[AK16]

Looks great, does the factory microphone play well with it? Do you have much dimming control over the screen? Does the screen work with polarized sunglasses? Thanks!

Used it yesterday with my polarized sunglasses. No issues at all.

 

[JTod]

Used it yesterday with my polarized sunglasses. No issues at all.

Sweet, thanks again!

I have the factory amp, does anyone know if you lose the amp when going to an aftermarket head unit? I don't know that much about car stereos but I'm guessing the amp being downstream of the head unit would mean it still functions properly...

 

[AK16]

Could you post a photo of the stereo unpowered, so we can see how it looks when we want only to hear the song of the 4C motor? Thank you!

Here you go!

 

[Ziggy Zeckleman]

Looks pretty clean from the sides, thanks. I've got one on the way. You mentioned that you re-used the existing wiring harness but did you need to re-wire it at all or just plug in and off you go? Thanks for the find!

 

[AK16]

Looks pretty clean from the sides, thanks. I've got one on the way. You mentioned that you re-used the existing wiring harness but did you need to re-wire it at all or just plug in and off you go? Thanks for the find!

Just color coded splicing/soldering of wires from the cars harness and the new stereo harness.

 

[SAF_alfa]

I've got one on the way

I picked mine up last night!

 

[Alfa1750]

I installed the external Alpine Amp which helps.. Is there a harness adaptor or did you just clip wires and re-wire it?

I did too, can you tell the difference?

 

[ecohen2]

Yeah, at higher volumes and upgraded speakers.

I spent way way too much time trying to get a decent sound out of the system. In the process I figured out that the DAC in the head unit just isn't that great. The best sound by far is from an external device using bluetooth and boosting the bass before it gets to the head unit.

I ripped a high quality CD, then made a lossless audio file and a high quality MP3. I flipped between the original CD, a file off a USB device and bluetooth off my phone, by far the best quality was bluetooth from my iPhone..

 

[mwswenson]

Hi, I have installed this unit in my Lotus Elise and AR 4C. Huge improvement over stock. However, in the AR 4C the front cover plate does not fit completely in the DIN opening - (of course, I may be doing something WRONG!). I will connect it firmly to the bracket in the back of the car. I really like the Apple Car Play - nice feature to have! Anyway, I'm not that much interested in the sound of the head unit and much more interested in the sound of the car!

 

[AK16]

Hi, I have installed this unit in my Lotus Elise and AR 4C. Huge improvement over stock. However, in the AR 4C the front cover plate does not fit completely in the DIN opening - (of course, I may be doing something WRONG!). I will connect it firmly to the bracket in the back of the car. I really like the Apple Car Play - nice feature to have! Anyway, I'm not that much interested in the sound of the head unit and much more interested in the sound of the car!

That’s correct. It doesn’t fit “in” the open. Rather, it sits up against the opening. Good point. I used some felt to line the top, bottom and side of where it slides into the cage to create friction and help lock it in to the opening.

 

[Kennedy220]

Decided I wanted CarPlay but didn't want a screen that stuck out of the dash (the way the Joying units do, for example). Stumbled upon a company called Power Acoustik and their CP-71W. For $150, I figured it was worth a try. Simple standard wiring process like any head unit. Has options for front and rear camera but I elected to not use any because my digital rear view mirror combined with the OEM park distance system is sufficient.

Works brilliantly 99% of the time. Wireless CarPlay, USB port run the same way the factory Alpine unit had to the little pouch in the passenger side dash lower portion, fast charging USB-C port on the face of the unit. Super responsive interface for a $150 unit. Screen is easy to control and see while driving despite being a small single-DIN unit.

Great system, would definitely recommend. View attachment 157325

Ahh this is a nice one

 

[caemca]

This is finally an elegant solution to the head-unit issue. No way to get this in Europe I gather, right?

 

[AK16]

This is finally an elegant solution to the head-unit issue. No way to get this in Europe I gather, right?

Not sure if Walmart ships internationally but if you cover shipping, I would help you buy it and ship it to you. Might not make much sense financially when all else is considered. Let me know.

 

[Ziggy Zeckleman]

Did a test fit with mine this morning and really liked how it sat in the space so I built the harness and got it put in and tested. Love it. Wireless carplay is awesome. Second time I started my car it came up with navigation like this.

It's not done yet in that I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to remove the existing cage (see second picture) from the Parrot. I'm not a car stereo guy so any advice would be helpful. I didn't see any way to secure the new unit using the existing cage so I assume I need to remove the old one and put this new one in. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Knievil]

The tabs on the original cage need to be bent back to flat and then it can be removed. When you install the new cage you will need to bend the tabs outwards to fix it in the dash. Use a small flat head screw driver.

 

[Ziggy Zeckleman]

Ok, great, that's what I initially did but must have missed a few.

Also, note that there is a new firmware available for this headunit that adds support for Android Auto and also allows you to change the boot screen. Still getting the boot screen dialed in but I'm already much happier.

 

[mwswenson]

I have installed this unit in a Lotus Elise (very tight fit due to limited room for wiring) and a 4C. In the 4C I added a rear back up camera which works seamlessly with the head unit (more on that later).

Now, unlike the Lotus, this head unit does not fit completely into the 4C opening thus, it is not really "locked in place". To securely fasten the head unit, I added a ~ 4 inch stud (M5 with 0.8 pitch if I remember correctly and sourced from Ace is the place with the friendly hardware man) that is mounted in the center of the head unit and which slides into the mounting tab behind the head unit under the dash. The OEM head unit has a small stud that fits up against the mounting tab smack dab in the center of the back. I used washers and a wing nut (easier to maneuver behind the tab with fingers) to make the head unit tight. No need for a friction fit - now it's firmly locked in place and no "shake, rattle and roll"!

 

[Ziggy Zeckleman]

I have installed this unit in a Lotus Elise (very tight fit due to limited room for wiring) and a 4C. In the 4C I added a rear back up camera which works seamlessly with the head unit (more on that later).

Now, unlike the Lotus, this head unit does not fit completely into the 4C opening thus, it is not really "locked in place". To securely fasten the head unit, I added a ~ 4 inch stud (M5 with 0.8 pitch if I remember correctly and sourced from Ace is the place with the friendly hardware man) that is mounted in the center of the head unit and which slides into the mounting tab behind the head unit under the dash. The OEM head unit has a small stud that fits up against the mounting tab smack dab in the center of the back. I used washers and a wing nut (easier to maneuver behind the tab with fingers) to make the head unit tight. No need for a friction fit - now it's firmly locked in place and no "shake, rattle and roll"!

Awesome. Super helpful. As you pointed out, the head unit doesn't lock into the cage because the cage is too recessed compared to the face of the head unit. I pulled a few tabs of the cage inward to create some friction and that's sufficient for daily driving but I definitely need to do something like this before autocross. Do you have any pictures of this? It's hard for me to picture it in my head but it also might be impossible to take pictures of.

 

[Lvs4c]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Forza4c]

Factory microphone is plug and play with the unit. It has its own built in dimmer but I don't believe I have found a way for it to sync up with the dash illumination dimming controls. Not a big loss for me. I will test polarized glasses shortly and report back!

No external microphone input right?

I like the unit, way better than my old Pyle unit and carplay seems really responsive.

The uint seems to use an internal mic only - I couldn't find an external mic input