New Radio or New Speakers

[VDub Dan-O]

I'm sure this has been beat to death a million times, but a search hasn't returned anything useful.

My car had a CD changer at one point, but it was robbed somewhere in it's life. I still have the bracket in place in the trunk and the connector is there, so picking up a $37 CD changer from ECS in an option.

My question is: Do I leave the stock cassette radio in place, (less likely to be stolen) pick up a CD changer and upgrade the speakers keeping the system simple to use and clean looking or upgrade the speakers and go with an aftermarket headunit (keeping in mind, I would want the blue/red lighting)

Again, I apologize for this issue that I'm sure has been covered, and I thank you for the input.

[dmbluebeetle]

If all you want is the CD changer reinstalled, then I would stay with what you already have since all the wiring is in place.

If you decide to upgrade your radio to aftermarket, then you will have to add harness adapters for everything and add a install kit.

[Toad]

if you want a cd player, better sound, aren't going to go amp crazy, and don't want to lose a lot of money if it gets stolen, i'd definitely recommend this: Alpine CDE-100 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

I put one in my cabrio because there's no logical reason to put an expensive radio in a convertible, and i really really like it. The red matches perfectly and the blue is a pretty good match too. And the usb port means you can just buy a cheap little flash drive and just dump some mp3s on it and have way more than 6 cds worth of music you can control through the deck. I use it to plug my phone in and it reads the 8gig card in my phone perfectly and it also charges my phone while playing off it! (how awesome is that?)

[VDub Dan-O]

Thanks for the quick replies.
I like that Alpne unit

[Supercharged98]

Just remember, you can put in $1000 speakers, and it will still sound like crap. The head unit produces the quaility of the sound the speakers put out.

[VDub Dan-O]

Excellent point!

I like the link to the unit Toad posted.
Nice match to the dash.

Thanks again everyone for your input.

[VDub Dan-O]

Update: I sold my '01 and bought an '02 Turbo S with a Monsoon system and it sounds awesome!

[john96gw]

I have a question, when you guys change out your radio (Monsoon system) do you remove the amp located in the trunk?

[umaxblaze]

Originally Posted by john96gw

I have a question, when you guys change out your radio (Monsoon system) do you remove the amp located in the trunk?

i left my monsoon amp in place and am very very happy with the quality of sound that my speakers produce with the added power of my headunit (Alpine CDA-9856). i have been told by people that if you replace the head, you have to replace everything, but i have been using my system for about a year now without any issues at all.