Aristo300

Yeh I'm trying to find a free air sub right now. Pioneer has a very shallow one, Infinity has the Kappa in free-air, there is the JL one, and I'm sure there are others. What about a Clarion marine use one? Aren't most marine subs free air able?

owali

Get a 10" kicker comp like I did. I am only running 75W RMS to it and it already sounds much better than stock. It can be used for free air. I only had to make a wooden baffle so the sub would fit tightly in the stock location. Now it fits and sounds great.

LexGS

Would like to know if you kept the original cd changer.

LexGS

treimche

I lost the use of the factory cd changer with this head unit.

LexGS

Hey Troy,

I did read over the full posting now...

A few questions...as I am trying to decide which unit to get.

I know that Alpine, Panasonic, Kenwood, Pioneer, Valor, and a few more vendors make double din units that could fit the 7" LCD area. I did purchase the Lexus/Toyota Double Din bracket and it is great, it does not have the nice lip like yours does, nothing a little soldering iron can’t fix (just kidding of course). Have attached a picture of it

I would like to retain all of the stock sound functionality (speakers, cd changer, amp, sub...) for the moment, as I just want to be able to upgrade the head unit.

It would be great if there were a "CRUTCHFIELD" connector for these double din units to keep all going, but it seems that there might not be a way. So I want to get the most options to keep my system stock until I am able to build out my system section by section.

So you did lose access to the original cd changer...as you said.
Did you find the lost of the cd changer a big issue, or has the iPOD interface totally replaced the need for a cd changer. My wife bought me a new Black 80GB iPOD for XMAS and I want to feel the need to not depend on a cd changer anymore. What are your thoughts...is the cd changer dead due to the iPOD device now? Or should one be looking to purchase an Alpine CD Changer and replace the stock unit with it?

Is your new Alpine unit feeding into the stock AMP and powering all the component speakers? I think you mentioned that the harness caused a bypass to the Sub, have you figured out how to get it back into the loop?

Did you install any type of EQ, if so which brand and model and where was it installed, do you have easy access to it?

Are you planning on installing an aftermarket AMP system? Are you planning to install new larger components speaker around the car? Will all this be interfaced into the Alpine unit?

The ultimate question I guess would be, is it easy enough to gut out the entire stock system and replace it with a new double din head unit and all of the other upgrades (speakers, sub, amps, ?cd changer?).

I ask since I haven't yet seen or read in CL of anyone that has done that, which has shared the info on the process.

I am not afraid of doing it myself; it would just be nice to hear what other owners went through so that new installers can learn from others mistakes.

Thanks

LexGS

Aristo300

Today I got bored and selected a full system of parts off of ebay for about $1400.

This included a Clarion front dvd/cd 7" unit, 5.8" Clarion screens for the headrest, a 5-ch Alpine theater amp, two sets of Boston Acoustic components, and a Kicker comp 10"

I'd say just replace everything

LexGS

Hey Aristo300,

I think you are feeling bored again...
Send some pieces over from ebay to LexGS

Thanks for the feedback...

LexGS

treimche

LexGS, I'll try to answer the best I can, however a lot of your questions are personal preference questions.

"It would be great if there were a "CRUTCHFIELD" connector for these double din units to keep all going,"

Unfortunately they don't make something like that.

"What are your thoughts...is the cd changer dead due to the iPOD device now? Or should one be looking to purchase an Alpine CD Changer and replace the stock unit with it?"

In my opinion, cd changers are unnecessary. Unless you really like to use cds, I wouldn't even worry about the stock changer, or replacing it w/ another one. The Ipod interface on the Alpine W200 is amazing. It has a connection called a "Full Speed Cable" which is just a single cable that plugs into the Ipod, and into the back of the head unit. I've used it a few times and it is amazingly fast. I would say its as fast as using the Ipod by itslef. This cable charges the Ipod at the same time, so you don't have to worry about it going dead. You just throw the Ipod in the glove box or wherever you want it to be and leave it there. It only does audio through this cable though. I don't know if they are going to make changes for the future and allow it to do video through that plug. I also ran an audio/video cable to an aux input on my W200 so that I can use a video Ipod if I want. However that will not charge or control the Ipod.

"Is your new Alpine unit feeding into the stock AMP and powering all the component speakers?"

The Alpine head unit is powering the speakers, not using the factory amp. The wiring harness I used bypasses the amp, and runs head unit power directly to the speakers.

"Did you install any type of EQ?"

No EQ.

"Are you planning on installing an aftermarket AMP system? Are you planning to install new larger components speaker around the car? Will all this be interfaced into the Alpine unit?"

I do plan on installing an aftermarket amp and a couple subs, hopefully soon. I'm going to use the stock front and rear components for a while, because I think they sound just fine for me. But eventually down the road a while, I would probably upgrade all of those, and add another amp. And yes of course the Alpine head unit will be running all of it!

"The ultimate question I guess would be, is it easy enough to gut out the entire stock system and replace it with a new double din head unit and all of the other upgrades (speakers, sub, amps, ?cd changer?)."

I would actually recommend doing this, if you have the funds, and the knowledge to do so. You'll get a lot of cool features, it will sound much better, and be much louder than the stock stuff. One of the hardest parts would be making the new speakers fit in the doors. The door speakers have their own enclosures inside the doors, so you'll have to make plates to put in place of them, and put the speakers in the plates.

I hope this answers your questions!

LexGS

Hello Troy,

Thank you for the info and for answering my questions, it did make things more clear to me.

I will continue to research between vendors to see currently which one offers the best options for the money.

So far the Pioneer line looks promising, Z1 or the new D3, but no decisions yet I still have much more to learn.

Thanks again for your help.

LexGS

vsynergy

What was the painting process like? And what paint did you use? I'd like try this on mine as well

treimche

I used some dye that a local paint supply store mixed up for me. The process is pretty simple, just clean it really well with soap and water, let it dry, and paint away.

jayyyy

very nice install. i did a similar install with the w200 but i used a dash kit from one of the sponsors here.i have to say though i'm not too pleased with my w200. im upgrading to a eclipse 5500 in the near future

treimche

To each their own, I absolutely love this head unit.

flipish

Hi,

I was hoping i could get some help finding a wiring diagram for an 01gs. It has the premium sound system. I have decided to completely redo the sound system; bypassing the stock amp because i will be using aftermarket amps to run my components and sub. I would be greatly appreciative if someone would be able to direct me to finding the colors to the battery, ignition, ground, and maybe the illumination wires so i can hardwire them into my new headunit. Thanks in advance!!

-Mico

eyecon7

iTrader: (2)

Any one know where I can get this KIT?