how to: Direct simple plug in replacement radio?

nightfly

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Any experts here know if it's easy to put in a replacement dash unit that can hook to the JBL wiring? Is there a company that makes some sort of conversion cabling/plugs?
 
Yeah, if you go to the Crutchfield web sight, you can put in your car then the various head units will be shown and the instalation kit required will be suggested that has the wiring harness that goes between the new head unit and plugs into the OEM radio plugs. The wired connectors in the kit usually need some soldering to make up a complete plug n play harness connection. If you buy everything from Crutchfield, they have a CS line that will walk you threw the wiring. They are very good at that. Been there n done that! I bought this Boss unit from them that has the back up camera and nav. I run it in threw the OEM amp just as was suggested by them and am quite happy with the unit.
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Yeah, if you go to the Crutchfield web sight, you can put in your car then the various head units will be shown and the instalation kit required will be suggested that has the wiring harness that goes between the new head unit and plugs into the OEM radio plugs. The wired connectors in the kit usually need some soldering to make up a complete plug n play harness connection. If you buy everything from Crutchfield, they have a CS line that will walk you threw the wiring. They are very good at that. Been there n done that! I bought this Boss unit from them that has the back up camera and nav. I run it in threw the OEM amp just as was suggested by them and am quite happy with the unit.
View attachment 828576202
Very good. Looks like it's just come out of the factory! Sounds like just what I'm looking for, as I can't kneel on anything anymore, so whatever has to be done, I have to do it sitting on the seats. What brand and model is that?
Also, I see additional what appear to be USB ports; do those go to the head unit as external usb drives with music/video could be used on the screen? I'm able to do soldering and wiring, so that would be a nice extra.
 
This is the one I have and the USB port plays thumb drive recorded music perfectly. I have hundreds of songs on a single drive and like the way I can scroll way ahead or way back on a music file If I dont feel like that set. The reviews were accurate on this Boss unit. Im very happy with the power level in that with the loudness button on, the bass is not drowned out by any road or engine cruising speed noise. I have tinitis in my left ear so the wide range of the equalizer is pretty good off our factory amps. The GPS is not a Garmin but adaquit for the most part.

 
This is the one I have and the USB port plays thumb drive recorded music perfectly. I have hundreds of songs on a single drive and like the way I can scroll way ahead or way back on a music file If I dont feel like that set. The reviews were accurate on this Boss unit. Im very happy with the power level in that with the loudness button on, the bass is not drowned out by any road or engine cruising speed noise. I have tinitis in my left ear so the wide range of the equalizer is pretty good off our factory amps. The GPS is not a Garmin but adaquit for the most part.

Of course, it tells me they're out of stock! Oh well, I checked the 'notify me' box, and will see what happens, in the meantime, I'd shop other units to see what's available, but 12 out of 14 they have listed as fitting our cars, are all listed as 'out of stock, unknown availability'. I haven't ordered from Crutchfield in many years, but remember them being very helpful before. Thanks for the heads up! I'll keep searching.
 
Hello,
I am possibly looking to replace mine as well would this unit be compatible Amazon product ASIN B08C9PNHMH or is it not good enough to handle the audio? There is also the pioneer AVH-Z7200DAB it cost much more but is it truly higher quality for me[and not for their banks accounts]?I reside in france so i do not think i can use USA website due to taxes insanity, last time i tried i ended up paying double for my HE 400S.
Cordially.
edit: and is it compatible with the wiring?
edit 2: my car is a 1995 model year
 
I think your best option would be to do as I said above earlier and go to the Crutchfield web sight and put in your car info to see what units they have that they recommend as a fit, put that in the shopping cart and then, the web sight will recommend a specific installation kit for the dash and a wiring harness kit. Write down those specific part number kits, and purchase them else where as well as the radio you chose on that sight that is compatible with those installation kits.
As for the AWESAFE radio, it may be of acceptable quality but I personally wouldn't buy a motorized screen car radio. Too many light duty moving parts to break. If it was an easy plug & play radio, thats one thing but as you will see, if the screen develops problems, you will dread having to change the harness out for another brand. The harness kits provide the plastic connectors you need but you still have to solder all the pig tails together for each speaker and other wires. Thats on the meticulous side and time consuming.

 
I think your best option would be to do as I said above earlier and go to the Crutchfield web sight and put in your car info to see what units they have that they recommend as a fit, put that in the shopping cart and then, the web sight will recommend a specific installation kit for the dash and a wiring harness kit. Write down those specific part number kits, and purchase them else where as well as the radio you chose on that sight that is compatible with those installation kits.
As for the AWESAFE radio, it may be of acceptable quality but I personally wouldn't buy a motorized screen car radio. Too many light duty moving parts to break. If it was an easy plug & play radio, thats one thing but as you will see, if the screen develops problems, you will dread having to change the harness out for another brand. The harness kits provide the plastic connectors you need but you still have to solder all the pig tails together for each speaker and other wires. Thats on the meticulous side and time consuming.

The pioneer is also motorized; do you think it is not reliable?they sell a variant of it on crutchfield as well and recommend it for the VIII, they say it is direct drop in compared to the other which require adjustment.
 
I would go with the one with best reviews of course. If your car dosent have the double din radio size, I guess your stuck with a motorized screen. A name brand such as Pioneer is a better bet on longevity IMO.
 
I went with a Pioneer double din unit which I chose for the ability to just plug in a USB drive, instead of CD's or anything else, like streaming from my phone via bluetooth and killing my phone battery. I have my entire usable music collection on a single 256GB thumbdrive, so that ought to be enough.

Pioneer MVH-S622BS

which I got from Crutchfield. For wire connections, I used Wago lever nuts. We'll see how well it lasts.
For some reason, links aren't going into the message, but both items are easy to find via google.
I'll get back here after I install it, but the instructions from Crutchfield seem pretty straight forward (main reason, I've used them before, and previous information was right on target).
 

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