New Aftermarket head unit kit option

[Big-T]

Originally Posted by jacborn

I have a 2010 with the BA. I want to keep using my stock BA amp. I would say I have moderate knowlege in radio installation but need some advice. I want to buy the PAC radio kit. I see that it says you maintain

Steering Wheel Controls
Retains factory climate control functions
Retains Heads Up Display (HUD)
Retains OEM Bluetooth
Temperature displays in Fahrenheit and Celsius
Accommodates Single or double DIN radios

Fully integrated kit includes:

Factory-matched radio dash kit
Electronic Interface Module (retains climate controls, steering wheel controls, OnStar, factory amplifier
Auxiliary audio and USB retention harness
Antenna connector adapter
Exterior temperature display

What head unit should I get that would work with best for my car. I don't care about navigation. I just want a touchscreen that allows me to maintain my stock amp, steering wheel controls, aux/usb. Will I maintain all my stock speakers? I would like to if at all possible. Does the PAC kit take care of that stuff or do I need a radio that supports that stuff? Do I need to buy any other adapters? I really just want to buy the radio and be able to wire it with the pac kit and call it good. This is really confusing me for some reason.

Any standard-size head unit is fine... The head-unit itself does not play into it's ability to work with the OEM controls and Amp, the Kit takes care of that for you. The favorites on the forum seem to be the Pioneer AVIC series and the Kenwood eXcelon's. I assume the reason for that is Android Auto (which is pretty awesome if you have an Android phone). The respective non-Nav versions of those are the Pioneer AVIC 4200NEX and the Kenwood DDX9903. That said, there are tons of great options if you're not looking for Android Auto capabilities.

[SynergyGreenSS]

Hey everyone, I just had my kit installed with the appradio 4 and I love it so far. Everything is working besides the chimes for the blinkers, backup sensors, door ajar, the chime that comes on when the lights are left on or the key is left in the ignition, seat belts, etc. basically there are no chimes working. I spoke with the installer and he said that's something that goes away with the stock radio but I have a friend with the exact same setup as me that says he still has all of that, but it's a different sound than stock. He said his installer went on the radio and enabled it.. I can't find any setting that might do that. Can anyone help???????

Edit: if this question has already been answered somewhere in this thread, can someone please point me in that direction? I saw a few people talking about the chime module but that didn't really answer my question. Thanks

[patternpilot]

The PAC comes with a chime module and should have been installed with the PAC unit. It plugs into the PAC module. I would check with the installer as they may have not known what it was and did not install it. Now my unit was one of the first that the chime module was omitted from the box and had to be shipped separate.

[Big-T]

Originally Posted by SynergyGreenSS

... I spoke with the installer and he said that's something that goes away with the stock radio but I have a friend with the exact same setup as me that says he still has all of that, but it's a different sound than stock. He said his installer went on the radio and enabled it.. I can't find any setting that might do that. Can anyone help???????

So your installer is wrong... The PAC kit came with a chime, which looks like a small 1" cube with rounded corners. It has a wire coming out of it (there's actually two in there) that lead to a small 2-pin female plug that plugs into the PAC brick. It's loud as shit, and rather harsh, but it's in the kit and it works for all the alerting you speak of.

I covered the speaker hole with some scotch tape to make it less annoying.. but that's not the point. The PAC kit came with a chime. It's clearly mentioned in the documentation, and it requires nothing special to make it work (aside from running the cable, which can be a bit of a challenge). You would basically run the cables with the door lock cables... did they make the door lock buttons work?

Anyway, it should definitely work... it's not even anything hard to do.

[SynergyGreenSS]

Originally Posted by Big-T

So your installer is wrong... The PAC kit came with a chime, which looks like a small rounded 1" rounded cube with rounded corners. It has a wire coming out of it (there's actually two in there) that lead to a small 2-pin female plug that plugs into the PAC brick. It's loud as shit, and rather harsh, but it's in the kit and it works for all the alerting you speak of.



I covered the speaker hole with some scotch tape to make it less annoying.. but that's not the point. The PAC kit came with a chime. It's clearly mentioned in the documentation, and it requires nothing special to make it work (aside from running the cable, which can be a bit of a challenge). You would basically run the cables with the door lock cables... did they make the door lock buttons work?



Anyway, it should definitely work... it's not even anything hard to do.

Yeah the door locks do work. I was looking in the instructions and I couldn't find anything about it. I obviously wasn't looking hard enough. Do you know what this cube might be referred to as? I think I know what you're talking about though. I'm going to talk again with the installer about this. They're a very professional place and I've had them so stuff on several cars. I know they would get this working for free as they should but it's just a hassle to keep having to drive my car there and leave it with them.

