keliente
08-17-2005, 09:06 AM
I was getting a little fed up with my stock CD player, it skips over every little bump, so I figured it was time for a new one. I was just after something simple that plays mp3s & burnt CDs, and was XM/Sirius ready. I wanted something cheap in case it gets stolen...what can I say, I'm practical. :)
I bought an audiobahn headunit, mainly because it lights up in bright blue, which matches the LEDs I put behind my white gauges. I thought that I would go with XM, because the tuner/antenna for it was only $49, vs. $99 for Sirius. I later realized that it was a con, because in addition to the $49, you have to buy an adapter for whatever cd player you have, which brings the total to $99...lol so really it didn't matter. Luckily for me though, while the adapters for the other brands were large and square, Audiobahn's adapter was merely a set of wires and was only $20. Wow, something actually worked out in my favor!!! ;)
The store was also offering free installation, I was like oh sweet!! But then I started to think of the minions that work there, god knows what they would do to the car while I wasn't there. I don't mind soldering anyway so I installed it myself, which took no time at all. The XM antenna sits atop the sail panel...the antenna is magnetic, but the sail panel barely isn't steel so I put some double sided exterior adhesive on it for sticking power.
Installed, it looks like this:
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/ab.jpg
I like it because it's mostly black, and blends with the surrounding interior (unlike the bright silver units, which I was afraid would stick out like a sore thumb).
At night, it matches the gauges perfect!! Ohhhh it's so bad.
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/gaugeslit.jpg
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/ab2.jpg
But that made my headlight assembly & HVAC stick out like a sore thumb, since they still had plain bulbs. So yesterday I soldered in some more LEDs/resistors, so everything matches now, minus the ASR/foglight switch, which i'll tackle today. It looks stellar in person but the camera doesn't pick it up too well:
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/knobs.jpg
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/knob1.jpg
Here's the antenna atop the car...
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/antenna.jpg
And XM is neat, so far. Love having so many channels!!
I bought an audiobahn headunit, mainly because it lights up in bright blue, which matches the LEDs I put behind my white gauges. I thought that I would go with XM, because the tuner/antenna for it was only $49, vs. $99 for Sirius. I later realized that it was a con, because in addition to the $49, you have to buy an adapter for whatever cd player you have, which brings the total to $99...lol so really it didn't matter. Luckily for me though, while the adapters for the other brands were large and square, Audiobahn's adapter was merely a set of wires and was only $20. Wow, something actually worked out in my favor!!! ;)
The store was also offering free installation, I was like oh sweet!! But then I started to think of the minions that work there, god knows what they would do to the car while I wasn't there. I don't mind soldering anyway so I installed it myself, which took no time at all. The XM antenna sits atop the sail panel...the antenna is magnetic, but the sail panel barely isn't steel so I put some double sided exterior adhesive on it for sticking power.
Installed, it looks like this:
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/ab.jpg
I like it because it's mostly black, and blends with the surrounding interior (unlike the bright silver units, which I was afraid would stick out like a sore thumb).
At night, it matches the gauges perfect!! Ohhhh it's so bad.
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/gaugeslit.jpg
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/ab2.jpg
But that made my headlight assembly & HVAC stick out like a sore thumb, since they still had plain bulbs. So yesterday I soldered in some more LEDs/resistors, so everything matches now, minus the ASR/foglight switch, which i'll tackle today. It looks stellar in person but the camera doesn't pick it up too well:
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/knobs.jpg
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/knob1.jpg
Here's the antenna atop the car...
http://www.keliente.com/pewter%2000/xm/antenna.jpg
And XM is neat, so far. Love having so many channels!!