joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Only if you want the screen to dim at night. (I did.) You'll need to connect that wire to the light in the ash tray or to the wire for the lights in the message center buttons.
Stereo headunit compatibility
- Thread starter SoulSoak
- Start date
Only if you want the screen to dim at night. (I did.) You'll need to connect that wire to the light in the ash tray or to the wire for the lights in the message center buttons.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Do you have the red and yellow wires backwards?
The full time power wire (should be yellow and heavy) should connect to pin 1 of the 24-pin connector (factory wire color is orange/black). The switched power wire (should be red and smaller) should connect to pin 2 of the 24-pin (factory wire color is yellow/green). You will loose the retained power feature (radio will go off with key off instead of door open). You can get that back by running the switched wire to the trunk to pick up the signal from the REM.
Thanks Joe. I figured it out. Apparently this headunit requires you to actually turn it off via the touch screen menu. It may automatically turn off after a certain amount of time of inactivity, but yeah. Figured it out. Now my only issue is I'm setting my amp gain with my multimeter and my battery died lol. Wife's on the way to give me a jump.
bike70ride
LVC Member
Lot of good info here. I'm planning to upgrade my factory unit soon. (I just have the 'el basic one with the single CD and cassette.) I'm really waiting to see what becomes of the new Parrot app radio that was introduced at CES this January. They (unfortunately) are mum on the major audio details (Parrot is not known for their audio...but hopefully they learned from the last unit they released (the Asteriod) that was mediocre in that area). They are also being very coy on WHEN in 2015 they're even going to release it. I wouldn't buy one until I see an online review and find out how good the audio section is. Pioneer's App radio 4 is nice, but a little old now and not sure when the 5 will be out.
http://www.parrot.com/usa/ces/ (It's the RNB6 on the upper left) Probably overkill for an older vehicle like the LS...but...
Soul...is that an aftermarket dash trim piece? Metra, perhaps? How well does the color match the rest of the "silver" trim pieces? Or, is that your factory DIN one? Thx!
http://www.parrot.com/usa/ces/ (It's the RNB6 on the upper left) Probably overkill for an older vehicle like the LS...but...
Soul...is that an aftermarket dash trim piece? Metra, perhaps? How well does the color match the rest of the "silver" trim pieces? Or, is that your factory DIN one? Thx!
Would anyone want to advise me as to why my headunit won't detect my flashdrive? I spent a good hour ripping cd's on my laptop and synced them to a new empty 8gig flashdrive.
When I connect it to the usb extension cord that's coming from the headunit, nothing happens. If I connect my phone it detects it and charges it so I know the cord is working.
Do I have to purchase a special type of USB flashdrive... or what?
When I connect it to the usb extension cord that's coming from the headunit, nothing happens. If I connect my phone it detects it and charges it so I know the cord is working.
Do I have to purchase a special type of USB flashdrive... or what?
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
I would try a different flash drive... how do you have it formatted? I have never had any problems with any flash drives not playing (portable hard drives are a different story, even if they are flash based)
as long as you are 100% sure you have your wiring correct, i think there may be a problem with your headunit...
because this should 100% not be the case. once power is lost on the RED ACC wire (key turned off) the radio should power down immediately (at least in this car, without any extra wiring to regain the RAP feature Joe mentioned a little bit ago)
as long as you are 100% sure you have your wiring correct, i think there may be a problem with your headunit...
because this should 100% not be the case. once power is lost on the RED ACC wire (key turned off) the radio should power down immediately (at least in this car, without any extra wiring to regain the RAP feature Joe mentioned a little bit ago)
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
no its not... the entire line of app radios has been terrible, some would say even worse that the F series debacle from years past. even the newest version is piss poor.
while a capacitive screen sounds like a great ideal vs the resistive screens that we have been using for years, the responsiveness of the screen is bad, many time not picking up your touch or having a long delay.
