Recommendations for HU, IPOD, subs

[Kirby Baker]

Greetings all. I've got an '04 Buick Rainier CXL with the factory NAV Bose radio, but no rear entertainment (got sunroof instead). I've been trying to decide on whether I want to change out the HU with the Alpine I300 touchscreen with Alpine NAV unit. I do like the looks of the factory NAV radio, but wish it was the '05 model (touchscreen).

So my goal is to get my IPOD wired in, and get rid of the crappy FM transmitter. Because the radio had the option of a rear entertainment package, is there an adapter from PAC or PIE or whoever that will tie in the IPOD as an aux source, while maintaining XM, and be selectable via the source button on the steering wheel (or a button on the HU itself)? I dont want a toggle switch to change between XM and IPOD like the one unit I saw. I also want to have the Song info show on the HU screen.

Also, would an '05 touchscreen HU fit in my car? Is it just a simple pull and swap or are there major mods needed?

If I cant achieve what I want with a factory HU then I will go the route of the Alpine system, I just am not as crazy about the pop out/fold up touchscreen because it will partially block the air vents, and all the extra parts required to maintain things like Onstar, door chime, etc. The other issue I have, its my understanding that the factory XM antenna can NOT be used with an aftermarket radio. Is that correct? Just what I want is a 3rd antenna on the car. But I suppose I could maybe wire in an XM antenna to sit up in the moonroof shade, as I never fully retract the moonroof, so it would be inside, protected, and unseen except for anyone riding on top of my car!

In terms of subs and amps, I plan to build a 3 sub (sealed) box in the rear, as well as add 1 or 2 amps (depending on HU replacement) to house 3 JL 10" subs. I would be curious to see pics of anyone's setup out there that has 3 10's. Not a lot of room in the rear section of the shorter length vehicles, and I would like to keep as much usable as possible.

Last question, if I dont replace the HU with an Alpine, how well do those units that split off the rear speaker signals to feed an add on amp work? If they dont work well, that may make my decision to change HU's even easier.

Looking forward to some suggestions!!

[henrywp]

As for the iPod working with your factory head unit, the only good product out there that will give you exactly what you want (can still use your XM with it, gives text on song info, can be controlled by your steering wheel controls, etc.) is the product made by Metra called Wire-Tunes. There is a thread already about this and I think that there are a few people that are working on posting pics and install info on it. I have one on my '05 TB and love it.

[jimmyjam]

As far as your concerns about the line level converter, it should work great for subs. You usually don't get any noise below 1khz in a car and your lowpass freq will be well below that.

If you do go with an aftermarket HU there are at least 3 manufacturers that sell double din touchscreen navis (eclipse, kenwood, pioneer) so you don't have to have a pop-out screen block your AC ducts. Yes, adapters cost an obnoxious amount of money. I'm willing to bet that you could get an adapter to use the XM antenna if you look really hard or at least solder a compatible connector on there.

The sub setup sounds nice, but do you think that the factory system can keep up with that?

[Kirby Baker]

The factory system probably cant keep up, which is why I will more than likely end up with a new Alpine system. A couple of things that have popped up in my brain include possiblly moving the HVAC controls up into the double din opening, and mounting the Alpine HU where the HVAC controls were. This would eliminate the blocked air ducts, but would in turn possibly block the HVAC controls. If I were to mount the controls at the top of the double din opening, it should be ok, but have to check to see if the shifter knob might cause issues or not when in Park. The other thing that I would do is mount the Alpine Nav unit in the double din opening as well. Initial plan was to have the Nav unit on top of the I300, but if I move the HVAC controls, they would sit on top of the Nav unit.