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Thinking About Swapping Radio

1K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  cadillac kevin 
#1 ·
As some (or most) of you already know, I've had my '89 Fleetwood Brougham for 10 years now. I've done the stock sound system thing for a while and think the car could use a little bit of tech to have the edge she needs to run with today's luxury cars. Since I now work for Cadillac and think CUE is pretty cool, I wanted to add an infotainment system of sorts to the Fleetwood and found some aftermarket units that seem like they'd do a good job. I've found one that's not too much money that has all the basics like touch, nav, Bluetooth, CD/MP3/USB/SD compatability, front AUX jack, and is even expandable for a back-up cam. Here's the link to what I found on Amazon.......

http://www.amazon.com/Boss-Audio-BV9370NV-Receiver-Navigation/dp/B0072LGVAS

I understand a system like this isn't going to just plug in and work (or work well for that matter) so I'm wondering what I'd need to do to the car to sport such a system. I understand I'll need the wiring adapter (I'm not into doing irreversable mods so no chopping up the original wiring) and I have a couple extra center trim pieces so I'm not opposed to cutting one if I have to. New speakers would be great too. Will I need to upgrade the alternator to handle it? Is there more I'll need that I'm overlooking?
 
#6 ·
I like mine as original as possible, but when it comes to radios and stuff I do upgrade. Have a pioneer double din in my dash, reverse cam, dash cam, etc, and plan on an amp and better speakers down the road. But I always make sure that I buy stuff that fits, in no way adds holes or cuts anything in the car, and keep the original components to bring back to stock. Everything is wired using harnesses from Metra, or for the other things I never cut into wires but instead figure how to use a spare component to modify (keeping the original to go back), or run new wiring and fuses from the fuse box. No splicing, cutting, or anything.. More work, and overkill, but makes me feel better that nothing's hacked up in terms of original wiring.

An aftermarket radio with a wiring harness kit, dash mounting kit will preserve the originality of the car, or at least the ability to bring it back to 100% stock if wanted/needed. That is, of course, assuming it's important to you. I know it's not to some, and that's cool too :)

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About that boss stereo btw.. They're attractive because of the price point, and it depends whether you're going to then upgrade speakers too, but in reality I'd stay away from it. You can get last year's old-new-stock Kenwoods or Pioneers for similar prices if you shop around, and you'll be a lot happier with it. I'm not one for high fidelity or thumping bass, but a first-tier unit like a mid-to high end Kenwood/Pioneer/Sony will actually make your stock speakers sound better because of the cleanliness of the signal. 2nd tier like low-end Pioneer/Kenwood/JVC/Sony and Boss and Pyle might be cheaper and look attractive right now but they'll make your stock speakers sound worse, which ends up costing you more down the road as you go through the "I bought the deck, but now my speakers sound like crap so I need new ones - but hey - might as well use the pre-outs for better sound so now I need amps" road.. But then, I used to run exclusively Eclipse gear until they stopped selling in Canada, so I might be biased lol

As an example, I found last year's Pioneer AVH-X4500BT new in box locally for cheaper than the Boss.. It doesn't have Nav, but the add-on Nav unit I hunted down for cheap too after about a month of hunting, and ended up paying maybe 50 more than the boss total for stuff I know has a clean signal, both on the speaker outs and the line outs. The car never sounded better, and I can run it harder without the speakers crackling than I ever could before. Just food for thought..
 
#7 ·
I kept my dash all original, but I do have a small little system installed in the car. All concealed from view. The radio is hidden in the glove box. The original cassette player still illuminates and displays the time. I have a JVC head unit CD player with a 12 disc CD changer mounted in the trunk under the rear deck. I had 2 Alpine amps. 1 for the inside speakers the other for the subs. All speakers were replaced with Sony's, subs are Apline Type S. Only have one amp now to the subs and the head unit is powering the inside speakers. I did all the wiring. Got me an adapter wiring kit so I wouldn't have to splice wires. And, I wired the JVC antenna wire to the factory wire and makes antenna go up and down.
I had a capacitor but removed it. I have old pics of when I had the 2 amps mounted on the right panel inside trunk. I replaced the cardboard liners and did exact cutouts on some leftover wood and I covered it with the same trunk fabric. Made the holes to run wires thru and connected everything. Power and ground wires had their own distribution block. And, ground was grounded at trunk. Didnt have to update alternator or battery. All sounded very good to my liking...
 
#8 ·
1980coupe,

I agree about keeping the stock look. I have a '83 Sedan Deville and I do want to keep the dash as stock looking as possible but still have modern conveniences. Do you have any pictures of your install? Any tips on putting a modern radio in the glove box? How did you control it while driving? Thank you for the information.

-JAV
 
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