Hey-

I have an '02 with the stock "premium" Infinity sound system. It my opinion it is anything but "premium." And I'm not comparing it to fancy aftermarket car audio, but rather to the stock stereo in my old Toyota pickup and my girlfriend's Honda Accord.

The sound with CDs isn't too bad, but for 'talk radio' (esp. sirius radio and podcasts), the sound is TERRIBLE. Even at low volume the front speakers crack and vibrate. Similar rattling/vibrating can be heard for much of the sirius and iPod AUDIO also.

I was thinking about replacing the stereo unit with a more powerful one, and one that included front aux inputs to directly "hardwire" in the sirius and the iPod. Right now I use the cassettee adapter for sirius and an FM wireless trasmitter for the iPod, which may be part of the problem (although I had the same sirius setup in my truck without a problem).

Or is the problem lousy speakers?

'Any ideas?

_________________
Coyotefred
Prairies of Western Nebraska
'02 Silver KJ Limited 4x4 3.7L
Stock for now

If CDs and FM radio sound fine, but external devices (iPod, sirius tuner) sound bad, I have to suspect the connection to those devices, not the speakers or the head unit. Both tape adapters and FM transmitters are known for noisy staticy sound, especially when it's quiet or using a high range of frequencies (voice and classical music, respectively)

If you are replacing the stereo with something else, consider getting an aftermarket deck that supports the iPod and sirius inherently. You'll have a much better sound and be able to control all of them right from the same place. Alpine currently has an iPod control unit that attaches like a CD changer to all of their decks. Similarly, they have Sirius and XM boxes that attach in the same way.

I have the Alpine CDA-9830 with the KCA 420i iPod Controller, and it works marvelously with the stock speakers, no crackle at all, except on weak FM / AM stations, which is to be expected.

You may want to wait until a little further into 2006 - Alpine is releasing a new line of decks that support the iPod directly (with a $30 cable instead of a $100 control module). They will support better searching and display and will allow sirius/xm/cd changer to be plugged in at the same time. The cheaper models tend to run between $100 and $300, which is a whole lot less than even the stock stereo.

If you decide to order online, check out crutchfield, they are cheap, have free shipping, and come with all the install kits. Also, you can get $20 off if it's your first order and you give them a referral from somebody else (PM me if you need the code).

_________________
Jeff 2005 Jeep Liberty Renegade
4x4, 6spd, Leather, Sunroof, trak-loc, skids/rails, hitch+shackle, hooks, Alpine/iPod, Thule, GPS, CB, Frankenlifted w/ 31" MTRs
Photos Cardomain

I think you're right. I just fiddled around with it some and plugged the 1/8" plug of the sirius cassette adapter into the headphone jack of the iPod and everything sounded MUCH better--a huge improvement. The iTrip is handy when no other options are available, but at least in my case the sound quality is considerably worse. I would expect the sound quality to be even better with a direct cable connection.

Thanks for the heads-up on that Alpine head unit--sounds perfect. I ordered from Crutchfield once before and was really impressed with their service, so I'll sure be doing that again

[/quote]

If CDs and FM radio sound fine, but external devices (iPod, sirius tuner) sound bad, I have to suspect the connection to those devices, not the speakers or the head unit. Both tape adapters and FM transmitters are known for noisy staticy sound, especially when it's quiet or using a high range of frequencies (voice and classical music, respectively)

If you are replacing the stereo with something else, consider getting an aftermarket deck that supports the iPod and sirius inherently. You'll have a much better sound and be able to control all of them right from the same place. Alpine currently has an iPod control unit that attaches like a CD changer to all of their decks. Similarly, they have Sirius and XM boxes that attach in the same way.

I have the Alpine CDA-9830 with the KCA 420i iPod Controller, and it works marvelously with the stock speakers, no crackle at all, except on weak FM / AM stations, which is to be expected.

You may want to wait until a little further into 2006 - Alpine is releasing a new line of decks that support the iPod directly (with a $30 cable instead of a $100 control module). They will support better searching and display and will allow sirius/xm/cd changer to be plugged in at the same time. The cheaper models tend to run between $100 and $300, which is a whole lot less than even the stock stereo.

If you decide to order online, check out crutchfield, they are cheap, have free shipping, and come with all the install kits. Also, you can get $20 off if it's your first order and you give them a referral from somebody else (PM me if you need the code).[/quote]

_________________
Coyotefred
Prairies of Western Nebraska
'02 Silver KJ Limited 4x4 3.7L
Stock for now