Aftermarket Stereo Install Questions...

H

hollow_man12

Member
Hello All!

I am new to the form, but I have been looking down the threads and have been amazed that there isn't more talk about how to install after market stereos. I just have the CX-9 Sport with the basic stereo, no Bose, no Nav, none of that because I wanted to put something in there that I chose. I found a great deck, but now I am in a position where I can't find any install kits AND I can't find any pictures of kits that people have created.

I have seen a couple pictures of installed stereos and they look nice, but what I want to see is a picture of the self created install kit the people used. So if you are one of those brilliant folks who created their own install kit, please post some pictures of just the piece you fabricated so I can get some ideas.

Any help in this area would be much appreciated! :)

P.S. I am interested in Double Din install only.
 
Close, but not exactly...

Thanks for that input, it is exactly the kind of information I am looking for, something that shows how someone created what they needed. But in the case of the Alpine, what I think they did was take a single din install kit for thier car and created a double din install kit out of it.

The difference here is that they at least started with an install kit that was for their car, so the mounting and shape was right to start with, they just needed to change the opening of the kit. In my case there is not install kit at all for the CX-9 so I need to start from total scratch.

But like I said, thank you for the input, it's definitley along the lines of what I am talking about. :)
 
I was in the same delima about 18 month's ago. I decided to keep the stock deck and use a JL Audio Clean Sweep till an install kit is available.
 
Maybe a DD OEM center panel is what you need and you can modify it to accommodate your aftermarket unit. What I see from the workshop manual (page 09-17-5) is the radio slot in the dashboard itself is DD size, regardless of your CX-9's trim (i.e. Nav, Bose, etc.).
 
Keep the advice coming ;)

To respond to the last couple suggestions I'd say to CX92ENVY a couple things... first off, beautiful ride man, really nice work! Secondly I hear what you are saying with keeping the stock unit until the kit comes out, but the problem is that I want actual iPod integration right now (not the fake integration from the Maxda iPod Integration Module). And I want the multimedia benefits of the deck I am looking at. There are a number of things I want out of the headunit that isn't just louder music :)

To OMF, I have a question, are you saying get a Blank insert as if I was to remove the stereo altogether and just have a blank panel there? Do they make those? That would actually be perfect. Then I could Dremel the hell out of it and make it my own. Have you seen one of these panels?

Thanks again Guys.
 
Hello? Anyone out there?

I now have my new Clarion Double Din Deck. Metra says they are "working on" an install kit, and Scosche says they have nothing in development.

So... once again I see some fine work on these forums, there has to be someone out there who has pictures of the process of building thier own kit... isn't that what the internet is for, to pass on knowledge to help others so we aren't all reinventing the wheel every time? :)

Really I just wanted to bump my own thread so people would take notice that I still need help!
 
I was in contact with Metra last week, and unfortunately, I got the same answer that there is no timeline set to release a kit. If we could get some members to e-mail Metra we may be able to get them to move forward with production on the kit. Do I have any takers willing to assist with this project? I have a contact at Metra we can use. I also know a few parts vendors that may be willing to try as well if there is some support.
 
I have also contacted Metra about a double din about a month ago. I would love to see a double din kit and would be willing to help how ever I can.
 
Thanks, gotcoffee. Is there anyone else who is willing to e-mail Metra to help them realize the potential market for this kit?
 
I emailed Metra today and received this response:

"The CX-9 is under review. They have taken measurements, but there is no immediate plans to develop this kit. The AC and Radio are integrated together on the same circuit board, so this one will take us some time to build and ship."

I hope this one makes it to market...
 
What are they talking about?

That is definitely not true... In my case I have already replaced the stock standard stereo with an aftermarket unit and everything works fine... the only sticky point is that you can't reset the clock in the dash top display without the stock head unit. But other than that it was just a standard install using a standard Mazda wire harness adapter.

All Metra, or anyone really, needs to do is come up with a decent looking plastic double din surround that mounts to the stock location and fills the gap around the stereo... it's just a piece of molded plastic, nothing more is needed.

It sounds like the metra guy was just making up some bull story to appease the customer.
 
were you able to at least shut the clock off? that would drive me nuts to always have the wrong time.

Also, the folks at the Car Tunes place said you loose your blue tooth integration, is that true?
 
For now the time is still right... after daylight savings time it will be an hour off of course, but I am already training myself to look at the clock on the Stereo instead so I just ignore the other one.

As far as Bluetooth, I don't know honestly. I just had the standard stereo that I replaced. No Nav, no bluetooth, no satellite... etc. I didn't bother opting for any of that stuff, because I knew I'd be replacing it anyways.

The only special thing I had to do was use the PAC SWI-JACK adapter so that I could keep my steering wheel radio controls. But I had to make sure that the stereo I got had the jack for remote control.

All in all everything works great, it just doesn't look as good as I'd like it to because it's hard to fabricate the surround for the dash hole.
 
I am frustrated as well!

I cut off a small piece of cardboard to cover the clock because it was driving me nuts. The dash install kit is a major worry, and the stereo does not sound as good because you have to bypass the equalizer. PAC does make something that goes to the factory eq., but only has four channels and only works the front speakers. I love my Alpine Nav. system, but am beginning to think that I regret not going factory. Any suggestions? Also, bluetooth does not work now.
 
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Why don't you set the clock? There should be a way to change the time. I can do it on my CX9 (it has NAV).



hollow_man12 said:
For now the time is still right... after daylight savings time it will be an hour off of course, but I am already training myself to look at the clock on the Stereo instead so I just ignore the other one.

As far as Bluetooth, I don't know honestly. I just had the standard stereo that I replaced. No Nav, no bluetooth, no satellite... etc. I didn't bother opting for any of that stuff, because I knew I'd be replacing it anyways.

The only special thing I had to do was use the PAC SWI-JACK adapter so that I could keep my steering wheel radio controls. But I had to make sure that the stereo I got had the jack for remote control.

All in all everything works great, it just doesn't look as good as I'd like it to because it's hard to fabricate the surround for the dash hole.
Click to expand...
 
The clock can be set only with the original stereo, not an aftermarket. If you can set it, you must have the original equipment. If not, then please tell me how!
 
OMG you guys should feed us with some pictures, im so dying here to see how does an aftermarket stereo looks like on cx-9's dash
 
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