously expensive, but they are a little more pricey than other places. But like I said, I thought it was worth paying 10 or 20 dollars more for the deck if you get the harness and installation kits for free.

 

Yeah, I feel you on that. It just seems that everytime I go to look at something on crutchfield I can get it for much cheaper somewhere else. My IVA-D310 was a prime example but if it's only $20 more then I say go with crutchfield because they'll give you the adapter and harness for free along with those instructions.

 

im a mod at a car audio site and i will suggest what we do over there, read as much as you can about your car and audio installations to get an idea what it will take to install what you have in mind. then ask youself two things, how much will it cost to have someone do it for me or do I have the skills necessary to do it myself? will the cost be offset enough to go through the headaches of tackling something I know little or nothing about on my own?

once you do that, then you know how to plan out your purchases and installation. In our forum, only newbz are sent to crutchfield when they have NO idea what will fit their cars. the rest of us just make custom trim pieces or whatever it takes to get an aftermarket HU installed. Here's a pic of what I did to my old 97 Acura CL:









you can check out all i documented here: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/108430

you can also google "systek's acura" to find my 02 tls...

 

crutchfield may be a little more pricey, but they have some of the best customer service there is, i bought an Infinity Subwoofer for my car, and i was having troubles with it, called them, and they told me to send it back and they sent me a brand new one a couple days later.

 

THANK YOU ALL FOR REPLYING AMAZING JOB I DIDN'T KNOW I WOULD GET THIS MANY HITS!!!!

 

I'm another happy crutchfield customer. Hooking up my Ipods was very important to me. I got the Alpine head unit- they include the ipod cables, mounting kit, wiring harness, it's really a pretty good deal for what you get. It was the most economical way that I found to use my Ipod with a unit that had flawless integration.

I put a 50w bazooka in the trunk, and I would recommend the 100w or probably the 200w 10". I had ta 200W 10" in my Cherokee (PLENTY of bass) and then in the Miata (not enough in the trunk). I got this 50w powered one cheap, but I'd like a lot more bump.

The Alpine HU that most Volvo people get has an excellent feature- it had built in High and Low passover- which lets you cut out the bass from your stock speakers. That lets you play them much louder without distortion. The sub in the trunk round out your sound. I am quite happy with 12 year olds factory speaker with the Alpine HU and the weak bazooka. I do like the sub that you can remove when you need the extra trunk space, like taking all the baby crap to grandma's!

 

heh, lots of ppl seem to be happy with the volvo radios...blah...