I really want to replace the Kenwood Z828 in my '00 AP1. I'm pretty sure I've got stock speakers too, although I must say they sound pretty good. So I think I'm looking at a head unit upgrade, potentially the lower door speakers, and some tweeters. I'm thinking I should be able to do this with one head unit (ie., no extra amp needed) since I'm just powering 4 speakers, no sub.

Here's what else I'm trying to get and I seem to be getting nowhere even with a decent amount of research (ie., Google, s2ki and other s2000 related forums).

1. Left hand dash controls (is Modifry the only one that gets you the "extended" features like multi-button commands and SCV)? One of the Crutchfield guys was telling me they have an adapter that will give me dash controls for the s2k but I haven't heard back from him about the multi button stuff.

I'd prefer the wired interface too I think.

2. iPhone control (audio). I want to be able to go to the next track, previous track, pause and play from the left hand dash controls. I don't care too much about selecting other playlists and the like. I'm happy to do that with the iPhone interface itself.

3. iPhone control (phone). Would be great to have full Bluetooth. I've heard some head units also do Bluetooth audio? How well does that work?

4. iPhone charging. I've heard stories of some head units that work well, but don't charge? IE., the Alpine CDA-9886.

5. Color options. Would love to match up with the redish/orange dash colors.

6. Tweeters. My AP1 doesn't have them in the door. I don't really want to spend money replacing my door panels. I think I'd rather spend the money on tweeters I can mount on the existing ones.

Thanks ... and I really hope somebody has a nice setup with all of the above or at least some pointers on how to put it together.

D

 

1) Modifry is the best way to go. There are other units out there but from what I've read they don't work quite as well.

2,3,4,5) I've got an alpine ida-x305, a popular HU here, quite possibly the best ipod integration but doesn't have a CD player. You can also buy the alpine power pack (KTP-445) which gives you a 45W RMS to each speaker. For bluetooth you'd have to buy a seperate module. It charges my 3g just fine... there might be issues with the 3gs, but nothing that an adapter can't fix. There's two color options, blue and red.. the red is a decent match for the dash.

6) You can modify your existing door or come up with a more creative way to mount the tweeters.. try a search or look thru the audio gallery and see whats out there.

 

Are you still able to control your iPhone *from* the iPhone when connected? I've heard some of these Alpine units assume FULL control of the iPhone when they're connected. That would annoy the hell out of me (ie., can't use other apps then).

D

 

The iPod functions of the phone become slave to the headunit (meaning if you click on the ipod icon it'll say it's connected to an external device)... however, you can still use the rest of the phone, GPS, other apps, etc.

 

Regarding the Alpine power pack, will it fit behind the head unit in our cars? There's not much room back there to begin with.

 

nope, I didn't even attempt to put it behind the HU.. instead I mounted it behind the passenger side "knee panel" (not sure what its called)... fits pretty well and there's probably enough room to put another module there (the bluetooth or imprint module).

 

Hmm ... from what I've been reading people are posting complaints about the IDA-x305 not always being able to talk to iPhone 3GS's. Alpine and Crutchfield blame Apple. Personally, I'd rather not get in the middle of that.

Yet, I see lots of people loving their older CDA-105s which I think have almost the same features as the x305 except for the 4v pre-amp outs and a few other bells and whistles. But as far as being able to talk to iPhones they appear to be rock solid.

Any 105 users out there able to report? Does it also disable the iPhone's iPod features when connected?

I have no idea why they do that. I have a simple iPhone/iPod adapter in my car that let's me pause, play, foward and reverse w/o disabling anything on the phone. Maybe once you start allowing specific item (song, artist, album, etc...) selection the API doesn't support "dual" control so to speak.

Anyhow, I think I'm leaning towards the 105 as I don't really need the higher res screen and would be totally pissed on any given day that my iPhone update borked the USB connection.

D