Audiophiles! Question.

[MN6WS6]

You are going to hate that remote. That's the old school Sony remote, and that thing is a pain to learn. It's similar to the new control in the BMW cars that everybody and his brother are complaining about.

Also, and this is just my experience, but I will never own another radio that does not have sub out on it. Sub out from the dash is a great thing, especially when it has a built in crossover and sub volume control from the dash built in. There are always times when you sit there and go "I wish I could turn the subs up/down on this song" and with sub control from the dash, that is possible. Otherwise you have to y-adapt off in the dash (losing clarity in the process), and run a PAC LC1 and drill a hole somewhere to mount the remote sub control. If that won't suit you, then you have to have an amp that comes with a remote gain control, which is more money not to mention you still have to mount the remote gain box. It's just so much easier to buy a radio with sub out already in it than to go through all that hassle.

I used to be a crossover guy. Even with amps that had them built in, I'd buy a crossover just to have the ability to fine tune the crossover points. Not anymore. My Directed amp has a fully adjustable crossover built into the top of it, and that thing is sweet. But also, with my radio, it has a crossover built into it to, and not only that, but you can also change the cutoff curve IN THE DASH.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

You are going to hate that remote. That's the old school Sony remote, and that thing is a pain to learn. It's similar to the new control in the BMW cars that everybody and his brother are complaining about.

Also, and this is just my experience, but I will never own another radio that does not have sub out on it. Sub out from the dash is a great thing, especially when it has a built in crossover and sub volume control from the dash built in. There are always times when you sit there and go "I wish I could turn the subs up/down on this song" and with sub control from the dash, that is possible. Otherwise you have to y-adapt off in the dash (losing clarity in the process), and run a PAC LC1 and drill a hole somewhere to mount the remote sub control. If that won't suit you, then you have to have an amp that comes with a remote gain control, which is more money not to mention you still have to mount the remote gain box. It's just so much easier to buy a radio with sub out already in it than to go through all that hassle.

I used to be a crossover guy. Even with amps that had them built in, I'd buy a crossover just to have the ability to fine tune the crossover points. Not anymore. My Directed amp has a fully adjustable crossover built into the top of it, and that thing is sweet. But also, with my radio, it has a crossover built into it to, and not only that, but you can also change the cutoff curve IN THE DASH.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I have a 1/2 din Sony crossover that has the cut off points for low and high pass and sub volume. I used it in My Mustang. That is the main thing I don't like about that radio.

The problem is there just aren't any good solutions if you want a hard disc MP3 player. The next best thing is the Kenwood Keg but their radios have the worst display on the market. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I found a mounting adapter for a GM that has a 1 din and a 1/2 din below it but it isn't designed for my car. I'm thinking of buying it since it's only $10 and see if I can adapt it to mine. The 93-96 has some sort of flange hanging way off one side that I need to see what it is for. That would solve 2 things. I hate the way the 1 din chassis look in the 93-96 Camaro and adding the 1/2 din below it would help fill that area better. It would also allow me to mount my Sony crossover below it and have dash control as you say.

[MN6WS6]

As far as I know they don't make a din up top/half din slot at the bottom for the early 4th gen Camaro's. They only make that one type of kit with the filler piece extended off to the one side, and it's only available in a single din.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

As far as I know they don't make a din up top/half din slot at the bottom for the early 4th gen Camaro's. They only make that one type of kit with the filler piece extended off to the one side, and it's only available in a single din.

Yea I'm finding that out. They seam to leave out the 93-96 Camaro.

http://www.metraonline.com/product.aspx?sku=99-4544

[Blevyou know]

i really don't like the look of the thinner after market head units with the amount of space our cars have for the radio. So, I bought the pioneer DEH-P77DH.... I looks very clean with no spacers to take up the bigger opening. I'll go take a few pics in a sec. Pioneer is the only two head units I have ever had. (never has skipped in my jeep or my car) I swear by there strength!

[Blevyou know]

Heres some pics...

[MN6WS6]

That's the exact same radio I have too. So if anybody is wondering what my dash looks like, look at that pic and change the auto to a manual and there you have it

[Blevyou know]

That's the exact same radio I have too. So if anybody is wondering what my dash looks like, look at that pic and change the auto to a manual and there you have it

haha, i was going to photochop the auto out... damn thing. JK, i like my auto.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I have thought seriously about that one too but I'm not sure if it will fit in the Camaro. The opening on the Camaro is slanted and has big radiuses in the corners. The Firebird is very rectangle and has small radiuses. Besides I want an MP3 hard disc player and I could in through the AUX port but then I would have to find another place for a 1 DIN size controller.

