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Selling my head unit if anyone's interested. I really liked it but I'm upgrading. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3515402&pagenumber=3&perpage=40#post418605692
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Aug 20, 2013 03:55
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Aflicted posted:Does your headunit provide options to change source input volumes? Do you have any EQ settings configured on the iPod? (Not sure if the EQ applies to sound through the dock connector, but worth considering as a test) You could rip the CDs in Apple Lossless or just set the bitrate for MP3 at 320kbps. I haven't played with an iPod or iPhone in a long time so I'm assuming they can't handle FLAC or Ogg Vorbis. Yea I will see if the EQ is set to flat. It's probably not because I use it with earbuds, and I'm also not sure if it would apply using the dock connector, but it's an easy fix if so. Also now that you mention it, there is a SLA setting and I bet it's >0. I know it can go from -4 to +4. I believe I used to have it at +4 before I put in the new speakers, because I didn't know better and I just knew it sounded louder. Good suggestion. I bet that will help a lot.
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Aug 20, 2013 14:47
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Back to the satellite question again. SiriusXM sent me another flyer in the mail to sign up for 6 months for $25. From what I can tell, it means I don't even NEED an activation kit and my car already had that installed stock. (I bought it used so I don't know) Does that sound right?
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Aug 23, 2013 00:07
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I put it in my project thread but I'll mention it here. I grabbed this for now off eBay secondhand. That's why the trim ring thing is missing. The display and controls are nice and simple. I hat to tie the positive rails together and run them off an always on source because the car has an ignition circuit but no accessory circuit. Having the main always on wouldn't cause any extra drain would it? I know it's a per case thing but a general answer if possible would be good. If I suspect anything I'll just put a multimeter inline to check the quiescent current.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:20
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General_Failure posted:I put it in my project thread but I'll mention it here. I grabbed this for now off eBay secondhand. That's why the trim ring thing is missing. The display and controls are nice and simple. I hat to tie the positive rails together and run them off an always on source because the car has an ignition circuit but no accessory circuit. Having the main always on wouldn't cause any extra drain would it? I know it's a per case thing but a general answer if possible would be good. If I suspect anything I'll just put a multimeter inline to check the quiescent current. Wire a switch in.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:27
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Krakkles posted:Having the stereo always on will absolutely cause extra drain. I would say unless you've got a robust electrical system (ie, big rear end battery), you're going to kill your battery in short order leaving it on. I don't mean like on on. I mean always having the main power feed connected.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:38
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General_Failure posted:I don't mean like on on. I mean always having the main power feed connected. Theoretically. I've seen a lot of headunits that actually draw power even though they're "switched off".
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Aug 23, 2013 05:41
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Krakkles posted:Theoretically, as long as you're switching it off somehow, it should be fine, then. Most do to keep the clock and user setting. Usually not much power unless it was wired wrong. In fact the only one that I have ever owned that had a battery backup or storage system for configuration is my $1200 pioneer. Which is awesome, because screw retuning a 32ch EQ and time alignment for each channel every time the battery get disconnected. Holdbrooks fucked around with this message at 12:19 on Aug 23, 2013 |
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Aug 23, 2013 12:15
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I've spent a LOT of time trying to dial this setup in, but I just can't get it to sound right. The highs are way too shrill/bright with a slight distortion/resonance on high notes. The sub is boomy with little to no detail. At this point I'd prefer the sound of the stock stereo. Car: 2004 Subaru Forester XT - lots of loud exhaust and wind noise Head Unit: JVC KDX80BT Front: Polk db6501 component speakers powered by a Clarion APX400.4 amp (bridged with gains turned down) Rear: None Subwoofer: A single 12" Alpine Type e powered by a Kenwood Kac-8105D (I'm planning on upgrading to a better sound quality sub at some point) Music taste: Everything from older acoustic songs to reggae to metal to hiphop with a lot of bass My goal is to have clean full range sound that can be easily heard when the windows are down. I'm considering replacing the cheap amps with a single decent quality 4 channel amp and bridging the rear channels for the sub. Is this a good path to go down, or would I be better off looking into a 2 channel amp for the speakers, and eventually upgrading the sub amp too? As a side note I'm mounting the amp(s) under the front seats. Because of this the amp has to be under ~16" long. Any suggestions on which direction to go, and any amp suggestions? For now I'd like to spend under $250.
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Aug 29, 2013 17:21
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All my pullouts had backup batteries. F taking off just the face you pull the whole unit out except the sleeve. Ah the good old days. Bonus is you could use it as a weapon fighting your way back to your place.
