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C6 head unit

Old Feb 3, 2009 | 11:21 PM
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From: Kent Washington
Default C6 head unit

A couple of questions:

I'm looking at getting an Alpine iDA series head unit. I've got a 1LT, no Nav, no Bose, no XM. Would I have any complications installing a new head unit, or is it pretty straight forward?

Also, I haven't been able to find any pictures of an aftermarket head unit installed in a C6. Do they look really off?

Thanks!
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Weasel 435
A couple of questions:

I'm looking at getting an Alpine iDA series head unit. I've got a 1LT, no Nav, no Bose, no XM. Would I have any complications installing a new head unit, or is it pretty straight forward?

Also, I haven't been able to find any pictures of an aftermarket head unit installed in a C6. Do they look really off?

Thanks!
It's a pretty straight forward install. You'll need an interface module (which depends on Onstar or not) and the head.

The problem with the appearance of something like the iDA heads is that they're single DIN units and the dash opening in the C6 is double DIN. This leaves a space approximately the size of that head unit that must be filled. Most of the dash kits for this use a kind of plastic pocket that you can put above or below the unit, whichever looks best to you. However you're still going to have something of a "hole" in the middle of the dash.

For me it's worth the extra money to get a double DIN unit and fill the space, it looks WAY better.
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 09:39 AM
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single din with the kit doesnt look too bad honestly, you will wanna get a GMCO harness just ebay or google search it

straight forward install, also want a standard gm antenna adapter metra 40gm10
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 10:14 AM
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From: Kent Washington
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Originally Posted by TheKomoman
It's a pretty straight forward install. You'll need an interface module (which depends on Onstar or not) and the head.

The problem with the appearance of something like the iDA heads is that they're single DIN units and the dash opening in the C6 is double DIN. This leaves a space approximately the size of that head unit that must be filled. Most of the dash kits for this use a kind of plastic pocket that you can put above or below the unit, whichever looks best to you. However you're still going to have something of a "hole" in the middle of the dash.

For me it's worth the extra money to get a double DIN unit and fill the space, it looks WAY better.
Yeah, that's what I was wondering about is the size of the face compared between stock and aftermarket. I don't mind there being a small storage area under it as long as it doesn't look totally out of place. Thanks for the reply!
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Weasel 435
Yeah, that's what I was wondering about is the size of the face compared between stock and aftermarket. I don't mind there being a small storage area under it as long as it doesn't look totally out of place. Thanks for the reply!
Matter of personal taste I suspect.

As Penta said, a Peripheral GMCO will get the job done, assuming you don't have or don't care about Onstar. If you do want to retain Onstar then get the GMAH24 and GMAHCM instead. There are a lot of alternative modules out there but from my experience and reading around here, the Peripheral are worth the extra few $.
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 12:15 PM
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From: Kent Washington
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Originally Posted by TheKomoman
Matter of personal taste I suspect.

As Penta said, a Peripheral GMCO will get the job done, assuming you don't have or don't care about Onstar. If you do want to retain Onstar then get the GMAH24 and GMAHCM instead. There are a lot of alternative modules out there but from my experience and reading around here, the Peripheral are worth the extra few $.
Yeah, no Onstar either, so that's no worry. I'll track down the peripheral gmco (that's for keeping the chimes in the car going, right?). I'd be having it professionally installed, so I doubt it'll be something that's left out, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't some monumental task that would rack up $1000 in labor or something like that.
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 12:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Weasel 435
Yeah, no Onstar either, so that's no worry. I'll track down the peripheral gmco (that's for keeping the chimes in the car going, right?). I'd be having it professionally installed, so I doubt it'll be something that's left out, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't some monumental task that would rack up $1000 in labor or something like that.
Yep, the GMCO will give you the chimes. Honestly, I'd get one and give that to the installer. They'll likely use another brand (Metra probably) which almost will inevitably lead to problems because installers tend to treat Corvette like any other GM of the same model year, which due to its limited production numbers it is emphatically not. You can get one here:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...eral+GMCO.html

Also tell the installer to just plug that into the head unit's RCA outputs. They will also likely make the assumption that because your car isn't Bose there isn't an outboard amp. And they'd be wrong. So they'd tie into the amplified output of the head, which would then be stepped down to RCA level by the GMCO, only to be amplified again by the Delco amp in the car.

Can you tell we've seen too many installers make the same mistakes over & over around here?
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 01:16 PM
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i agree 100% give them the GMCO and specifically state you want the rca plugs used, not cutoff like the instructions state becasue all C6 vettes have an oem amp and rca plugs are to be used
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 02:30 PM
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From: Kent Washington
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Originally Posted by TheKomoman
Can you tell we've seen too many installers make the same mistakes over & over around here?
Haha, I can see that. This has been a big help, these were the things I was wanting to watch out for, so I'm definitely taking notes.
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