head unit install

[motor602]

okay before everyone jumps on me, yes, i did do a search, no i did not find the answer.

I have a new head unit going into the car in two weeks, however the install tech was telling me that since the viper has the 'infinity' system, that they would have to do a 'rewire' and that the end result would be that the rear speaker/sub would go dormant since it would not be getting any power from the amp. Therefore one would have to buy a smaller amp to power the rear center speaker...

I have not read about this issue in any of the million head unit/stereo upgrade posts on this forum. what is the situation here?

 

[01sapphirebob]

Dosent sound right to me either. Should be just a simple plug and play I would think.

 

[StyVip]

i'm in the same process however i'm switching out the rear center to a dedicated sub (kicker CVT65) and changing the amp to a five channel to bridge the rear chennels to power the sub. However the techs your talking to have there head up A** as the stock system is made by ALPINE.

 

[HPmopars]

i'm in the same process however i'm switching out the rear center to a dedicated sub (kicker CVT65) and changing the amp to a five channel to bridge the rear chennels to power the sub. However the techs your talking to have there head up A** as the stock system is made by ALPINE.

Yes, I agree. Find another shop that knows what they are doing/working on! These cars have the Alpine system and it IS possible to change out JUST the headunit, or if you are looking for better sound I would go ahead and change out everything!

 

[jdeft1]

I can't speak much about a GTS stereo install but:

The job is simple and straight forward. That "tech" is probably trying to sell you some BS. He saw your viper and decided to up-sell you!! Of course, depending on the head unit you want and it's outputs... He may be on target!! The unit you want may not be able to do what you want it to do without buying a sub woofer amp..

I just did a head unit replacement on my '94.....today!! I usually can't hear the stereo so I don't bother with "high end" stuff. I used the original amps and speakers so just swapped the Head end. I installed a JVC w/ an ipod input, CD, HD receiver, etc... $180 from Crutchfield. The sound is far, far better than what I had even with original 16 y.o. speakers and amps.

I highly recommend doing your own head unit replacement. It's easy and you'll learn a bit about the car. Does the GTS have two stock amps, like the gen 1? Oe of these days I'll have to get one and find out...

 

[GTSnake]

This has been discussed many times before. If you just want to change the head unit you need a DIN adapter from the stock wiring to the aftermarket unit. Other than that there's nothing else you need. If you change the amp at the same time you will need to run new wires.

 

[Red Snake]

The factory Alpine amp doesn't have enough "channels" to power a subwoofer in addition to the stock speakers.

You will need to either install a self amplified subwoofer (which is what I did), add a second amp to power your new sub, or replace the stock amp with a one that has enough channels to power all of your speakers + sub.

 

[motor602]

Thanks for confirming this guys, without changing anything in the car save for the head unit itself, there should be no problems with the rear speaker/amp. Well i'll have to slap some knowledge into this guy. Thanks again guys!

 

[Red Snake]

Thanks for confirming this guys, without changing anything in the car save for the head unit itself, there should be no problems with the rear speaker/amp. Well i'll have to slap some knowledge into this guy. Thanks again guys!

Correct and there is no magic plug in harness to connect an aftermarket head unit to your cars wiring harness. You'll have to either fabricate an 8 pin DIN female connector or splice into the factory wiring harness (this is how I ended up doing it). My factory alpine deck had a wiring schematic sticker on the top side of the head unit.

 

[plumcrazy]

where is this place in NJ ?

 

[RTTTTed]

Red Snake is correct. I split the din cable and hardwired/soldered the (audio output) wires to the new head unit. I installed a new headunit for the Bluetooth.

My experience was that the factory Alpine (headunit and amp) are fine, just old. The factory speakers on the Gen 2 and 3 ****. I replaced just the speakers and doubled the volume and sound quality. I remember sending/posting tweeter upgrades and speaker numbers on the forum. Check Illustrated Upgrades.

The original speakers get old and the foam holding the speaker cone can "evaporate"/disappear (only seen this once). Both times I changed speakers the improvement was HUGE, even with the stock head unit. Mid volume causes the floor pan to shake after speaker change.

I have a GTS, but the Alpine amp has 4 speaker output and NO special dedicated subwoofer/box etc. However, I did replace my rear speakers with low frequency response speakers and the doors with "wide frequency" and higher quality, larger tweeters. The Hertz speaker kit I used came with an active crossover which I screwed and expoxied inside the door panel.

Since my GTS still has the stock Alpine amp, obviously the ouput to the speakers is exactly the same as before changing head units. The rear amp is what powers the speakers, not the headunit (which only powers the amp). If you want different sound, change the speakers. After changing to better speakers (all aftermarket speakers should be an improvment) if you want more volume or quality (why?) then the amp needs to be changed to change the signals to the speakers.

Ted

 

[Jance GTS]

I posted this in another thread. I have an aftermarket flip out tv I want to install in my 2000 GTS. However, it is about 2" deeper than the stock head unit. Who else has a flip out tv that will fit without any problems?

My stock head unit is 6 3/4 deep minus the wires, and my aftermarket tv is 8 1/4 deep minus the wires. Thanks!