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Aug 29, 2013 17:43
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FecalFajita posted:I've spent a LOT of time trying to dial this setup in, but I just can't get it to sound right. The highs are way too shrill/bright with a slight distortion/resonance on high notes. The sub is boomy with little to no detail. At this point I'd prefer the sound of the stock stereo. What kind of box do you have the sub in? Sometimes if you're running a ported box it's not tuned to the frequencies you like, and it'll come across as boomy, my friend's old lancer was able to shake the headliner at 30hz but sounded anemic at other frequencies because of his box tune. I'm partial to sealed boxes because they're a lot more musical (In my opinion). About the only thing I can suggest regarding the polks being too bright is either active equalization (turning down the higher frequencies until you can stand it) or replacing the speakers with something a little less energetic? Also treble is highly directional, you might be able to just point the tweeters away from your ears a little bit? I haven't mail ordered midrange without listening to them first for this exact reason, because everyone likes different stuff, especially when it comes to this kind of thing.. Hmm, another thing that probably won't work, if your tweeters are behind a door grill or something similar, you might be able to put some small light gauge foam in between the tweeter and the inside of the trim panel to try to deaden the sound a bit?
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Aug 30, 2013 03:25
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So I have a problem. The wife wanted to be nice and cleaned my truck when I was sleeping in. Unfortunately she used armor all on everything - including my touchscreen head unit. So now it's no longer a touch screen head unit. No response at all. Tried recleaning it with water, to our avail. Can I fix this, or is it hosed?
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Sep 1, 2013 17:37
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JackRabbitStorm posted:So I have a problem. The wife wanted to be nice and cleaned my truck when I was sleeping in. Maybe try rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab? I've never tried it so I can't say if it would further damage the screen, hazing etc. If it doesn't respond to touch then its pretty hosed already though. Isopropyl is generally the preferred method for cleaning electronics since it evaporates quickly with no conductive residue.
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Sep 1, 2013 18:38
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Aflicted posted:Maybe try rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab? I've never tried it so I can't say if it would further damage the screen, hazing etc. If it doesn't respond to touch then its pretty hosed already though. Isopropyl is generally the preferred method for cleaning electronics since it evaporates quickly with no conductive residue. Yeah, it's boned. At least it does have physical buttons that still work, but I lost the ability to search my ipod and access the sound menu for equalizer / sub control.
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Sep 3, 2013 13:42
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JackRabbitStorm posted:Yeah, it's boned. At least it does have physical buttons that still work, but I lost the ability to search my ipod and access the sound menu for equalizer / sub control. But you did get to sleep in and wake up to a clean truck. My wife just tells me her car is dirty.
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Sep 3, 2013 14:12
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Aflicted posted:But you did get to sleep in and wake up to a clean truck. My wife just tells me her car is dirty. This is true, and I'm not mad, I was wanting to add blue tooth to my head unit with the $150 adapter, but now I found this head unit for under $300 with bt already there http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/DVD-Receivers/AVH-X4500BT so I'll just replace it next month after I'm done blowing all my money on GTA5
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Sep 3, 2013 17:09
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JackRabbitStorm posted:This is true, and I'm not mad, I was wanting to add blue tooth to my head unit with the $150 adapter, but now I found this head unit for under $300 with bt already there http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/DVD-Receivers/AVH-X4500BT so I'll just replace it next month after I'm done blowing all my money on GTA5 I picked up the AVH-X3500BHS on Amazon Prime for $280.. looks like it is $260 now. It does pretty much everything and the BT works very well.
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Sep 3, 2013 17:22
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So I'm looking to upgrade the headunit it my car to something that A; is able to accept Bluetooth, and B; is in a language that I (mostly) understand <Japanese at the moment>. I put in a single DIN JVC unit in my previous car, but as my new car is double DIN, I thought I'd get something a bit different. I had a KD-X30 in my last car, and it worked perfectly, no faults, just a bit of a headache to setup. Anyway, as I've stated, the only thing I really require is bluetooth, but USB functionality would be nice, along with controls over colours, bass/sub etc. I've found this as a local listing for $200, RRP in some places is up to $500, but the average seems to be about $300-350 or so:  Being in Australia, we pay premiums for everything (even our own gas), but it seems to be a pretty good deal, as it's apparently still in the box. There any reasons you professionals can think to not grab it?
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Sep 3, 2013 17:57
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fingerling posted:So I'm looking to upgrade the headunit it my car to something that A; is able to accept Bluetooth, and B; is in a language that I (mostly) understand <Japanese at the moment>. Not entirely sure, 99%, but I believe that unit actually uses a plugin USB BT module rather than having it installed internally. It is included with the unit, but it will eat either your front USB or rear USB port. Just something to keep in mind.
