New Sound System

[White Bullet]

Well the radio decided to stop working. So I was left with fixing it again or doing some research for what is available. The last time I fixed the system was mainly due to not caring for the sound quality of mp3's. In my research I found a JVC head unit that will playback lossless FLAC files. I long ago converted my in home music system to FLAC and this seemed the right direction to go. So I purchased the head unit and Kenwood speakers (6X9 for the rear and 6 1/2 with separate tweeters) for the front. I custom made boxes for the fronts and purchased a factory GM bracket for the 6X9s so it looks stock. Non Bose corvettes had 6X9 in the rear. Also I had a enclosed sub from another car that I placed in the back storage box out of sight. All I can say is WOW!! This setup rocks. It can be adjusted to your hearts content and has more bells and whistles then I will ever use. I have gone from the stone age to the future. Enjoy a few pictures of the head unit.

[Locobob]

Very nice, lets see the enclosed sub, curious what that looks like.

[White Bullet]

Thanks. I will take some photo's this weekend and post.

[USAZR1]

The more I look at it,the better I like that JVC unit. How much work was it to install that? Any cutting involved?

[White Bullet]

Here is the photo of the sub.

[White Bullet]

Originally Posted by USAZR1

The more I look at it,the better I like that JVC unit. How much work was it to install that? Any cutting involved?

It was not bad. The only cutting was the back support for the factory radio. Once it was out the radio fit just fine. I used a American International GMK311 kit to mount it with. It was not necessary to cut the radio bezel as it fit over the radio. The electrical connections were made using an adaptor for power and ground with new speakers wired to the radio. The only pain was finding a wire that was controlled by the headlights for the dimming.

[Locobob]

Originally Posted by White Bullet

It was not bad. The only cutting was the back support for the factory radio. Once it was out the radio fit just fine. I used a American International GMK311 kit to mount it with. It was not necessary to cut the radio bezel as it fit over the radio. The electrical connections were made using an adaptor for power and ground with new speakers wired to the radio. The only pain was finding a wire that was controlled by the headlights for the dimming.

So what wire did you connect the dimmer to? About to tackle this issue and was going to look for a gray wire.

[White Bullet]

Originally Posted by Locobob

So what wire did you connect the dimmer to? About to tackle this issue and was going to look for a gray wire.

This is from memory so as I recall there is a connector that drops form the climate control area (above the radio). It had five wires in a female housing and the wire that I used was the middle wire (I believe it was orange). You may want to check in the service manual in the wiring diagrams as it shows where each wire comes from. I will check tomorrow and confirm. Good luck.

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by White Bullet

It was not bad. The only cutting was the back support for the factory radio. Once it was out the radio fit just fine. I used a American International GMK311 kit to mount it with. It was not necessary to cut the radio bezel as it fit over the radio. The electrical connections were made using an adaptor for power and ground with new speakers wired to the radio. The only pain was finding a wire that was controlled by the headlights for the dimming.

David are the side install brackets plastic or metal? I see this is a pocket kit just like the Metra install kit as well.

[White Bullet]

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

David are the side install brackets plastic or metal? I see this is a pocket kit just like the Metra install kit as well.

Sorry for the late response. But the answer to your question is it is plastic. I used the Metra kit in a 94 and the way they have the holes all over makes it very difficult to place the bracket on the side and adjust the mounting depth of the radio. The American kit is far easier to mount the bracket and allows for easy depth adjustments to flush mount the radio.