[Hati]

I have my CW for nearly two years now. Very happy with it except one thing: the bloody disgrace they fitted as a radio. I'm on my second unit, the first one had the BT die, so got it changed under warranty within a few months of taking delivery of the car. The second unit started playing up too, BT intermittently and the radio developed some static as well. Checked the antenna connection, but made no difference.


So I decided to bite the bullet and swap the radio out. I just wanted a reasonable radio (front speakers already changed out), a small sub to get a better sound and BT. Set the budget to around the $400 mark. I didn't need audiophile quality, but something better than the standard would be welcome.


Someone linked to a double to single DIN reducer, so I considered single DIN units for a while. Looking around the interweb, I quickly realised that there is bugger all out there that fits in with what I need without blowing the budget right out the window. Either I settle for a basic unit and discard the sub or lower some of the expectations and settle for a lower quality but feature rich unit.


After spending some time looking around the researching the crap out of all the bits I found, orders were placed for a few items.

The head unit has a bunch of features, like interface with their dash cam, reverse camera feature, BT, sub and amp out with amp on/off control, just to name a few. Reasonably priced, free postage and 2 years warranty. On the down side the screen is resistive touch, not terribly high resolution, has some annoying animations and the interface is not as nice as it could be, but it passed the bench test. BT takes over when a call comes in and drops back to whatever I had going before the call, the reverse cam input turns on the screen, even when the unit is off, then it goes back to OFF mode, the DVR interfaces fine, but see above for resolution. I didn't have spare speakers so as yet no idea what it sounds like. The radio picked up the usual FM stations with just a piece of wire plugged into the antenna socket, so it all works. I ordered the DVR with it since my previous DVR (well, the better half's one) packed it in so we were short of one anyway. The camera is quite small, will hide well in the front of the rear view mirror. Oh yeah, it has an external microphone for the BT. Should make a big difference.

Next on the list is the facia kit. It was cheaper when I bought mine, $63 with free postage. I will need to fine tune it a bit to fit the head unit. The body of the unit is proper double DIN size, but the screen dips a littlebit over the 100 mm. The facia cutout is a bit wider but there is a trim frame supplied with it so it should work out well. The downside: my dashtop box is going to be gone. Just as well my phone is large enough to be used for navigation. Much faster too compared to the Garmin Nuvi I got in the box at the moment.

The reversing camera is a direct replacement for the number plate light. Bench tested with the head unit. The picture is nice and sharp. Will have to figure out how far things are on the line overlay once it is fitted. The downside here is that the light in the body is LED, so will have to replace the other light with LED too. I got one of these too, so I don't need to run wiring all the way. This is the only item I am still waiting for. I planned to fit the lot tomorrow, but postal services had other ideas.

Last but not least I got the sub. It should fit under the seat, can be wired from L/R output, it is amplified, so input levels shouldn't matter too much and can be turned on and off by the head unit. Before I fit it, will need to test what connection configuration sounds best. It surprised me a lot that the unit is in a full metal body. It's quite heavy and has no holes at all, but it does have a phase changer so it should work well.

There you have it . This is the biggest car audio project I have ever done, so I figured I can keep a camera handy and take some shots if there is interest.

[Doggie 1]

Gee, you certainly do your homework.
Can't wait to see it all come together. 
Perhaps we can discuss this project over coffee. 

[Hati]

That can be organised Dave as always.

[Doggie 1]

 

[Dazzler]

Thanks Hati ...good job

[Hammo5]

Sounds like you have done a good review Hati, and totally agree with the lack lustre audio. I have searched a few places for replacements and will be heading down the double din fascia avenue, unfortunately losing the dash box but I dont have a GPS.
The new system will be similar to what you stated with BT, GPS, FM/AM, iPod Aux, DVD, DVBT (digital TV), USB, Wi-fi enabled. Includes the reversing camera and the kids want the headrest DVD players hooked up too!
Would like to see the pictures if you have them to see how the fitment goes?   

[Hati]

My video sender/receiver arrived yesterday, so will be doing the job this weekend. Will get some photos of the process.

[Hati]

Job complete, everything works   I didn't have spare speakers to bench test the sub and the sound of the radio also the video transmitter unit wasn't tested either, but it's all good, the gamble paid off on every front.


I gotta say that for the amount of coin spent ($440 including an antenna adapter as Hy in their infinite wisdom decided that the standard car antenna plug is not good enough for the pathetic head unit they shove in the cars), it is extremely good value. It is a lottery of sorts because warranty doesn't exist on some of the items I got, add to that chinese products may not always work or work as advertised. My outcome was the best one can hope for, but your milage may vary.


So, the job of fitting it all in...


I started by removing both seats (driver and passenger), as the sub was going to live under the passenger seat and running wiring around the centre console and under the steering column is much easier if the seats are gone. It's an easy job, remove 4 bolts, unplug a few cables and out pops the seat. The downside is that I now have to vacuum the car    seeing what was under the seats...