I was thinking how great it would be if the auto companies would make every car with a rack mount 7" wide down the center of the dash where you could mount whatever you wanted. They could standardize the radios like the DIN chassis and add ears on them like a 19" rack. They could make the HVAC controls mount in that rack. Nav units, graphic equalizers, small monitors, ham radios, whatever. The could make flat filler plates and plates with cubbies, CD racks, sun glass holders, garage door holders, etc. It would significantly cut cost in manufacturing and in keeping so many adapter brackets, different radios, and HVAC panels in stock. It would also open up more options to cars that they never had. Like being able to put dual zone automatic climate control in Camaros.

[Disifer]

That would take out all of the fun that modification entails
Plus it would be too easy.

[Mixedpuppy]

You guys are great, I appreciate all the photos and advice.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Well I stuck my old (~1996 KRC-880) Kenwood head unit in the Camaro today. Wow what a difference it made. I've heard the "no highs, no lows, must be a Bose" phrase before but I thought it meant more for the speakers. Well the highs for sure are the speakers. The lows are so much higher I have the bass on +1 (can go up to +8). I bought some Pyle coaxes for $30 a pair from www.buy.com. I'm going to stick them in later using the factory Bose amps and see how it goes. They have tweeters in them unlike the stock speakers so I think I'll be happy with it then. Well for a while anyway.

The head unit install was a breeze even with the Bose remote amps. I went to Radio Shack and bought some RCA solder jacks and soldered them on the wiring harness adapter. Then wired the power, ground, dimmer, remote on, and memory. No speaker connections at all. I plugged the RCAs into the preamp out and it worked perfect. I benched wired everything and to my astonishment it worked perfect.

Now I have an adapter that runs RCAs into the head unit. I plugged my Archos MP3 player in it and it sounds great. No more FM talk radio.

[MN6WS6]

Those speakers will more than likely not work with the Bose amps. Most Bose speakers are 2 ohm, 1 ohm, or even 1/2 ohm, and if you stick a 4 ohm regular speaker in then you're gonna lose power. So if you stick them in the door, then your door speakers will be getting 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 (respectively) the power that the Bose counterparts do. That's if the amps will play them at all. If you put them in and you have to fade all the way to the front except for maybe one click, don't be surprised. And if you have to turn the radio up twice or 3 times higher just to be able to hear it, don't be surprised.

If you're going to buy normal speakers for one set, you need to go ahead and buy them all. Then you can bypass the amps and wire the radio normally and use the radio's power instead of the Bose mess.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Those speakers will more than likely not work with the Bose amps. Most Bose speakers are 2 ohm, 1 ohm, or even 1/2 ohm, and if you stick a 4 ohm regular speaker in then you're gonna lose power. So if you stick them in the door, then your door speakers will be getting 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 (respectively) the power that the Bose counterparts do. That's if the amps will play them at all. If you put them in and you have to fade all the way to the front except for maybe one click, don't be surprised. And if you have to turn the radio up twice or 3 times higher just to be able to hear it, don't be surprised.

If you're going to buy normal speakers for one set, you need to go ahead and buy them all. Then you can bypass the amps and wire the radio normally and use the radio's power instead of the Bose mess.

I bought 4 speakers. They are 4 ohm. I realize what might happen. The thing is my radio has no amps in it. They got burned out a long time ago when the external regulator in the Mustang screwed up. I don't have a place to put an amp. I don't want it in the hatch area behind the seat. I'm going to see how this goes and probably get the amp rack from sub thump. http://www.subthump.com/acamarorack.htm
Also to go to another amp means I loose the factory sub which means I'd have to re-do that too. And my radio doesn't have sub outputs.

I bought what is essentially a 1.5 din mounting bracket from www.buy.com for $5.99 and tried it. It mounts the 1 din radio and my 1/2 crossover but I couldn't get the trim panel back on. It didn't clear by maybe 1/16". 5 seconds of filing on the radio adapter would have fixed that but it left a big hole on the left and the right. So I ended up buying a 1 din adapter and left the crossover out. I don't need it using the Bose amps. I would need it if I didn't. If I have to use it, I'm just going to modify the mounting bracket to accept a 1.5 din chassis and put it under the radio. It will work.

[MN6WS6]

Just because you don't have sub out doesn't mean you can't have a sub. Buy an amp with a built in crossover for low pass (which most of them have), y-adapt off your mids and high amp, and run those cables to the bass amp. We've done it that way for years, long before any radio came with sub out. The only downside is that you won't have bass control from the dash, unless you get an amp with a remote gain control.