Outdated ML Audio System is finally Gone.. Hello Alpine VehicleHUB! Pix inside!
07-19-09, 11:56 AM
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Outdated ML Audio System is finally Gone.. Hello Alpine VehicleHUB! Pix inside!
First off let me start by saying that the OEM ML system is a extremely nice factory system. However my ears have been spoiled by having high end aftermarket systems in all my previous cars (mother in law owns a stereo shop that I used to work for). Therefore, in my opinion, the ML system was definitely not up to par. Not to mention, it lacked many current features.
Issues:
As we all know, there is no aftermarket mounting bracket for stereos available for the SC. I wanted to keep the front look as stock as possible and wasn't too happy looking at the alternatives that people did on other threads.
There is no direct aftermarket ipod interface for the SC.
Removing the factory stereo renders the navigation useless. I wanted to keep the factory NAV but add functionality such as HD radio, ipod, Bluetooth, maybe XM in the future.
According to another thread, there is also depth issue when trying to mount speakers in the front door.
My setup consists of:
Alpine VPA-B222 vehicle hub
Alpine TUA-T550HD HD tuner
JL cleansweep-SSI
NAVTool video interface (to get display on OEM screen)
Alpine PDX5 5-channel amplifier
Alpine PDX1.1000
Infinity Kappa 3-way 6x9” in the front
Kicker KS400 4” 2-way in the rear
Kicker Solobaric 10” L7 truck enclosure
As you read the list, you may have many questions on why I chose certain things, a majority of the installation I did myself, so if you have any questions I could most likely give you a pretty detailed answer:
Headunit:
The Alpine VPA-B222 vehicle HUB seemed to be the perfect solution. It’s a factory integration head unit and mounts separately. You can add any AI-net add on to the unit (Bluetooth, HD radio, ipod, video, etc.) It has video inputs incase I want to add a XBOX 360 to my car later on. The NAVtool is used to get the display on the factory screen. I still need to think of a better placement for the HUB remote, but right now it works fine the way it is. (i apologize for the screen protector still being on the screen.. everyone at the shop kept calling me **** and kept teasing me, pretending to peel it off, give me a couple of weeks and i'll eventually take that screen protector off, but for now, that's the way it's going to stay).
With a simple flip of the switch I can switch between the Alpine display of the Navigation display. The alpine also has a nice hard wired muting featured. Right now it’s wired such that when the factory navigation outputs to the speakers, the music will mute and resume after it’s done speaking (just like stock).
All the wiring is pretty much done in the rear amp besides the remote turn on and antenna power that needs to be grabbed from the back of the stereo. The brain is tucked underneath the passenger seat. This way it would be easily accessible if I ever want to hook up a xbox and play games while driving. =)
JL Cleansweep Signal summing interface:
One of the main features of the HUB is that it allows you to use your factory system as a source if you choose to do so.
Being that the lexus separates the high and low as a 2-way system, you need a signal summing interface to get the full range into the alpine input. The JL-SSI was my answer.
Buying this unit was the biggest regret out of everything. I ordered this online so I couldn’t return it. I have the option to listen to my factory system, but ever since installing everything, I have yet to use it at all! I mean with HD radio and ipod why would you bother with the AM/FM/CD Cassette? I never thought about this and the idea was nice initially, but blah! What a waste of money.. moving on.
Amps/Sub:
Initially I was only planning on going only one amp hence the 5 channel. However we ran into issues of finding things to fit into the trunk without interfering with the top. We then tried hooking up the subwoofer output to the stock sub (the installer helping me was trying to shortcut his way out of this). It sounded much better, however I was already ripping everything out, I wasn’t ready to keep the stock sub. So I demanded an enclosure. I went back through the store and saw some truck boxes that looked like it might fit. Lo’ behold, the Kicker truck box fit perfectly in the area.
Now we came to another issue. The PDX5 did not put enough power into the L7, the amp is only rated for 300watts RMS, while the kicker is ~1000watts RMS. The subwoofer output of the amp needed to be maxed out in order to put enough power into the sub. I sat in the front seat, it sounded much better than the OEM, however again I wasn’t having it.. I needed more. Hence the PDX1.1000.
I chose the PDX1.1000 because of the stackable feature of the PDX amps. I wanted to keep the footprint as small as possible. With the PDX1.1000 there was plenty of power needed and the sub sounded beautiful. Nice and clean and has the punch when I want it to (there’s a sub control on the HUB so I can actually turn the subwoofer level up and down easily from the front seat. Some days it’s nice to have the music nice and mellow. However, on those Friday afternoon “drive home from work” days, it’s nice to have the kick while cruising the freeway).
