"Tristan" (casselts)
08/10/2018 at 14:42 • Filed to: None
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"Tristan" (casselts)
08/10/2018 at 14:42 • Filed to: None | 0
| 30 |
I’m in the market for a double DIN head unit with inp uts for a backup camera for my Suburban. I’m tired of dinging my bumper when hooking up to trailers. I also use an iPhone and listen to lots of podcasts, so CarPlay seems like a logical idea. I like the idea of a volume knob versus buttons , I hate the shitty shiny black plastic look on so many new head units, I never play CDs any more, and I’ve always been happy with Sony products. They seem to generally be simple, user friendly, and reliable. The Sony deck in my XJ was pulled from a really nasty truck in the junkyard. It was old when I got it about 7 years ago. I cleaned it up, installed it and it’s been flawless.
Anyone have any insight on the Sony XAV-AX100? The price is nice at roughly $350. The AX200 adds a CD player for $100, and I’d rather keep the $100 and have a bigger screen. Who makes a good backup camera to add to this? The $20 cameras on Amazon have hit and m iss reviews, but the reviews are no worse that more expensive ones. I assume they’re all from the same factory in China.
I’ve already done the fun part of converting the dash in my ‘01 to the ‘03-’07 double DIN dash... that was fun.
LongbowMkII
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 15:03 |
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interested, no real input though :/
CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 15:07 |
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I’ve already done the fun part of converting the dash in my ‘01 to the ‘03-’07 double DIN dash... that was fun.
Sawzall right?
lone_liberal
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 15:09 |
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I put the Sony XAV-68BT in to my Mariner. It has some interesting “quirks” like showing the noon hour as 0:00-0:59 and it tends to crash when playing from a flashdrive , but I’m sure bugs like that have been exorcised by now. The sound is decent and the install was straightforward (I used a kit from Crutchfield).
jimz
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 15:11 |
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I have the XAV- AX 5000, which has basically the same user interface but with the big screen . I like it, I got so sick of cluttered garbage user interfaces like Pioneer’s that this was a breath of fresh air. Buttons are large, read outs and text is clear, and it does just what it needs to do without useless “features.” Plus, the CarPlay support seems far less buggy than on the Pioneer 4100NEX it replaced.
the down side is that they must have made some hardware changes for the AX5000 so it’s missing a few features (custom backgrounds, Sirius XM replay/favorites) and the system software had a few glaring bugs at launch. Those have been taken care of with a firmware update, but I’m hoping future updates bring it up to feature parity with the -100 and -200.
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Tristan
> CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
08/10/2018 at 15:19 |
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A hacksaw may have been involved to make room for the oversized bracket . The finished product looks totally factory, though.
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Tristan
> jimz
08/10/2018 at 15:22 |
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This is the type of positive review I’ve seen elsewhere. Pioneer makes a good product, but I’m not interested in menus upon menus of crap features to adjust and set up.
TFSIVTEC drivesavolvo
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 15:27 |
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I was really eyeing that one for the looks but it only has one 2v pre out for the subwoofer. I don’t have a insane system, but like any good premium factory system I wanted my small subwoofers to fill out the sound allowing the door speakers to focus on the mid range.
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Tristan
> TFSIVTEC drivesavolvo
08/10/2018 at 15:32 |
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Good to know... I mostly listen to podcasts and talk radio (I ’ve fully turned into my father... scary.) but when I do listen to music, I listen loud. A subwoofer upgrade will be in the ‘Burb’s future.
CalzoneGolem
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 15:34 |
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Your choice is bad and you should feel bad.
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Tristan
> CalzoneGolem
08/10/2018 at 16:17 |
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jimz
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 16:20 |
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it isn’t even the whole “menus upon menus” that bothers me; once I get things like this set up the way I want them, I almost never touch them again. my problem was the incredibly cluttered interface. stuff like I don’t need the button for which EQ is active on every screen, since I EQ the system once and am done with it.
Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 16:23 |
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I’ve been eyeing one of these, no idea how good they are.
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Tristan
> jimz
08/10/2018 at 16:23 |
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My problem is I get things like that set up the way I like them, then 6 months later I need to disconnect the battery for some reason and I’ve completely forgotten how to set it all up so I have to re-learn it all. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I just want to set the clock, set the radio presets (there’s only 2 radio stations that I bother with in the Portland area) , set the EQ and be done.
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jimz
> Tristan
08/10/2018 at 16:26 |
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oh yeah, that ticks me off. it couldn’t cost more than a dozen cents to include a backup battery or something. I know on the Ford OEM radios, for at least about 10 years now user presets get saved to non-volatile memory and don’t go away unless someone changes them.
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Tristan
> jimz
08/10/2018 at 16:28 |
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Right? How hard can it be? I can buy a smoke detector with a 10 year battery, why can’t we add a lifetime backup battery to a head unit?
