2ForMe's Audio Build (Android goodness inside!)
 

Ok, my audio build is finally finished. Strap in, because this is going to be a long post.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank http://www.audiowerks.net (Audiowerks) in Tewksbury, MA. They did the entire design and install of the system. Troy, Matt, and Mike do PHENOMINAL jobs. So if you're looking for fantastic audio work, check them out.

Now, with my shameless plug out of the way, on to the build/review....

Front Speakers: Hertz HSK 163 3 way components

These speakers are the real deal. They sound absolutely amazing at all volumes. For the woofers, I used @phenryiv1's spacers, which made for a perfect fit. No modifications were necessary. The mids and tweeters fit nicely in the stock locations on the dash. Some very easy, and very basic brackets had to be fabbed up for them.

Amplifier: Hertz HDP5

The HDP5 is a 5 channel high efficiency amplifier. It's small for the power that it packs. 70W RMS x 4 for speakers and 380W RMS for subs. The small size of the amp allowed it to be installed opposite of the stock amp, under the trunk cover. Some removal and light modification of the stock styrofoam was necessary, but nothing too extreme. It's a really clean look and opens up more trunk real estate.

Subwoofers: Hertz ES250 (x2)

These subwoofers pound. The custom enclosure was made by Audiowerks, and as you can see by the pictures, they almost look factory. Very clean, pretty light, and doesn't take up a ton of real estate. The bass is very smooth and sounds natural.

Head Unit: Adayo AN6B01 (Rydeen DV621)
http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/1...tinstalled.jpg

I saved this for last because of how blown away I am by this unit. 99% of you have never heard of this unit or the company. You are truly missing out.

I've played with and owned a number of double din "all-in-one" head units ranging from Kenwoods, to Pioneers, to Alpines, and even a Clarion mixed in there. They all pale in comparison.

I'll start with how the unit looks. It's a rather standard layout for a 6.1" double din unit. At the top, you have the CD/DVD drive, and microSD slot that comes prefilled with a 4GB card loaded with North American maps for the included iGO navigation app. To the left, you have the main buttons of "Menu", "Home", and "Back". You can probably guess where this is going.... Also along the left is a decent size volume knob, microphone for hands free, and a little plastic door that opens up to the full size SD card slot, USB slot, and 3.5mm audio/video jack.

In the box was a plethora of connetions. Your typical stuff like car hookups, speaker connections, front/rear/sub out, rear audio/video in/out, GPS dongle, and also an Apple cable for connecting to your iCrap. Also, connection for steering wheel controls... but more on that later. There are also USB connections for BOTH a WiFi dongle and 3G dongle. A 150Mbps USB Wireless N dongle is included. Capping off the package is a remote, guide, and stylus (which isn't necessary to operate the unit).

This head unit runs on TRUE Android. It is only 2.2, so some of the number snobs might scoff, but the unit itself runs buttery smooth.... similar to my Nexus 7 tablet. I threw everything at it that I could. Live Wallpaper, playing music, using the OFFLINE navigation app, connecting to bluetooth. Nothing so much as stuttered the unit. The interface is VERY fast and smooth. I may take a video of it at some point, just to show everyone. The launcher is AOSP android with a slight modification. Along the bottom on the home screens, there is a dock of sorts that contains the functions pertinent to being a head unit (Music, iPod, Radio, Aux In, Bluetooth, Equalizer, Video Out, Navigation, etc). You can still customize the home screens (5) with all the widget goodness of android. Oh, and yes, there is the full Android market. And yes, Torque works (but you need the Wifi version of the ELM).

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/133...nitandroid.jpg
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/161...tosversion.jpg
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2...homescreen.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7881/hutorque.jpg

The radio interface is rather old school. Changing the station was quick and reception is great.
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6166/huradio.jpg


Playing music off an SD card or USB stick is also quick and easy. The interface is basic, with the major tag info displayed as well as a decent size album art, if available. Again all functions were fast and fluid.
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/9895/humusic.jpg

Once you hook up an Apple device, it recognizes and opens the iPod app. This allows you to view all the Music, Videos, and Photos on your iDevice. While playing music, you have access to all the songs, as well as playlists and any sorting options you would want (artist, album, genre, etc). Reading, displaying, and navigating was quick and responsive. Even scrolling through the lists was fluid.

