# want to install aftermarket stereo



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I would find a car audio specialty store in your area and see what they have. Also, take a look at XtremeRevolution's http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/57-how-forum/6056-car-audio-sq-how-thread.html. Even if you're not a DIY person when it comes to your car, it's still a good reference on what to look for.


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## djhamp (Jun 29, 2012)

Go out to Crutchfields web site, you can put in your car and it will tell you what fits. I would recommend the Metra adapters - they will allow you to put a normal double-din radio in the place of the stock one and it looks like it belongs there. All the big players make a touch-screen head unit that will fit with all the features you could want.

Check out keveburd's "stereo gear" for sale post - he is selling all the parts you need


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

The only downside to aftermarket is that most everything in the car is controlled by the stereo. Unless I am missing the boat and the aftermarket stereos now have the ability to control the car like the factory stereo does.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Patman said:


> The only downside to aftermarket is that most everything in the car is controlled by the stereo. Unless I am missing the boat and the aftermarket stereos now have the ability to control the car like the factory stereo does.


They do not, and that's the primary reason why I don't recommend replacing it. You lose the controls of the car such as the light dimmers when you change the stereo. You then need to purchase modules for steering wheel controls, door chimes, and in some instances, OnStar if you choose to keep it. The end result is a large expense and complication for arguably very little benefit.


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## djhamp (Jun 29, 2012)

All depends on what you have and if you are happy with it. I have a 2012 LS, so it didnt have bluetooth or usb. With all my upgrades I have spent a little over $700. That got me the big touch screen, NAV, bluetooth, DVD, hands free calling - all new speakers, power amp. It all looks like OEM and works great. OnStar still works fine. Running cables for the power amp and installing the speakers was the hardest part, installing the head unit wasnt bad at all. The sound is no comparison at all it is so much better. The head unit has low level outputs for the power amp which I would have to believe has better sound quality than running off the speaker outputs. Anyway look at all your options, its great that people are posting their installs out here - the little tablet install replacing the info screen looks intriguing.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

djhamp said:


> All depends on what you have and if you are happy with it. I have a 2012 LS, so it didnt have bluetooth or usb. With all my upgrades I have spent a little over $700. That got me the big touch screen, NAV, bluetooth, DVD, hands free calling - all new speakers, power amp. It all looks like OEM and works great. OnStar still works fine. Running cables for the power amp and installing the speakers was the hardest part, installing the head unit wasnt bad at all. The sound is no comparison at all it is so much better. The head unit has low level outputs for the power amp which I would have to believe has better sound quality than running off the speaker outputs. Anyway look at all your options, its great that people are posting their installs out here - the little tablet install replacing the info screen looks intriguing.


To be truthful, the high level outputs for the front of the factory radio are actually of very high quality. The signal is fine; it's the speakers that are garbage. Ask anyone here who has heard my car and they'll vouch for how beautiful it sounds. For a novice or someone who doesn't have decent equalization capabilities on their hardware, it's actually better to keep the stock radio because it has hard-coded equalizers that compensate for things like off-as tweeter alignment in the pillars, and poor door deadening. 

Generally speaking, your sound system will only sound as good as the best system you've heard before. On that note, nobody has ever listened to my Cruze and walked out saying "I've heard better." The signal source is perfectly clean. My greatest problem is that the system is so incredibly accurate and detailed that it is very revealing of compressed audio and bad recordings, and that's something you only discover when you have a system good enough to bring out those flaws.

I do agree with you though; if you don't have a lot of features already and have an LS, going aftermarket won't cause you to lose much. 

For the record, I spent just shy of $1000 on my entire system. 

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using AutoGuide.Com Free App


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## djhamp (Jun 29, 2012)

I can believe your system sounds great from your sq thread. Tuning, sound deadening, etc can make as much difference as good equipment, combine that with some upgrades and you can look forward to cranking some tunes in your ride. The stock sytems are much better than they used to be with the speakers being the weak link. And I agree a mediocre system sounds good until you hear a nice system, more so at lower volume levels. And I also agree you will hear the difference in music sources and want the best to get the most out of your system.


