Adapters Used To Connect Aftermarket To OEM

If you want to upgrade an OEM or factory audio system, you can do so thanks to the availability of aftermarket adapters. These devices assist in connecting aftermarket products to the OEM factory system. For example, if you want to replace your radio with a new aftermarket one, then you will need an aftermarket adapter and harness to integrate the radio into the car’s electronics. If you have a factory audio system that is anchored by a factory radio and you want to listen to music selections from your iPod, you can get an aftermarket adapter that allows you to integrate the iPod with the car radio. 

The development of adapters by aftermarket companies has been possible because the factory audio systems appearing in today’s cars have been created by well-known aftermarket car audio companies. For example, General Motors, Nissan and Infiniti cars hosts Bose car audio systems. Ford model vehicles use systems developed by JBL, and Mitsubishi uses Infinity Audio as its factory system. 

There are a variety of reasons why you would need an adapter. Besides the ones already mentioned, the factory audio systems have their own amplifiers to which you will need to integrate aftermarket products and many factory head units are connected to the car’s computer making it difficult to replace them without using adapters. Moreover, the OEM companies that provide audio products to the car makers have developed digital data transfer bus systems which connect the head unit to other components of the system. Each manufacturer uses its own proprietary protocol. So mixing and matching different manufacturers’ products into an over all system is impossible without the use of adapters.  

3 companies that offer a plethora of adapters are Pacific Accessories Corporation, Precision Interface Electronics and Peripheral Electronics. These companies offer adapters that allow the use of an iPod in just about every make of car. They also offer products that use the auxiliary input of a factory radio to accept a laptop computer, CD player, MP3 player, CD changer, satellite radio, multimedia products (DVD players and video games) and portable audio players. Moreover, there are devices that are designed to “translate” the bus system protocol so that you can add things like aftermarket amplifiers. These devices make it easy to add subwoofers and a subwoofer amplifier to a factory audio system. 

If you trade out your factory radio for an aftermarket one and you have radio controls on the steering wheel of your car, there are adapters that can be used that allow these controls to command the aftermarket radio. 

Adapters are available that allow you to trade out your factory amplifier for an aftermarket one and still keep the factory head unit. 

And for those of you who drive a General Motors car that includes OnStar, then replacing the factory radio for an aftermarket variety will not affect the OnStar because there is an adapter that can be used to assure that OnStar continues to work. 

And, in many cases it doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive or the manufacturer of the aftermarket product that is being added. These adapters work on just about every car—General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Volvo, Volkswagen, Isuzu and more. They also accept products made by just about all aftermarket car audio manufacturers—Alpine, Kenwood, Sanyo, Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Clarion and more.