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Sep 3, 2013 18:06
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Aflicted posted:Not entirely sure, 99%, but I believe that unit actually uses a plugin USB BT module rather than having it installed internally. It is included with the unit, but it will eat either your front USB or rear USB port. Just something to keep in mind. Yeah, the last one had a USB slot in the back that you connected the blue-tooth unit to (pretty small dongle  that just stays back there), but I haven't got anything else I'd like to put in there, so it may as well be used for that.
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Sep 3, 2013 18:55
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fingerling posted:So I'm looking to upgrade the headunit it my car to something that A; is able to accept Bluetooth, and B; is in a language that I (mostly) understand <Japanese at the moment>. JVC KW-R800BT Comes with the BT poo poo. And should be the exact same price. Its what I'm going to get I think. It does lack proper sub out though. If that matters.
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Sep 3, 2013 19:51
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Is a used pair of these likely to give me better sound than my Volvo 940's stock rear deck 6x9s, and is $35 a good price? My head unit's a Pioneer DEH-80PRS and I'm using its internal amp.
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Sep 4, 2013 21:29
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As per Ebola's advice, I looked into that model, and have found the next model up for an extra $10, my only problem is, it's from US Amazon.. in Aus we use 88-108 as our bandwidth, and Amazon doesn't stipulate that (as it assumes you're American, I believe). Any suggestions? Model in question: JVC KW-R900BT; http://www.amazon.com/JVC-KW-R900BT...#productDetails E: unless I'm retarded, shipping is ridiculously expensive (~$100 or something) for 6 pounds. I'm probably retarded. gently caress. 
fingerling fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Sep 5, 2013 02:04
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atomicthumbs posted:Is a used pair of these likely to give me better sound than my Volvo 940's stock rear deck 6x9s, and is $35 a good price? My head unit's a Pioneer DEH-80PRS and I'm using its internal amp. $35 is a good price if they're in good shape. New, they were usually $100-150; they're still on Amazon for a bit over $100. That said, I would upgrade your front speakers long before you bother with the rears; the rears are pretty much at the bottom of the list of stuff to swap. fingerling posted:As per Ebola's advice, I looked into that model, and have found the next model up for an extra $10, my only problem is, it's from US Amazon.. in Aus we use 88-108 as our bandwidth, and Amazon doesn't stipulate that (as it assumes you're American, I believe). Any suggestions? JVC's US website shows 87.9 - 107.9 (which is what we use here). It's also listed on jvc.com.au, though with limited specs, and it's also listed on the website of a company claiming to be an authorized Australian JVC dealer - http://www.soundmaster.com.au/JVC-KW-R900BT-USB-CD-iPod-Bluetooth-Receiver-with-Separate-Variable-Colour-Display/KWR900BT/ I can't say for certain on this one, but I know a lot of aftermarket head units I've owned would either ask during setup if they were being used in NA, or just cover all FM frequencies. In the US, FM stations always end in an odd # (i.e. 94.5 fm, 102.1 fm, etc - never something like 102.2 fm or 94.4), whereas outside of North America it can be either/or. You may try contacting Soundmaster to make sure the tuner will work properly, since they claim to be an authorized reseller. Also, looks like a drat nice head unit, I may pick that up myself. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 11:00 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Sep 5, 2013 10:52
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atomicthumbs posted:Is a used pair of these likely to give me better sound than my Volvo 940's stock rear deck 6x9s, and is $35 a good price? My head unit's a Pioneer DEH-80PRS and I'm using its internal amp. Once the magnet falls off the tweeter and bounces around on the woofer cone, anything will sound better than stock 940 6x9's. that said I agree with STR, focus on the front stage. 9 series are easy to put components up front completely stealth, so I'd do that (and I did in several).