With the seats out, the central facia, top box and old head unit got evicted. This is the point where I had to drop everything and visit a car stereo shop for the above mentioned antenna adapter. With the adaptor in place, I had to have a listen. It is not audiophile quality, but it is on par with the original unit. It has some equalizer presets, but no individual frequency adjustment. No balance or fade either. Good thing I don't need those.







Now that I knew the new unit makes all the right kind of sounds, I got stuck into the sub install. I am actually quite lucky that this unit has a number of ways to get connected to a source. I was going to use the head unit's "sub-out" RCA, but I could not find any detail about the output level, so looked at plan B, using low level input via RCA leads. This option looked good until I test fitted the new head unit into it's slot. The RCA outputs (and some of the others as well) were bumping into the white plastic in the dash, leaving the unit sticking out by 20 mm or so. I had to cut some parts of that white plastic anyway, but I didn't want to completely remove it, in case it starts rattling on me. So developed plan C, that is high level input direct from the speakers. I ran the cables under the carpet using existing cuts in it, connected to the cigarette lighter for power (it's already fused, so it didn't need the inline fuse holder of the sub), frame under the centre box and routed the on/off wire and the speaker pickups to the right place. I'm going to use a patch of velcro to keep the sub from sliding. It did come with some brackets, but I was not going to drill into the floor.






On the next shot you can see the wiring and the antenna adapter on the right, under the unit.








I now fitted the DVR camera. Smaller than my previous unit, but the resolution is lower (1280x720), however it works with the head unit and you can use the touch screen to make changes to settings, instead of guessing when pressing button combinations. The good bit is that the head unit powering on and off with ignition turns the camera on and off too, so I no longer need to remember to turn the bloody thing on. The wiring was brought through to the driver side rubber seal, the external mic for the BT was placed on the top of the A pillar plastic cover and the wiring was tucked under the seal. Nice big gap in there to keep everything out of the way.






Now to the hardest part of all, reversing camera. The cam I got replaces the number plate light. What I didn't know was that everything in the bump above the number plate is within the bump itself. One grommet takes the wires from the lights and the tail gate opener switch inside the door. That's it. The grommet however was not big enough for a standard RCA plug to fit through. I had to squeeze that and the power jack through the grommet. I started to get an idea what birthing is like for the ladies. I used some rubber tape (the kind that seals to itself) to re-establish watertight seal both sides of the grommet. You can see the two plugs typed up with red tape and the "offending" grommet back in its place.






Next shot is the final placement of the sender. I have read some people complaining of interference when using these senders, so I wanted to give it the best chance to "see" the receiver placed where once the dash top box used to live. The wiring for powering the camera and sender was routed through the passenger side grommet to the car body. From there just an easy run to behind the tail lights to pick up ground and reverse positive.






Next step is to get a reverse light feed from somewhere near the front. Looking at the tail light loom colours, I found the plain brown wire to be it, duly showing up by the driver seat. Spliced into that and ran the wire (together with the DVR and BT mic) under the steering wheel up to the head unit.






This is pretty much it. I had to fit the air vents and heater control over to the new facia, which by the way needed some trimming, then added my "good" mobile holder with the help of two screws to the facia. I hate ruining dashes with screws, but I am yet to find a mobile holder that did not shake while fixed as intended (suction cup, claws etc). Good thing this is not the original facia   






There you have it. Now the only question remaining is longevity of the components.

[Doggie 1]

Great job.   
Not one that I would be confident in tackling though.

[Hati]

You could have a closer look with a coffee in hand

[Doggie 1]

You could have a closer look with a coffee in hand

Sounds like a plan. 

.. connected to the cigarette lighter for power (it's already fused, so it didn't need the inline fuse holder of the sub)

Do you not think the ciggy lighter fuse might be a bit strong? I'd have used the fuse as supplied as well I think.

The other thing I wondered; what does that sub sound like?

[Hati]

The sub has a 10 Amp fuse, just like the lighter, plus if I was to use the inline fuse, it would be under the the centre console that I cannot remove without taking the seats out. I don't use the lighter, so not worried about overloading anything. The power socket next to it is separate wiring, that I use a lot.


The sound is pretty good despite its size. Not gonna knock the windows out or piss off the neighbours much, but it makes a BIG difference for the sound range available. I didn't want to use the remote volume control that comes with it, so spent some time trying to find a reasonable level for the volume I usually listen to.


The better half could certainly feel it sitting on the top of it

[Dazzler]

Thanks for that  post Hati...

Pity we don't have MOTM (member of the month any more) 

[Doggie 1]

Thanks for that  post Hati...

Pity we don't have MOTM (member of the month any more) 

But we can have a MOTH (Man Of The Hour).

[Hammo5]

Great job Hati! Definitely not a job I would tackle myself but you have done well.
Good to know the little problems you encountered so I can be prepared for my upgrade.
 

