flyboyplo

So I finally decided to convert from my STOCK Nav radio to HVAC converter + Double din radio since my navigation screen got shot .. I'm looking at this sweet pioneer AVHX1600DVD on amazon for good price ... Would this fit in my 99LS? and what kit + Harness do I need?

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

i'm surprised this is not covered in our FAQ!
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...up-thread.html

you will need this $300 converter box for a plug and play integration into the car using the factory amp.
http://www.beatsonicusa.com/stereo/s...-sla-22ad.html

if you want to hard wire it, you will have to bypass the factory amp which is under the pass side front seat and run all the wiring to it.

flyboyplo

Any Harness and kit on ebay can work with this specific radio? That forum is much pact and I am not finding anything that relates to this specific radio ...

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

any aftermarket head unit (HU) can be retrofitted in your car using the converter box. odds of finding another person with that exact same HU is not good. what i linked you is a general approach to what folks have done.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Like timmy said you can hook any double din up in your car but if you want to keep the factory amp you can buy the beatsonic adaptor even though some guys have found a way to make it work with the factory amp without the adaptor. Or you can just buy an aftermarket amp and run everything through it.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

you can wire it youself to get it to work with the factory amp.
just the sub won't work. so if you plan on adding an aftermarket sub+amp then you don't need the beatsonic converter.

Kansas

Does the standard/navigation Pioneer of the 98-00 work differently than the Nakamichi when it comes to the subwoofer? As I reported in previous posts, a Best Buy installer replaced the Nakamichi head unit in my 2000 LS400 last fall with a Kenwood DDX470 double-DIN without using an interface harness and without cutting a single wire in the car's original audio harness. If I wanted to, the Kenwood could be "un-plugged" and the Nakamichi headunit reinstalled in maybe 10 minutes.

All the Nakamichi speakers including the subwoofer in my 00 LS work great with the Kenwood. The friend who is buying my 2000 LS400 - I still have possession for a few more days - speculated that the special connectors the installer used to plug the Kenwood's wires into connector leading to the Nakamichi amp must have included resisters to allow it to work properly.

Can't the same thing be done when replacing the Pioneer nav/head unit?

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

^ curious to know as well. thanks kansas. spending the money for a beatsonic box is shying me away from getting an aftermarket HU in the first place. if we can figure out what that installer had done, we are in the clear on spending $300 unnecessarily!

Kansas

I'll bet any Best Buy / Geek Squad installer could tell you what kind of resister/connectors would be used to connect an aftermarket head unit to an OEM LS400 amp while retaining the use of the subwoofer. I wasn't billed for any fancy extra parts - only the standard $125 installation fee.

I popped out the Kenwood after the install just enough to reroute the USB and aux-in cables and saw that connection between the Kenwood's harness and the Nakamichi amp connector was well wrapped with electrical tape. I don't want to remove the tape and look since I don't want to chance mucking it up before the car's new owner takes possession.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

the way the pioneer and the nak amps work is quite different, i'd need to double check harness diagrams but im pretty sure the headunit does some amplification in the NAK cars. That would simplify installation.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

yeah please check PD. i have non-Nak and would still love an aftermarket HU that works on stock speakers w/o shelling out for the beatsonic box.

chrcrou26

125 bucks to install a head unit in any car is absolutely absurd....You basically paid $6.25 a min for a guy to splice in a resistor and remove a couple clips and screws lol...takes 20 mins max if you seriously take your time.....you got ripped...

chrcrou26

Literally all that's needed...line out converter 20 bucks....electrical tape 99 cents.... 10 ft of speaker wire.....done

Kansas

I thought the $125 was a screaming bargain and I've installed a few head units, amps and speakers when I was younger but mostly from the 1960's to the early 1980's. Interior disassembly was required to route the microphone for the hands-free phone function, tap into the parking brake circuit for the video DVD function and to tap into the headlight circuit to get the auto-dim function to work the way I wanted.

Some of the approximately 2 1/2 hours it took involved testing all wires on the car's OEM connectors for function and the speaker pins for polarity. I provided a wiring diagram for the Nak but the installer used it only as a guide and did not rely on it to be accurate. Perhaps 30 minutes was spent with the head unit on a work bench installing the pins/resisters on the Kenwood's harness and getting the Kenwood headunit perfectly positioned in the dash kit and frame. And he probably spent 30 minutes tuning the equalizer after the Kenwood was working.

And then after that, the installer went over all the Kenwood's functions with me including helping me pair my phone, using the USB port, aux-in port, Pandora, Bluetooth audio streaming, showing me all the radio modes. Very professional.

I was very impressed with the installers work. I don't find many people as careful and diligent as me. If only every other installer was half that good.

And compared to my own hourly billing rate, $125 was a very nice price. (I don't work at McDonalds as my signature below probably indicates.)

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

I always knew you were a Burger King man....