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Sep 6, 2013 17:11
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Are external Bluetooth receivers worth any salt or am I better off buying a new unit? Right now I have an Aux cord coming from the back of my unit that I plug into my phone and I'd just like to not hassle with cords any more. I haven't been able to find an external Bluetooth receiver with a Female Aux so my plan was to buy something like http://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTC450-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Input/dp/B009NLTW60 and use a f-f 3.5mm adapter. I'm worried that with all the connections it will sound lousy. Thoughts? I'm very hesitant to put any more money than I have to for Bluetooth as my car is likely to implode very soon, but I'm in and out of my car for 2+ hours multiple times a day, cords get very tedious and have also cost a previous phone an aux jack. Also with the f-f adapter I have the option of the cord for older devices, friends phones, etc. //edit for below It has a female, with a male-male cord coming around the back of the unit and into the car through a drilled hole. It's an older unit in a 2000 Chevy Cavalier and the radios are a giant pain in the rear end to pull out. I'm trying to avoid that if it won't make much of a difference. manwithoutskin fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Sep 7, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 23:35
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manwithoutskin posted:Are external Bluetooth receivers worth any salt or am I better off buying a new unit? Right now I have an Aux cord coming from the back of my unit that I plug into my phone and I'd just like to not hassle with cords any more. I guess I'm confused here. Your radio has a male 3.5mm connector instead of a female? I have always seen them with female jacks, either on the unit or with an extension, and you supply a male to male cable for hooking up your device. I wouldn't worry about the cable connections too much, your using bluetooth to stream the audio which will likely be the limiting factor. BT streaming isn't terrible, I stream from my phone all the time out of convenience. If the cables don't have shorts and make good connections then it will likely be fine. Whichever BT device you choose to be the receiver, make sure it supports the A2DP profile or you won't be streaming any music through it.
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Sep 7, 2013 00:49
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Hello and please help me forum goon ICE wizards. I have admitted to myself that the lovely stock sound system in my Brera is simply not up to the job and have spent a few evenings trying to look up what I want and need. As for front speakers, umming and ahhing between Alpine SPR-60c and Pioneer TS-E170Ci (the rears are tiny and not worth replacing, just disabling?). Are these ok or am I overlooking something I should be going for? Not going the amp route just yet, but probably will before too long. So I've found a guy who will provide the whole fitting kit with whatever patch lead I need for a good price but goddammit I have no idea what head unit I want. Wants: Decent non-fiddly touchscreen Good enough to run without an amp for now not poo poo looking. I guess I just want a recommendation. Budget £300? £400 tops but for now I'm hovering over a Pioneer AVH-X3500DAB, but slightly put off by the WVGA resolution. For the right gear I'm willing to blow the budget and go bonkers. Any input would be awesome guys cos I have no idea what I'm doing.
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Sep 8, 2013 14:52
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Does anyone make a head unit without a CD player that supports DAB radio (I'm in the UK)? My current car doesn't have the depth to fit a standard head unit (I only have 16cm of depth) and I have no use for CDs. Alternatively, does anyone know of any head unit which is less than 16cm deep and has DAB support?
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Sep 8, 2013 15:03
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I'm looking at getting an amp and sub for my 1991 Acura Integra and was wondering whether it makes a difference in terms of ported or sealed boxes. I've been told by someone that ported boxes work better for hatchbacks, but does it make any actual difference? I'm looking at a few amps/subs on craigslist. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/pts/3966203059.html - a 10' Sony Xplod sub with a kicker amp for $80 http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/nvn/pts/4050496438.html - a 10' JL Audio sub and box (sealed) for $50 http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/nvn/pts/4056258968.html - a 10' Rockford sub in a baseworx box for $70 http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/nvn/pts/4056267289.html - a 10' Crankenstein sub in a box for $50 Just wondering if there are any brands that I should stay away from or gravitate towards. Thanks for the help.
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Sep 11, 2013 12:22
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Humdrum Hoodlum posted:I'm looking at getting an amp and sub for my 1991 Acura Integra and was wondering whether it makes a difference in terms of ported or sealed boxes. I've been told by someone that ported boxes work better for hatchbacks, but does it make any actual difference? 1. I don't like the Xplods car audio, so I have no idea if that's a good deal. 2. That's a decent entry level JL. But, that's a truck box, not sure how it'll sound in your hatch. 3. Rockford makes solid subs along with JL, and that seems to be a well constructed box, but holy hell it's huge. 4. What the gently caress is a Crankenstein?
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Sep 11, 2013 12:48
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Humdrum Hoodlum posted:I'm looking at getting an amp and sub for my 1991 Acura Integra and was wondering whether it makes a difference in terms of ported or sealed boxes The super simple version is a ported box will be louder and boomier, while a sealed box will (generally) sound more "authentic". If you listen to rap, hip hop, and/or stuff with generally heavy bass, I'd lean toward ported. For rock, metal, and/or stuff with drums as the main beat, I'd go for sealed. Personal preference anyway. FWIW, I had a single 10" in a sealed box in my 91 Integra (LS hatch), and mostly listen to rock/metal/punk. It was a nice kick, but a little weak - in a smaller car, a 12 in a good sealed box with a decent amp sounds perfect to me. Or two 10s in a sealed box.