[Dahita]

Originally Posted by whoanelli

The PAC unit does everything it says it will and includes everything you need. Choose whatever head unit fits your budget and needs. I wanted to be able to customize the sound via an equalizer and also to replace NAV. My only suggestion is to go with an installer that is very experienced. Programming the SWC is time consuming and not for beginners. Also, there's not much room for the myriad of wires, etc. up under the dash, so once again budget for a professional install. You'll thank yourself later...

I agree with everything you say EXCEPT the sound with the premium system.

I tried absolutely everything possible (even switching speaker wires to output wires), the BA system does not sound at good as with the factory unit.

I'm having the whole system replaced now (speakers, amp, wires) and plugged directly to the head unit, but that defeats a part of the purpose.

My 2 cents.

[rydahog]

http://www.pac-audio.com/productDeta...&CategoryID=26
go to page 5 of instructions,,and on schmatic you will see a small square box with 1 one wire going into control box (brick) that says cmx module,,this is the chime,,it has a small screw driver adjustment for tone + -.. i installed mine down near drivers side panel around gas pedal. works great and not obnoxious. hope this helps.

[Dahita]

Originally Posted by rydahog

http://www.pac-audio.com/productDeta...&CategoryID=26
go to page 5 of instructions,,and on schmatic you will see a small square box with 1 one wire going into control box (brick) that says cmx module,,this is the chime,,it has a small screw driver adjustment for tone + -.. i installed mine down near drivers side panel around gas pedal. works great and not obnoxious. hope this helps.

Hey Rydahog, question for you;

With the RPK5, when shifting in reverse, the chime beeps continuously for about 5 long seconds before it will slowly fade away and allow the rear sensors to start beeping to indicate hwo close you are from the car behind you.

That has for effect to force you to wait when trying to back up a bit before leaving your parking spot, otherwise you can't know how close you are from the vehicule behind you.

Do you get that too?

[whoanelli]

Originally Posted by Dahita

I agree with everything you say EXCEPT the sound with the premium system.

I tried absolutely everything possible (even switching speaker wires to output wires), the BA system does not sound at good as with the factory unit.

I'm having the whole system replaced now (speakers, amp, wires) and plugged directly to the head unit, but that defeats a part of the purpose.

My 2 cents.

We each have our own ear I guess, that's cool. I went with the 8100 as it's got a multiband equalizer, separate gain/crossover control adjustments for each speaker as well as other adjustments. FWIW, my installer praised (not to the point of high end aftermarket speakers mind you) the stock BA speakers. Compared to a lot of factory speakers, the magnets are quite large. I'm very pleased with the amount of treble especially I can get out of them with adjustments from my head unit. I'm no expert, but I think a head unit that allows one to tweak the audio can make an average speaker sound above so...

[SynergyGreenSS]

Originally Posted by Big-T

So your installer is wrong... The PAC kit came with a chime, which looks like a small 1" cube with rounded corners. It has a wire coming out of it (there's actually two in there) that lead to a small 2-pin female plug that plugs into the PAC brick. It's loud as shit, and rather harsh, but it's in the kit and it works for all the alerting you speak of.

I covered the speaker hole with some scotch tape to make it less annoying.. but that's not the point. The PAC kit came with a chime. It's clearly mentioned in the documentation, and it requires nothing special to make it work (aside from running the cable, which can be a bit of a challenge). You would basically run the cables with the door lock cables... did they make the door lock buttons work?

Anyway, it should definitely work... it's not even anything hard to do.

Is it this??

[rydahog]

that looks like antenna? does it say,,chime module on top?

[SynergyGreenSS]

Originally Posted by rydahog

that looks like antenna? does it say,,chime module on top?

Yeah I'm pretty sure it is just an antenna. It doesn't say anything on it but it sounded like what you described haha. I appreciate the help brother

[rydahog]

scroll down to post 115,,that is what it looks like,,with a single wire plug n play on ends...ezy peezy,, also i mounted my microphone and antenna inside the speaker on top of dash,,,,i took out the useless speaker,,works GREAT!...

also go to my post 449 about 3 picts down to see how i did my mic/ ANT. install,,,

[Big-T]

Originally Posted by SynergyGreenSS

Yeah the door locks do work. I was looking in the instructions and I couldn't find anything about it. I obviously wasn't looking hard enough. Do you know what this cube might be referred to as? I think I know what you're talking about though. I'm going to talk again with the installer about this. They're a very professional place and I've had them so stuff on several cars. I know they would get this working for free as they should but it's just a hassle to keep having to drive my car there and leave it with them.

Yeah, it's called the chime module. If they ran the door lock cables then then they would have had no reason not to run the chime. Perhaps they just missed it, or perhaps they listened to it and just assumed you would hate it (like I said, it is annoyingly loud and harsh). Either way, it's in the kit (or if it's not, you could call PAC and get them to send it to you).

I do advise the tape... I, too, needed the chime... and I have found that muting it a bit makes all the difference.

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1Q...nVbw1xe7M2fT9l