Did you swap out the factory audio?

Stuck with the factory JBL system. Its good enough for me. No more rolling down the windows and blasting music so everyone could hear. That was the high school days.

 

That's great.. If you have $1,000- $1,500 laying around.

 

just changed out the headunit for an alpine iva-w505

 

Aftermarket headunit, working on a fiberglass box to add a sub.

 

I only replaced the head unit. Kept the stock speakers, but will replace them soon as well.

Just replacing the HU was a big upgrade in sound level and quality.

 

I upgraded my HU with a kenwood deck. But I really like my speaker upgrade in the doors. I bought some Precision Power component speakers that are simply amazing. The stock deck runs both the tweeters and the mids just fine. I think I paid $140 for the set. Theses things are crystal clear and very loud. I have the base boost button on and it sound like I am running 8 inch subs in my truck. No need for rear speakers because these things fill the cab just fine (Reg cab)

 

Just replaced stock with a Pioneer Avic Z110BT along with a pioneer ndbc4 backup camera. Will be upgrading speakers in future - but just upgrading to new HU definitely improves the stock speakers.

 

you can REALLY hear every detail in the music. it is much more 'crisp' shall i say? lows are heard as lows. mids and highs are seperate. it sounds so much better. I have infinity components up front, infinity Kappas in the back. all powered by an alpine 4 channel amp. with a pioneer DEH-P6000UB. i also added a powered bazooka tube (10inch) for more bass as i listen to more hip/hop

 

Stock!!!

 

I just bought one of these with ipod, bluetooth, and the

$46 swi-jack steering wheel control module designed for clarion, kenwood, alpine, JVC and blaupunkt

swi-jack, if everything arrives in time I plan on installing this weekend.

 

What he said. I would describe it as the music being far more FULL and with lots of BLOOM. Its like the difference between watching a movie with your tv's speakers vs watching with a full sound system. You cant understand how flat the tv sounds until you put a good surround sound system with a sub on it. The clarity, fullness, etc. as described above really hits you now.

Every vehicle that I have replaced the HU and the speakers, even if it was with cheap speakers, it was a HUGE improvement. While noticeable even at low volumes, the more you turn it up the more you appreciate it. And Ive never even added a sub or an amp (until tomorrow) so I look forward to that addition as well and I imagine it will really help fill things out...especially at volume!

Also, you dont realize how much your music distorts and breaks up at higher volume in stock until you replace it with quality parts. Turn the volume up with even budget aftermarket parts and you instantly realize what you were missing. Quality and clarity sticks with the music as the volume goes up, and the detail and fullness of the music is usually far more pronounced.

YMMV, but Ive had friends get in my vehicle and they instantly notice that something has improved with the music. If you are a person who really doesnt turn the music up or really doesnt pay too close attention to the music (just need something in the background) you may not see the cost to benefit worth it. For someone who enjoys their tunes and/or someone who turns the music up a reasonable amount, the difference is quite profound.

Find a friend who has updated the parts in their vehicle and I think you will be quite impressed.

 

I have stock speakers, Stock radio, But i have a JBL 600w amp hooked up to a 1000w Pioneer premier truck sub...The combo sound absolutly amazing.

 

Upgraded my HU to a Clarion double din I had bought from my last car. Bad Ipod controls, but I use a jump drive with some tunes for music. Mostly I listen to ESPN radio so I haven't had a burning need to upgrade the speakers.

 

I have a Kenwood Sirius satellite radio/CD deck. LOVE IT!!! I'm going to add new speakers and and amp sometime this year.

 

The first thing i did was replace the head unit with an aftermarket. Pretty happy with it so far, but at some point I am going to have to add a bigger sub. The stock one gets the job done, but just not have enough push.

 

Yes I replaced everything. the stock audio is terrible.

 

I have the stock system but I'm replacing it with a Pioneer PRS-880 single din deck.

I currently have the JL Audio Cleansweep, a Phoenix Gold 4-channel 1000 watt amp, an Image Dynamics ID10vd4 and Polk Audio speakers. (6x9 front, 6.5 rears).

First thing I replaced was the speakers. Didn't hear too much difference so I bought an amp and the Cleansweep. It made a big difference (much cleaner and more volume). I initially went with the cleansweep to keep the stock look (high-theft area). Now I live in a decent area so I decided to try a quality headunit.

 

Here's a question for those of you that swapped out the original headunit: How well does the aftermarket unit integrate with the truck? I know you can get steering wheel control modules that allow you to keep the steering wheel controls, but what about AUX inputs and such? Do you lose those in the factory locations???

 

Ive got steering wheel controls, but lost the aux in. Doesnt matter though to me...with the USB support etc. on my new HU I dont need the crummy quality of the aux. I do think I saw a mod thread around here though where someone found a way to re-enable the aux in to aftermarket HUs.

 

This is the exact reason I keep thinking I'm going the JL Cleansweep or MTX Re-Q route. The Eclipse double DIN works well with the steering controls supposedly, but those nice and pretty big double din's just scream "smash my window and rip half my dash off". If I don't got the Cleansweep route, I'll install my old tried and true Apline CDA-7893 detatchable face single din w/ pocket. I may be old school about it, but I am leery of dropping $800+ on a headunit that has no disable/theft feature.

I did just see crutchfield has the Clarion NX409 on sale for $499 though...