My 2¢ is this...(coming from someone that used to do professional/competition installations)
If you buy a "post" head unit, you are going to get jacked in price and likely in quality. For what Autosound charges, you can get a super-nice quality DIN head unit instead (including all the optional controls)
Plan on replacing the speakers in your car as well. The old paper cone speakers, if OEM, are well past their usefulness.
Unless you need some seriously thumping bass, most people are quite surprised by the amount of sound you can get from a
quality and properly implemented 4 x 25W sound system, especially in a small cabin such as the Corvette's. You'll probably find something with a 4 x 45W or 65W output, which is plenty when driving 4 speakers, especially if you have the windows up.
When checking for speakers, try to match front & rear speakers with same
sensitivity rating. The higher the rating, the less power you'll need to run them and the cleaner sound they'll produce. Your front speakers will likely have a higher sensitivity rating due to the smaller size (but that's not always true). A slight difference in sensitivity front to back isn't a major issue, as you can simply adjust the fader setting.
If you are concerned about ruining your factory console, then buy an aftermarket console. This is a good idea anyways since you can then have an easier time using a dremel to cut out the proper size for a DIN head unit since it's already out of the car. Also keeps from getting all kinds of plastic dust & debris all inside the console..
The only other change I might recommend is seeing what other people have done for enclosing the back speakers. Putting the rear speakers in sealed boxes will greatly increase the sound quality of the speaker. You might be able to find some old threads in either this C3 forum or in the
aftermarket audio forum.
