Brothers In Blog

I’ve been on a quest to connect my iPod to my car stereo. I’ve looked at various options and decided I was better off giving in and buying a new car stereo. Here’s what I selected and a quick run down on how I did it myself.

The JVC KD-AR480

Understand that when it comes to car audio I am a far cry from an audiophile. Therefore my product selection was based on basic features and price. I selected the JVC KD-AR480 because it had everything I wanted:

• AM/FM Radio
• CD Player that also play CDs burned with MP3s and WMAs
• Detachable face plate (mostly for future teenage driver distraction control)
• Remote control
• AUX input for external audio sources (e.g. iPod)
• Fit my car (2000 Volkswagon Eurovan)
• Under $150 (actual price after shipping $139)

I should point out that I could have purchased a replacement car stereo with built in iPod support, and I can still purchase an adapter for my JVC KD-AR480 and add that support later; however, I decided to go with a basic 1/8 stereo input jack on the face plate for two simple reasons:

Will future iPod models always work?

Several of the built in iPod support always seemed to include a list of support iPod versions. That point made me wonder if Apple ever produced a newer, slightly different, iPod the built in support might not work at some point in the future. I doubt it, but there is that possibility of obsolescence.

Car stereo interface inferior to the native iPod control

Most of the built in iPod support reviews I read complained that controlling the iPod from the car stereo was limited and sluggish, and many of the models with built in support took control of the iPod once it was plugged in rendering the iPod interface useless. Let’s face it, the iPod interface is one of the best out there. Why would I disable that interface in favor of using a limited one built into my car stereo? I know that most built in iPod support can charge my iPod, but my car trips are short and rarely, if ever, over the 1 hour time frame. iPod power has never been a problem for me.

Note: You might feel differently about the built in iPod support; however, if you’re looking into a car stereo replacement, and intend to plug in your iPod, take a careful look at the built in support verses the basic 1/8 AUX input jack.

Time to rip and replace

I’ve never done any sort of car stereo work so I’m a complete novice in this department. I should point out, however, that I don’t shy away from most do-it-yourself projects and am very comfortable with patiently reading directions in order to complete a project correctly. I’m NOT trying to toot my own horn, I’m just trying to give a little perspective on my background with car stereos and do-it-yourself projects.

When you purchase a car stereo over a certain price (I believe it’s $129) Crutchfield offers free shipping on the unit and sends an installation kit with “almost” everything you need for installation. My kit came with easy to follow instructions and the needed removal tools so I didn’t damage my dashboard trying to pry out my old car stereo with a screw driver.

I took these simple little removal tools, slid them into the slots described in the instructions, and in less than 10 seconds I completely removed the factory car stereo.

My kit also came with the wiring adapter harness. The adapter provides the wiring conversion from the JVC KD AR480 to the Volkswagon Eurovan car stereo plug. To make conversion complete, I had the option to either clamp the harness together with either a crimp connector (I think that is what they call it) or solder the wires together and cover them with shrink tubing or electrical tape. Crimp connectors and soldering/shrink tubing accessories were NOT part of the Crutchfield installation kit. Therefore, if you don’t have these items laying around, you’ll be making an impromptu trip to the nearest hardware store.

Crimp connectors suck — Soldering is the way to go

I tried the crimp connector to join the two raw wires. After I firmly crimped both ends, I gave it a little tug and one wire slipped right out. I didn’t waste my time with another attempt (mostly because I’m partial to soldering in situations like this) and went straight to the solder shrink tubing approach. After about 2o minutes of soldering and shrink tubing, everything was neatly linked together.

Note: I don’t have a heat gun so I used a hair dryer to reduce the shrink tubing for a nice firm protected fit around my fresh solders

Final step: Slide in the new car stereo

My installation kit from Crutchfield included a car stereo sleeve adapter for my dash. I slide it in place and bent down the sleeve grips as described in the instructions. Then I attached the car antenna adapter to the back of the JVC KD-AR480, plugged the wiring harness into the JVC KD-AR480 and then to the Volkswagon Eurovan car stereo plug. Finally, I plugged in the Eurovan antenna cable to the back of the new stereo unit. I double check all of my connections and then carefully started sliding the new stereo into the adapter sleeve. Along the way I had to keep checking my cables to make sure I wasn’t pinching anything and that the entire mess of wires were getting pushed back into the dash without a snag.

The JVC KD-AR480 clicked into place and then I attached the face plate. I reconnected the car battery, turned the key and pressed the power on. Everything worked as expected — almost.

The right channel of the stereo was nonexistent. Dreading a soldering error, I removed the unit and took a look. Thankfully the problem was with one of the actual wiring harness plugs. Seems that when I plugged in the JVC KD-AR480 it pushed 2 of the connectors out the other side causing the right channel to never get connected. I pushed the problematic wires back into the plug and sure enough the right channel came to life.

Overall summary

The installation kit and free shipping from Crutchfield was well worth it. I was a little nervous about doing the installation myself and worried that an after market car stereo wouldn’t look very nice if I did it. I was wrong. The JVC KD AR-480 looks nice in my Eurovan. The unit isn’t as flush to the dash surface as the original model, but the features make a little dash elevation well worth it. I definitely recommend considering Crutchfield if you’re in the market for a do-it-yourself car stereo solution. They also have a very user friendly menu driven web feature that makes it easy to locate car stereos that will “definitely” fit your make and model of car.

The JVC KD AR480 sounds much better than the factory stereo and is very easy to use. The options are easy to understand but you definitely need to read some of the manual to understand what does what and where certain options are located. I love having a face plate 1/8 AUX input jack for my iPod and it works like a charm. My only complaint about the unit is the remote. It’s designed to clip to your key ring so you can image how small it is. In fact it’s so small, it’s almost useless. I don’t like it. Too small and very difficult to press the right buttons to get what you want. Of course, you might ask, “A remote! For a car stereo?” Trust me, if your car stereo doesn’t have a remote, you don’t know what you’re missing — drive with both hands on the wheel and mindless change radio stations at “wife annoying” speeds.

All in all I highly recommend Crutchfield as a car stereo vendor. And recommend the JVC KD-AR480 giving it one negative mark for its remote. Everything else, however, is great for the price.

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