All,

Spent the past few days upgrading the stereo in my C5. I wanted to share my notes, parts and some of the challenges faced in hopes that it will help out those of you who try the same thing. Note that I used my stock HU.

First, the story:

We all know how one thing leads to another. It began innocently enough when discussing iPod installs with my guitar teacher. It seemed like a good idea so I began the research process and settled on an iSimple PXDP and a PXHGM4 harness because I have no CD changer; cost was about $80 from http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/. Then, I thought, well, my HVAC control module has the famous dim display as well as burned out lights. Again, the research process commences and I discover Digital Dash Solutions on eBay. I paid $120 + $100 refundable core charge and now more parts are on the way. Total outlay is $200; not so bad.

A day goes by and I think to myself. Well, the only thing on my car that does not work is the driver's side remote door lock. Again, it is another famous C5 problem involving a burned out relay. I had purchased the relay from Digikey some time ago, but had never gotten around to it. However, it would be a shame to go to all of the trouble to take the door panels off and leave the crappy sounding Bose speakers in the car. As you might expect, I was up late reading threads about speakers and decided to go with Boston Acoustics SR65's (~$140 from onlinecarstereo). I struggled with the decision of whether or not to get components or not. Ultimately, I went for the simpler install. To mount the speakers in the door panel, you have to either purchase or make some adapter plates. I chose to buy them from SRQ Customs in Florida; they seemed like a good deal for $20 shipped. It was difficult to find vendors that sold these but I choose the ones from SRQ as they are 0.5" MDF where some of the others were thinner. Grand total at this point comes to $360.

I had previously built a box and installed a Polk DX-10 in the center compartment. It was powered by an ancient Pioneer GM402 amp that had served me well since high school. Well, not anymore; it was DOA and forcing another round of research. The limiting factor here was the size of the MDF I had glued to the back wall of the hatch. I had a roughly 12" x 14" square to work with and I wanted to upgrade to a 5 channel amp and most 5 channels were bigger (usually wider) than 2 channel amps. More hours are spent online scouring the dimensions specs of various amps to see what would fit. I found a nice one in the Alpine MRX V60 and another order was placed through the onlinecarstereo guys for $290. Crap, total tally is $650; this is starting to get expensive. This started off as an $80 iPod install!

The Install:

iPod
So easy a caveman could do it. Seriously nothing to be afraid of. It worked, and I was happy until I screwed myself by doing additional research and discovering the battery drain issue the PXDP causes. There are various fixes based on what type of harness you have. Forum member Toque has an elegant fix, but I did not have the same harness. After (you guessed it) a lot more research, I learned that the fix was to find the fuse block in the passenger side footwell, locate a yellow wire and feed it back into your PXDP. Well, I tried, I really did but I never found the yellow wire and the fuse box is a pain to get to. I gave up and decided to buy a battery tender if/when it becomes a problem. More likely, I will just use it as an excuse to drive the car more!

After living with the PXDP for a few days, I still like it, but it is not perfect. There is a noticeable delay between when you advance the track and when the song actually changes. Not a big deal, but a little annoying. Also, whenever you drive for awhile you will notice that it will start playing the same 7-8 songs over and over again. Hitting the "random" button seems to bump it to a new spot in your music library.

Helpful threads / web sites
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...rness-fix.html
hthttp://mysite.verizon.net/res0aae8/ipod.html tp://forums.corvetteforum.com/audio-electronics/1104439-help-with-remote.html?forum_id=20

Door speakers / Relay / Amp
Fairly straightforward. The Vette Essentials instructions are fantastic so the door panel removal was easy.

Removing the relay box is also no problem. I wimped out on soldering the relay though. After reading some threads, I felt the potential for me to damage the circuit board with my crappy soldering iron and worse soldering skills was quite high. A quick call to the local cell phone repair shop (Xpress Celluar) solved the problem. For $25 they did it for me and only took them ~45 minutes to turn it around. I couldn't be happier; my door locks work again!

Taking out the old speakers is no problem. It took a little careful planning to mount the speakers in the adapter plates from SRQ as the hole was little bigger than optimal; this is not a complaint, their adapters have to fit a wide variety of speakers. Once mounted, I discovered that the stock screws are too short to mount the new adapter plate w/speaker back on to the door. A trip to hardware store solves the problem. You will need 16 (I think) #8 sheet metal screws and washers. I bought 1" screws and it worked perfectly.

The Alpine amp is a nice piece and was easy to install since all I really had to do was screw it to the back panel and plug it in.

Helpful threads / web sites
http://www.vetteessentials.com/instr...or_handle.html
http://srqcustoms.3dcartstores.com/C...-pair_p_9.html
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...tics_SR65.aspx
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...e_MRX-V60.aspx

Review
To my ear, it is amazing. The new door speakers absolutely blow away the stock speakers. I can actually play with volume and I get no distortion and crisp clean highs. Honestly, I could not imagine being any happier with them. The bass hits much harder than before, making me think something about my old amp or my old install was not quite right. It is like there is an actual drummer in the back of the car and you can feel every thump of the bass drum, sort of like a massage. While your back might like it, your ears will be ringing (mine are right now)

Cliffs
Installed new stuff
Liked it

 

 

I really want to add the IPOD kit into the "new for me" 2002 vert but that 7-8 song issue is a deal killer. Have IPOD kits in my truck and '78 Vet and think it is the best solution. One would think that kit makers would have updated their control box to solve this issue by now.

 

I agree. It is amazing that this problem even exists (wouldn't they have figured this out during testing?). However, as I mentioned in my writeup, you can hit the "RDM" button on your HU and it will jump it to a new place in your music library. Alternatively, you can select songs from the iPod itself.

I would not let this issue hold you back; having all of your songs at once is worth it!

 

Its a matter of the PXDP and ipods being newer technology and these radios are from the mid to late 90's
its not the PXDP its the radio as when they designed them it never was a thought to allow for an ipod additon

 

Could that be because iPod's were not invented yet? They came out in 2001....

 

you got it

 

I can appreciate the "generational" differences between the radios and IPODs. However, being a programmer it seems that the PXDP folk should be able to catch the HU signal when it is doing its rollover from what it thinks is the last song on a CD back to the first.

Alas, if I can hit a HU button when it happens and not have to fumble for the IPOD I might give it a try.

But, I still think....

 

you also have to remember this PXDP unit works on alot of different vehicles as well. Not just made for the radio in the C5