Please Help Me Understand The Radios

Jerome10 · Apr 25, 2007

I'm a bit confused and trying to ensure I have this straight.

The base stereo is described:
AM/FM Stereo with CD Player & Auxilliary Input Jack. I'll call this "A"

For $320 you can get:
AM/FM Stereo Radio w/In-Dash 6-Disc CD/MP3 Player. I'll call this "B"

For $1,395 you can get:
DVD-based GPS Navigation System with 6-CD/MP3 Chngr. I'll call this "C"

For $495 you can get:
458-Watt 9-Speaker Premium Sound System. I'll call this "Boston"

For $195 you can get:
SIRIUS Satellite Digital Radio. I'll call this "Sirius"

My questions are as follows:

1) If I upgrade from A to B, do I lose the Aux In and gain 6 CD + MP3 disc capability? Is there any difference in power? If I get NAV, do I also lose Aux In?

2) If I buy the Boston system, does it get added to any radio A, B, or C? (I can order either A+Boston or B+Boston or C+Boston?)

3) Sirius can be added to any A, B, or C? This can be added along with the Boston, correct?

4) (Lastly!) If I buy sirius and I want to see the song text displayed on the head unit, which (A, B, or C) has this capability? I've heard some do and some don't, but I'm not clear as to which ones don't show and which ones do. After years of seeing text, not being able to see it would really bug me. I'm hoping I don't have to buy NAV in order to see song information....

Thanks for the clarification!

grumlenz · Apr 25, 2007

Jerome10 said:
I'm a bit confused and trying to ensure I have this straight.

The base stereo is described:
AM/FM Stereo with CD Player & Auxilliary Input Jack. I'll call this "A"

For $320 you can get:
AM/FM Stereo Radio w/In-Dash 6-Disc CD/MP3 Player. I'll call this "B"

For $1,395 you can get:
DVD-based GPS Navigation System with 6-CD/MP3 Chngr. I'll call this "C"

For $495 you can get:
458-Watt 9-Speaker Premium Sound System. I'll call this "Boston"

For $195 you can get:
SIRIUS Satellite Digital Radio. I'll call this "Sirius"

My questions are as follows:

1) If I upgrade from A to B, do I lose the Aux In and gain 6 CD + MP3 disc capability? Is there any difference in power? If I get NAV, do I also lose Aux In?

2) If I buy the Boston system, does it get added to any radio A, B, or C? (I can order either A+Boston or B+Boston or C+Boston?)

3) Sirius can be added to any A, B, or C? This can be added along with the Boston, correct?

4) (Lastly!) If I buy sirius and I want to see the song text displayed on the head unit, which (A, B, or C) has this capability? I've heard some do and some don't, but I'm not clear as to which ones don't show and which ones do. After years of seeing text, not being able to see it would really bug me. I'm hoping I don't have to buy NAV in order to see song information....

Thanks for the clarification!

1) If I upgrade from A to B, do I lose the Aux In and gain 6 CD + MP3 disc capability? Is there any difference in power? If I get NAV, do I also lose Aux In? You do lose the Aux jack but gain MP3 disc capability. Same power. If you get the Nav you also lose the Aux jack.

2) If I buy the Boston system, does it get added to any radio A, B, or C? (I can order either A+Boston or B+Boston or C+Boston?) Yes, you can add the Boston speakers to any of the 3 head units.

3) Sirius can be added to any A, B, or C? This can be added along with the Boston, correct? Yes Sirius can be added to any of the 3 head units along with the Boston speakers.

4) (Lastly!) If I buy sirius and I want to see the song text displayed on the head unit, which (A, B, or C) has this capability? I've heard some do and some don't, but I'm not clear as to which ones don't show and which ones do. After years of seeing text, not being able to see it would really bug me. I'm hoping I don't have to buy NAV in order to see song information....Unfortunately, yes you do have to buy the Nav to see the song information, neither "A" or "B" can display the song info.

dryland305 · Apr 25, 2007

Along the same lines...

...but with respect to iPod integration:

After years of seeing text, not being able to see it would really bug me. I'm hoping I don't have to buy NAV in order to see song information....

Unfortunately, yes you do have to buy the Nav to see the song information, neither "A" or "B" can display the song info.

Click to expand...

If I spring for the full iPod integration offered by Mopar (costs $215), will I see text if I buy the standard head unit (w/ Aux input) but no Nav or Sirius ? This topic was discussed in another thread, but I don't think there was a definitive answer.

Thanks!

deltaboy · Apr 25, 2007

great question, i wanna know too! BUMP, for an answer...

ktek01 · Apr 26, 2007

The base radio is the REF, it is a single disc with an aux input for the ipod. The next radio is the RAQ, it is a 6 disc with MP3 disc playback, but no aux input. The RAQ will display song title and artist information when you press the info button, it will also display tagged info from MP3 discs when you hit the info button. The REC is the nav unit, it is also a 6 disc with MP3 disc playback but no aux input. The REC displays the title and artist information on the nav screen when you dont have the map displayed. The RAK is another radio you can get from Mopar, but not from the factory, it is a 6 disc with MP3 playback and a cassette deck. The RAK also has an information button which I believe also displays title and artist info. The RAK was a factory radio in the 300 and WK/XK but I think its being discontinued which is probably why it was never offered in the PM/MK from the factory. The RAK lists for $535 at Mopar Super Center.

