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Double Din install help

10K views 27 replies 5 participants last post by  MADDOG 
#1 ·
I have a 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited. I have the stock Boston system with the amp and I do have the three speakers up front. No navigation but I do have the steering wheel controls. I just bought a Pioneer SPH-DA210 dd. My car is only a single din or din and half. Either way not a double. So what all will I need to make this work as far as the kit to turn it into a double and all the wiring harnesses and what not. If anyone knows the models numbers that would be awesome. Second, pretty sure my factory amp is blown since only my front speakers work. But I am buying the Kicker replacement stock amp next month and then will be adding subs. Just want to make sure that problem will not interfere with me installing my new radio now.
 
#2 ·
1. OEM NAV bezel - available online in all types of colors, easy to find, usually runs $125 - $200
2. New amplifier. Get a good 4 channel of your choice. The Kicker upgrade, in my view, is not the one you want. I've used them and ended up pulling them out.
3. PacAudio RP4-CH11 adapter harness to add navigation and retain steering wheel controls.
4. Line out converter. Any one will work but I like the Audio Controls brand.
5. New speakers (eventually).
6. Sub amp of your choice.
 
#3 ·
Alright so I bought the radio, and now I'm about to buy the harness and bezel. I just want to make sure of something, so the bezel...is that also the mounting kit? Also, I went to best buy and they said I needed two separate harnesses, one to keep the door chimes and that stuff and the other for steering wheel controls. I will post links below of the bezel and harness I'm going to buy. I'm learning that these cars are more touchy with doing this kind of stuff than most others so just want to make sure I get the right stuff the first time. It's my first 300 but it's the only car I'll ever buy from now on!

Bezel- Chrysler 300 2005 2006 2007 Radio Stereo Car Install Double Din Navigation Silver Bezel +Harness & Antenna Adapter - Amazon.com

Harness- Amazon.com: Pac Rp4-ch11 Radiopro4 Interface (for Select Chrysler (r) Vehicles With Can Bus): MP3 Players & Accessories

So what I'm going to do for now is just leave the stock amp in there and use that until I can afford to upgrade the amp. There's no problem with that correct?
 
#7 ·
BTW, you are also good to go if you were to purchase an aftermarket amp. Having the pioneer head unit in means you don't need a LOC. You can use the RCA outs and remote turn on from the Pioneer to connect any aftermarket amp you purchase.
 
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#9 ·
I wanna thank you both for all the information, I never would have been able to figure this out without your guys help. I just ordered the Rp4-ch11 with the bezel. Did you guys do your by yourself or take it to a shop? Wondering how hard it is and to see if I could save some money by doing it myself.
 
#10 ·
Have you done installs before? With some help and some pre-reading of all the information on the PacAudio harness you should be able to do this. If you go with an aftermarket amp then that's where it will get a bit tricky for a novice. But with the part you have it's pretty much plug and play.

I just remembered something...if your head unit is navigation capable and does not come with a navigation antenna you'll need one to make it work properly.
 
#11 ·
What I'm doing for now is just leaving the amp alone and hooking up the head unit. In a month or so I will tackle the issue of replacing the amp. I've done plenty of instals for head units but nothing like this where you have to deal with stock amps and canbus systems. My head unit does have NAV but I think it works via Bluetooth on your phone if I'm not mistaken. I'll have to try and look into that one. If I do need a navigation antenna does that work with the harness I bought or how does that go?? Any particular model?
 
#16 ·
Alright so I've decided that I'm just going to knock the amp out of the way while I'm at it. So somebody told me to buy something called an LOC and then run it to an external amp to power the speakers. Is this correct? I think my car has 7 speakers do they make a 7ch LOC?
 
#17 ·
LOC = Line Out Converter.

Definitely something to have when implementing a new amplifier. Audio Control has a 8 channel LOC for a great price that will make amplifier integration much easier unless you want to spend hours and hours figuring out wiring diagrams. It even has a remote gain control for your subwoofer so you can dial in or dial out gain (volume) then you want to thump and when you want that just right amount of bass to go with the rest of the music. It's their LC8 unit and it's easy to install.

You could probably get away with a 6 channel LOC with no problem as the center channel speaker is useless with respects to adding any image or definition to your audio soundstage. In fact, and this is just my opinion, it detracts from what would otherwise be a great sounding system. I like having the stereo separation side to side in the front soundstage and that center channel that may be in your car just muddies things up, IMHO.

So check out AudioControl's website and look at their install manuals while you are there.
 
#18 ·
Let's make it easier for you. Don't buy a LOC yet. Your DA210 has 2 sets of pre-outs, which would easily make a better signal for you.

Get 2 long RCA cables and run those along with an 18 gauge line to the place you plan to mount your amp.

You can connect the 18 gauge wire to the remote turn-on lead coming from the DA210 and when you install the radio, connect the 2 RCA cables to the front and rear RCA outputs on your radio.

That covers your upfront work. You'd still need to run speaker wire to the speakers from the new amp.

What happens next depends on options you decide:

You can try to power all of the speakers, or you can power what you need to get a decent sound stage. Normally, this would involve a front set of speakers for the main stereo image, a rear set for rear fill, and a sub or 2 for the foundation.

Adding an amp gets a bit more complex because of the additional wiring work, but if you followed my advice about the RCA cables and the 18 gauge feed, you've got part of it covered.

What you'd need additionally is now to connect the amp or amps to your speakers.

Here are some options:

Option 1 - A component set for upfront, a set of 6x9s for the rear, a single 4 ch amp
to run them.

Option 2 - replace each speaker location with a speaker of similar size. This means 2 3.5 and 2 6x9 up front and 2 6x9 in the back. You can leave the stock amp connected so that it can power any speakers not powered by the new amp. I'd recommend using the new amp to power at least the front speakers.

Option 3 - See option 1, plus add a mono amp and a sub. You can choose the type of sub enclosure based on how much space in the trunk and where to mount it depending upon your preference.

There are many more ways to do this as well.
 
#20 ·
You're right that adding the LOC to the stock amp opens up additional expansion options. Plus AudioControl makes such great signal processors. Can't go wrong with them.

So many different ways to tackle this.......
 
#22 ·
So with the help of everybody on here I was able to bypass my stock amp to get all of my speakers working and I also got my double din installed with the nav, steering wheel controls and door chimes working just fine. I will post a pic later, but now I want to add a backup camera since my windows are tinted its hard to see out the back. Anybody recommend one in particular or any brand?
 
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