Hi all,

I am brand new to the forum but have been an s2k owner since Feb. of 2000. I am finally ready to replace the stereo as I want to have an IPOD hookup and well frankly the sound quality is just plain bad. I did do some searching already, but I think I'm lost in too much info. What I was hoping you all could help me with is a good head unit and 6.5 inch speakers for the doors (no seperate tweeter unfortunately as the 200 models don't have a hole for that and I don't want to cut the doors).

For the head unit, I'm looking for IPOD connection via USB, good clean power, and go to the $300 range, oh yeah, and I want to be able to use the remote controls. For speakers, i'm open to all suggestions, but am looknig for an easy install, hoping not to have to cut, etc...

If there are some good threads for me to check please point me in the right direction, thanks so much for your help. Great community here and the FAQ was already very helpful.

 

for products call crutchfield. their reps can answer all of these questions and they've always found a solution in my price range. I highly recommend kenwood excelon products. can't beat the level of control/features.

What you'll quickly learn is that even 2 great speakers driven my your new head unit still won't be enough to hear past 60mph. you'll eventually want 2 additional speakers behind your seats as well as 100 watts to each channel.

 

I'm really happy w/ the Alpine ida x305 - not sure if you'll find a head unit with as good of an ipod interface. Crutchfield had it for $258 shipped a couple weeks ago.

 

thanks for the input above, I went to 6th avenue electronics over the weekend just to see some of these stereo's in person... The alpine you mentioned is really nice, I just can't make up my mind if I'm willing to ditch CDs completely yet.

I also agree with above there is a BIG difference with and without amp.... I'm going to have to go look and see where people stuck there amps... I don't want to give up trunk space, or the tire... so I'm not really sure where to stick the amp....... maybe under the passanger seat. I have an old Kenwood amp, that would probably work just fine. I'll have t dig it out.

Any other head unit or speaker reco's out there ?

 

Here is the link to my stereo setup. Shows my deck and the ipod adapter. I assume this is the usb style hook-up you had mentioned. It allows you to control the ipod from the deck.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=688698


The deck is good for the price. Thats what I will say for it. Consider a deck that you can see without glare as the sunlight hits it when the top is off. This deck is glared in the sunlight and you cant see anything. Then again most decks have that real smooth plastic cover over the led screen.

The deck has small buttons, so I use the remote. So small buttons on the deck (must use the remote) and sun glare. Otherwise this 50 dollar deck is great!

 

I bought the CDA-9886 for that exact same reason and now wished that I had just gone with an IDA series, FWIW. I've never used the CD deck on the 9886.

Be sure to add the Modifry DCI (and PnP harness if you go Alpine) then.