It was just over a week and I've already gotten to work on my 1st change to the car. On Saturday, I was at BestBuy chatting with a guy in car audio when he mentioned to me that BB will do price matching on Internet Prices. So I ran home and found a deal on a Alpine CDA-9857 for $267. The regular price for this unit is $349.99, so I got it for less, even when counting the install kit, wiring harness, and an iPod cable.
I went with the CDA-9857 because it doesn't require an external iPod module and claims to give you much faster access to your iPod than other head units. I haven't tried other head units, but I can say that the Alpine controls the iPod instantaniously.
The first item on the agenda was getting the wiring harness squared away. I soldered all of the connections together and wrapped them in electrical tape. I did alot of research before starting on this and discovered that there is a 5v fixed voltage regulator that needs to be purchased and used with the Remote power on for the amps. If you don't you'll get a nasty POP when the amps are turned on. I don't know if this would be bad for the system, but I didn't want to find out. I carefully solder the head units Remote On, cable to the input on the regulator and the output was soldered to the Amp On lines. The center connector goes to a ground wire.
Most people seem to like putting their iPod into the glove box. It does make sense because it can be locked up, however I listen to my iPod throughout the day when I'm working, so I decided to mount it inside the center console. Removing the Shaker500 requires the upper half of the center console to be removed, so taking the whole thing out wasn't that big of a deal.
I then removed the armrest and drilled a 9/16ths hole so I could thread the iPod cable through it. The radio end of the cable won't fit through any smaller hole and the hinge for the armrest covers it completely, so no biggie..
I tried running the cable around the armrest hinge, but the hinge will severely pinch the cable when trying to close it. I thought about cutting the hinge but decided to make a channel under the hinge which lets the cable come out centered in the console. It looks really good IMO. The hinge makes it a tight fit for the iPod cable, so I had to make sure there was plenty of slack. My current ipod case has a belt clip that just does hold onto the tissue holder under the armrest. I found a small peice of wood in my shop that I used as a cross brace behind the iPod which works nicely. However, I view this as a temporary solution until I figure out a better way to mount the iPod to the underside of the armrest.
Here is the finished product. Note that the left side is sticking out a bit. I realized that the RCA plugs, behind the unit were interfereing, so I repositioned them slightly. The HU now sits perfectly in the center stack and I've got a nice little pocket for my stuff.
I went with the CDA-9857 because it doesn't require an external iPod module and claims to give you much faster access to your iPod than other head units. I haven't tried other head units, but I can say that the Alpine controls the iPod instantaniously.
The first item on the agenda was getting the wiring harness squared away. I soldered all of the connections together and wrapped them in electrical tape. I did alot of research before starting on this and discovered that there is a 5v fixed voltage regulator that needs to be purchased and used with the Remote power on for the amps. If you don't you'll get a nasty POP when the amps are turned on. I don't know if this would be bad for the system, but I didn't want to find out. I carefully solder the head units Remote On, cable to the input on the regulator and the output was soldered to the Amp On lines. The center connector goes to a ground wire.
Most people seem to like putting their iPod into the glove box. It does make sense because it can be locked up, however I listen to my iPod throughout the day when I'm working, so I decided to mount it inside the center console. Removing the Shaker500 requires the upper half of the center console to be removed, so taking the whole thing out wasn't that big of a deal.
I then removed the armrest and drilled a 9/16ths hole so I could thread the iPod cable through it. The radio end of the cable won't fit through any smaller hole and the hinge for the armrest covers it completely, so no biggie..
I tried running the cable around the armrest hinge, but the hinge will severely pinch the cable when trying to close it. I thought about cutting the hinge but decided to make a channel under the hinge which lets the cable come out centered in the console. It looks really good IMO. The hinge makes it a tight fit for the iPod cable, so I had to make sure there was plenty of slack. My current ipod case has a belt clip that just does hold onto the tissue holder under the armrest. I found a small peice of wood in my shop that I used as a cross brace behind the iPod which works nicely. However, I view this as a temporary solution until I figure out a better way to mount the iPod to the underside of the armrest.
Here is the finished product. Note that the left side is sticking out a bit. I realized that the RCA plugs, behind the unit were interfereing, so I repositioned them slightly. The HU now sits perfectly in the center stack and I've got a nice little pocket for my stuff.