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Sep 11, 2013 13:00
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So, I think I decided on getting this http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/DVD-Receivers/AVH-X4500BT to replace the armor all blunder of last week. Double Din, BT, Ipod/iphone connectivity, DVD, Good EQ, separate Pandora streaming, has everything I require plus more, and is within budget. Any one see anything wrong with this unit, or have any personal experience? I'm hoping this one will last me years like my last one did.
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Sep 12, 2013 02:31
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xp67 posted:Does anyone make a head unit without a CD player that supports DAB radio (I'm in the UK)? My current car doesn't have the depth to fit a standard head unit (I only have 16cm of depth) and I have no use for CDs. You could use one of these with your existing head unit: http://www.pure.com/product/highway-vl-60905/ All the reviews are good and it works out a lot cheaper than buying a complete new DAB head unit.
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Sep 12, 2013 08:17
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Alright so I've maybe decided to buy new. I'm looking at SonicElectronix and looking at a few ported boxes. http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_20062_MTX-TNP112D.html - MTX TNP112D $180 http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_35009_Rockford-Fosgate-P1-1X12.html - Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12 $140 Are either of these worth a purchase? Edit: I've also found the following: http://www.revscene.net/forums/685700-fs-rockford-10-sub-box-amp.html Rockford Fosgate Punch P1 P1S410 10-Inch 150-Watt Subwoofer - 4 Ohm Bassworx RP10G 10-Inch Ported Subwoofer Enclosure Gloss Baffle (Single, Black) Rockford Fosgate Punch P300-1 300W RMS, Punch Series Compact Monoblock Amplifier This looks promising, any thoughts? Humdrum Hoodlum fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Sep 12, 2013 |
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Sep 12, 2013 14:24
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I'm having the weirdest problem with my Pioneer DEH-X9500BHS. It has two USB ports on back that are supposed to charge connected devices. It won't consistently charge my Nexus 4. I've tried 5 different USB cables in each port, both with and without the Pioneer extension cable. Sometimes it won't charge at all, sometimes it will charge for 30 seconds then stop, sometimes it will charge for 2 minutes then stop. Doesn't matter if the car is turned to ACC on or started all the way. Has anyone seen anything like this before?
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Sep 15, 2013 02:31
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Aflicted posted:One of your examples was using google and USGS for the mapping. I don't know of a navigation equipped head unit that does it, but if you are using pass through from your phone its going to be Google maps and navigation. It's just really hard to spend hundreds-to-thousands on an aftermarket nav deck that has a lovely 800x480 resistive touchscreen, horrific UI's and pixelated maps. I can't find a single in-dash nav I'd want to spend my money on at any price. I assume most people nowadays are just bypassing aftermarket nav setups altogether for a deck with bluetooth and their smartphone, right?
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Sep 15, 2013 06:46
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Asked this a few weeks ago and didn't get an answer, though it was a long, rambling post.  2006 Saturn Ion, GM's standard higher end double DIN head unit (CD + Aux input) used on much of their 06+ lineup. Adding a sub + amp + line level converter, converter will be run off of the rear speakers. Any way to control an amp's remote power lead from the factory head unit, or am I stuck tapping into the accessory circuit somewhere? I'm honestly not sure if it's even capable of controlling a power antenna, since they seem to have done away with those even on Cadillacs. To remind you of the GM stereo: (my pic, though the shutter speed made half the display disappear)  randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:38 on Sep 15, 2013 |
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Sep 15, 2013 10:27
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I have never heard of a way to do remot turn on with a factory deck. The only thing I can think or would be to tap in to the backlight of the radio display and a relay if it turns off with the stereo. But that would be a lot of work, and risk damaging something opening it up like that. I would just do an ACC wire. You could always l add a switch if it hums with radio off while driving also.
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Sep 15, 2013 11:39
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The stereo itself has what I think is either an LED or VFD panel, which stays on even with the radio off (if the engine is running); getting to that circuit is far more work than I want to do. Even with the radio off, the display is still active (shows a laughably inaccurate clock while off, I've never seen a clock that was so horrible at keeping time - it loses about 10 minutes per month). Humming could be an issue too - the amp in the head unit seems to stay active most of the time (I've noticed a slight alternator whine from the speakers with the radio off, anyway); I assume this is so that OnStar can function reliably. I have absolutely no interest in pulling wires to the dash until I do a proper aftermarket radio installation anyway - there's a "lighter" (power outlet) in the back seat that's switched with ACC power, I think that will be my best option, possibly adding a switch later. The factory stereo will be replaced eventually, but it probably won't happen for at least 6 months..
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Sep 15, 2013 12:13
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