Wild Sound System

[BrianW]

On my Kenwood DVD headunit all you have to do is ground the green parking brake wire and it will allow video to play while driving. I believe it's the same with most Kenwood units. Works fine. Drove home from Shenandoah National Park last Monday with my son watching old Pink Panther cartoons on it.

No special "bypass box" or switches are needed. Just ground the wire.

[Ultrasport12]

If you are buying the headunit for GPS functions get something (Kenoowod?) that has a Garmin based unit.
But keep in mind you will pay more to have it in the dash then a good easy to use and update (you all do update your GPS units at least a few times a years dont you?) that can be replaced by its self anytime without replacing the whole dash unit. I am not saying do not get in dash GPS just know it does have limitations.

Here are some things to think about besides the ratings.

Not all Bluetooth is created equal.
Knobs vs touch screen.
Size and placemernt of buttons.
Satilite Radio features if needed.
Placement of USB, Memory Card and /or aux input

The Econoline van radio mounting position while it seems good is not really all that close to reach to or easy to see while driving. The major buttons and knobs really need to be on the left side not the bottom. It also is not that good to see for GPS use or movies (especially the passenger because of the angle towards the driver, parked of course) Touch screen only controls do make the screen size bigger but can be a pain. ALL of these newer micro processor units take time to boot up some are just much longer than others. There are a lot of comparison tests about this on the web. If you like to just jump in and throw it into revese and want a camera you should check the boot times. I always back in so I dont need it to be on the instant I start the van. On my Pioneer it has a very annoying feature because of boot time. If you were cranking the tunes when you park it, when you start it you have to wait to turn it down or shut it off. The sound works right away as soon as you hit the key but the volume control even though mine has a manual button does not work until it fully boots. The stupid off button is touch screen and floats so it is not always in the same spot on the sceen and sometimes you have to scroll to find it, really how stupid is this?

I would not worry about the unit working with an iProduct if they change the connector. If and when Apple or anyone else changes something like that all of the major companies will offer a new cable as soon as they can. Unless you are one of those people who stands in line on day one of its release just to say you have one of the first million iThings sold you will not need the cable before its available. If you are a big iUser a few of the bigger car audio companies offer units that are AM/FM and iDevice only. It uses the phone for everything else including GPS. They have no CD/DVD players so they cost less.
If you are an Android user despite not saying so most units work just find with an Android phone.


If you think you will use a USB stick for music a front mounted USB port is nice to have. I like full size SD cards but my unit is microSD and they are really really small for my big old fingers. Make sure you try to future proof your unit as much as possible. If you think you might want a DVD monitor in the van (passenger side sun visor or in the back) make sure it has outputs you might want. Some units can play a DVD (and head phones) in one zone while you rock out to the radio, XM or memory card while driving at the same time. If you want satilite radio XM/Sirius make sure it can control it from the radio so you dont have to use another device. XM and Sirius are all but the same these days but XM still has better reception every time for some reason. Some headunits only have XM and some only Sirius but some have both available.

Bluetooth...Bluetooth is a must have in my book but I have been using it for over ten years now. Some units are really easy to use and pair other might have Bluetooth but its not so great. Some units cannot do Bluetooth streaming (some iThingies do not have stereo Bluetooth for some reason) for music and such. If Bluetooth is important be sure the unit can do what you want it to do.

The one last thing I will strongly recomend when installing a double din headunit into a dash designed for a din and a half radio is mounting kits. I like things a certain way, some people call it fussy some anal either way its how I am. I like aftermarket car audio stuff but it has to look like it belongs there for me. They are three or four installation kits that work with Ford vans. Some are major surgery inside the dash and other only need a bit of trimming to the trim panel. (making it difficult to reinstall the factory radio by the way) I tried three different kits before I got one I liked, it does have one set back though. Once you push the radio into place the only way you can remove the unit is to take off the whole trim panel. The kit is made by American Internation (part number FMK552) and posibly some others. It has a very narrow side and top front trim plate. Two side plate and a rear holder only, just four parts total. It takes a bit of fussing around to get it perfect but it works really good and the radio fits in the dash like it should. Here is an Amazon link to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Ford-Double-Din-D ... +radio+kit


