stereo upgrade
after living with the stock base radio for almost a year now I am thinking of upgrading. I have found several aftermarket radios I like but am being told that I will need a wiring adapter that costs as much as the radios do. I am wondering if that is true or not. I do not have the upgraded radio nor do I have onstar. does anyone know for sure if I would have to use the expensive adapter or not cause paying as much for wires as the radio doubles the price plus still need a dash kit and install fees if aplicable. any input on this would be appreciated. edit... the kit the people were saying I needed is the gmos-lan03 from crutchfield but when I search their site based on my vehicle it says it does not fit.

The wiring for an aftermarket radio does not have to use an adapter IF you don't plan on keeping onstar, or the chimes that play through the radio and IF you don't mind splicing into the wiring harness. The dash kit is not that expensive and there are different models available, you'll also need a GM antenna adapter for most aftermarket radios.

Yeap no need for the adapter if you dont have onstar, just get a schamatic with the colot codes of the wiring and get to splicing, you can pick up the antenna adapter at any best buy or even wal mart for around $15 or so.

i love not having chimes on the Shagy i see the light blink and that is enough for me :rof: i put in a Pioneer and no adapter. they were more when i did it 2 Christmas's ago

after doing more research on the crutchfield site, the one I listed before is not the correct one for my car, there is a different one for non-onstar vehicles and it maintains the chimes. it's not much cheaper but while looking at the radios there they had a special offer to get 50% off the adapter with a purchase of a radio over $150 and get the dash kit and antenna adapter for free..... I may just do that and install it my self

ordered and in transit. I did forget to mention along with the other specials, I got free shipping too.. will try to take some pics of the install when I get to do it.

how's about a linky to the radio page???

not sure if posting the link is ok but the radio I picked out is the JVC KD-PDR80 which I am sure can be found on lots of sites and a few local stores.

i have a Pioneer 7800 and love it great sound and alot of extras

ok some one slap me around, I forgot to take pics during the install process but here is one when done, the longest/hardest part of the install was soldering the two harnesses together but after that it was all plug and play. from the time I started taking out the waterfall to putting it back in was 15 minutes tops. so far it sounds great, just have to learn the in's and out's in all the stuff it has or does......

I love my little shelf under the radio now. older pic newer pic

the pocket under the radio isnt all that big on this kit, I may take it out and use the area to mount my ham radio in the dash instead of under it.

Ok, where do you play cds? or is it one of those fold out kinds? Looks great, nice job.

yes the face folds down to load a cd and can also be removed for secuirty