I finally finished up my
Android stereo installation. I've got a few pics of some of the unique things I had to do, but for the most part, a stereo installation is pretty straightforward and has been documented many time on this and other boards.
First of all, If you have a Rockford system and you want to include the factory amp, get the
Metra 70-7551 harness. Amazon will tell you it doesn't fit your vehicle, but they don't know what they are talking about. (EDIT: I don't beleive this android unit outputs a preamp signal through the RCA Jacks. I got a ton of electrical noise until I ran the speaker wires to a speakerlever input to preamp converter) This will allow you to send preamp signals directly to the amp's inputs. And our vehicles do have an amp turn on signal lead, so connecting that wire from your stereo's harness to the same on the Metra harness will keep you from hearing the annoying thump so many report when they turn on/off an aftermarket stereo. No custom trigger relay circuit necessary. Here is a pic of my harness:
Second thing I did, since I didn't want to pull wires out of the glove box to add inputs is to buy one of these
USB/audio unput adapters. I popped the factory RF auxiliary input plug out of the dash, disconnected it from the wire, then reconnected it behind the dash (so I don't lose it if I ever want to return everything to stock), as seen here:
Then pop the new adapter in the hole, thread the lock nut onto the back, and connect the leads to the stereo and you end up with this:
For the GPS antenna I decided not to run it outside to the roof. It works perfectly fine on the dash. So I popped out the little plastic rectangle between the defrost vents and notched it for the cable:
The antenna itself is attached with 3M outdoor mounting tape. You can see it in the last picture of the stereo assembled in the dash.
One last thing that was out of the ordinary. All of the plugs on the RF head unit are near the top of the unit:
This is so they can clear the structural bar that sits in the dash behind the radio. You should never consider altering, cutting, or otherwise clearancing this bar, as it is critical to side impact safety. Unfortunately, my stereo, and I'm sure lots of other aftermarket radios, output their wires right where this bar sits. Now, the power, ground, and illumination wires, etc. have enough space and flexibility that this isn't a problem. But the RCA plugs going to the amp stick out quite a bit. So I bought a bunch of
right angle adapter plugs which I unfortunately did not get a picture of. But they look like this:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71y3cT-CRbL._SL1500_.jpg
This allowed the stereo to just barely clear the bar in the back. After that it was just a matter of plugging it all in and buttoning everything back up. End result is this:
You can see the GPS antenna at the base of the windscreen, in the background behind my GoPro mount. And on the screen is an episode of Top Gear playing from a 32GB flash drive plugged into my USB port installed in the dash (lower right corner of the picture)
Pros:
Gained DVD playback, video/music playback via USB input and Bluetooth (The RF stereo has BT for phone only, no A2DP), GPS (I'm using Sygic due to offline map access) and access to pretty much any app you can think of in the Play store.
Capactive touch screen and 1.9GHz processor run JellyBean very smoothly and responsively.
Price: Try to get these features in something with a recognized name brand for $300.
Sound quality: The RF headunit is the weak link in that audio system. The amp and speaker sound fantastic with this stereo.
Cons:
Lost built-in satellite radio (no problem really; just use the SiriusXM app).
Built in Wi-fi is very weak. (If you use your phone or a portable hotspot in or near the vehicle this will not be a problem)
Dimmer when you turn on your lights does not dim screen enough. I occasionally find myself turning the brightness down at night only to have to turn it back up during the day.
Size of unit makes installation slightly problematic.
Another con, for me, is that my phone no longer works as a free wi-fi hotspot since Lollipop came out. So a lot of the features I planned to use, namely Pandora and SiriusXM apps, I am not using directly on the head unit unless I'm in the parking lot at home or at work (Also use Netflix on lunchbreak at work!). However, I can use them on the phone with audio over Bluetooth, so no extra cable to connect. The features I gained more than outweigh that little hiccup.
I plan to do a short video demo, but my camera is charging and I'll probably lose light before it is done.