YACAT: What would you do?

[PCMarine]

Ok so I am in a bit of a jam. I recently bought a nice new Pioneer MP3 CD deck for my car which cost ~300 shipped off ebay. Fast forward to today when I went to Bestbuy to have it installed. The estimate came out to $179+tax which includes labor and a lifetime waranty on the labor. So all together it would be roughly $500.

But I didn't have enough cash for the install (I only had $100).

The guy there said that he could sell me the parts for $100 and save me the $79 on the labor, but I hardly know anything when it comes to car audio and could potential damage my deck and/or car.

So I had to go home and get some more which made me think...

$500 is a lot of money for me. I get about $225/week from my job (I'm 17 y/o) and I already have a ton of money saved up in the bank so I could spare the money for the whole thing (then again $500 is a lot).

But do I really need the new deck? My current stereo is already pretty decent (as it has 6 speakers, amp, cd changer)...

What would you do.

 

[PCMarine]

bump

 

[Confused]

Take out old head unit, install new one yourself, buying necessary adapter if required, it's pretty simple to do yourself.

Time taken: an hour if you're slow
Money saved: helluvalot


Confused

 

[PCMarine]

Originally posted by: Confused
Take out old head unit, install new one yourself, buying necessary adapter if required, it's pretty simple to do yourself.

Time taken: an hour if you're slow
Money saved: helluvalot


Confused

Sorry but here's the problem. There is an amp in the trunk which would be used with the new HU. The crappy part is, since everything is factory stock and can't be modded by anything aftermarket, everything (except the speakers) would have to be rewired.

If it was as easy as just removing the old HU, swapping the cables to the new HU and that's it, I would probably do it in a heartbeat.

 

[Dragon365]

I would just go to Best Buy.

 

[Shawn]

Install it yourself. I replaced my factory radio, installed 2 amps, replaced the speakers and rewired them to one of the amps, added 2 subs and wired them to the other amp. It's time consuming but it isn't hard..... and it'll save you a lot of money!

 

[slycat]

sell unit....stay with old unit.
save money and u might use it for when u really need it.
i seriously doubt the new bank-breaker unit will vastly improve your existence on earth.

 

[Saulbadguy]

Here is what you do. I've never seen an amp that doesn't use standard RCA cables (they might make them..but Ive never seen them.) Uninstall factory unit, and there should be 2 RCA cables running from that to the amp. The pioneer should have pre-amp outs for those rca's to plug into, so just plug them in and install it. Its not too complicated. If it gets too complicated, id take pics of it and post it on here to see if we can figure it out. I wouldn't go to best buy to have them install it. If you absolutely have to take it somewhere to install it, go to a local audio place (if there are any).

PS the parts shouldnt cost 100....29.99 RETAIL on an adapter for your vehicle (btw what vehicle is it?) if you need one (some cars dont), and 7.99 for a wiring harness (you will definately need this).

 

[filmmaker]

Originally posted by: slycat
sell unit....stay with old unit.
save money and u might use it for when u really need it.
i seriously doubt the new bank-breaker unit will vastly improve your existence on earth.

 

[lowtech1]

What is the current set up you have?
What is the current wattage & new setup wattage?
What is the efficiency dB rating of your current speakers?

The general rules is that for adequate listening 15~45 watts should be sufficient for most car volume, but they also depend on the efficiency rating of your speakers.

If your car already has a decent setup, then there is no need to have a different rig to impress you friends & annoy the neighbours. If you really want good sound then try taping a pair of loud speakers to your head and crank your amp to full blast.

If the above don?t apply to you then just change the head unit as suggested above, and see if that make a different. And, then upgrade to better louder speakers & more powerful amps.