...Jamie

[llamadave]

Anyone have experience with Jensen products? I am looking at Jensen AWM975 AM/FM/CD/DVD/USB/WB/iPOD Ready Wallmount Stereo with HDMI Video Output and a Jensen 22" TV which will both wall-mount next to my dinette in back, as shown here. I will put speakers in front as well as back and co-pilot can run it with the remote while under way. Also can have a remote outside while camping. This has all the features I want but not sure of the quality.

David

[Ultrasport12]

David,

I think you might be limited for brands other than Jensen for a real wall mounted unit like you want back there.

Jensen has been around a long time and while never being know for high end equipment they have out lasted many other companies in the car audio world so they must be doing something right. They also offer many features standard that other companies charge a lot more for.

By the way I have been meaning to say how much I enjoy looking at your build page that you have linked to a few times including above. Its really nice and I cant wait to see the real van, it should be great...

...Jamie

[Chopperguy]

Wow, awesome writeup Jamie. Thanks a bunch!!!!

[Ultrasport12]

Oh I thought of one more thing today...

Remote Control....Do you need one?

So I installed a Pioneer DVD/Navi Headunit in my dash. I also installed a 23 inch roof mounted monitor so we could watch movies from bed before we go to sleep,(we love movies) ah but there is a problem how do you control the DVD and volume functions from the bed? You use a wireless remote right? Wrong well at least partially wrong. Seems the unit I bought with all of its great features does not have a wireless Remote Control available for it. (it does however have a few different wired remotes for it, remember those?) Pioneer does however have a few different ones (wired and wireless) for most car headunits. All you have to do is purchase and install this little infrared device (from PAC) that plugs into the wired remote port on the back of the Headunit and you can use a Pioneer Wireless remote from the bed to control the dash mounted Headunit.

http://www.amazon.com/PAC-WRI-P-Wireles ... or+pioneer

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-CD-R510-C ... y_e_text_y



...Jamie

[Vegasrandall]

But mine goes up to eleven!

[Chopperguy]

Okay, not decided yet, but just found another more economical receiver that gets better reviews than the Kenwood Excelon DNX6990HD. It's the Clarion NX602. Pretty much all the same features (GPS is better), yet only has a one year warranty. Just another one to look at if you're in the market. I think the Clarion is what I"m going with.

[rionapo]

We had a Kenwood Excelon-KFCX1730P installed in our 2012 SMB. When I get around to posting to the biggest mistakes list, it will be there. Interface is 1970s at best and dangerous because of the driver attention it takes to operate. I finally figured out how to get my iPhone controls back in my hands so I can use its interface to pick music. That's better but I cannot understand (or find out how to stop) the way it automatically starts playing the alphabetically first disc in my album without waiting to let me choose what I want it to play.

I don't know how it compares to other car radios, though, as it's the one thing I didn't research that went into the vehicle. Sound is good overall though I could do with less bass, which brings me back to the interface. In addition to the complexity of dialing in an option, it has too many sound options for my simple brain.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by rionapo

We had a Kenwood Excelon-KFCX1730P installed in our 2012 SMB. When I get around to posting to the biggest mistakes list, it will be there. Interface is 1970s at best and dangerous because of the driver attention it takes to operate. I finally figured out how to get my iPhone controls back in my hands so I can use its interface to pick music. That's better but I cannot understand (or find out how to stop) the way it automatically starts playing the alphabetically first disc in my album without waiting to let me choose what I want it to play.

I don't know how it compares to other car radios, though, as it's the one thing I didn't research that went into the vehicle. Sound is good overall though I could do with less bass, which brings me back to the interface. In addition to the complexity of dialing in an option, it has too many sound options for my simple brain.

I have to get the instruction manual out just to change the friggin radio station. And the manual sucks. It seems they're all that way. I put one in my truck so I can kinda navigate it better but still.