Car Stereos: Car stereo, alpine stereos, oem radios

Question
I have a 97 Grandprix GT with a stock stereo system in it. The speakers sound good but it has an old head unti that only takes tapes. Will replacing the head unit improve the sound quality?

Answer
Mark,  OEM headunits are pretty nice radios.  They are made by some of the top manufacturers in the world.  However, newer headunits have better features like cd players and mp3 players and USB plugs.  There are a few aftermarket headunits that sound better than OEM radios.  All Alpine Stereos have better sound.  High-end Clarion and Eclipse stereos will sound better than OEM stereos.  Without considering the fact that cds sound infinitely better than tapes and radio, your biggest improvement to an OEM system is to replace the speakers.  Factory speakers are the weak link in OEM systems.  If you want sound improvement, and can live with a tape player, I would change the speakers.  If you want to move on to cds, I would look at an alpine stereo for replacement.  Hope this helps, Scott