Ok, before I get flamed....."do a fricking search man!" I have been looking thru here for some replacement info on my stock system without any luck. It seems people either just put an ipod adaptor in or they gut and re-vamp the whole system. The head unit is on the fritz and needs to be replaced. I have a 2002 TL-S w/Navi. All stock. I just wanna know if anyone has replaced their headunit & speakers w/ aftermarket and are happy with it. I get so much conflicting info from people I talk to. I would like to go w/a mild re-do. Maybe start w/ Apline CDA-105 then speakers next. Keep stock sub for now. I dont want separates or a big sub box in the trunk. I know that would sound better, but I have two kids in braces....priorities.
Will the Alpine work w/ stock speakers?
What's the ohm difference that I hear some talk about?
Do I have to do it all at once because of the ohm dif?
I like the rear output of the Alpine but open to suggestions. I listen to ipod most of the time and for the most part was happy with the stock system when it was working. I'm cheap....wanna spend no more than $300-400. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

 

$400 will buy you the cheap Alpine head unit. You could spend $1200 on just the head. You will need the dash kit ($20 from Scosche) in order to put a new unit in. If you just replace the head unit you will have better sound, but for best results you should replace the A-spec speakers also ($250-500).
If you are planning on keeping the car why not spend the money and do it right. Afterall, you wouldn't replace the kitchen counters in your house with beautiful granite and then put the old rusted kitchen sink back in with it, would you?

 

you can do just about anything in this car. I have a pioneer double din and focal speakers in all the doors. had to make pods in the pillars for tweeters but it made a huge difference. stock speakers are crap in this car so anything will be an improvement

 

Go kenwood for the headunit. They've been making the best bang for buck stuff for a while now.

Get a nice pair of component speakers(woofers, tweets, and crossovers) and 4 channel amp to power them. Small 10" for the lower octaves will work. Dayton ho works in .7 cubic feet which is pretty tiny.

IB is another option if u have some wood working skills.

$400 will get you started. Won't get you everything, though.

 

eggy put u in the right direction. You should buy the headunit from sonic elctronix but the one I got was a nice alpine single din deck that only cost 200. Has I pod hookups and 3 sub pre outs, not that you would need those. But the speakers is all your choice, I would keep the stock ones unless you plan on running an amp to the speakers. I had a touchscreen I loved in my tl but you dont need one with the navi. Best bang for your buck is probably kenwood or a nice single din alpine. Keep the stock speakers is my 2 cents, and upgrade the stereo. If you want a stock headunit, Im pulling mine and putting in a dvd screen if you wanna buy my headunit. Let me know.

 

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but figured it was related.

Currently installing my own aftermarket HU in 2003 TL. My new HU's harness has an orange/white wire for illumination, and the adapter harness has both orange and orange/white wires. Looking at the original factory schematics they are wires A9 and A19 respectively, which appear to be the signal that the headlights are on and the dash dimmer control, therefore both related to illumination. Is either one of these acceptable depending on which function I want to retain?

 

When in doubt, whip it out. In this case, I mean a multi-meter so you can measure the voltage on that wire as you dial the dimmer knob. The one that changes w/ that setting is indeed your dimmer circuit. Given how the illumination works on aftermarket radios (either dim or not, no constant adjustment dependent on the dimmer knob), you could probably use either wire.