24KPython Messages: 16 Registered: October 2012 Location: San Diego, CA
Chancellor
Oh hell yeah, it's worth the effort! Besides that, it's fun. Not to mention absolutely necessary to get anything remotely listenable to an audiophile.
Generally, my opinion is that the head unit is the least of the problems. The first thing I replace is the tiny cables with some quality 10-14 gauge copper - if not some high-end cables which are easy enough to DIY. Next up is to deal with the acoustics -- first by damping the ridiculous vibrations, so the car doesn't "fart" at every bass note -- and around the front speakers to tighten the imaging. Then to replace the front speakers and pad the under-dash area to reduce reflection. At that point, the sound should be "listenable".