And if going deck powered. Don't go Sony, jvc, walmlart, etc. Stick with Kenwood/alpine
So here's the new plan - I'm going to for sure replace the amp and all speakers - have Alpine gear lined up with the exception of a 6 3/4" JL subwoofer to replace the OEM one in the back. The head unit is up in the air. Part of what started this is my front speakers went out recently... occasionally will turn back on, but generally are off. If the front channel on the factory amp went bad, I'll leave the existing deck in place and add a bluetooth module (either the BT45-TOY or the VAIS SL3B-T) so that I can avoid some of the complication of fabricating a face plate to hide the gap around a new receiver and dealing with the touch screen issue of replacing the deck (the resister issue that started this thread). If on the other hand the front channel went out on the original head unit, then I'll have no choice but to replace the deck as well... which would get me out of having to add a separate bluetooth module, but will be a little trickier with the touch screen issues.
So questions:
1) What's the easiest / least invasive way to determine before I start whether my front channel has gone out due to the head unit or the amplifier? If I know before I start, I don't have to order all the parts and pieces to deal with either eventuality.
2) If the existing head unit is fully functional, what kind of outputs does it have? Does it only have speaker level outputs or does it have RCA outputs? If my suspicion is right and its speaker wires, then what considerations should I take in picking the amplifier? The 5-channel amp I've got my eye on only has line inputs (Alpine MRV-500), so I'd either need to get something to covert the speaker output to line input or change to a different amp that takes speaker level inputs directly.
3) Is there room under the passenger seat to just swap in a new amp and leave the nav system in place? Or by replacing the amp, does the nav system effectively force me to find a different location for the new amp (not something I'd look forward to doing given my low level of expertise)?
4) My preference is to leave the existing deck in place to keep the dash looking more professional given that whatever face plate I fabricate will probably look like a 3rd grader made it for fathers day. Admittedly in doing so, I'll have add a bluetooth module and probably converters to deal with the speaker level outputs. Am I just shooting myself in the foot? Is it easier to fabricate a good face plate to go around a single din receiver that will look just fine? It will actually be about the same cost to replace the head unit as to keep the existing one given that the bluetooth module costs about the same as a head unit plus steering wheel control adaptor. The reason I'm avoiding this is the extra man hours and the complication surrounding the face plate and the touch screen issues.
What I'd really like to do if I was brave enough is to rip this whole NAV system out and go "old school" with the buttons and dials for the AC system and let me pick whatever double din system I want to put there. I really don't have the confidence in my electrical capabilities to take on that project, however. I think there is way too high a chance I'd fork out the $1500 in parts and end up with a rats nest of exposed wires, then have to pay a kings ransom to find somebody to piece things back together again.
