Bought Kenwood Stereo For 2003 Sc430

[mrvegas6923]

I wanted to get Satellite Radio with navigation and back up camera all in one view DNX571HD so I bought this Kenwood which had great reviews and sold my Mark Levinson stereo. The problem I have is the radio keeps fading in and out or horrible reception and I had Best Buy geek squad replace it with 2 different models, he put in a booster antenna and still the same issues. His response to me was there is a known problem with after market radio's with my model due to the metal on the car.

Has anybody heard this? Are there any solutions? Unfortunately since I don't have my old stereo anymore I need to find a solution.

[ShawnOklahoma]

I've never heard of a "too much metal" issue. Sounds suspect to me. I know that the OEM head unit has two antenna inputs; one for the rear telescoping metal antenna and one in the windshield. The telescoping one is now probably your only antenna (if even connected). With the OEM stereo, signals are sent to the telescoping antenna for best AM/FM reception and therefore it will auto adjust the telescopic length. Since you removed the OEM headunit, I'm not sure how the SC would compensate. It's also important to know that if you are using the OEM ML Amplifier, that using any speakers other than the recommended 8ohm door and rear speakers and 16ohm subwoofer can lead to the amp burning out (very common in the SC430). I hope BestBuy explained this to you. Just a heads up as the NEW amp is like $2000 + labor.

Additionally, do the steering remote controls still work?

[rc1047]

I installed a Kenwood D770 with SXM. The FM antenna goes up every time I turn on the radio, so I installed a switch to remove its ground except when I want FM.

I have no reception problem with it. It goes full up when I switch it on. No variable height as described by previous member. As described by previous member there are 2 antenna inputs. I used the one that fit the back motorized antenna. I didn't plug in the other.