I am looking at the Sony Xplod CDX-GT700HD. Is there anything I need to know about before I tackle this project? It's supposed to come with the necessary harness/antenna adapters, but I would be getting it through Crutchfield and I've heard some negative comments about their service.

I am open to suggestions on other headunits, as long as they have:

- Detachable faceplate
- Front USB and AUX inputs
- CD insertion BEHIND the faceplate
- Cost is less than $200

I would like to get something as close to plug and play as possible. Thoughts?

 

I would make sure the harness is the correct one to make things easy. Make sure you have those tools to remove the OEM unit. If you don't have them, Walmart should have them. I got a Sony a few years back. I liked everything except the BlueTooth phone integration. The mic was behind the faceplate which made it very hard for people to hear me.

 

This is a good headunit, but you need to be aware of a couple of items. If you're going to connect to the speakers thru the Infinity (factory) power amp, 4 volt or better signal levels are required. The unit you're looking at is only 2 volt signal levels. You will need a line driver for this. If you can find a headunit with 4 or 5 volt signal levels, it would be better. One more thing, to use the subwoofer controls on your new hear unit, you need to disconnect the spliced wires underneath your carpet. The Infinity unit uses only the front speaker wires and splices wires for the subwoofer input on your power amp. Disconnect the splice and install RCA plugs on the subwoofer wires and the front speaker wires. Connect your 4 or 5 volt preamp plugs (RCA plugs) to these plugs. There's detailed information on this forum for this wiring.

Good Luck.

 

I had an eclipse in my last car. I wanna say it was called CD2000 but it may be the pedecessor to the CD2000 flip down/ removable face plate, 4 volt, and it would match our cars great with green backlighting and a black and silver faceplate.

 

If the job becomes too tedious I will end up taking it to an installation shop. Thanks for the heads up on the voltage requirement for the factory amp. I'm looking at some other models now.