The Stock sub was removed and the opening used as a port for sound to get into the cabin.
(subwoofer removed: opening to act like a port into the car)
Front speakers:
I kept the stock Tweeter and "squaker" as they call it. In the trunk of the car, i added a passive Infinity Kappa Crossover that they had laying around in the install bay. The crossover takes the full range output from the amp and sends only high range to the stock tweeters and squakers. I utilized all stock wiring at the speaker connections to keep the navigation audio working.
Infinity Kappa 6x9’s” There was a clearance issue when installing, the speakers were barely rubbing against the window lower spacer bushing. Therefore, I reused the foam bracket that came on the ML speaker as a spacer to slightly push the speaker out and it cleared wonderfully. (sorry I forgot to snap some pictures before I put the door panel back on, hopefully I will be getting my car tinted this weekend and if I do I will take pictures after I remove the panel again).
Rear Speakers:
The 4” kickers were definitely not my first choice, I wanted to stick with infinity in the rear as well, but they were out of stock. My other choice was to use a 3.5” infinity, but I opted for the Kicker 4”’ instead.
Final conclusion:
The system sounds beautiful. With the infinity 3 ways, I essentially have 4 tweeters on each door with enough mids to keep things clean. The stock tweeter and squaker sounds so much better than it did with the ML system.
I now have ipod functionality and hd radio, and everything displays on my stock screen. I can turn the stereo up so loud that my ears feel like they're ready to bleed (figurative speech) and hear very little distortion. I'm definitely ready now to start a tail gating party outside my car. I'd say a huge step up from the ML system.
To control everything, i need to use the “HUB” wired remote, but it’s easy enough to get used to. I believe this is the best stock alternative out there for our SC's, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.
I was super surprised how strong the Lexus alternator is, there is not much dimming even with those two amps. Also, the car is built much more ridgid than anything I have ever owned. You would think with that amount of bass you would hear ridiculous rattling from the outside, but instead the only thing that was rattling was the license plate frame (easily fixable).
Total bill on my “insurance receipt” $5000.
I promised to keep my mouth shut on how much it actually cost me out of pocket.
Issues with bluetooth:
I am having a really hard time trying to find a compatible bluetooth module that works with the VPA-B222. I have tried the KCE-400BT, the KCE-350BT, and the KCE-300bt unsuccessfully.
Does anyone with a VHUB know of a working bluetooth module?
Or is there a specific procedure that needs to be done to get the unit to recognize the module?
I am able to get the phone to pair with the module, but the head unit doesn't seem to change or mute or recognize that there's a call coming in.
My next attempt will be a KCA-100BT, but since this is discontinued and not stocked at the shop, i'll have to buy it online and probably won't be returnable.. just wondering if anyone been successful adding bluetooth to this unit?
Issues:
As we all know, there is no aftermarket mounting bracket for stereos available for the SC. I wanted to keep the front look as stock as possible and wasn't too happy looking at the alternatives that people did on other threads.
There is no direct aftermarket ipod interface for the SC.
Removing the factory stereo renders the navigation useless. I wanted to keep the factory NAV but add functionality such as HD radio, ipod, Bluetooth, maybe XM in the future.
According to another thread, there is also depth issue when trying to mount speakers in the front door.
My setup consists of:
Alpine VPA-B222 vehicle hub
Alpine TUA-T550HD HD tuner
JL cleansweep-SSI
NAVTool video interface (to get display on OEM screen)
Alpine PDX5 5-channel amplifier
Alpine PDX1.1000
Infinity Kappa 3-way 6x9” in the front
Kicker KS400 4” 2-way in the rear
Kicker Solobaric 10” L7 truck enclosure
As you read the list, you may have many questions on why I chose certain things, a majority of the installation I did myself, so if you have any questions I could most likely give you a pretty detailed answer:
Headunit:
The Alpine VPA-B222 vehicle HUB seemed to be the perfect solution. It’s a factory integration head unit and mounts separately. You can add any AI-net add on to the unit (Bluetooth, HD radio, ipod, video, etc.) It has video inputs incase I want to add a XBOX 360 to my car later on. The NAVtool is used to get the display on the factory screen. I still need to think of a better placement for the HUB remote, but right now it works fine the way it is. (i apologize for the screen protector still being on the screen.. everyone at the shop kept calling me **** and kept teasing me, pretending to peel it off, give me a couple of weeks and i'll eventually take that screen protector off, but for now, that's the way it's going to stay).
