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Radio head unit upgrade questions

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Old Sep 4, 2017 | 10:52 AM
  #1  
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Default Radio head unit upgrade questions

Happy Labour Day 2017 my Fellow Corvette Brothers and sisters!

Looking to upgrade the head unit and speakers in my Vette. I want to install an all-in-one double din unit. Will any standard size double din unit fit? What size unit and screen is everyone using? I would appreciate speaker suggestions as well. I am not looking for anything crazy just replacing the four that are in the car. The car came with an after market radio that who ever installed it did a lousy job. I am getting all sorts of feed back and cracking noises from the passenger rear. I assume I will have to re-wire it.
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Old Sep 4, 2017 | 11:38 AM
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Is it Bose or non Bose?
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Old Sep 4, 2017 | 12:18 PM
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Wonder if the previous owner tried to use the OEM Bose speakers? Each Bose speaker had their own amps and that could be part of the problem you are hearing.

You can find lots of good suggestions and ideas in the Audio/Electronics section of the Forum.
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Old Sep 4, 2017 | 10:48 PM
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Originally Posted by aklim
Is it Bose or non Bose?
Bose.
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Old Sep 4, 2017 | 10:52 PM
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I bought speaker enclosures for NON Bose and out in speakers that fit. Wire ran from the head unit to the speaker.
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Old Sep 5, 2017 | 11:56 AM
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Any of the double DINs that do not have a moving face should work. I have a Pioneer AVH-4200NEX that has a removable face and can tilt. The opening isn't quite large enough, especially due to the rounded corners around the bezel. I had to grind a trim a lot of plastic in order to get it to work, but in the end, it looks good (as long as the face plate is there ) and works perfectly.




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Old Sep 5, 2017 | 12:14 PM
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The noises you are hearing could be an amplifier in the speaker having failed.
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Old Sep 5, 2017 | 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by JimLentz
The noises you are hearing could be an amplifier in the speaker having failed.
Could be. If you want to run a wire to the opposite one, you can test. I would probably do it for a laugh but would never install it back after repair. I can toss any set of speakers at it now when one has a fault instead of throwing good money after an antique system and be tied to someone to fix it.
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Old Sep 9, 2017 | 10:02 PM
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If the early C4 in your avatar picture is what you have the cutout for the radio is 1.5 din. You can put a double din in with modification.

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Old Sep 13, 2017 | 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Dt86
If the early C4 in your avatar picture is what you have the cutout for the radio is 1.5 din. You can put a double din in with modification.

Thinking of doing thins in my 85 but everyone is vague on "modification". Is that trim plate mods or internal mounting mods? Yours looks great. Just what I was looking at
Dave
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Old Sep 13, 2017 | 08:53 PM
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Originally Posted by chief85vette
Thinking of doing thins in my 85 but everyone is vague on "modification". Is that trim plate mods or internal mounting mods? Yours looks great. Just what I was looking at
Dave
The bezel you can buy. There's a vendor on here that used to make them. I think the name is double d mods?? That or my mind is in the gutter. Lol. I cut mine then filled and shaped it with a poly filler. The other piece that needs modification is the inner bracket inside the dash behind the radio. It's formed to fit the 1.5 din so you need to trim it so that the double din headunit will fit inside. For easy wiring I purchased the metra wiring harness so that the headunit would just plug into the factory harness. Be warned, space to cram the wiring is tight. Overall it wasn't that bad of a project but the fit and finish aspect of it is the time consuming part of it.
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Old Sep 13, 2017 | 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Dt86
If the early C4 in your avatar picture is what you have the cutout for the radio is 1.5 din. You can put a double din in with modification.

WOW! That looks amazing. The color of the display matches the dash gauges.
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Old Sep 14, 2017 | 07:43 AM
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Originally Posted by The Thomas J
WOW! That looks amazing. The color of the display matches the dash gauges.

If I didn't know C4's I would have said that was the stock stereo (almost), good job on the install!
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Old Sep 14, 2017 | 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted by c4cruiser
Wonder if the previous owner tried to use the OEM Bose speakers? Each Bose speaker had their own amps and that could be part of the problem you are hearing.

You can find lots of good suggestions and ideas in the Audio/Electronics section of the Forum.

The amps tend to be the more common culprit, with the Bose system each speaker has it's own amplifier that is behind speaker if you remove them. The majority of the time its the capacitors are no longer working to their specified rating and just need to be replaced. A lot of older capacitors from mid-90s down have limited life spans.
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Old Sep 10, 2023 | 04:42 AM
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Default would this work

Originally Posted by Dt86
The bezel you can buy. There's a vendor on here that used to make them. I think the name is double d mods?? That or my mind is in the gutter. Lol. I cut mine then filled and shaped it with a poly filler. The other piece that needs modification is the inner bracket inside the dash behind the radio. It's formed to fit the 1.5 din so you need to trim it so that the double din headunit will fit inside. For easy wiring I purchased the metra wiring harness so that the headunit would just plug into the factory harness. Be warned, space to cram the wiring is tight. Overall it wasn't that bad of a project but the fit and finish aspect of it is the time consuming part of it.
1995-99 Dodge Neon Newport 1.5 DIN Direct-fit Radio – Hi Tech Classics would this work there?
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