Replace Radio

[Sean Donohue]

DW hates the stock radio. I agree, it could use an upgrade to include a wireless remote, iPhone or iPod connection, and a Flash Drive port.  I can live without the NOAA radio and CD options, cause we do not use them.  Has anyone upgraded the radio yet, and if so, what can you recommend, along with any features we have not thought of?

Thanks.

[Sean Donohue]

In addition to the radio, we are thinking about replacing the speakers in the front with BOSE... Anyone out there do this or used other speakers?

[LEAH DRAPER]

YES, I replaced the "crappy" radio about a year ago, after it had problems.  I replaced it with a Pioneer brand that had lots of features, iPod connection, disk player, and cell phone blue tooth capable with steering wheel remote (also removable).  However, it is now discontinued as it is over 6 months old! like most electronics.

Haven't replaced the speakers yet, but hope to.  They were/are from the same "crappy" company that produced the radio.

[Joel Weiss]

Your coaches are all newer than mine which had the "crappy Bose" radio integrated with the old Bose sound system.  We just installed a relatively inexpensive Alpine radio which has a USB jack for an iPod and an auxiliary jack for the XM radio tuner.  We installed two speakers in the front dash and the system sounds pretty good to us.  If we had wanted a subwoofer or additional speakers, the radio could have easily supported it.

The Bose system itself had been replaced with a Sony soundbar system many months ago.  The soundbar hangs beneath the front cabinets and the subwoofer/control console sits in the old TV cabinet.

[Sean Donohue]

@ Leah... Thanks for the info... We are having a hard time even finding one that fits the original area. It sounds like you have the options we are looking for...

@ Joel... Do you know which Alpine model that was?  Also looked at the Sony, and am thinking about it too. We have been really pleased with the Bose Companians in the house, so they are our first choice.  Still researching the matter, and all inputs welcomed.

Thanks all

[Ken Buck]

Have you measured your unit to find out if it matches DIN sizes? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_7736 This information would give you a good head start of finding something online that is the right size. Then you'll just need to decide which aftermarket radio fits all your needs and your pocketbook.

[Joel Weiss]

@ Joel... Do you know which Alpine model that was?  Also looked at the Sony and am thinking about it too. We have been really pleased with the Bose Companians in the house so they are our first choice.  Still researching the matter and all inputs welcomed.

We have an Alpine CDE-121.  It is a normal height (single DIN) unit even though the dashboard hole is double-DIN.  We used a matte-black plate behind it and it looks fine as far as we're concerned (there's a lot of matte black on the dash gauges, etc).  We didn't want a navigation system and we already had an XM-tuner so we didn't need one of those either.  The Alpine does have full control of the iPod through a front panel USB port.

[MarcRodstein]

I replaced my stock radio speakers with Pioneer speakers shortly after getting my coach from the factory. Although they are not as good as Bose, they fit the same holes and it made a major difference. I bought them at Best Buy. The major advantage of buying there is that they have speakers set up that you can listen to before you buy. I listened to about 5 sets of speakers and chose these Pioneer speakers which sound great.

[Sean Donohue]

Found the cure... Bought a BOSE Soundlink Wireless Mobile speaker that sounds great. Connects to the iPhone via Bluetooth.