Upgrading my Honda Pilot

I have a 2005 Honda Pilot. The stereo is decent, but in 2005 that mostly meant a 6 CD changer. I've gotten frustrated by the process of:

1. Burn a few new CDs
2. Put them in the truck
3. Listen to each a few times
4. Get very bored with them
5. Repeat forever

In the next model year, the stereos got smarter. A CD can contain MP3s, so you can put a lot more music on each CD. They also added jacks for things like iPods.

I recently purchased an iPod Interface from a little company called USA-SPEC. You wire it into the radio, replacing the 6 CD changer. I can now plug my iPhone into the radio. I get excellent quality sound, access to my hundreds to albums, and the controls on the steering wheel control the iPhone's music. It even recharges my phone at the same time. List is $150 or so, but I got it on a good sale. Installation on the Honda was simple. It took about 30 minutes, and that is with the wires all neatly installed back behind the dash.

To make this even better, I have the Rhapsody music service. Instead of buying music, I can "rent" it. For less than the price of one CD a month, I can listen to almost any music by any artist. I can also download it to my iPhone or just stream it.

Now I have a virtually infinite supply of music in the Pilot, all under my control (versus something like XM radio).

Happy Steve!