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Head unit upgrade.. Thoughts, regrets?

Discussion in 'Audio & Video' started by hudrock, Dec 16, 2018.

  1. Dec 16, 2018 at 7:05 AM
    #1
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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    I have been checking out some of the new Kenwood and Alpine multi media head units and was just blown away with the features, looks etc.

    I've seen a lot of members with older trucks upgrading but haven't ran across any of the the newer ones doing it. Curious if there is a reason or am I just missing the posts?

    If you have shout out your opinions. Everything work, back up camera, steering wheel controls, etc? Phone, Mess with the warranty, blah blah etc?

    I have 2018 crew cab and this mod would just about make the truck perfect to me but don't want to mess with any of the functionality of the truck or warranty. Thanks.
     
  2. Dec 16, 2018 at 7:26 AM
    #2
    Vendeta2k

    Vendeta2k Distinguished Member Of The Cement Club

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    You must just not being seeing it....tons of threads on this. I gutted everything and went with a kenwood unit...money well spent!
     
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  3. Dec 16, 2018 at 7:27 AM
    #3
    Fishman57

    Fishman57 New Member

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    Pictures Of your installation please.
     
  4. Dec 16, 2018 at 7:43 AM
    #4
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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    Nice... All controls from steering wheel work?
     
  5. Dec 16, 2018 at 7:53 AM
    #5
    Mr Swervlin

    Mr Swervlin "Yes....In Dee Face"

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    Scroll through the audio/video forum. Plenty of good info
     
  6. Dec 16, 2018 at 4:58 PM
    #6
    Vendeta2k

    Vendeta2k Distinguished Member Of The Cement Club

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  7. Dec 16, 2018 at 4:59 PM
    #7
    Vendeta2k

    Vendeta2k Distinguished Member Of The Cement Club

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    With the maestro unit yes....all factory steering wheel controls work
     
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  8. Dec 16, 2018 at 5:25 PM
    #8
    ninjajay

    ninjajay Posting from the toilet

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    I upgraded my HU on my 2018, using the HU I ran previously in my 2008.

    Keep in mind the infotainment in these trucks is from 2012 at best. It was a huge upgrade in terms of features and the only things I lost were the volume/tuner knobs and shortcut buttons from the OEM deck.
     
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  9. Dec 17, 2018 at 6:41 PM
    #9
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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    I read on a few other threads that a new HU helped the sound a lot on the stock speakers. Did you find this to be true?
     
  10. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:05 PM
    #10
    Fringler

    Fringler New Member

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  11. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:12 PM
    #11
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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  12. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:15 PM
    #12
    Kilos

    Kilos YotaPro

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  13. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:16 PM
    #13
    Fringler

    Fringler New Member

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    Yes, I did - I read the posts on here and put in the Maestro RR to keep the controls. There are a lot of people who used Kenwood units - I would say those looked really nice but I went with the Pioneer because I wanted the wireless carplay.
     
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  14. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:20 PM
    #14
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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  15. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:22 PM
    #15
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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    Thanks
     
  16. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:31 PM
    #16
    Kilos

    Kilos YotaPro

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    Took a few days, don’t miss it anymore!
     
  17. Dec 17, 2018 at 7:43 PM
    #17
    ninjajay

    ninjajay Posting from the toilet

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    JBL, it helps a little due to better signal and adjustability

    Non-JBL, it helps a lot due to more wattage from deck power
     
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  18. Dec 17, 2018 at 9:20 PM
    #18
    brimy311

    brimy311 New Member

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    I have a JBL audio truck. 2018, 16k on it. The sound was terrible, but the kicker for me was the horrible speaker for phone calls. I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying.

    Yesterday I swapped in a Kenwood dnx995s with full maestro controls. Works great! Ran the kenwood microphone into the stock location, and I can once again take phone calls in my truck!

    Added bonus, you can control the gain level on factory amp and it actually sounds like you would expect premium audio system to sound!
     
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  19. Dec 17, 2018 at 9:53 PM
    #19
    budjb

    budjb New Member

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    Upgraded my JBL head unit, and then put it back in. 2019 Crewmax.

    I used the w8400nex from pioneer, and enough little things were broken that it annoyed me enough to send it all back.

    Things that I can remember that didn't work, even with Maestro and correct programming:
    • Cluster nav AND compass were non-functional. I knew up-front this would be the case, though I would have hoped the pane would just not show up at all given the stock HU wasn't in place.
    • Cluster phone call info was missing and it behaved incorrectly (phone modal would pop up stating "incoming call", even if the call was outbound, and no call metadata ever made it to the cluster).
    • Steering wheel controls for phone (answer/hang-up) did not function while in Android Auto. This is an issue with Pioneer units in particular, and was confirmed with their support people.
    That said, what did work was amazing. I heard my factory sub for the first time. Android Auto is amazing. Higher res backup cam was awesome. The addition of the gauges seemed rather pointless, but being able to see error codes w/o going to dealer or autozone is a nice potential bonus.

    If you can get past the integrations not being perfect and losing certain factory features, upgrading the head unit makes a noticeable different in these trucks.
     
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  20. Dec 18, 2018 at 5:31 AM
    #20
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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    Appreciate all the inputs... Like the Kenwood's but the wireless car play is nice and clean looking.

    I'm not an audio snob but yeah the stock is really bad. I'm hoping the new HU will change the sound up enough for my needs. I checked out some of your speaker builds and wow very cool but way too much for me. Would some simple upgrades of the stock speakers in the doors work wonders as well or would I need the big amp and bass kicker?
     
  21. Dec 20, 2018 at 3:05 PM
    #21
    brimy311

    brimy311 New Member

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    I just swapped the stock HU for a kenwood dnx995s this last week. It’s night and day different. The JBL audio stuff sound good now.

    I’ve had experience with kenwood. They imho have the best interface and garmin navigation.
     
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  22. Dec 20, 2018 at 7:13 PM
    #22
    hudrock

    hudrock [OP] New Member

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    Looks nice, Ive been checking out the DMX905S
     

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