Aftermarket stereo for ION

I have a 2003 ION3. The supplied stereo radio/cassette/CD does not play
MP3s, and the freqeuncy response is tinny. Turning the bass response up only
distorts the bass.

Has anyone replaced the GM stereo with an aftermarket stereo?

What I want to do is replace the built in radio/cassette/CD with an
aftermarket brand that plays MP3s in the CD player.

As far as I know there are no radio/cassette/CD/MP3 sets to buy, only
radio/CD/MP3.

Once this is done I want to improve the bass response for the radio (and
cassette). If this does not improve with a change to the stereo system then
I would then replace the speakers. Anyone done this on an ION yet?

If anyone has done one or both of these things, what brands did you use and
did it improve the sound without resorting to buying an additional
amplifier?

 

If you replace the head unit and keep the original speakers, you will not
get much improvement. Even replacing the speakers with your current head
unit would likely make a big difference (on my old Sunfire, even cheapo
replacement speakers were way better than stock, with a stock CD player).

 

I've seen a few Ions on cardomain that have had aftermarket decks installed.
I'm curious as to exactly which stock saturn system you're using. I have
the 6 disc in dash changer/cassette player along with the 160W 6 speaker
advanced audio system and it sounds really good for a stock
system........considering how picky I am about audio that means a lot. The
only thing I've bothered to do was to have a single amp and subwoofer tapped
into the stock system for that extra low end that was missing. I do plan on
eventually replacing everything with a custom competition or at least show
level setup but that's a few months or more and several 1000 dollars off.

Charles

 

Hi Charles,

My ION3 came with the 'AM/FM stereo with CD/cassette player and four coaxial
speakers'.

Similary equipped 2004s have 'four coaxial premium speakers'. So there's a
difference.
Also, the 2004s have 'ETR AM/FM stereo w/CD player, MP3 player, radio data
system'.

And all stereos on 2004s have 'improved sound quality and equalization'.

 

im going to have to disagree with Robert here, of course, you're talking ION
and I have a SL2, but I think its safe to assume that the stock speakers in
both cars are about the same. Anyway, I replaced the garbage stock tape
player with a Pioneer 50x4 (dont remember the exact model number, but if
your interested i could dig it up for you) CD/radio player and the
difference in sound quality was amazing. Music sounds great now and I was
actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of the speakers considering the
genre of music I listen to which generally kills speakers in a month.... and
they are still going strong after 2.5 years

 

Thanks for the feedback, Wurm.

--
Chris

player).

 

Hmmm, mine is 2003 as well, but it sounds like you have a different speaker
setup and it's being run off of the amp in the deck so yeah that could very
well be the sound quality problem. You don't necessarily have to replace
the deck but if you replace the speakers you will want an amp for them since
I highly doubt the deck by itself can properly drive aftermarket speakers.
Maybe the best route here is to replace the deck first and see how the sound
does. It all comes down to how much you can spend and what you really want
to do I guess.

Charles

 

I would have to agree.

Dollar for dollar, money spent on speakers will usually make more of an
audible difference than anywhere else. But at a minimum, try to replace the
head unit and at least the front speakers at the same time to get the most
out of your upgrade.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]
---
Visit my Saturn Car Audio and Performance Page at http://www57.pair.com/lane

 

I've heard both the standard and the premium system (the premium is what I
have in my car). I agree, the premium system is pretty good for a stock
setup. The standard speaker system sounds like a clock radio by comparison.

 

hehe there's always the frankenaudio system I had in my 94 SC2. When I
bought it I got it with just the basic cassette/stereo but bought the
coaxial front/extended range rear speaker package......Saturn's high end
speakers at the time. It was ok, but I changed it, I disconnected the deck
from all the speakers and tapped in an Audio Control EQX EQ/crossover
unit.....if you don't know what that is it's a high end competition level
processor that in 94 was $350. Ran that out to a 4 channel amp and tapped
the amp into the stock speakers and also had another amp and subs in there.
Believe it or not that actually sounded pretty decent. Probably only
because of the EQX though lol. I even custom designed the box so that I
could remove the spare tire without having to remove any stereo stuff even
though the box still took up half the trunk almost.

Charles

 

You'll need a mount kit, Metra PN# 99-3106, and it's always nice to use a
no-cut wire harness as well, to plug into the GM harness, Metra PN# 70-2002.
Most install shops should have those kits, but also, a stereo install is
really not too difficult. With the help of that kit and harness, you can
probably do it yourself. I would recommend the Kenwood KDC-MP522, or if you
want more toys, the MP822 or MP922. Sounds great, even with the stock
speakers.