My stock stereo took a dump so I am going to replace. I was looking into replacing with either a Clarion or JVC head unit. I was planning on ordering from Crutchfield, but I had a question for anyone who as upgraded their Rockford HU.

Is there any issues or concerns I should have in regards to the stock speakers and amp? I noticed on Crutchfields website for the harness they provide with thier HU, it says I would have to run new wires to bypass the amp to the speakers. Anybody have any experience to know why this would be the case?

Any input or even suggestions for replacement of a 2004 SE with the Rockford system would be appreciative.

Thanks in advance.

Ok, I just got an email from crutchfield support. I asked them about this and he stated that you can not install a new head unit and still use the factory amp to power the speakers and the sub. He said I would have to bypass the amp and run new wire to the speakers and I will loose the use of the stock sub. His suggestion was to buy a new amp and sub.

I am not opposed to upgrading the stereo speakers and subs if that was my goal, but I just wanted to replace the HU because it went bad and stopped working. So I really wasnt in the market to do a complete overhaul to just put a new head unit.

So if anyone has installed a new headunit and still used the stock speakers and sub please let me know if you were succesful and how you did it.

Thanks.

i'm curious about this too..

I'd go with a full overhaul...but thats me...the full system would give you better quality in the long run over the RF system...not to mention its infinatly expandable...pioneer HU all the way

Hey! I just bought myself an 04 X and figured I would become a member. I am currently trying to figure out the same ordeal. If you were to buy another amp and sub would you still run the speakers through the stock amp or through the headunit?

i just got done putting a h/u in my 04 X you dont need to by-pass the stock amp at all. All i had to do was wire up the aftermarket wireing harness like a regular install.

This is how I did mine:
http://www.nd4spdse.net/projects/xterra/system/index.html

Unless the RF system has a non-standard nissan harness (which I'm pretty sure it doesn't as most amp'ed Nissans still use the normal harness) the guys at crutchfield need to be slapped upside the head

Normal harness for a Nissan: Metra 70-7550
http://www.metraonline.com/images/products/full/71-7550.jpg
Normal harness for a Nissan w/amp: Metra 70-7551
http://www.metraonline.com/images/products/full/70-7551.jpg

The *only* difference is the speaker lines have RCA ends on the 7551 (amp'ed harness) so it gets the low level signal from the after market head unit. The 7550 feeds speaker level, which on most Nissans with amps means at 0 it's quite, at 1 it's just barely audible, at 2 it's about normal, at 3 it's starting to get too loud, etc. (Ask KChurch :-])

Now I myself would bypass the amp, which is just a matter of finding it, unplugging it, and either jumping the input speaker lines to the output speaker lines and using a normal after market radio harness adapter to wire up your head unit, or find the output lines and just run the speaker lines in it right up to the after market radio's speaker lines.

Ya, it uses the standard Nissan harness and I used the Metra 70-7551 kit, but modified it for my own rewire, but it would work that way if you want it to, just not sure how it would sound. And the amp is literally right there under the radio, so it's easy to get to.