My 1998 Maxima has the crappiest sounding radio in the world, and it is possessed. When I turn it down, it gets louder, and then stays the same volume. The cd skips when the car goes over a bump or I close the glove box. The speakers rattle and sound really awful. This makes me wish for AM radio and an 8 track. I don’t want a loud, fancy system. I just want to hear the radio and cd in an enjoyable mode. What to do?
Plenty of aftermarket radios available. Find one with the features you want. Check with Circuit City, Best Buy, and others. These two at least also offer installation services.
Sounds like you need a full replacement including speakers. In-dash units are easy to do yourself but speakers can take a bit of effort to install correctly. If you’re not familiar with the work you might consider having a shop do it.
Also sounds like you want normal music, not trunk thunkin’ moron music like the kids are listening to 
I like Pioneer radios - they tend to have the most features (EQ, etc) for the buck. If I were shopping today I’d be SURE to get one with a miniplug jack (for your MP3 player).
Pioneer makes decent speakers too actually - check 'em out.
You might consider a SMALL subwoofer - - you’ll get much better bass out of it - I’m talking nice sounding bass, not that crap that rattles windows 2 blocks away. Don’t let the goober at Circuit City talk you into dual 12" kickthunkers or whatever they’re pushing this week. Just get a simple setup - -I like Bazooka tubes myself because everything you need is included in the enclosure (you don’t have to buy a seperate amp), and they’re pretty small so they’ll fit just about anywhere. Real good, clean, tight bass that will enhance your music.
I’ve used Crutchfield for years.
You put in the make, model, and year of your car and the website will list the radios and speakers that fit your car. Crutchfield supplies the wiring harnesses, brackets and adaptors, and the necessary instructions for installation with the radio and speakers. Even if you don’t order it’s a good place to do some research before you buy.
Good luck,
Ed B.
I’m also a Crutchfield customer from way back. Never any complaints.
Buy new speakers while you’re at it. They will make a WORLD of difference.
The unit in your car is actually a pretty good unit. It’s made by Clarion. There is a KNOWN issue with this unit and there is a fix. Do a Google search and you’ll find several places that will fix this. I had mine fixed for $100 at a place near me in Shrewsbury MA. If you’re not satasfied with the sound it may NOT be the electronics…but the speakers.
Let me just second the advice to check out Cruthcfield. They supply a lot of good information and all the needed adapters when they sell you a system. If you have the Bose system, then what the other fellow said about some other fixes may be correct. I reworked my own Bose system speakers in my Maxima some years ago, but there are now some places that do this work for you.
Crutchfield will give you guidance if you want to replace the whole thing.