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## djhamp (Jun 29, 2012)

Oh and to sum up the original question, to add features you are missing you can:
swap the stock HU to another stock HU that has the features (junk yard, another owner)
replace the HU with a aftermarket HU (lots of options & prices)
or maybe go the android tablet route keeping the stock HU


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## tommymilan311 (Jun 6, 2014)

They actually make addapers now to allow you to use On Star, Door Chimes, The whole 9 yards really. Id recomend Crutchfield to at least find out everything you need. The unit that I am installing will only cause me to lose the factory XM(but comes with Sirius... Exactly the same as XM by the way, actually the same company too, girlfriend used to work in a call center that sold them, also fight for you $1/month plan with them if you like it. They will give it to you, trust me.) Factory USB and AUX, Im going to try to run the New USB and AUX to the factory locations and come up with some sort of bracket to hold them in place, I am an engineer and have regular access to CAD(Computer Aided Design/Drawing) and companies that I can have plastic pieces made for me for a relatively fair price, Ill also be loosing my hands free microphone but I will also be trying to wire the aftermarket microphone in the same spot as well. I will be able to retain all features on my steering wheel, the factory head unit does stay though, the cool part about it is that it will read the time(you can adjust this through the steering wheel), the date, the temperature outside, It will also read the name of your aftermarket stereo and if you tech savvy enough you can make your own display, I like that because its better than just a black screen.

I use crutchfield to find what I need and then I usually buy all the same products from amazon.

Crutchfield - ~1600
Amazon - ~1250


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

As stated previously, it's pointless (almost) to use an aftermarket headunit. In an LS I would be ok with it, in anything higher not so much. As XR said, the output signal is fine from the stock HU. If you have the touch screen I would definitely recommend using a LOC.


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## Evofire (Oct 3, 2013)

ok new question then. is there a way to just change the push button controls to a touch screen unit that can control the stock radio?


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

This is the short answer ! Yeah go out and trade up for a newer vehichle with all of those touch screen amenities that you so desire . 


The realities today are there is firm ware , wiring ,and many other complications to tackle along that path that will need to be addressed ! Mainly the Security features written into the computers that limit the capability of swapping Electrical Components !


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## mahimahi (Feb 4, 2014)

djhamp said:


> All depends on what you have and if you are happy with it. I have a 2012 LS, so it didnt have bluetooth or usb. With all my upgrades I have spent a little over $700. That got me the big touch screen, NAV, bluetooth, DVD, hands free calling - all new speakers, power amp. It all looks like OEM and works great. OnStar still works fine. Running cables for the power amp and installing the speakers was the hardest part, installing the head unit wasnt bad at all. The sound is no comparison at all it is so much better. The head unit has low level outputs for the power amp which I would have to believe has better sound quality than running off the speaker outputs. Anyway look at all your options, its great that people are posting their installs out here - the little tablet install replacing the info screen looks intriguing.


Hi, I have 2012 LS and recently got a aftermarket radio that may be similar to yours however my car appears to be missing the rectangular connector that is required to connect the LCD and possibly another one that connects to the radio. either that or they are hidden in the main harness located in the white housing behind the radio. The guy I bought it from said it came out of his 2012 LS and that these connectors should have been easy to spot in the bay behind the radio. I checked and they were not bundled with the existing radio and LCD harnesses under the electrical tape. Attached is a photo of of the back of the radio and LCD. The connectors I am referring to connect to the white rectangular pin connections on the LCD and Radio. did you have these in your car? If so where were they located. Thanks for any help you can provide.


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

MahiMahi, I don't want to leave you hanging but I can't answer this as I haven't toyed around with this stereo yet. I can't begin to tell you which connectors should or should not be there. I'm sure one of the other guys knows. Bumping this up hoping they'll respond soon.


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## mahimahi (Feb 4, 2014)

iTz SADISTIK said:


> MahiMahi, I don't want to leave you hanging but I can't answer this as I haven't toyed around with this stereo yet. I can't begin to tell you which connectors should or should not be there. I'm sure one of the other guys knows. Bumping this up hoping they'll respond soon.


