I live in Arkansas and was having a bit of trouble picking up any good stations. After I replaced my radio I am picking up nearly twice as much as before.

I got an Alpine CDA-9830 just before I got my crossfire. The trim color of it almost perfectly matches my center console and the green lights on it fit in perfect. It was pricey though, a bit over $300. It has mp3 and satellite though. I also looked at another model from Alpine that was like $140 and didn't include all the extras.

As far as the antenna goes, mine seems to do pretty well. I can pick up almost every station I know about. You might get another radio before you look at an antenna booster.

I did the installation myself in a couple hours, including an XM receiver and antenna. Just depends on your comfort level I guess.

Colby