Installation Using The Right Parts And Accessories
At Certified Autosound & Security, we believe it’s our installation that makes the difference in your car electronics experience. Whether it’s fitting a new in-dash radio with the latest technology like Bluetooth© and Apple© CarPlay™ (which routinely require vehicle-specific installation accessories to properly integrate), adding an amplifier or installing a remote car starter with the latest data bus interface devices that ‘talk’ to the vehicle’s computer, we stock an incredibly diverse range of the installation accessories required to do the top notch work on your vehicle that you’d expect.
New In-Dash Radios
It’s no secret that today’s dashboards commonly feature highly integrated electronics with multi-function displays and additional vehicle controls like heater, fan, defroster, traction control and other centrally located controls. While we are experts in OEM integration where we retain the factory radio and add better sound with signal processing, amplifiers, upgraded speakers and subwoofers, there are still many factory in-dash radios that lack the technology consumers desire. For those vehicles, we have a wide variety of replacement radios up to multimedia/navigation radios packed full of the coolest technology. The X-factor is getting the new radio to connect and function seamlessly with your vehicle’s various on-board electronic systems and controls. To that end, we carry a significant variety of vehicle-specific interface devices and installation accessories to complete the installation perfectly. When it’s complete, it looks and functions exactly as if it had been a factory trim package with all the technology options, except you’ve added it after the vehicle leaves the car dealership and often at a significant savings over the dealership prices for those options (if they even offered them for your vehicle at all).
Here is an example of how we approach the installation of a new radio in a vehicle with a modern dashboard full of technology that requires our expert electrical system and cosmetic integration:
- Replacement dash panels (typically called ‘dash kits’) that we sell offer an engineered fit and finish that provides the correct cosmetically matching color and texture to the original panel. It provides the correct opening size for your new radio and also accommodates other existing controls, often using the factory buttons/knobs or other times a completely new control panel that provides identical functionality, but fits with the overall look/shape of the dash panel. The end result is a factory-like fit and finish that easily accommodates the new radio. Many people are surprised to learn about the availability of a dash panel solution for their vehicle.
Steering wheel control interfaces are typically required to allow the buttons on your steering wheel intended to control the audio system (volume, track up/down, mute, etc.) to function with your new in-dash radio. This means when you press ‘volume up’, your new radio responds as it should. More importantly, we offer many solutions to remap the steering wheel buttons to perform other functions. For example, if in your vehicle the ‘source’ button is where you’d prefer the ‘cell phone voice activation’ feature button to be, we can do that. And, we can add extended ‘press and hold’ custom functions to add common radio functions like ‘pause’ or ‘band’ that your steering wheel controls may not offer currently.- Audio system interfaces are often required to connect the new radio to the vehicle’s existing audio system components and network to maintain things like door chimes, reverse sensor beeps, voice control (such as in GM OnStar), integrating the factory reverse camera and many other important vehicle functions. These interface devices let the new radio ‘talk’ to the vehicle just as if it were a factory-installed radio. In cases where a vehicle has a factory installed amplifier, we also have the requisite turn-on modules to utilize the factory amp with your new radio or harness to bypass it so that you can easily connect to aftermarket amplifiers and new speakers without having to rewire the entire vehicle. It’s really quite amazing what we can do with the range of installation parts we stock.
- Antenna adapters are required for almost every make and model of vehicle when replacing the radio these days. Each car manufacturer has moved to a proprietary connector, but not to worry – we stock nearly every possible combination of antenna adapter you’d require. The intent is to preserve your AM/FM and HD Radio reception, as well as any other antenna-based features like using the factory satellite radio tuner. In some cases where a satellite radio tuner was part of the factory radio, we also stock a complete line of replacement tuners that will allow you to retain your satellite radio programming, often with a better user experience on the new radio’s front panel.
Specialized functionality on the newest vehicles allow us to integrate features such as tire pressure monitoring, fuel economy logging, heater, A/C & fan settings and other highly integrated vehicle features from the factory right into the screen on your new radio. Generally speaking, the newer the vehicle, the more we can integrate into your new radio.- Adapters to maintain the factory USB and auxiliary input plugs. Many of our customers prefer to keep using the factory plugs for USB and AUX input so we can preserve those plugs and connect them with the new radio. We can also add USB and AUX input ports if your vehicle doesn’t have them to give you that factory convenience in your dash or console.
Put simply, if you are unhappy with your factory radio and wish it featured technology it lacks, in most vehicles we can upgrade it to one of our in-dash multimedia and/or navigation units to provide you the features and functionality you want without worry of losing any of your factory-supplied functions.
Whole Audio System Accessories
If you’re installing a whole audio system, you’ll require the appropriate high-current power and ground cabling, the connectors and fuse holders, the RCA audio signal cables, high-quality speaker wiring, possibly speaker mounting plates and, of course, sound deadening materials to quiet those rattling sheet metal surfaces. You may also wish to upgrade your battery to one of our high density power cells that support added electronics without any worry of affecting the factory electrical system. We stock all of those accessories and many more, so whether we install it or you’re doing your own installation, at Certified Autosound & Security we have what you need to ensure your installation is safe, correct and trouble-free.
Remote Car Starters
It’s practically a requirement for all vehicles 2000 model year or newer with factory anti-theft measures to utilize installation accessories during a remote car starter installation because of the complex process of starting a vehicle. With on-board computers and transponder-based keys (or key fobs for Push-To Start vehicles), the vehicle must ‘think’ an authorized key is starting the engine, all without having to open the door and enter the car to do so. We provide the absolute highest-quality and best engineered remote car starter interface devices on the market, so you need not worry about your remote car starter installed by Certified Autosound & Security leaving you in the cold.
Visit Us For Your Installation Needs
Stop into one of our facilities today and receive a complimentary evaluation for audio, remote start, lighting, smartphone integration or any other type of car electronics integration you desire. We have the requisite installation parts and accessories to ensure your vehicle has what it needs to perform to your expectations and if we don’t we can often have them for you within 1-2 days. We believe we deliver unmatched installation quality standards in BC regardless of the smallest or largest installation job and we have a lifetime guarantee on our installation labour to back it all up.