[Hati]

Cheers guys That indeed was the point. If it helps someone else along the way then it was worth the time to write it up.


It took me 9 hours all up, but doing it again would only take half of that I reckon. I wanted it done properly, so lots of thinking was necessary and previous experiences didn't hurt either.

[rustynutz]

I'm glad I'm happy with the standard sound system....All that looks too much like hard work for this little black duck.... 

[Hati]

Update.


The chinese lottery didn't quite pay off. First the BT started playing up, not connecting to the speakers, ended up needing to put the phone on speaker when making a call, then it eventually switched to the car speakers mid conversation. This I could have lived with, just, but the next fault that developed a bit over a week ago was much worse.


The screen decided that I don't need the lower third quater anymore, so it "blanked" it for me with a grey line.
This was "on" in any and every mode the head unit can do.


There was a positive however. I sent an email asking about warranty procedure from the Melbourne shop I got it from, last Saturday morning (quite early Perth time). Within the hour I got a phone call back, asking what the problem is, then asking me to send them a photo of it. By this time the unit has been replaced with a Kenwood head unit, so I hooked it up on the bench, hoping that the problem didn't go away with the power removed from the unit. It didn't. So sent them a photo, to which I got a reply back within two business days, saying that their engineers in London (no missprint) have never seen this fault before, so they gave me a form to fill out and a return address. $23.25 later it is now on it's way to Melbourne. I am expecting a replacement...


The upside to this all is that I ended up with a brilliant Kenwood unit that does everything the Xtrons did, accept running the dash cam. This turned out to be a blessing, because the dashcam (forgot to mention above) started to stop recording on it's own accord every now and then, so I had to keep checking (pain in the ass when the sun visor is down), just to make sure it is on. Now the cam is just connected to ignition and it has not missed a beat, or stopped recording ever since.


The budget of course got blown out big time, the Kenwood cost me more than the initial layout for the entire system, however the unit IS brilliant and I can take it back to Westside Car Audio to be replaced if it conks out on me. The consolation is that I can get the cost back for the Xtrons on Gumtree, especially if they replace it with a new unit.


The sound from the Kenwood is just superb, runs the under seat sub much better, the BT is lightyears ahead with full call logs, phonebook and so on, plus noise cancelling external microphone, so at the end of it all I am really happy.


If anyone once to take a chance with the replacement head unit, I am happy to part with it for $180. Given the problem I had is the first in the world (so they tell me), it's likely it will work fine for a good amount of time.


On a different note, I finally found an iPad OBD2 app that doesn't cost a small fortune. I had already the OBD2 wifi transmitter and ordered a windscreen mount for the iPad. Tested it out today, it works brilliantly. I'll use it for long trips or fuel economy mostly, but I can log everything on it so will be interesting to check against my perceived driving "quality"

[Dazzler]

Thanks for the heads up Hati .. Interesting stuff 

[asathorny]

Bloody amazing, your clearly some sort of wizard.

Well done 

[Phil №❶]

It's a bit too tech for me, but I think I understand. Good luck anyway. 

[Hati]

Wizard? No But I dabbled in electronics and computers all my adult life and car audio is pretty basic in that field.


Forgot to mention, the iPad app that can use the eBay wifi OBD2 adapters is called OBD Fusion. Costs $10.50 opposed to $50 for the best known app of similar kind.

[The Gonz]

Wizard? No But I dabbled in electronics and computers all my adult life and car audio is pretty basic in that field.


Forgot to mention, the iPad app that can use the eBay wifi OBD2 adapters is called OBD Fusion. Costs $10.50 opposed to $50 for the best known app of similar kind.

Cars are hardly the ideal acoustic enclosures so getting a setup with which you are happy is a big achievement. Nice work, Hati!

[Hati]

Thank you It does help if one starts off with realistic expectations in line with the planned budget. Once done, it's just a matter of asking the better half what she thinks of it. The response I got was: "it's very good". Gotta be happy with that

[Doggie 1]

Happy strife, happy life. 

[diablo]

I'm happy with my standard radio setup, I often get as much pleasure from music on that as I do with my two expensive home systems. Which is odd because the car system probably cost about £50 and my home systems cost many thousands. 

At least you haven't got those hooooge woofers in the boot which some drivers have to deliberately annoy me when I'm trying to listen to something else. 

[Surferdude]

I'm happy with my standard radio setup, I often get as much pleasure from music on that as I do with my two expensive home systems. Which is odd because the car system probably cost about £50 and my home systems cost many thousands. 

At least you haven't got those hooooge woofers in the boot which some drivers have to deliberately annoy me when I'm trying to listen to something else. 

And you get stuck beside them at a traffic light which seems to have decided it will stay on red forever.

[Cadal]

Nice work, I was thinking of getting all multimediaed up at some stage.. Does that system use the wheel controls too?

[Hati]

No, I have an SX, so no controls on the steering wheel. I got a cruise control in the works, so may look into adding audio controls to it too.