The Plan

I wanted a simple solution, like Seth and David's, but I also really liked German's ideas of using the cd-changer inputs to get higher quality sound. So why not combine the two ideas? I also wanted to make as many connections as possible outside of the radio, I thought that the connections would be easier to make and more reliable.

So, the plan is to route sound from an 1/8" audio jack to the cd-changer wires on the radio's cable harness, and also connect a switch between the "tel-mute" and ground wires, again, on the harness, not inside the radio. Inside the radio I'll do exactly what German did, re-route the cd-changer to the telephone input. I found a lovely hiding place for the jack and the switch (picture forthcoming), so I'm not worried about making it look good.

The caveats: This disables my On-Star system. At the least I won't be able to hear it. However, GM hasn't supported the (analog) cellular hardware my Saab has since 2007, so no real loss. I'm losing my capability to use Saab's trunk-mounted cd-changer. Finally, to play from the iPod, the radio will be in telephone mode, which causes it to ignore the tone controls and it won't play quite as loudly.