My advice is as follows:
#1) You really should replace the wires to get good, distortion-free
sound at high (heavy bass/heavy treble) volumes. Running new wire to the
back is as simple as pulling the plastic doorsill trim and clicking it
back into place. It's extremely easy to do. The doors are a little more
complicated because you need to remove the panels. Just re-wiring the
back will make a big difference. Some may argue that you can keep the
same wires, but take it from someone who's heard the before and after.
#2) You can save some money on the connector by using your existing
wiring. If you have a decent wiring diagram compliments of Haynes (or
factory manual) you can determine which wire is which and splice the
existing wires into the new ones on the deck's wiring harness. You just
need some butt-to-butt (or twist-on) wiring connectors (about $.99 a
pack), some pliers, a razor blade, a roll of electrical tape and some
guts. You'll still be able to unclick the wiring plug from the back of
the deck if you need to take it out. Basically, it will go in and out
exactly as it does now. Also, if you ever get another deck or you decide
to re-install the factory deck again, all you need to do is replace the
butt-to-butt connectors (twist-ons are re-usable). If you decide to
take the project on just make sure you leave at least 1.5" of wire
sticking out of the radio plug. Also, make sure that you properly label
each wire so that you'll be able to figure it out when you need to in the
future. It's really not that bad of a job.
I think if you use the aftermarket harness ($10 to $15) you'll still end
up splicing the speaker wires when you decide to upgrade. Can you tell
that I'm trying to talk you into it? Okay, I'll stop. I found the job
pretty enjoyable, actually. Ever since I've been jumping at the chance
to help my friends with their installs.
As far as decks go, read one man's opinions...
Alpines are very nice decks. The only problem I have is that the green
display will clash with the nice amber instrumentation in the car. I've
been pretty partial to the Clarion Pro-Audio series over the years. I
originally replaced my factory deck with a Clarion deck that had
switchable green/amber illumination. It had a gray and black face as well,
so it matched the 405's interior perfectly, day or night. I broke away
from the color-matching rule with my current Clarion. It has a shiny
flip-down face with a multi-color face. It's fun to look at, but at night
I have to keep the face flipped down because of the clashing colors. The
new Clarions are dog meat stylistically. In fact, it's harder than ever
to buy new decks that look good. They all have the ugly curvaceous faces
and multi-color displays. I'm not sure about JVC's audio quality, but the
new Chameleon decks are awesome. When the deck is turned off the face is
flush and pitch black. When the ignition is turned on, the large display
lights up and a row of buttons magically rotates out of the bottom. It's
really quite fun to play with. As far as changer add-ons, I don't know if
it's even possible. Other fun decks include the Sony multi-face and the
Kennwood flip-down series. Try to avoid the new Pioneers and
Clarions. If you're willing to take a used deck, take a look at eBay. I
just bought a $350 marine-grade Clarion on eBay for $18 and it hadn't ever
been installed. Try looking up Clarion ARX6375 on eBay. You might like
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri 19 Jan 2001 - 06:27:29 UTC