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Hi, this is my first time posting on this fourm, sorry if i'm posting in the wrong category or something
I was wondering if there is a stereo receiver that I can just plug in the preexisting wire bundles to. I have close to no knowledge about these things, but I'm guessing connections have changed since 1995. I don't have the confidence to cut wires and such, but i think I have enough brains to unplug and plug things. all I really want is something with aux cable and under $100, since the original cassette player seems to be broken.
sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm still new to having a car. any sort of advice will be greatly appreciated!
Tetsumon, other than following Raine's DIY thread to the letter (ie: Metra harnesses are NOT plug and play) to install an aftermarket stereo into your factory Pioneer equipped SC300/400 there is the Beat-Sonic (beatsonicusa.com) SLA-10B kit for $330.00. Not cheap but that is supposed to be plug and play. Note that it is JUST a pre-made wiring harness for the SC that allows the connection of any aftermarket stereo you wish. I have not used one of those yet but it's my plan to.
You can also buy a Metra harness and hack its wiring to pieces while following Raine's instructions if you do not wish to cut directly into your stock chassis wires to hook up your aftermarket stereo but regardless you would still need to follow his DIY as to the actual wiring connections. The Metra harness wiring as it comes stock is not accurate and needs to be changed and augmented to work correctly. It becomes little more than a way to avoid cutting your chassis wiring because the same amount of work is involved regardless of whether you use it or not. Then again I like clean and unharmed wiring in my cars and I prefer to be able to plug the stock stereo head unit back in if needed so that is why I mention it.
Any aftermarket stereo you buy new or old will have to be wired up the same way. There is no direct transplant from another Toyota except from another SC300/400. If your car came with a Pioneer OEM head unit then you'd need one of those. If your car came with a Nakamichi OEM head unit then that's what you'd need.
Originally Posted by Sactolex
depends on what type of head unit yours has, but you can do a stupid quick easy mod to add an aux in to your head unit.
^^ It's easiest with the Pioneer OEM head units. I highly recommend this DIY modification. One of the best simple modifications you can do to a stock SC.
Originally Posted by Sactolex
also, if you replace the head unit with aftermarket, you may not be able to use your factory amp for the subwoofer without trickier wiring.
^^ This is the main reason why Raine created his thread. The OEM Pioneer cars have an unconventional way the stereo amplifier and stock subwoofer are wired and it requires some specific (but not insurmountable) wiring to get an aftermarket stereo head unit to play nicely. Nakamichi cars are a bit different and I know there is an approach for that as well but I'm unsure of what it is.
There's always plug-in fm transmitters, quality is decent to meh, though. However they actually make a wired transmitter (hence, much better sound quality) that's like an in between for the head unit and the antenna plug, if you can find the right size that could be a simple and cost effective option. There's a huge variety. Your head unit has to work obviously, but if only the cassette player is broken I can't imagine it being an issue. Here's a generic one.
^^ There is that one or by the same company you could buy the iSimple Tranzit BLU-HF. That works from the FM connection or via an aux-in connection (you would need the OEM Pioneer aux-in mod first). I've had it in my car. Worked great for a couple of years until it died on me a few weeks ago. Although I haven't ruled out a separate electrical issue having caused this since it does not seem to be the only aftermarket accessory I've had trouble with on the same circuit. I haven't had time to diagnose that yet.
In my experience it's been a good way to add Bluetooth audio and handsfree calling to the factory stereo.
If you really want to go cheap cheap there are several after market FM transmitters that can use a smart phone analog (head phone) jack and send an FM signal to your existing head unit to an "unused" FM frequency....
I used one in the LS430 and for the $20 or so it works pretty good and it doubles as a smart phone holder....
i think, if memory serves me correctly, that Ali has done an aux mod for the tape player. I'll search it and se if I can find a link to add here. That will surely be the least expensive but laboring way to add aux to your radio.
second cheapest way is wiring mode Craig (kahnbb6) is talking about. I have personally done this modification twice and was extremely successful both times. it involves an aftermarket radio, removal of the stock amp, reusing the existing sub amp, and all factory speakers. It requires taking apart a good portion of the interior (rear seat, 1/4 panel trim, door sills, trunk linings, center console, glove box, etc.) to route the wiring to the trunk where your factory connector is for the amp. then you do some splicing of the factory harness back there AND some splicing of the factory harness behind the radio. You also run a remote wire from your new head unit to your existing amp on the parcel shelf to power that. it works really well. It's just a bit time consuming.
If i did it all over again though... 10" sub in deck lid, 2 channel amp powering, 4 channel amp powering door and deck speakers, new speakers, run rcas to amps, run speaker wiring from amps to speakers, tune, enjoy.
thank you all for giving me such detailed instructions and suggestions!
I think what I'll do is, as this is what seems to be the most basic approach of aftermarket sound systems, I'll find a decent priced receiver and wire it up with the harness. If I recall correctly, mine was a nakamichi so I'll keep that in mind when shopping for harnesses.
jimmymac30's all out upgrade seems really fun, but I think I'll save that till I have more money and experience doing these kinds of things.
thank you all for giving me such detailed instructions and suggestions!
I think what I'll do is, as this is what seems to be the most basic approach of aftermarket sound systems, I'll find a decent priced receiver and wire it up with the harness. If I recall correctly, mine was a nakamichi so I'll keep that in mind when shopping for harnesses.
jimmymac30's all out upgrade seems really fun, but I think I'll save that till I have more money and experience doing these kinds of things.
again, thank you all for such helpful comments!
I have a Nakamichi system wired with the Metra kit and harness and it worked fine for the 4 individual speaker locations through the factory amp, but not the sub. I had to run a new RCA cable and install an aftermarket amp for the sub (I also ran a new power wire for the new sub amp.) The factory Nakamichi sub is 5 ohms and handles about 120 watts, so any amp that supplies between 100 watts and 150 watts at 4 ohms is generally OK depending on your desires (mine is 160 watts and I don't get anywhere near the 135 watts it should be putting out at 5 ohms before the deck rattles and/or the sub sounds overextended.)
I pulled the CD changer and used the bracket to mount the new sub. Looks pretty decent considering how easy it was.
06-29-16, 07:28 PM
Easy aftermarket stereo reciever