the "app radio" interface is really bad and has a lot of connection issues, and while the ARLiberator app unlocked and fixed a lot of crap with the AR1 and AR2 it hasn't been supported on any of the newer models.
the iphone connection is a joke, for a radio that requires you to use a phone for most of its resources, on top of the radio, you need to buy many expensive adapters, as in one box of cables from pioneer, then you need to buy two different parts from fukcing apple (becasue pioneer either couldnt figure out how to make it or wouldn't pay apple the licensing fee) then you have this huge "digital AV" adapter hooked up to two different cables that run behind the dash just to plug in your phone
just what i want coming out of my dash to plug my sexy phone into my new sexy radio right? lol
the android connection is a joke... pretty much see above and also if you have a MHL connection, here to praying that you have the right version...
and if you have mirror link, heres to praying that you have a "compatible version" what ever that means, I though that the point of an interface standard was so that they work...
did I mention they freeze often?
honestly, its one of the few radios that I sell that makes me hate my job sometimes...
I sh!t you not, of the 20 or so that were sold at my store in the last year, I'm almost positive that all but maybe two were either returned/exchanged or warrantied out after either failure or the glitches were just too much to bare (of the ones that needed to be replaced, would anybody care to guess how many people went with the same model?) allow me to elaborate...
a couple of weeks ago this dude comes in with an 07 ram with the standard radio (non OEM navigation) looking for phone integration and navigation...
he sees the price of the AR4, and is instantly drawn to it as he really concerned with price (which I get, nothing wrong with that...) but after showing him that by the time he bought all the extra adapters, he really wasn't saving much money, and I also warned him of past customer experiences and urged him to go home and even maybe read bunch of reviews, but regardless he wanted to go ahead and do it, he also decided he wanted to do a back up camera at the same time... whatever, its money coming in and work going out so I get him set up for everything he comes in a couple of days later and I get it all put in....
upon him picking up his car, he looks at me and says " what the fukc is this contraption coming out of the dash where he is supposed to plug his phone in, while trying not to be an ass, I remind him of our previous conversation where I specifically warned him about this, and even went over it again while ringing him out when he asked why I needed to grab so many parts, and why did he need all these parts if the radio was made for phones...
whatever, fast forward to the beginning of this week when he came back in to complain how big of a piece of sh!t this radio was and that he should have to deal with all this BS with the kind of money he spent, nothing works like he expected it to, and had a whole list of problems that must have been my fault for installing it wrong... for starters, everytime he starts the car and sometimes just when driving around, the radio will show the back up camera (without the car being in reverse of course) sometimes it goes away, sometimes it doesn't... it freezes up his iPhone at least once a day. then it must have blown his speaker in his pass door because it sounds terrible half the time (the rest of the time it sounds fine)......... so yeah, I say that coming a mile away, I tell him well if it was me, I would exchange it for something that isnt an appradio, he can either go cheaper and just get something like a simple AV receiver and just use bluetooth for phone integration (exactly like soulsoak's radio) or he could spend a bit more and either get Alpines new CarPlay receiver or a full blown nav system... after looking into it, we see that the Alpine will only be another $60 bucks so he decides that is what he wants to try.
so now I've got to burn a few more hours pulling everything out of the car and pretty much redoing the entire installation (minus the camera) a second time without any more labor dollars coming in, and with my rate of pay, we pretty much broke dead even on the job (which you can't really run a business like that...) but he came in on friday and brought us a pizza for lunch and told us how this new radio is 100 times better and hasn't had even one of the problems he had before.
also pretty much what happens with that radio either once or twice a month depending on how many we sell. its ridiculous.
fukc the AppRadio
fukc the horse it rode in on
and fukc everything it stands for.
(steps down from soapbox)
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
one thing I alway recommend with the LS dash kit, is for a little better look, you can trim between 1/8th-1/4 of the back side of the radio opening out, the radio can be slid further out making it more flush with the dash kit itself, instead of sitting so far back in that hole. I really don't understand why metra made the kit like that...