With a simple flip of the switch I can switch between the Alpine display of the Navigation display. The alpine also has a nice hard wired muting featured. Right now it’s wired such that when the factory navigation outputs to the speakers, the music will mute and resume after it’s done speaking (just like stock).
All the wiring is pretty much done in the rear amp besides the remote turn on and antenna power that needs to be grabbed from the back of the stereo. The brain is tucked underneath the passenger seat. This way it would be easily accessible if I ever want to hook up a xbox and play games while driving. =)
JL Cleansweep Signal summing interface:
One of the main features of the HUB is that it allows you to use your factory system as a source if you choose to do so.
Being that the lexus separates the high and low as a 2-way system, you need a signal summing interface to get the full range into the alpine input. The JL-SSI was my answer.
Buying this unit was the biggest regret out of everything. I ordered this online so I couldn’t return it. I have the option to listen to my factory system, but ever since installing everything, I have yet to use it at all! I mean with HD radio and ipod why would you bother with the AM/FM/CD Cassette? I never thought about this and the idea was nice initially, but blah! What a waste of money.. moving on.
Amps/Sub:
Initially I was only planning on going only one amp hence the 5 channel. However we ran into issues of finding things to fit into the trunk without interfering with the top. We then tried hooking up the subwoofer output to the stock sub (the installer helping me was trying to shortcut his way out of this). It sounded much better, however I was already ripping everything out, I wasn’t ready to keep the stock sub. So I demanded an enclosure. I went back through the store and saw some truck boxes that looked like it might fit. Lo’ behold, the Kicker truck box fit perfectly in the area.
Now we came to another issue. The PDX5 did not put enough power into the L7, the amp is only rated for 300watts RMS, while the kicker is ~1000watts RMS. The subwoofer output of the amp needed to be maxed out in order to put enough power into the sub. I sat in the front seat, it sounded much better than the OEM, however again I wasn’t having it.. I needed more. Hence the PDX1.1000.
I chose the PDX1.1000 because of the stackable feature of the PDX amps. I wanted to keep the footprint as small as possible. With the PDX1.1000 there was plenty of power needed and the sub sounded beautiful. Nice and clean and has the punch when I want it to (there’s a sub control on the HUB so I can actually turn the subwoofer level up and down easily from the front seat. Some days it’s nice to have the music nice and mellow. However, on those Friday afternoon “drive home from work” days, it’s nice to have the kick while cruising the freeway).
The Stock sub was removed and the opening used as a port for sound to get into the cabin.
(subwoofer removed: opening to act like a port into the car)
Front speakers:
I kept the stock Tweeter and "squaker" as they call it. In the trunk of the car, i added a passive Infinity Kappa Crossover that they had laying around in the install bay. The crossover takes the full range output from the amp and sends only high range to the stock tweeters and squakers. I utilized all stock wiring at the speaker connections to keep the navigation audio working.
Infinity Kappa 6x9’s” There was a clearance issue when installing, the speakers were barely rubbing against the window lower spacer bushing. Therefore, I reused the foam bracket that came on the ML speaker as a spacer to slightly push the speaker out and it cleared wonderfully. (sorry I forgot to snap some pictures before I put the door panel back on, hopefully I will be getting my car tinted this weekend and if I do I will take pictures after I remove the panel again).
Rear Speakers:
The 4” kickers were definitely not my first choice, I wanted to stick with infinity in the rear as well, but they were out of stock. My other choice was to use a 3.5” infinity, but I opted for the Kicker 4”’ instead.
Final conclusion:
The system sounds beautiful. With the infinity 3 ways, I essentially have 4 tweeters on each door with enough mids to keep things clean. The stock tweeter and squaker sounds so much better than it did with the ML system.
I now have ipod functionality and hd radio, and everything displays on my stock screen. I can turn the stereo up so loud that my ears feel like they're ready to bleed (figurative speech) and hear very little distortion. I'm definitely ready now to start a tail gating party outside my car. I'd say a huge step up from the ML system.
To control everything, i need to use the “HUB” wired remote, but it’s easy enough to get used to. I believe this is the best stock alternative out there for our SC's, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.
