For my first post, I'm looking for a recommendation of good places near me (Billerica, MA). There's a place in town (MacKenzie Mobile Electronics -
http://www.mackenziemobile.com/) that's been around for years, but I have no idea how good their work is. Looking at their web site, they appear to be mostly an Alpine shop. I've never heard anything (good or bad) about them. I believe there's a place up in Tewksbury, but again I have no idea if they're any good.
What I'm looking to do is replace the lousy stock headunit and speakers in my 2008 Toyota Highlander with much better speakers (of course), quality amplification, and a quality head unit. I'm looking for the following (beyond the basics) in the head unit:
1) Navigation - I definitely don't need the best here, but it is something I used once in a while in my previous vehicle (a 2006 Lexus LX-470 with the stock Mark Levinson system which was probably the best stock audio system by far I've ever heard in a vehicle - traded it in a few weeks ago on the Highlander mostly to save money on gas).
2) iPod interface and/or a way to hook up a reasonably large hard drive (at least 120GB) to the head unit with a good user interface to access the music (don't care at all about playing video in the car).
3) Ability to tie into the backup camera which currently displays on a really small screen.
4) Ability to get satellite and HD radio. Not sure if I really want these, but it would be nice to be able to add them.
If I were just installing a head unit, I'd probably tackle this myself, but I don't want to get into installing the amp and speakers and running wires too. I definitely want to minimize alterations to the vehicle and don't want system components taking up cargo space. I do have space available under the front passenger seat and will shortly have a large compartment in the cargo area floor where the 3rd row seats fold into (I'm removing them and replacing them with factory parts that are there when the 3rd row seat option isn't installed).
While I'm at it, I'd also like to have the place hook up a 12V power outlet somewhere in the back that always has power as I have a small Engel fridge that I take on trips and it usually works better at keeping stuff cool if it can run when the car isn't running when I stop somewhere for a few hours.
Component recommendations (head unit, amps, speakers, etc.) are more than welcome. I'd like to end up with something that sounds at least as good as the Mark Levinson system did in the Lexus and can play loud enough to hear with the windows down on the highway, but I don't need anything that can win competitions (sound quality is more important than the max volume). I suspect this won't be too hard to pull off with quality aftermarket components.
One Head unit I've been considering is the Kenwood CNX-8120 - the only thing on my list that it may not be able to do is let me hook up a large hard drive with music, but this isn't a showstopper as it does have an iPod interface. I've been out of the car audio market for so long that I don't have a really good feel for who makes the good stuff and who makes the junk anymore.
Budget is reasonably flexible, but I don't want to end up with the equivalent of a 2nd car loan either //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif.
