Looking for a place to mount bluetooth mic...

Most aftermarket head units do not retain the factory mic. I wanted to remove the factory mic and replace it with the mic from my Kenwood head unit. Buttttt... It seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Plus, I wasn't sure if the cord was going to be long enough. So, I came up with another solution... Mounting it on the underneath side of the center speaker grill. It works perfectly and it is easy location to access when you have the factory radio out.

https://imgur.com/a/5mn6PZY

 

I always went with the shroud for the steering wheel column. That's a great idea though. I may explore that the next time I pull everything out!

 

Any regrets? Anyone ever complain about it any background noise? Im getting installed today and Im leaning towards having mic located above rear view mirror. I HATE that it will be visible though. Any suggestions will help. Thanks

 

If you have enough slack to get to the rearview, just drop the overhead console and put it where the factory mic is. It works great for me and is totally hidden. What brand head unit are you going with though? My Pioneer had plenty of slack, but I've heard Kenwood comes up a little short.

 

None so far. I don't do much bluetooth calling though. I do have to "speak up" a little, but that is usually the case with any aftermarket mic. If you have enough slack, you could have them run it to the factory mic spot in the overhead. My Kenwood mic did not have enough slack to reach, so I went with this location under the center channel speaker.

 

Thanks for the quick response guys. It just so happens I am getting a Kenwood as well. Looks like i’ll be doing the same location on the dash then. Thanks again guys

 

that's where i put mine to... lol i had removed the center stage speaker cause i was not using it anymore and just clipped it to the side of the mounting hole for the speaker. works perfectly nice and clean on the receiving end.

 

So the supplied 3 meter microphone cable which came with the Kenwood Dnx996xr was actually long enough to make it to the rear view mirror. Take a look at picture. It hides well on the angled upward ceiling liner.

 

That’s exactly where I have mine for the alpine 309.

 

Back when I used to do car audio professionally, we had a rep from Parrot give a workshop. He said that the headliner (like where you have placed your mic) was found to be the clearest, least noisy spot for bluetooth microphones. I've placed them there ever since.

 

The wife has had nothing but good things to say about the clarity of our phone calls. I also speak at a normal volume. Sooo much better than my old Pioneer where I had to speak up/yell and clearly pronounce everything. I like the fact that Kenwood gives you the option to fine tune your microphone, echo, and noise levels. My old Pioneer 4100 NEX didnt give you any options. Stuck with what you got. The wife did complain about the quality of those calls.

 

Did you have to remove the headliner to run the wire for this setup? I'm getting my headunit this week and would like to try this, however I'm worried I'll have to pull the entire headliner.

 

No not at all. Along the edge the headliner has a little give and allows for the cable to tuck in there. I suggest you clip mic to desired location first, then start working your way back, tucking in headliner until reaching pillar. That you will have to remove

 

Awesome. Thank you!

 

I've got a Kenwood and that's exactly where mine is. Works really well and easy to hide the wire.

 

I know this is an older thread, but I wanted to reiterate what @New_DoorDing said above. With my new Kenwood, I did *not* start from the mic and work my way back. I'm pretty certain that (like an idiot) I pulled all the slack out of the cable to try and get it to reach the rearview mirror - not leaving any slack to pull the HU out if I needed (which as it turns out, I do)... so I have undo it all and work the slack back to the HU.

 

I've definitely pulled the mic plug out on accident once or twice when putting the dash back together. They don't click in very well.

 

I mounted mine above the rear view. I have tucked away all the wires since I took the image.

 

How did you tuck the clip holding the mic in? Did you pull down the headliner and slide it in?

 

Yes I used plastic pry tool for interior and pulled a bit on the headliner near windshield and tucked in all the wiring.

 

Most aftermarket radios are proprietary to their own mics. (if that is what you're referring to.)