Thanks! Tomorrow AM ( Saturday here on Guam) I will once again remove the radio and this time I will try to open up the plastic box in the rear of the radio bay and see if there are any extra connectors in there. There should be since every radio I have seen similar to mine has the same connector on the LCD. Anyway, I am getting really good at removing the radio;-) Thankfully I have a set of professional panel and trim tools which makes this very easy. Hopefully Djhamp may be able to help.

Cheers
Chris


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## ferreiracruze (Jul 4, 2014)

how did you get your head unit to display, mine is off


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## Mattyf2 (Dec 16, 2012)

tommymilan311 said:


> They actually make addapers now to allow you to use On Star, Door Chimes, The whole 9 yards really. Id recomend Crutchfield to at least find out everything you need. The unit that I am installing will only cause me to lose the factory XM(but comes with Sirius... Exactly the same as XM by the way, actually the same company too, girlfriend used to work in a call center that sold them, also fight for you $1/month plan with them if you like it. They will give it to you, trust me.) Factory USB and AUX, Im going to try to run the New USB and AUX to the factory locations and come up with some sort of bracket to hold them in place, I am an engineer and have regular access to CAD(Computer Aided Design/Drawing) and companies that I can have plastic pieces made for me for a relatively fair price, Ill also be loosing my hands free microphone but I will also be trying to wire the aftermarket microphone in the same spot as well. I will be able to retain all features on my steering wheel, the factory head unit does stay though, the cool part about it is that it will read the time(you can adjust this through the steering wheel), the date, the temperature outside, It will also read the name of your aftermarket stereo and if you tech savvy enough you can make your own display, I like that because its better than just a black screen.
> 
> I use crutchfield to find what I need and then I usually buy all the same products from amazon.
> 
> ...


Can you tell me how to adjust the factory time and date? My temperature is correct but I can't seem to change the time and date.


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## Mattyf2 (Dec 16, 2012)

I am wishing I would have stuck with my factory radio it sounded great. But the salesman at the store told me I would get so much more out of my Rockford fogs ate 3sixty.3 not the case. I think it was a commission thing.


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

Mattyf2 said:


> I am wishing I would have stuck with my factory radio it sounded great. But the salesman at the store told me I would get so much more out of my Rockford fogs ate 3sixty.3 not the case. I think it was a commission thing.


YUP! I've considered replacing my touchscreen mylink but given that the screen becomes unusable with an aftermarket I don't really see the point. Car has all the functionality already so if I really want to watch movies I'm going to have to get creative with an android or ipad tablet  Can't wait to share what I come up with.


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## mahimahi (Feb 4, 2014)

mahimahi said:


> Thanks! Tomorrow AM ( Saturday here on Guam) I will once again remove the radio and this time I will try to open up the plastic box in the rear of the radio bay and see if there are any extra connectors in there. There should be since every radio I have seen similar to mine has the same connector on the LCD. Anyway, I am getting really good at removing the radio;-) Thankfully I have a set of professional panel and trim tools which makes this very easy. Hopefully Djhamp may be able to help.
> 
> UPDATE- I finally convinced the seller to look in his car for the missing cable and he found it. I received it a few days ago and installed the radio. This is one of those units that looks like a factory install. anyway, everything works great, all original functions, chimes, etc are intact including the use of the original controls, On Star appears to work as well but since I am on Guam it cannot connect. Now just to find a GPS map of Guam, as if I really need that. The island is only 30 miles long and 4 to 8 miles wide. The install was easy and took about 30 minuets, half of which was spent working out how to stuff all the wiring in behind the radio so I could mount it.
> 
> ...


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## Endever72 (Jun 1, 2018)

Hi guys...
Nice thread and thnx for sharing your input. 
My ? is.....
I have a blown stereo unit in my 2012 LTZ which was diagnosed at the dealer. It really sucks not having any music and feeling like this was junk only being 6 yrs old 
So the new unit from gm Canada online is 740 canadian or a aftermarket at or around 500 on like amazon ??
I have read some info on the car batt not putting out enough pwr/signal to keep this unit running... I'm thinking its the org battery...new batt first?
bcoz even if I buy a new after market unit and a new batt I'm looking at like 700CA or just stick to the factory unit ??
I agree that there is def better stereo options but I'm not likely to keep this vehicle longer than 3 more yrs. I just want everything to function as they once did !

Thnx and cheers,
Sonny


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