I used a dremel with a cutting (or melting disc in this case lol) to do mine. it probably would be too bad with these newer pioneer models, but it was absolutely necessary with the F series AVIC model I originally started with when I got that dash kit because it had a large round volume knob that almost touched the side and made it a real pain in the ass to try to use. even without being necessary, it does make it look 10x better and more like OEM.
Actually, yes the size of the double din does matter. The surround for aftermarket double dins is 180mmx100mm. Some double din stereos from across the pound are 110mmx102mm. Mine was this size. It's an Eonon d2106 from Europe. I had to take a dremmel to the dash kit to make the stereo fit. This shouldn't be an issue though for American units.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Please tell me where you can find different size double din "surrounds" for the LS? I've only been able to find the one size.
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
no it doesn't matter, as the LS doesnt have a lot of options of dash kits to choose from, they will all be made for the same size, so regardless of what size your "double din radio" is, you will still get the same dash kit. then if you buy a radio that doesn't fit, you have to make it fit.
also
no... double din is a standardized size. standards are either followed or they are not, therefore a radio is either double din or ots not...
a lot of radios are advertised as double din and just are not. many are very close, and many cars can fit a double din radio but their radio is not truly double din.
this is a huge problem with cheap chinese models or knockoffs, they can never follow standards, they are either too big or too small to properly fit, it is almost always a clear give away to how good of a product is if the company can't follow simple standards...
Yeah. As to the head unit needing to be turned off, it actually operates that way. If I set the head unit to Off/Standby mode, it will turn off with the key. However if I leave it playing any media and/or in any other mode, it will remain on for a certain duration then turn off.
As to the flash drive issue, it was fine all along. I had to go into the USB mode and then specify it to flash drive, it was currently set to phone. Once I changed that it detected the drive.
Everything is working properly and I am happy. Now the only issue (possibly not an issue) I have is properly setting the gain on my two channel fosgate 700s amp. It produces 700rms when bridged to 4 ohms. I'm using it to power a 12" Alpine type r swr 12d2.
My issue is, after doing the math, I need approximately 26.5 volts from each channel resulting in 52-53 volts bridged. My issue is I can't get a steady read. The volts fluctuate by 3 or 4 while in operation. I get readings of 23 upwards to 30 volts ultimately averaging about 26sh.
My question is... is there a gain tolerance between the two channels? Does the voltage have to be exactly the same between the two channels to prevent damage to the subwoofer or equipment? Or is there a tolerance? As in... can one channel be providing 23 volts whereas the other is providing 28-29sh..?
Just curious. Thanks for all the info and advice.
I never said that there are different sized double din surrounds. What I did say was that the size will matter if your radio is too big. And continued to say that I had to dremmel my surround to fit the radio.
This is exactly what I said in my post. Other than yes the size does matter. The size of the radio itself. That I had to dremmel the surround to fit my non standard radio.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
The original comment from the OP was that he was waiting to get a dash kit until he had a headunit to be sure of the size. I still believe that my response was correct. The exact size of his double din doesn't matter, because there is only the one size (two if you count single din) dash kit available.
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
this
even with your weird close-to-0DIN sized radio, you would still get the same dash kit...
My point was that it only matters is his DD is too big. At which point he will have to dremmel it. We are all saying the same thing just in a different way.
:slam #forestforthetrees
Again, we are all saying the same thing. My point in saying that the size of the radio does actually matter is only to the point that he would have to dremmel the surround if the radio is too big. :runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway:
Everything is working properly and I am happy. Now the only issue (possibly not an issue) I have is properly setting the gain on my two channel fosgate 700s amp. It produces 700rms when bridged to 4 ohms. I'm using it to power a 12" Alpine type r swr 12d2.
