abroadst

We already have the XM radio working over wireless FM. She says she can hear what I'm talking about when I asked, "doesn't it sound like it's coming through a tin can with a sock on the end of it?" And I can play commercial FM broadcast music and it's obviously better, and she can hear that. Still she says it's good enough. And she's right when she says that it's partially just because the XM source sucks. It's low bitrate compressed digital music after all. The improvement with the jazzy board I'm sure will be noticeable and better, but it will never be as good as a CD or even regular analog FM broadcasts. That's just a limitation of satellite radio. Part of becoming an XM (or Sirius) subscriber is deciding that the lack of commercials and improved programming choice is more important than sound quality. I might just need to get over it.

Thanks sfsubie for figuring out the install for those of us with the manual HVAC. And the picture helps a lot. Jazzy, if I decide to go back in I think I should be able to do it with this new info. But I'm reluctant I must say, since this is mostly my wife's car (during the week) and she has said she doesn't care and frankly thinks I'm crazy for spending the time on this. I was lucky to find the time to open it up once -- I might be done with this one. I'll let you know if I ever get around to trying it again.

This is the 1CD head unit by the way. So it may be somewhat different from the 6CD variety I suppose. But I wouldn't guess the cables on the back are that different. Yeah it's a blue cable alright. I followed it back and couldn't reach the end of it. I pulled a bit to see if I could get some slack and maybe find a connector but it wouldn't budge. It's on the bottom of the unit on the extreme left (driver's side). I don't have a subwoofer. Could it be a subwoofer cable? I had the XM radio professionally installed, but mainly just for the XM antenna (which they hid inside the fin over the rear lift gate -- totally invisible) and the XM commander mounting in the upper cubby. It's connected with wireless FM. I decided the sound quality wasn't good enough. So I'm trying to fix that bit of it, which I figured I was up to by myselft. So I guess it's possible that the blue cable is from the installer guys -- seems doubtful though. If I get time to open it up again I'll try to take a picture.

I got the head unit half way out but I can't figure out how to disconnect the antenna. It's the big blue cable on the bottom left, right? I can see how the insulation of the cable is stripped as it enters the stereo just past the plastic wire guide/clip. It's seriously connected, and there's no obvious way to pull it out. I can't reach the other side of it -- it goes off deep into the dash toward the steering wheel. As long as it's connected I can't get the radio out more than a couple inches. Jazzy's instructions made it sound so simple. I guess I'm giving up and putting it back together. Bummer.

I'm going to connect my XM Commander (currently mounted in the upper navigation cubbie and using wireless FM) to the 1CD HU using Jazzy's board. But I'm also considering putting in an expansion cable in the center console for a future iPod or other device. Can both be connected to the Jazzy board using a splitter? Or do I need a switch of some kind? Any thoughts?