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Tristan
> Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition
08/10/2018 at 16:29 |
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That looks really good... Is there a CarPlay version?
pixelpusher15
> Tristan
08/11/2018 at 11:11 |
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Be very informed when going into an Android head unit like that. I just bought one from Xtrons and while it allows me to do everything, it also has a bunch of small issues you don’t see on other traditional head unit.
I had an issue with the volume being too high on the lowest setting, radio presets not being remembered, it skipping over stations during seek, screen brightness being way too high at night, and then I had some issues that I thought I wouldn’t have but aren’t even possible on other head units. For instance, I couldn’t customize my steering wheel controls the way I wanted, you can’t use Google’s Assistant or Siri for voice dialing in the head unit, and a few other small annoyances.
Also, remember that these need either a dongle with a dedicated Sim card for internet or a hotspot connection to your phone.
Overall, I’m keeping it because I automated the hotspot connection on my Android phone and I’m using all internet based apps for music so the radio issues won’t bother me. I’m also going to root it and hack it a bit to get it just the way I want. That’s the thing though, you really need to spend time customizing these.
They do have CarPlay though.
OmerCarrothers333
> Tristan
08/11/2018 at 16:20 |
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Amazon Prime has a pretty alright deal on a double-DIN head-unit and back-up camera combo from BOSS Audio.
It doesn’t look like you get CarPlay, but you still have bluetooth.
Oats
> Tristan
08/11/2018 at 17:41 |
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I have had one of these for over a year now. My biggest complaint was fixed in the last firmware update (You used to have to press OK on a warning screen everytime you started the car).
The bluetooth mic is not great but it isn’t terrible either. I recently bought a replacement mic that is supposed to be better but I haven’t
installed it yet.
When you disconnect the battery it does save your EQ settings, station presets, etc. The only thing I have to do is set the clock and set the custom steering wheel button configuration.
It does have a single subwoofer output which is odd but works just fine. I have a Rockford Fosgate sub/amp and you just plug the single RCA into the left input and it works just like any other sub/amp I have had before. Besides if you have a sub in the back you can use the other half of the RCA cable for a backup camera.
I do not have a backup camera, looked into getting one and like you the reviews are all terrible. I was thinking of trying to find out how OEM cameras are wired and possible getting one from a different car if it could be made to work
.
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Tristan
> Oats
08/11/2018 at 17:52 |
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Someone get this guy out of the grays!
I love that it saves your settings. My only steering wheel button is the horn, so no worries there! The Bluetooth mic isn't a big concern. I hate talking on the phone, so it's an excuse to not do it.
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jimz
> TFSIVTEC drivesavolvo
08/11/2018 at 18:23 |
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line out voltage is nothing to obsess over. all a higher output voltage does is improve signal to noise ratio; so long as the subwoofer amplifier has sufficient input level (incorrectly called “gain”) adjustability, there’ll be no difference between 1V, 2V, or 4V outputs.
car audio companies love charging more money for shit which doesn’t matter at all.
Brickman
> Tristan
08/11/2018 at 20:12 |
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Im looking to get the same thing for my Chevy S10. I read there is a few quirks about it, so im not sure yet.
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Andrew
> Tristan
08/11/2018 at 21:44 |
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I own a car stereo shop and sell this radio all the time. It’s by far the best budget carplay radio on the market. Don’t worry about the 2 volt pre amp output unless you plan on running a 4 channel amp on your door speakers at some point. When you add a sub you’ll need a single male to 2 female rca adapter. My recommendation on a camera would be anything from echomaster. They can be a little expensive when compared to the Amazon or eBay cameras but you get what you pay for. If u have any specific questions about the radio or the installation I’ll be happy to help.
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Tristan
08/11/2018 at 22:29 |
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Been thinking about doing an aftermarket head unit in my STi. Having Cd as my only input method is boring, even with a 6cd changer. I also have been using an FM transmitter but those are a pain any time you drive into urban areas or just road trip a good distance. It's really hard to find a non-flashy head unit though. Just want Aux in and Bluetooth ideally. But maybe I'd go off the deep end and add a subwoofer and nicer speakers. I've built custom computers for cars in the past but I'm trying to do it simple this time, not worth the headaches in a daily lol.
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Tristan
> Andrew
08/12/2018 at 00:07 |
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Thank you! One question I have is about the chassis- is the chassis of the AX100 full double din or does it neck down?
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Tristan
> Brickman
08/12/2018 at 00:08 |
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What were the quirks? Tell me, Mr. Demuro!!!
adamftw
> Tristan
08/12/2018 at 08:46 |
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I have it in my Silverado and it’s been amazing. Transformed my driving experience.
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Oats
> Tristan
08/12/2018 at 11:04 |
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The face is double din but the actual stereo behind the face is single din height.
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CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
> Tristan
08/12/2018 at 11:15 |
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I was looking at Double DIN radios for a possible future wrangler. I’d 100% get the Sony XAV-AX100
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Tristan
> Oats
08/12/2018 at 12:50 |
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That’s what I thought. Makes it easier to stash the wiring when installing it!