PistolPact

Hi everyone!

I have a 2007 RX 350, base everything. No navigation, no Mark Levinson, and no DVD Player.

I want to go ahead and install navigation, a backup camera, and some way to get an auxiliary input to my speakers.


I see a lot of people on this forum mentioning the Beatsonic kit, which costs nearly $300. Surely there is a cheaper alternative?


Would the following approach work? If so what must be done for a wiring harness?

For the Receiver/Navigation: Jensen VX7022 [Also considering Kenwood DNX series but a little out of my budget]

(I'm a little concerned about this unit not providing enough power to listen to the system at loud reference volumes ~95db or coloring the sound)

(Could this unit actually power 8 speakers?)


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Now, we need a unit to retain steering wheel controls. The jensen unit recommends the following, which is confirmed to work for the rx 350: [PAC SWI-RC]


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Now to choose a backup camera. I haven't really done my research on which is best for placement/clarity, but they all seem to use the same input into the receiver, so it shouldn't matter:


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Now, we need a new dash kit so we can actually install a double din unit:

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Assuming everything above is compatible and works as expected, we're left with one problem: The wiring harness.

I cannot, for the life of me, find a wiring harness that fits a 2007 RX 350 and will work with any jensen/alpine/kenwood receivers.


Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction as to which wiring harness I could use? Will any compatible wiring harness work with just about any receiver?

Short of the wiring harness, is there anything else I forgot to include? (maybe wire connectors and pry tools?) Will all of the parts be compatible with my vehicle?

Hopefully this thread can assist others too, as it seems like most are spending well above $1000 to change out their factory stereos, when a cheaper alternative might exist.


Thanks for any help/input!

SkiMe

I've been looking at options and found Crutchfield to be a good source. You might try your system and then ask them some questions. When I pick your radio, it comes up with an install kit that has the wiring plugs, and a new radio bezel.


It also calls out two steering wheel controllers but I don't know if it's both, or an "either one" option.


541SWICP5 and 541SWIRC


Probably ask Crutchfield what is the difference.

LophatRX

You know from what I learned, if you are going to use the stock amplifier you can get one of two boxes, from Axxess. The Ax-adbox1 or another one that I didn't remember off the top of my head. I accidentally bought both. So I have a unused Ax-adbox1, that I would sell to you if you want. It normally sells between $100 - 150 if I recall right. I tried to return it but I didn't do it in the 15 day window, so it has been sitting in my house ever since I ordered it. You would still need to buy the steering wheel interface which is pretty cheap and easy to install. I think I spent less that 250 and got the face plate, the steering control adapter and the other Axxess box, and everything works prefect.

aachowhan

One thing to note about those Metra kits is in my opinion they are very badly designed. The inner lip around the opening for the radio forces you to put the actual radio face about 3/4 in the actual face. It was really annoying for a radio I got and the volume **** was a pain to use. It was so bad I sent everything back to crutchfield and just got an AUX adapter kit from iSimple. The beatsonic has a much more wider and open design which is much nicer. It is stupid expensive but just get the face kit.

guyrat7

I have a 2003 rx330 with navi and ML stereo. I read CL forums extensively before making the decision. Since I did not want the stock ML amp, I used the Metra harness.

The metra harness let me use my navi (i dont use the navi but the ac controls are on the same screen so the navi must work) and let me connect the stock harness to my Apline 1-din without chopping off wires.

I did not buy a harness to connect the steering controls to the stereo simply because I did not want it. So the Metra harness lets you plug in steering controls through another harness if required.

Now I have a working Navi, an Alpine 1-din running through external amps to door speakers(which I changed to better quality focal drivers)

since you dont have Navi, it should be easier and cheaper for you to user the harness from Metra rather than beatsonic. It takes a bit of work because you need to find the compatible harness.

guyrat7

The Harness I used:

http://www.metraonline.com/part/AX-ADTY01

psycle01

Thanks for the info guyrat7. I plan on doing the exact same thing you did with my 2004 RX330 w/ navi and ML - external amps and new speakers.

Tank

iTrader: (19)

Keeping stock amp? You will need a Beatsonic interface unless you wanna hack up your wiring harnesses.

No stock amp? no Stock radio? but still wanna keep the Steering wheel functions? AWSC-1 is a good interface. I have it in the wife's RX and is works great.

Just to re-interrate I know you have covered this but there are different Beatsonic interfaces for different set-ups. i.e. ML radio with Navi, Non-Navi etc.

One more thing to keep in mind that your volume is controlled thru the AMP not the head unit.
But since you plan to gut out your stock radio and amp you don't need to worry about that..lol