A Little Overwhelmed Researching Stereo Upgrades

[Ikeaboy1]

'Use the search function!'

I have, and there is a mountain of great information out there that I'm trying to absorb, but Im a bit overwhelmed by all of it. I've never done any stereo work before, and most of the language is foreign to me, so it's taking me a long time to digest everything and put together a plan of attack. I fear I'll miss a critical piece of information that might be common sense to those with more experience doing this, and cause myself needless frustration and delay.

I'm about to do an interior refurb on my car, and figure I may as well upgrade the stereo and speakers. I'm fully confident in the interior removal and speaker replacement, but am unsure about the stereo itself and the wiring.

Ive been browsing stereos and think I like this one: http://http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cd-built-in-bluetooth-apple-174-ipod-174-ready-in-dash-receiver/3187019.p?id=1219088493570&skuId=3187019&st=catego ryid$abcat0302012&cp=1&lp=5

It has the features I want and seems reasonably priced. I'm in the process of researching speakers. I decided I don't want a high performance requiring amps or subwoofers. I just want to improve what the car has while everything is opened up. I know the stock speaker sizes mean its not going to have a great low range without a sub.

My questions: Will the stereo referenced above work? Will it fit into the stock radio recess? And do I need to/should I run new wire while I'm at it? I've read some suggesting running separate grounds for each speaker. Is there anything else I need to be thinking about? Any other pitfalls to avoid, or am I on the right track?

Thanks!

[rdarlington]

Safety message first. If you're not used to wiring stuff, get somebody else to do it. It is easy. I'm first to admit that. I watched my cousin's really nice van go up in flames because he thought it was easy, too. He just didn't know what he was doing and it caused a fire in the dash.

There are 2 different panels available for where the radio mounts in the center console. Some people modify the original, some opt to buy the "other" one with the big rectangular hole to mount modern stereo systems. I don't know the part number, somebody else will chime in with one most likely.

Any radio will work if you have the appropriate mounting plate. If your existing wires are working, there is no need to replace them. Some folks will argue about this and I've decided to stay out of it.

As far as individual grounds go, you want to make sure each speaker has 2 wires running to it. I would be hesitant to deviate from the normal design and run separate ground wires. Just wire them up to the radio as the manual states. Sometimes connecting the audio signal ground with chassis ground can cause noise issues (ground loops). Just stick with the radio manual and you'll be fine.

-Bob

[DeLorean03]

Hey Ikea,

You're doing fine.

Go reference the wiring schematics here: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?40...ing-Schematics

There's a lot on that thread so just look around and keep a level head. There's a couple good posts on page two you'll be interested in.

Do you have the original Craig radio, or did someone replace it before you got the car?

Once you've done this one time, it is super straight forward. Three wires you can pretty much count on: orange or yellow = power from battery ... black = ground ... red = power from the ignition switch.

All the others are going to be for each speaker and in pairs - typically pairs will be in white (2), grey (2), green (2), and purple (2).

So for your driver's front speaker, for example, it'll have two wires going to it: 1 solid white, and the other white with a black stripe.

Wash, rinse and repeat for the other speakers. An excellent visual of this is provided here on page 26 of this Pioneer manual (in particular, read about wires numbered 1 through 16 in the middle of the page - THAT is what you're really interested in):

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/St...nual112811.pdf

Keep us informed of your progress and ask questions if you need help.

A year from now, you'll be teaching someone else this !

[Ikeaboy1]

My car has the Craig still installed.

[DeLorean03]

This will then come in handy:

CraigRadioPinOut.jpg

[Ikeaboy1]

Can the Craig harness be utilized, or am I going to end up severing it and running the individual wires into the unit? And are there any other considerations for the power antennae?

[DavidProehl]

EDIT: I posted without properly reading prior posts. Looks like what I said was already addressed. Sorry for the repeat.

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To answer your question of if the radio you linked to will fit in the location of the Craig, the short answer is not without modifications. You will need to either cut a out the metal behind the Craig's faceplate or buy a new DIN faceplate.

Also ask yourself what you value most for this upgrade: Perfect audio quality or originality? Perfect audio quality will mean replacing the speakers, head unit, and perhaps adding an amp or two. Originality will mean you can get 80% of the way there by replacing speakers. Everyone has their bias as to what is the best approach down either path, which is why this is a never ending near religious discussion. You need to decide upfront how good is good enough for your needs. My bias: I went with keeping my Craig and replacing my speakers. I wanted it to stay an 80's era car as much as possible and figured if I want listen to a modern car stereo I can crank up my daily driver.

If you do replace the Craig, remember that the original wiring uses a common ground for the speakers. This means that both rights are grounded to the same wire, and both lefts are grounded to the same wire. Modern head units don't to this, so you'll need to either run your own wires or rewire the original harness in order to connect it to your new head unit.

[Ikeaboy1]

Thank you all for the good feedback. I've purchased a nice modern head unit and speakers that I'm in the process of installing. New wires are being run to each speaker. I'm to the scary part:mating the new to the old. I unplugged my Craig radio and am left with a plug with a bunch of black and white wires, a purple, and a green. After researching, it seems as though I need to retain three of these wires for my install: purple(constant hot), green(acc), and black(ground). The rest seem to be the speaker wires. My question to those who have done this: is my assessment of these remaining wires correct? Also, how would you suggest I mate to the factory harness? Cut the old plug off and solder the new connector(which plugs directly into the rear of my new stereo) into the appropriate stock wires?

[David T]

Thank you all for the good feedback. I've purchased a nice modern head unit and speakers that I'm in the process of installing. New wires are being run to each speaker. I'm to the scary part:mating the new to the old. I unplugged my Craig radio and am left with a plug with a bunch of black and white wires, a purple, and a green. After researching, it seems as though I need to retain three of these wires for my install: purple(constant hot), green(acc), and black(ground). The rest seem to be the speaker wires. My question to those who have done this: is my assessment of these remaining wires correct? Also, how would you suggest I mate to the factory harness? Cut the old plug off and solder the new connector(which plugs directly into the rear of my new stereo) into the appropriate stock wires?

If you are doing a "clean install" the only original wiring I would reuse is the accessory power. I would run all new speaker wiring, power and grounds. Just be sure to properly fuse any power leads. When running wiring use good practices, ie, secure the wiring and make sure it is protected from heat and any sharp edges. Leave some slack so there is no tension. Solder all connections.

[Flash66]

You can just use a 9v battery to trace which wires go to what speaker. Each speaker wire pair will be the same color, eg. Green + and green with black stripe - touch these wires to the battery's terminals and the corresponding speaker will make a buzzing sound. Label as you go. Pretty simple.