not sure about all of the AVH models, but all of the AVIC models do have a faint white noise in the back ground, even when there is pure silence being played from a CD. at louder volumes, it can get pretty damn annoying. it has been explained to me that it has to do with the way that pioneers computer running all of the software, interfaces with the preamp. most of the other brands have a basic radio, and the nav is one of the inputs, and the radio has good sound quality. but the avics audio sources are inputs to the computer, so mater what you listen to, its going to be there. which is the reason they only gave one avic the Premier branding (which it failed to live up to) and is why there hasnt been any new Premier or Stage 4 nav systems. but this is Pioneer we are talking about, time to man the failboats.
1. Is it possible to dim the headunit like I would dim my interior lights?
not exactly, you can have the unit dim a little bit when the dash lights are on by running a illum wire from the radio to the light bulb in the ash tray. and the brightness can be adjusted through the menu.
2. I used Metra Axxess ASWC Universal Steering Wheel Control Interface and it works pretty well although it's not nearly as responsive as when I had the stock head unit - I kinda expected that though.
yup, some modles are better than others, but they all are a bit less responsive than oem
3. I'm fairly annoyed at the fact that this unit comes with bluetooth but from what I've read it appears it only works with the phone aspect and not the audio part (meaning I can't play songs through my phone via bluetooth).
I would have to buy a PIONEER CD-BTB200 Bluetooth Adapter which are running 70-100 on ebay. Not a big deal but still kinda a pain - guess I shoulda researched a bit more.
yup dumb as hell, but something the engineers at pioneer cant seem to wrap their damn heads around and only add it to a few of their models. i dont know how many of them have phones with BT but no AD2P. again just f'ing stupid
4. I don't have the delayed off - meaning as soon as I turn the car off, the head unit goes off - there isn't the delay that the stock unit had.
you will have to tap into one of the circuits that has RAP, i tapped into one of the wires for the sunroof in the pass C pillar.
1. Not sure what features yours has but if there was a orange (usually) "dimmer" wire off the HU, then you should have connected that to the factory dimmer wire... It usually doesn't "dim" the amount of light, but contrast the white backrounds to black...you'll learn to live with that...
well for staarters there is not a factory dimmer wire, the OEM radio gets its brightness setting from the can bus.
2. i've only used a PAC SWI-JACK... no problems with response
thats interesting, from the pac websight:
SWI-JACK:
Steering Wheel Control Interface for JVC, Alpine, Clarion, Kenwood, OEM, Valor & Blaupunkt Radios
are you sure that you didnt use the SWI-PS
SWI-PS:
Steering Wheel Control Interface for
Pioneer, Sony Radios
and it sure as sh!t has a delay, the newer ones are better than the older ones but it is sure still there.
3. again not sure on your features, but most pioneers are able to BT audio
no they dont, only a few of pioneer's modes with the built in BT support AD2P.
now while i do seem to be pretty harsh on pioneer, i will and do still reccomend them a lot of the time, because they are a great value. you just get so much for the price they can be had for. for instance, just like the LS, i knew about all of the "normal" glitches that they come with, and when your getting them for half price, i dont mind dealing with a few glitches. even with all of the bugs, my F900 was a great radio for the little over $500 i paid for it.
