Headunit Installation Tips

Ok I did a little research but couldn't find the answer.
My new headunit (Alpine CDA-105) is coming in tomorrow and I'm planning on doing it myself. I have never done this so I have a few questions.
I ordered from crutchfield so I should have everything I need right?
I've seen stuff about crimping stuff, will I have to do this?
I just want to make sure I have everything I need tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

 

i suggest soldering, and as long as you have a harness, dash kit, and some wiring knowledge, you should be set...

 

crutchfield is the shitt.it will come with all connections,harness and even the dash kit!!.you will need to match all the wires from ur stock harness to the new one and make sure they are all tight and wont shake loose.got to autozone and get some wire connecters to make it easier.or you could use heat shrink tubing.hope this helps.i just did a full audio build from crutchfield by myself.ive got a kenwood head unit.2 6.1/2 kenwood speakers in my front doors,2 6.1/2 infinity speakers in the rear.2 fosgate 12 subs,fosgate amp and alpine amp for all my speakers.

 

Ok guys I got it installed. It went well but I do have a few problems. First, idk how because I didn't disconnect the A/C controls but my left light on the A/C stopped working after installing the headunit. Any ideas?
Second, the sound is much louder and more crisp than the stock speakers which I expected. What I didn't expect was to lose a lot of the bass the stock speakers delivered. I've played around with the settings and stuff but I can't seem to get it any better. Also any ideas? Thanks for any input.

 

well you have many options.1)replace speakers with better 1s from crutchfield.2)replace speakers and buy an amp to give them more power.3)go all out (LIKE I DID) and get subwoofers,amps,and speakers then u'll be bumpin.crutchfield also has great specials all the time on all this stuff

 

stock speakers are junk, replace them

 

I will definately try that, thanks.

To the others; is it common to lose bass when adding a better headunit? I really liked the bass i was getting from the stock speaker. I will however be upgrading in the near future and wish I could afford an amp and sub but it was just weird to me that some of my bass got shot.

The high bass notes still sound good but the lows are almost non existent anymore. It couldn't be a wire issue or anything you think? I'm a newbie to this stuff.

 

ok I found this on a forum i found while googleing but it didn't get answered so I'll post it here to see what yall think.

According to my user manual, I can adjust the bass center frequency, bass bandwidth, along with treble center bandwidth, and high pass filter. Here are my choices for each:

Bass center frequency:
80hz-->100hz-->200hz-->60hz-->80hz

"Emphasizes the displayed bass frequency ranges."

Bass bandwidth:
1(narrow)-->2-->3-->4(wide)

"A wider setting will boost a wide range of frequencies above and below the center frequency. A narrower setting will boost only frequencies near the center frequency."

Treble center frequency:
10.0khz-->12.5khz-->15.0khz-->17.5khz-->10.0khz

"Emphasizes the displayed treble frequency ranges."

High pass filter:
80hz-->120hz-->160hz

I think the high pass is only for if you have a subwoofer, so I don't need to adjust it? What settings should I have for everything else, though?

Any help would be much appreciated.

~Chase

 

The stock unit has built in equilization (custom) to match the factory speakers to the truck cabin thus making everything sound very good. I'm with you on the fact the factory system sounds pretty good and had great bass sound at lower levels, but once you replaced the head unit you kind of were forced to replace your speakers to obtain the proper sound. The good thing is you should need to spend the kind of money I've spent just to get a good set of speakers. Also, just replace the fronts first if you have a dual cab. They are the most important ones to you and will keep a few bucks in your pocket while you figure this out.

I'm going the opposite route, I'm replacing everything except my head unit ina few weeks when it warms up. The only good thing is since I've invested just over a grand in speakers, Amp, wire, and vibration/sound dampening, spending another $350 on a good head unit won't kill me if that's what I need to do. I already know which one I even want. We shall see.

-Joe