Aftermarket head unit

[Blm97]

I'm thinking of getting a new head unit because ever since I got a new phone and started using it with my cassette adapter I've been experiencing a lot of static. I'm thinking the cassette just isn't good enough to support my phone's sound quality or something because I had no problem with my last phone. So anyway I wanted something either with simply an aux cord or maybe even Bluetooth. It would also mean I don't have to tear my stock head unit apart to replace the lights. So what does something like this entail? I'm assuming I'll need some sort of adaptor unless there's a way around that. And what about steering wheel controls? I don't want to lose that. Any help would be appreciated. If there's complete walk thru on the forum somewhere that you know of that'd be nice too. Also if anyone has any suggestions about what head unit to use I'd love to hear your opinions because I have no idea what to get. I don't want to spend much and I don't need anything really fancy. I was hoping somewhere around $50 or a bit more.

[96 SSEi]

hi, have you tried cleaning the cassette deck with a cleaning cassette and fluid?
maybe that will reduce your static.

[Bugsi]

Do you have the Bose system? If you replace your head unit, you'll need to work out how you're going to drive your speakers, because with factory Bose your speakers are driven by a crappy OEM Bose amplifier. Your wiring harness from your stock head unit does not go straight to the speakers. Are you willing to replace all your speakers and run new speaker wires, or possibly also hook up an aftermarket amplifier? Some good planning is in order to replace any part of 2000+ especially with Bose.

See this post from long ago:
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 25783.html

[Blm97]

hi, have you tried cleaning the cassette deck with a cleaning cassette and fluid?
maybe that will reduce your static.

I was thinking it was the cassette adapter or the cassette player but I've tried my old phone again and there was no static so I think the cassette and my new phone just don't like each other.

[Blm97]

Do you have the Bose system? If you replace your head unit, you'll need to work out how you're going to drive your speakers, because with factory Bose your speakers are driven by a crappy OEM Bose amplifier. Your wiring harness from your stock head unit does not go straight to the speakers. Are you willing to replace all your speakers and run new speaker wires, or possibly also hook up an aftermarket amplifier? Some good planning is in order to replace any part of 2000+ especially with Bose.

See this post from long ago:
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 25783.html

Yes it is a Bose. So its not possible to replace the head unit on the Bose system without replacing other things? Is there any somewhat easy way to hack into the stock head unit an aux cord or Bluetooth?

[Bugsi]

Well, it's possible to put in an aftermarket head unit and hook it to the Bose amp and speakers, but you'll need to buy a head unit that has front and rear line outputs, and then wire those correctly into the stock harness, which I can help you with, as I'm presently replacing components on a 2001 Grand Prix GT with Bose, which has the same components right down to the same wiring. But you'll be buying a head unit that costs more than the $50 you're hoping to spend.

Regarding your other question: Yes, you can actually hack an Aux input into your stock radio. You use a switched 1/8" headphone jack and wire it to the wires that carry the CD player's line signals. When you plug in an external device, the pins switch out the CD player and switch in your external device. There's a good writeup over on the grand prix forum here:
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threads/ ... 7-03-Radio

I don't care for the jack they use. I'm planning to do this to my Grand Prix, and I purchased switched jacks with 0.1" pin spacing that can be mounted to stripboard for stronger and easier wiring of the jack. Take a look at the link and see if it's something you're up to tackling.

Also, I've worked out a way to use the straight-through wire harness from the PAC-AOEM-GM24 device to bypass the Bose amplifier in the trunk, but retain the car's wiring harness to drive aftermarket speakers with an aftermarket amp. I can give you details on that if you're interested. Be aware that the PAC-AOEM-GM24 device is not wired properly as it ships to bypass the Bose amp in your 2000 Bonneville.

[SavageBrand87]

I am trying to put an aftermarket double din in my 2000 bonneville ssei but the only problem I have is I bought the PAC RP3-GM13 harness the jvc hu turns on but no sound I can't figure it out if tried to hook up and cut a couple wires like a fella said in a previous post but no luck I actually thing I messed up the interface it turns on and chimes but the head unit won't turn on now but when I put my oem back in it works speakers and all if the hug is fried I can try my Kenwood so I'm not worried but I wish I could figure this out because pac sure don't know a *dang* thing

[Erinyes]

The other option is to send the head unit to 1factoryradio.com to have them install an aux input port. They may be able to add Bluetooth also, but I didn't particularly care about that so didn't ask. It cost $105, maybe a year ago.

[Sether]

I see a bit of mis-information On this thread, ok the bose amp is not that bad, I didnt like the way it sounded with the stock stereo but if you have a nice new receiver and actually tune it they produce great sound and great bass for the paper speakers that they are. Also lets say you want to run that wire to each speaker, you dont have to replace all 8 speakers? You just solder new wire onto them then put your own quick disconnects on if you want the stock quick disconnects dont matter.

I've done this process and you will need a harness, which is not to expensive but it DOES have to be for the amplified system. also You're also gonna need the aftermarket stereo kit that lets the stereo fit into the hole the stock one leaves, which is only 15$ and the steering wheel controls which is 55$. The diagram, the harness will give you assuming you do your research and get the right one will tell you every wire where to splice it into the stock harness. Its all really simple but takes a good amount of time. One thing on my harness was that the wire for the amp turn on did not have anywhere to go, which was strange and in turn did not turn on the amp when the stereo booted up and could not drive the speakers, so I had to run that wire all the way back into the trunk and splice inline to the power wire of the stock amp.

The steering wheel control which is nice, but not a huge deal when you dont have it. I really wanted it but could not get it to work after hours of trouble shooting so i gave up and ripped it out. So you could try it. also if you still want radio, your gonna have to get a cheap antenna extender thing, it just plugs into the back of the radio and plugs into where the antenna wire goes into the back wall where the stereo lives.


Steering wheel controls: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_541SWIRC/ ... ml?tp=3405
Dash kit: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120992009 ... ml?tp=3121