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I want to upgrade the stock radio/head unit to a larger touch screen with all the bells and whistles.
Anyone have any suggestions or first hand experience in the direction I should go?
Would love there to be a head unit I could get to display boost/AFR numbers. But probably not possible.
I want to upgrade the stock radio/head unit to a larger touch screen with all the bells and whistles.
Anyone have any suggestions or first hand experience in the direction I should go?
Would love there to be a head unit I could get to display boost/AFR numbers. But probably not possible.
Thanks!
You can get a Double DIN head unit, they have a 7" screen. They make some units with a 9" screen but in my opinion, they don't look like they belong in a Vette. The problem right now is availability, due to the chip shortage anything good is really hard to find
I've had great luck with Pioneer but most of the major brands are good. JVC, Kenwood, ect. Head over to the audio sub forum, theres a ton of good info and threads, you'll find everything you need over there.
Upgrading the head unit is a must-do mod for a C6. You will be happy with the upgrade. All the modern bells and whistles, and improved sound. Check out Crutchfield.com for a head unit if you plan on doing the install yourself.
Guess I should mention, the 7" Double DIN systems fit right in to the stock opening, and with the use of the needed dash kit, they look like they're meant to be there. Here's a photo of my Pioneer system.
A good thing about the higher end ones, is you have the ability to change the background display to anything you want, plus most of them are multi-camera capable so you can add multiple cameras (i.e. front and rear cameras) You can add a new head unit, and still retain the factory amp and speakers if you want, doing so, you'll notice quite an improvement in sound. A couple of additional things you'll also need to get is an interface, this makes the new head unit compatible with the cars canbus system, the most commonly used one on this forum is the PAC RP5-GM11 https://www.crutchfield.com/S-fpQKbq...0802401a0b298a In addition to the interface, you'll also need the following dash kit https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120953...k.html?tp=3121 Then if you want to add XM radio to your system, you'll also need to add this XM tuner which plugs into your compatible head unit so everything is displayed and controlled by your head unit. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_220SXV...0V1-Tuner.html If you have any questions feel free to post them in the Audio/Electronics section of this forum, and those of us that hang out there would be happy to help answer them for you, plus we can offer a few tips and tricks concerning your install. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...lectronics-20/
Last edited by madsonp; Aug 5, 2022 at 12:07 AM.
Reason: fixed link
When it comes to radios you get what you pay for. My preference is kenwood because I like the layout. I've also had solid pioneer and alpine units over the years. Kenwoid Ddx9907xr was my choice for the vette and I have absolutely no regrets, but it was pricey.
I have a double din pioneer AVH-601ex in my everyday car and a kenwood DDX9903s came with my c6. Pioneer blows the Kenwood away. I have all my music on a thumb drive and separate the types of music by folders. When using the Shuffle playback, the Pioneer can select all music from any folder, whereas the Kenwood will only Shuffle within a folder you pick. The Kenwood touchscreen is slow to react to touch and you have to touch the screen to clear a warning message everytime you power up. Pioneer warning message clears by itself. Pioneer dimming works, Kenwood's is a no. The Kenwood stays bright all the time (even at night) and during the day you cant see the screen in sunlight. Let's see... what else? I have the latest firmwares for both. Kenwood works but is overly complicated... at least with the models I have.
I have a double din pioneer AVH-601ex in my everyday car and a kenwood DDX9903s came with my c6. Pioneer blows the Kenwood away. I have all my music on a thumb drive and separate the types of music by folders. When using the Shuffle playback, the Pioneer can select all music from any folder, whereas the Kenwood will only Shuffle within a folder you pick. The Kenwood touchscreen is slow to react to touch and you have to touch the screen to clear a warning message everytime you power up. Pioneer warning message clears by itself. Pioneer dimming works, Kenwood's is a no. The Kenwood stays bright all the time (even at night) and during the day you cant see the screen in sunlight. Let's see... what else? I have the latest firmwares for both. Kenwood works but is overly complicated... at least with the models I have.
Definitely not true. I'm on my fourth different Kenwood thru the years and every one of them dims. You don't know how to set it or hook it up. Operator error my friend.
Would love there to be a head unit I could get to display boost/AFR numbers. But probably not possible.
As far as displaying boost and AFR (among many other items like LTFT, Total Misfires, Spark Timing, etc) have you considered having these items being displayed on your DIC ?
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Between these 2 models I thought I offered good feedback. A little research and you'll see similar concerns with the Kenwood. The dimmer on the Kenwood... settings are either on, off, or synch... none seem to work. Maybe it was installer error, however most of my concerns are design issues that never were corrected with firmware updates.
Would love there to be a head unit I could get to display boost/AFR numbers. But probably not possible.
Thanks!
Many of these units are compatible with the iDataLink Maestro and will display different engine parameters, the problem however is that iDatalink doesn't make an interface for the C6 Corvettes for some reason, so I'm afraid we're out of luck in utilizing this feature with these head units.
Between these 2 models I thought I offered good feedback. A little research and you'll see similar concerns with the Kenwood. The dimmer on the Kenwood... settings are either on, off, or synch... none seem to work. Maybe it was installer error, however most of my concerns are design issues that never were corrected with firmware updates.
When you have it in synch or on it is then you have to set it to how much you want it to dim when you turn on your headlights. Like I said user error. The installer error would be he didn't connect the illumination wire which is the orange one, clearly marked.
Between these 2 models I thought I offered good feedback. A little research and you'll see similar concerns with the Kenwood. The dimmer on the Kenwood... settings are either on, off, or synch... none seem to work. Maybe it was installer error, however most of my concerns are design issues that never were corrected with firmware updates.
pay 500 for a radio you get a 500 dollar radio. Kenwood has nothing to do with your dimmer not working. all radios in this price range have issues. You get what you pay for
I ordered this setup for my New to me 2012 GS. Speakers will be be next at some point. Supposed to get delivery 8-9-22
Looks like a real good start, make sure when you install the dash kit, you have the rounded corners on top. I say hook it all up and listen to it before getting speakers, you'll notice a big improvement in sound with just the head unit change and using the stock amp and speakers. One thing with the Kenwoods, you can reuse the stock GPS antenna as it'll plug right into the Kenwoods. One other tip is if you ground the parking brake Lt. Green wire from the head unit, you can make changes without needing to have the parking brake applied. see this video
I wonder how flush the camera is when mounted. I'd like one of those as well for backing up.
I know the other day while waiting for it which I got today I noticed dead center of plat under the Trunk Lip I have a Trunk Button that I push to open trunk, not sure if I will have clearance for my fat azz fingers to use buttons after. Though Instructions say cam can be located anywhere if you dont use frame for plate.
I had them take payment in 3 payments so not big dent on card.
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Stereo/screen upgrade