NoneRequired · Apr 26, 2007

Hmmmmm...

grumlenz said:
4) (Lastly!) If I buy sirius and I want to see the song text displayed on the head unit, which (A, B, or C) has this capability? I've heard some do and some don't, but I'm not clear as to which ones don't show and which ones do. After years of seeing text, not being able to see it would really bug me. I'm hoping I don't have to buy NAV in order to see song information....Unfortunately, yes you do have to buy the Nav to see the song information, neither "A" or "B" can display the song info.

Have you seen this with your own eyes? When at the auto show here in Detroit, I sat in a Libby with the exact same base radio, there was a Sirius marketing lady explaining the Sirius radio features. I asked the same question, which of course she couldn't answer with any conviction. So, we poked around on the radio and found that you could indeed make it display the artist and song title information. If I remember right, we did it by pressing the tuning knob, which then alternated the display between artist/song and channel name/number.

I'm going to see if I can ask the guys at work who did the PM/MK IP test if they still have a base radio around that I can borrow to do a little experimenting with. They've moved on to developing the testing for the upcoming JC49 project but I think they probably still have some MK parts around.

dryland305 · Apr 26, 2007

ktek01 said:
The base radio is the REF, it is a single disc with an aux input for the ipod. The next radio is the RAQ, it is a 6 disc with MP3 disc playback, but no aux input. The RAQ will display song title and artist information when you press the info button, it will also display tagged info from MP3 discs when you hit the info button. The REC is the nav unit, it is also a 6 disc with MP3 disc playback but no aux input. The REC displays the title and artist information on the nav screen when you dont have the map displayed. The RAK is another radio you can get from Mopar, but not from the factory, it is a 6 disc with MP3 playback and a cassette deck. The RAK also has an information button which I believe also displays title and artist info. The RAK was a factory radio in the 300 and WK/XK but I think its being discontinued which is probably why it was never offered in the PM/MK from the factory. The RAK lists for $535 at Mopar Super Center.

Well, that just sucks. I was hoping that Fully Integrated actually meant fully integrated...without having to pile on the options to (maybe) get the full benefit of the system. Plus, I'd hate to lose the aux input. I'll probably still get the "integrated" setup though, just because I don't want wires hanging everywhere (aux/stereo wire & charger). At least this option allows the user to control the volume and move from song to song using the controls on the steering wheel while simultaneously charging the iPod. Would be nice to actually see what I'm doing on the head unit or EVIC, though.

Thanks for the response.

ktek01 · Apr 26, 2007

dryland305 said:
Well, that just sucks. I was hoping that Fully Integrated actually meant fully integrated...without having to pile on the options to (maybe) get the full benefit of the system. Plus, I'd hate to lose the aux input. I'll probably still get the "integrated" setup though, just because I don't want wires hanging everywhere (aux/stereo wire & charger). At least this option allows the user to control the volume and move from song to song using the controls on the steering wheel while simultaneously charging the iPod. Would be nice to actually see what I'm doing on the head unit or EVIC, though.

Thanks for the response.

RAQ would probably be your best bet, with the Ipod integration kit it should display title and artist information and you could work it with the steering wheel controls if equipped. You would have to get at least a Sport with the E package to get the steering wheel controls, they are part of the premiuim steering wheel group which isnt offered on the D package.

Jerome10 · Apr 26, 2007

REF will NOT display Sirius info, but REQ does if you push the right button?

grumlenz · Apr 26, 2007

NoneRequired said:
Have you seen this with your own eyes? When at the auto show here in Detroit, I sat in a Libby with the exact same base radio, there was a Sirius marketing lady explaining the Sirius radio features. I asked the same question, which of course she couldn't answer with any conviction. So, we poked around on the radio and found that you could indeed make it display the artist and song title information. If I remember right, we did it by pressing the tuning knob, which then alternated the display between artist/song and channel name/number.

I'm going to see if I can ask the guys at work who did the PM/MK IP test if they still have a base radio around that I can borrow to do a little experimenting with. They've moved on to developing the testing for the upcoming JC49 project but I think they probably still have some MK parts around.

Well apparently this is wrong, and I am glad because that would suck if you had to go all the way up to the Nav just to see song info. I actually had only called the local Jeep dealer and that is what I was told, no I had not seen it myself. This just goes to show that the people who sell these have no idea about what they are selling. However, I still opted to go with Nav in mine, but not for this reason.

ktek01 · Apr 26, 2007

Jerome10 said:
REF will NOT display Sirius info, but REQ does if you push the right button?

The RAQ, which is the 6 disc, has an information button which the single disc REF does not.

Please Help Me Understand The Radios

Jerome10

grumlenz

dryland305

deltaboy

ktek01

NoneRequired

dryland305

ktek01

Jerome10

grumlenz

ktek01

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