Selling 12V: OEM Integration

Retaining high fidelity from a secondary source
By Brett Solomon

XM-KEN/PIO DMX V. 1

OEM Integration used to be a matter of retaining a head unit or amplifier and changing other equipment. Because of the addition of mobile video and satellite radio, the purveyors of OEM Integration equipment have been working late nights in order to develop products for the new formats.

The advent of satellite radio and DVD mobile video has increased the consumer’s sensitivity to retaining the cleanest audio signal, and installers are seeking to add additional sources to play through the stock stereo systems without using an FM modulator that reduces the fidelity of the source.

The most current wave of new products in OEM Integration are those that can inject Satellite Radio into an OEM head unit without the use of the FM modulator. Also included in this group are the products that can provide sound from a secondary entertainment source such as a DVD player or video game system (so the owner of a car can listen to the audio portion of a DVD through the stock stereo).

Blitzsafe’s XM-Digital Connect Interface line for connecting the Pioneer XM tuner to select OEM radios was first slated to ship in March, but the company said those models should be shipping early this month. (Blitzsafe in January announced an XM-Digital Connect Interface, Model XM-KEN/PIO DMX V. 1, $95 SRP), designed to make a Kenwood Sirius-ready radio work with Pioneer’s XM tuner. At press time, the company said the Kenwood-Pioneer model was shipping.)

As we transition from analog to digital formats, OEM integration devices that can retain the fidelity of the digital source will become more important for retrofitting today’s vehicles as well as future vehicles.

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Tags: OEM Integration, Satellite, XM Radio

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