Double din head unit suggestions

On my current single din stereo the mic is mounted on my A pillar and sound is decent, not great. I'm hoping my new stereo has a better quality mic.

 

That's where I had mine on my tahoe and everyone said it sounded like I was in a tunnel. Could have been the cheap BOSS radio though.

My current stereo has a built in mic as well but I tried it last night on a 30mph test drive and my brother said he could only hear me if I was pretty much yelling lol.

That's what I am trying to avoid. I drive this truck more than any other of my vehicles and it would be nice to truly have hands free calling.

 

Well Crutchfield recommended the Sony XAVAX-1000. It was one the units I picked so it helped that they recommended it as well. I really like how it has an OEM type of look and I REALLY like that it has an actual volume knob. I may be old school but I hate the push button style. Hell, my cheapie $45 one has a knob and I love it. They recommended mounting the mic above the rear view mirror for best quality. I should have it tomorrow and hopefully can get it put the same day.

 

Very much considered Sony XAVAX 1000 and even their 5000 but neither have second camera. May not ever put front camera in but I'm choosing for long haul and wanted no regrets.
I have always liked Sony quality especially in their TV's.

 

The wireless for Apple Carplay is a little wonky sometimes. I have a AVIC W8500NEX and frequently I'll have to unlock my iPhone a few times to get it to pick up.
Think part of this reason may be that when the iPhone screen locks the WiFi is disabled. I'm pretty sure that it's a setting in the iPhone but I haven't really been hard up to check it as I usually just plug into the USB cable.

 

Well I spoke too soon...

I was talking to a buddy of mine and he just had a radio put in by BestBuy a few days ago. He said they offer free installation with any radio over $100 but I figured there was a catch. I called and talked to the Lead Tech for Geek Squad asking what the Sony would cost installed. He punched it all in and said it would be $268+tax installed, which is exactly what I paid for the radio on Amazon. I told him to get it scheduled!

He then asked why I picked Sony and I really didn't have a reason other than Crutchfield recommended it for sub $300 apple car play radio. He said for a little more money, there was a JVC that he runs in all of his personal vehicles, family vehicles, neighbors, etc that was a better quality unit, had a better touch screen and for him; had a better track record of not having any issues. He gave me the model number (KW-M750BT) and I checked on the web. It was priced on sale at $349.99 but I wasn't quite convinced it was that much better of a unit and told him I really need to stick to $300. He said "let me see what I can do' and put me on hold. After about thirty seconds he said he 'found' an in store promotion for today and could knock it down to $279.99 almost matching the Sony. He also said if I bought the OE style plugs, he would wire them up for free since the previous owner cut them off when he put the single din. I’m kind of torn on which to do now.

 

I tell ya what I would do…stay the hell away from Best Buy installs. I’ve seen better work don’t by blind cats and they don’t even have opposing thumbs!

I do keep looking at the Sony xav-ax1000 but I read last night that you have to turn the backup camera on and that it doesn’t come on automatically. Deal breaker for me

 

Surely there is a way to turn it on automatically. I'm sure there is a trigger wire that can be connected. See this video how it automatically switches on when he puts the car in reverse.

https://youtu.be/d9-RToNZ0u0

 

I just double tap mode on my steering wheel to pull up the front and rear camera….


God I love my setup even if it’s not aftermarket

 

Best Buy did my install and I’ve been happy with it. They even cleaned up the wiring the PO jumbled all together from the previous radio. They called me once they had it apart and said if I ordered this plug off Amazon, they would wire it in for free so I have the OE plug again. Just in case I wanted to change it back for any reason.

The only thing I didn’t like is that they ‘had’ to wire the safety wire to the e-brake. I told them I wouldn’t upset if it accidentally grounded to the body of the radio instead of the ebrake and he wasn’t haven’t it. Now I have to set the ebrake before going into the settings menu.

 

hey there, what dash kit did you use?