GSDaddy Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 This site was a great resource for my install. I read the manual before I purchased and had alot of questions that the Pioneer site did not answer in their knowledge base. I can't wait to get some more quality time with the D2 and explore this site! [b]Dash Installation in 97-04 Buick Regal[/b] Get ready to drill and cut! I had to drill out the rivots on the medal brace behind the factory radio and bend it up out of the way. Then I had to cut out the plastic section of the brace to allow the depth of the unit. I went to Best Buy and got the standard mounting kit. It was a bag of about 30 parts and I only needed two brakets for either side of the unit. [b]Satellite Antenna[/b] Thanks avic411 for the advise for mounting the satellite antenna under my dashbord. If you reach through the radio opening, you will feel a metal brace just below the skin of the upper dashboard. Attach the magnetic antenna on top of the brace with the cable pointing to the rear of the car. I always have 6-8 satellites in reception while driving and 3-4 while I am parked in my garage. [b]Parking Brake Bypass[/b] The advise on AVIC411 worked like a charm. One this is not very clear is that after you boot the unit, turn off the car and pull the power/speaker harness off the back of the unit for a few seconds and put it back on. [url]http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=228&highlight=bypass[/url] [b]Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS)[/b] Did not hook it up yet. Both nav and dynamics are working great. By the way, I also have an amp/sub, 12-Disc changer, and the AUX adapter w/Sirius attached to the unit. Everything works great! OK, enough discussion, here is the PIC. [img]http://home.earthlink.net/~proutte/regal/GSAVICD2.jpg[/img][/url] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PaisanNYC Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 wow that looks REAL nice and OEM looking! too bad you opted for Sirius ;) At least you can get rid of the Sirius PnP unit since you integrated the sirius addon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PaisanNYC Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 oops sorry, Just reread that you used the aux input to connect the Sirius PnP unit to your avic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GSDaddy Posted October 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 [quote name="PaisanNYC"]oops sorry, Just reread that you used the aux input to connect the Sirius PnP unit to your avic.[/quote] Yeah, I am thinking about getting XM for the great interface the AVIC provides. I looked at the Pioneer Sirius, but the AVIC has limited controls and display. How does XM sound compared to Sirius? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PaisanNYC Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 [quote name="GSDaddy"]How does XM sound compared to Sirius?[/quote] A MILLION times better. Not only the SQ (Sound Quality) but also the reception. XM already has three satellites in space and is launching the 4th in just two weeks! [url=http://www.sea-launch.com/current_launch.htm]http://www.sea-launch.com/current_launch.htm[/url] Alot of people get Sirius because of course Sirius has better marketing and Howard, then trash XM without listening to it. Ive been with XM, have listened to Sirius MANY times, and it just doesnt compare to XM's quality. Like you said, the graphical interface is much nicer, since XM and Pioneer have had a partnership for a long time (Pioneer Airware, Pioneer Inno). Not to mention the benefit of XM NavTraffic for your navigation :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ducatiboy Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 [quote name="PaisanNYC"] [quote name="GSDaddy"]How does XM sound compared to Sirius?[/quote] A MILLION times better. Not only the SQ (Sound Quality) but also the reception. XM already has three satellites in space and is launching the 4th in just two weeks! [url=http://www.sea-launch.com/current_launch.htm]http://www.sea-launch.com/current_launch.htm[/url] Alot of people get Sirius because of course Sirius has better marketing and Howard, then trash XM without listening to it. Ive been with XM, have listened to Sirius MANY times, and it just doesnt compare to XM's quality. Like you said, the graphical interface is much nicer, since XM and Pioneer have had a partnership for a long time (Pioneer Airware, Pioneer Inno). Not to mention the benefit of XM NavTraffic for your navigation :)[/quote] That's really funny cause I have the exact oppisite experiance with XM and Sirius. My wife's new Acura MDX came with XM and my chrysler 300C came with Sirius. So we bought 2 accounts, one with Sirius and one with Sirius. I sold my 300C and my new Lincoln had a crap stereo and I replaced it with the Avic Z1, since I already have a lifetime subscription with Sirius, I bought that with my Z1 and switched over the account. I have listened to both for many many hours, we do switch cars every now and then. I would say that reception is about the same. They both cut out in exactly the same places since we drive in the same locations all the time. The same hills and tree cover cut the sat radio out (both of them) exactly the same times and places, I can even point out places we drive regularly where both sat radios will cut out. It's not bad, but it's predictable. Maybe after these new sats go up for XM it will get better, but right now they are the same (in my experiance in the north east). But I think that the sound quality is better on Sirius. No I only have the Acura sound system and compared to the stock sound system in the 300C and in the Z1, but I would say that even to my poor ears, I can hear the compression of the digital music more with XM over the Sirius. I find that XM seems to compress the audio more even on the popular channels and when I can tell that's pretty bad. They say the best compression for sat radio is 64Kbps. My cousin sent me this on poor audio quality: [url=http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/DumbingDownAudio.php]http://www.audioholics.com/news/editori ... nAudio.php[/url] He is much pickier than I. He agrees with me, that he thinks Sirius compression is either less or sounds better than what XM uses. But those are just our own opinions. I also like the programmig WAY better on Sirius. There are "better" stations on Sirius. They tend to have things like "Hair Nation", and there is nothing like that on XM... NOTHING! A few channels on sirius have no counter on XM. I still think both are better than FM/AM. My best advice, check out the programming. Go online and get a free trial streaming over the web and check them out. Go with what interests you. XM has: Bob Edwards NASCAR for now, moving to Sirius in 07 MLB Opie and Anthony Some college football Sirius has NPR NASCAR starting in 07 Stern NFL, all the games, both home and away announce teams NCAA Basketball Toureny, all the games NHL NBA some college football. AND HAIR NATION! As the Z1 goes, the XM has better integration (the channels have icons... Whooooo.....) and traffic and the channel in the preset button. That being said the sirius is really not that bad. Very usable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PaisanNYC Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 do a google search. There is a backdoor to listen to Sirius online for free. No need to sign up for a trial account :) then just sign up with XM for the free 3 day trial (no credit card needed!) and compare. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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