I was super surprised how strong the Lexus alternator is, there is not much dimming even with those two amps. Also, the car is built much more ridgid than anything I have ever owned. You would think with that amount of bass you would hear ridiculous rattling from the outside, but instead the only thing that was rattling was the license plate frame (easily fixable).
Total bill on my “insurance receipt” $5000.
I promised to keep my mouth shut on how much it actually cost me out of pocket.
Issues with bluetooth:
I am having a really hard time trying to find a compatible bluetooth module that works with the VPA-B222. I have tried the KCE-400BT, the KCE-350BT, and the KCE-300bt unsuccessfully.
Does anyone with a VHUB know of a working bluetooth module?
Or is there a specific procedure that needs to be done to get the unit to recognize the module?
I am able to get the phone to pair with the module, but the head unit doesn't seem to change or mute or recognize that there's a call coming in.
My next attempt will be a KCA-100BT, but since this is discontinued and not stocked at the shop, i'll have to buy it online and probably won't be returnable.. just wondering if anyone been successful adding bluetooth to this unit?
Last edited by petasheep; 07-19-09 at 11:33 PM.
07-19-09, 08:53 PM
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LoL, it's not really for the "boom boom." The sub just gives the missing low end.. I enjoy the system more for it's quality, not it's ability to go loud. It's not like i'm bumping it down the street or anything.. those days are long gone in the past.
07-21-09, 10:32 AM
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Exactly. I kept the tweeter/squaker to retain the audio from the factory navigation.
There is a passive crossover installed in the trunk such that the output of the amp provides only hi-pass audio to the factory tweeter/squaker.
There is a passive crossover installed in the trunk such that the output of the amp provides only hi-pass audio to the factory tweeter/squaker.
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05-22-10, 02:36 AM
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I'm on my way to do something like that in my 06 RX400h but I've ran into some questions I haven't been able to find any answers to.
My plan is to use following equipment to complement my factory rear seat in-car entertainment, get video on nav screen, option to route video and sound as I like. *And get some better sound since I only have the non-ML factory system.
VPA-B222R VehicleHubPRO
MRA-F355 Theater Amplifier
DHA-S690 DVD-changer
VPE-S431 Video Switcher
And complement with some better speakers.
For example you did choose the Navtool for video interface where I've seen Alpine list Nav-TVs more expensive interface instead.
Do you know what the differences are between those two?
As I already have factory nav and backup camera I don't want lose the automatic selection of the reverse cam when I place gear in reverse.
Do the hub & video interface handle that automatically or do I have flip a switch every time myself?
Kind regards
My plan is to use following equipment to complement my factory rear seat in-car entertainment, get video on nav screen, option to route video and sound as I like. *And get some better sound since I only have the non-ML factory system.
VPA-B222R VehicleHubPRO
MRA-F355 Theater Amplifier
DHA-S690 DVD-changer
VPE-S431 Video Switcher
And complement with some better speakers.
For example you did choose the Navtool for video interface where I've seen Alpine list Nav-TVs more expensive interface instead.
Do you know what the differences are between those two?
As I already have factory nav and backup camera I don't want lose the automatic selection of the reverse cam when I place gear in reverse.
Do the hub & video interface handle that automatically or do I have flip a switch every time myself?
Kind regards
05-24-10, 10:28 AM
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For example you did choose the Navtool for video interface where I've seen Alpine list Nav-TVs more expensive interface instead.
Do you know what the differences are between those two?
As I already have factory nav and backup camera I don't want lose the automatic selection of the reverse cam when I place gear in reverse.
Do the hub & video interface handle that automatically or do I have flip a switch every time myself?
Kind regards
The navtool has a reverse camera hookup that changes the screen output to the camera input when you put the car in reverse. So it will work the same as the factory. However, because you're interfacing with OEM components you're going to need to figure out which wires to splice to get the connections for the stock camera. Slightly more difficult but definitely doable.
06-11-10, 11:13 AM
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I am really interested in installing the Vehicle hub + components/ Navtool set up. How hard would you say it was to install? I have installed several cd players and subwoofer / amps before.
I checked with my local car audio store and they are quite pricey. To just install (not including parts) the VHub, interface, serious radio, and ipod, the want around $500. I'm up for the challenge, yet do not want to do something damaging to the car.
I checked with my local car audio store and they are quite pricey. To just install (not including parts) the VHub, interface, serious radio, and ipod, the want around $500. I'm up for the challenge, yet do not want to do something damaging to the car.
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