My issue is, after doing the math, I need approximately 26.5 volts from each channel resulting in 52-53 volts bridged. My issue is I can't get a steady read. The volts fluctuate by 3 or 4 while in operation. I get readings of 23 upwards to 30 volts ultimately averaging about 26sh.
My question is... is there a gain tolerance between the two channels? Does the voltage have to be exactly the same between the two channels to prevent damage to the subwoofer or equipment? Or is there a tolerance? As in... can one channel be providing 23 volts whereas the other is providing 28-29sh..?
For all I know, once the channels become bridged, maybe they only operate on one gain level. I have no idea, but to prevent damage and take precautionary action, I'm inquiring to you geniuses.
Just curious. Thanks for all the info and advice.
My issue is, after doing the math, I need approximately 26.5 volts from each channel resulting in 52-53 volts bridged. My issue is I can't get a steady read. The volts fluctuate by 3 or 4 while in operation. I get readings of 23 upwards to 30 volts ultimately averaging about 26sh.
My question is... is there a gain tolerance between the two channels? Does the voltage have to be exactly the same between the two channels to prevent damage to the subwoofer or equipment? Or is there a tolerance? As in... can one channel be providing 23 volts whereas the other is providing 28-29sh..?
For all I know, once the channels become bridged, maybe they only operate on one gain level. I have no idea, but to prevent damage and take precautionary action, I'm inquiring to you geniuses.
Just curious. Thanks for all the info and advice.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
No, we are not. I still don't see how the exact size of his double din affect which of the only one available dash kits he would buy.
He said he was waiting to buy a dash kit until after he had selected the headunit. I said exactly which headunit he bought didn't matter because there was only the one dash kit to buy. You continue to claim that this response was wrong.
I don't understand how my response is wrong, and I no longer care. I concede defeat and stipulate that you are correct and I am wrong. In the future, please get/select your headunit first before picking a dash kit.
Thank you. Because I never said you were wrong about the size of the aftermarket surround. I just tossed my experience in the ring.
I've learned a lot from you on this forum and respect what you have to say. But I can't believe you are unable to understand what I have plainly laid out multiple times. I guess, because, internets.
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
are you using a test CD with a steady even tone to when measuring the voltage?
honestly I don't use a volt meter to tune amps, mist of the time I find where the radios max volume is before it starts distorting, and then match the sub amp gains to the point of distortion and them back it back a tiny bit. if its a 4ch or I want to get real fancy with it, I will just use an O scope and look for the clipping and adjust to right before that level.
honestly I don't use a volt meter to tune amps, mist of the time I find where the radios max volume is before it starts distorting, and then match the sub amp gains to the point of distortion and them back it back a tiny bit. if its a 4ch or I want to get real fancy with it, I will just use an O scope and look for the clipping and adjust to right before that level.
bike70ride
LVC Member
Great! Thx. This is the one I will want to use as well.
Yeah I generally tune them in the same way. Just wanted to do this particular setup to exact measurment. But I've already said **** it and tuned by ear.
bike70ride
LVC Member
OK....
Well this is the first super negative commentary I've seen for the Pioneer App radios. (sure there have been some issues, and whatnot, but didn't seem like any more than what people were also encountering with the AVIC or NEX units).
Quite honestly, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go that route anyway since I'm not all that sold on using my phone for a lot of the functions. However, dropping $1000+ on one of the NEX units in order to have GPS built-in and the look I want, is a lot of $ for a headunit if you ask me. And from what I've read Pioneer (while far from perfect) is still the best out there for the navigation units. Kenwood looks promising, but I read their HUs are known for not working as advertised. Alpine seems to have gone downhill from back in the 80's when their stuff was at or near the top in quality (and don't like their GPS interface anyway). JVC...looks cheap. That's about it for options.
iPhone compatibility means nothing to me and I could care less if it works well with an apple device. The android issues are a problem, however, but other than pairing my phone to do hands-free calling, that's really all I need...I don't have playlists and stuff to need the link to my phone for anything more then use as a phone.