Replacing the Head Unit (6-disc VES)
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Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Duvall, WA
Replacing the Head Unit (6-disc VES)
Hey folks, I'm hoping some of you have gone through this and can offer some insight.
I have an 04 Durango with the (supposedly) high-end 6-disc sytem, (not) premium Infinity speaker system and VES. I'd been unimpressed with the sound quality and awhile back pulled the door covers off and looked at those Infinity speakers. They're crap - paper cones and everything. So I'll be replacing those with Boston Acoustics SL65s (or better). I think I'll leave the dash tweeters in place for now, but may just pull those. (Another approach would be SL60 components and trying to mount the tweeters where the stock tweeters are, but that looks non-trivial and may not be worth the effort.)
However, having gone through this same song-and-dance with my 2000 Durango and discovering that the head unit (obviously a different one, but still Mopar) was contributing a lot to the muddy, ugly-boomy sound, I suspect I'll want/need to replace the head unit as well. I have reason to do that anyway, since I use my IPod most of the time, plugging that into the VES AUX inputs; but that's ugly (wires hanging down) and VES drops the signal to the head unit when the AUX signal drops, so I lose the beginnings of a lot of songs. I don't use the 6-disc at all, but my kids sometimes want to watch movies with the headphones. I assume that when I pull the 6-disc head unit, I'll lose all VES functionality, including with the headphones; true?
Okay, so if I do that (and tell the kids to stop crying about no more DVDs), I will also lose the steering wheel controls. I know there are "universal" kits out there, but has anyone confirmed that any of those work (well) with the 2nd G Durango?
Thoughts appreciated, including thoughts about head units to go with. (I'm thinking Alpine because of their IPod interface, but not 100% sold.) Anything else I should be considering? Thanks.
I have an 04 Durango with the (supposedly) high-end 6-disc sytem, (not) premium Infinity speaker system and VES. I'd been unimpressed with the sound quality and awhile back pulled the door covers off and looked at those Infinity speakers. They're crap - paper cones and everything. So I'll be replacing those with Boston Acoustics SL65s (or better). I think I'll leave the dash tweeters in place for now, but may just pull those. (Another approach would be SL60 components and trying to mount the tweeters where the stock tweeters are, but that looks non-trivial and may not be worth the effort.)
However, having gone through this same song-and-dance with my 2000 Durango and discovering that the head unit (obviously a different one, but still Mopar) was contributing a lot to the muddy, ugly-boomy sound, I suspect I'll want/need to replace the head unit as well. I have reason to do that anyway, since I use my IPod most of the time, plugging that into the VES AUX inputs; but that's ugly (wires hanging down) and VES drops the signal to the head unit when the AUX signal drops, so I lose the beginnings of a lot of songs. I don't use the 6-disc at all, but my kids sometimes want to watch movies with the headphones. I assume that when I pull the 6-disc head unit, I'll lose all VES functionality, including with the headphones; true?
Okay, so if I do that (and tell the kids to stop crying about no more DVDs), I will also lose the steering wheel controls. I know there are "universal" kits out there, but has anyone confirmed that any of those work (well) with the 2nd G Durango?
Thoughts appreciated, including thoughts about head units to go with. (I'm thinking Alpine because of their IPod interface, but not 100% sold.) Anything else I should be considering? Thanks.
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1
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From:
RE: Replacing the Head Unit (6-disc VES)
I tried to replace my Infinity system with an after-market radio and had problems because the Infinity system runs off the cpu. I knew that if I installed the radio I would lose the ability to hear DVD's over the speakers. After disconnecting the the main unit, I tested the VES and it still worked and you could listen to the movie via the head phones. It seems that you will only lose the ability to listen to the movie over the speakers.
