Recommendations for replacement for AS2 head unit

[GeoffD]

I have a my04 9-5 Estate and, with the wide availability of double din touch screen iPod ready head units for not huge amount of money, I'd like to swap out my AS2 and wonder if anyone has a recommendation for what might be the least hassle considering the balanced amp inputs,  funny speaker impedances, steering wheel controls etc. etc.
Not too fussed if I loose the steering wheel controls but have no desire to change the oem speakers unless I have to.
All I really need is a head unit with tuner as music (and if needed, video) can be fed from an iPod, but I'm really looking for advice on what will go in with the least fiddling about, availability of interfaces etc.
Any suggestions?

[phoenix]

Assuming you retain the onboard amp, then there's no need to worry about speaker impedance- you'll only be using the line outputs from the head unit. I don't think balanced outputs are yet commonplace on aftermarket head units, so you'll need converters. These vary enormously in price, from a few pounds to hundreds. Generalyl speaking, you get what you pay for. Poor ones can really affect the sound quality.

[GeoffD]

Thanks.
This is part of my hassle in trying to choose how to do this. To adapt to the existing balanced amp would ideally need mini transformers to connect them, so would I get better results by replacing the amp and trying to adjust the amp outputs to allow for the funny front door speaker impedance.
I'm just hoping someone has already tried this kind of swap.

[phoenix]

Have you read the excellent info here:

http://www.mitt-eget.com/saab/faq_audio.shtml

Tells you all about the technical aspects of upgrading/converting.

[CitTone]

Sadly, the likelihood of getting a major improvement without replacing the factory-fit speakers is slim - they are probably the limiting factor of the AS2 IMHO

[Kev_Mc]

Welcome to STT CitTone