TrooperCross:

I think you'll find abour as many different opinions as there as people who post on this board. For me, the stock head unit and cd changer are made by Fujitsu ten (makers of Eclipse)...pretty damn good stuff in my book. What I felt was missing was low end sound due to the stock speaker size. So I added a 5 channel Eclipse amp under the driver seat to power the four factory speakers and added a 10" JL sub-woofer in the rear door (aka Tone's set up). I got great sound, even with the stock speakers for 3 days, until I blew both of the stock rear 4" speakers. The stock speakers in my 2001 VX were Clarion piece 'o craps rated at 8 to 10 watts. I'm surprised they last for 3 days.

I've upgraded the stock speakers all around with MB Quart (6.5's in the front and 5.25 in rear) without and cutting or modification. Now the system sounds awesome, and I'm using the factory head unit and cd changer. Some folks will differ on keeping the factory head unit, but unless you are after a DVD display and monitor, I think it works great. Rob A.