The equalizer is pretty basic. You have your High/Low/Mid frequency adjustments. Note, this is for the speaker out only. Subwoofers have their own control page. So you can adjust the frequency gain, as well as high/mid/low filters. On the second tab, there was sound stage position adjustment, and subwoofer level. In the settings menu of Android, there is a filter for the subwoofer as well. Not sure why it wasn't on this page.
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5168/huequalizer.jpg
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2548/hupositionsub.jpg

There is a customizable steering wheel control interface. You can program any button on your steering wheel to whatever function you want, not just what the car manufacturer designed it to be. This doesn't apply to us as the 86 doesn't have steering wheel controls (one of my few gripes with the car, actually), but in other cars, this is pretty damn cool.
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/3...ingcontrol.jpg

I haven't had the chance to test out the dual zone video features, or auxiliary input features, or the video playback features. I grounded the brake line so Watching videos should be enabled. I know I am able to input an address in the gps while driving. Speaking of...

The navigation, is one of the best systems I've used. The amount of options on it are ridiculous. I took a couple screen shots, but they don't come near the amount of customization you can do. I'd need to do an entire video just to cover it all. You have options for 2d/3d, elevation 3d (hills and valleys are reflected in the 3d), 3d buildings, points of interest actually show up on the map without having to search for them, you can customize your car icon to any one of the 107 included 3d models (most are actual cars, sadly no BRZ was included). They also include fun things, like mario in a mario kart and tanks, motorcycles, a chick on a vespa, etc. Google search is one of the options for inputting a destination. I have my phone tethered to the unit so it has internet wherever my phone does. This is only like 25% of the navigation has to offer. The actual movement on the screen while driving was very smooth, not stuttery like a lot of GPS systems. Oh yea, traffic works great too and you have the option to display alternate routes while driving along the one you're currently on.
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8...navigation.jpg
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/7...gationmenu.jpg
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/1...arselector.jpg

Of course if any of the included apps don't fit your fancy, you are more than able to download an app that does, off the Android market.

I'm sure I've missed quite a bit, but I think this unit and android as a whole has a real chance to take off here. The user experience is the best I've seen (even from really high end units). If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll try and post up pictures or videos to help explain anything.

Lastly, the LED's light up either blue or red. The red matches our interiors pretty well.
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/7638/huledcolor.jpg

Damn I am very impressed, if you don't mind me asking how much was everything roughly? You can pm me if you don't want to say. I have had the Hertz speakers recommended to me and you are making it really difficult to not copy your whole setup.

Nice deck.. This is where android should be thriving.. Im wondering if the unit can be flashed like a phone to keep up with newer apps..

Very nice write up. I love the stereo. Looks like it 599 plus shipping in eBay. I was holding out for the clarion mirage but will be looking into this one.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

how many channels do you need for the three way system? I thought the crossover had one input and three outputs, one for each speaker.... but you have four 70W channels... are you using the other two for something else not listed or do you need all four for the three way system?

Is that screen capacitive touch? How is the daylight reflection? How is the Mic for the phone, any chance of hooking it up to the stock microphone in the car?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Nice! I like the sub enclosure! Any chance they're selling that or do they have to fabricate for each car individually?

How fast does the android head unit take to boot up, does it have its own battery to stay in a standby state for quick availability?

Does the unit have backup camera inputs and reverse gear detection?

Finally, did you have harnesses for everything or did you have to cut into stock wiring?

Awesome build!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Sick man!

The 3 ways only need 1 channel a piece. They come with their own crossover. I was merely stating what the amplifier is capable of.

The screen isn't capacitive, but it almost reacts like one. It detects pretty much anything except the lightest of touches. I'm very impressed for a resistive screen.

They built mine individually, however I talked to them and if there was enough interest, they'd be willing to do a group thing at a discounted rate. I'll talk to them and see if they'd be interested in doing a package deal the audio set up too. Can't hurt to ask.

The unit doesn't have a battery for standby, but comes up very quickly. By the time I'm seat belted in and the engine has done it's initial rev down, it's ready. I can do a video to show bootup time if you'd like a better idea.

Yes, it has a backup camera input and reverse gear lead.

They actually had a wiring kit to use the stock harness. Pretty much plug and play. I'm not sure if they ran wires for the component speakers or just tapped into the stock wires. I'll ask and get back to everyone.

I'm actually trying to talk the shop into becoming a dealer of the head unit. I'd much rather deal with a person, than deal with someone on ebay. This was the first install they've done with the unit and they were pretty impressed.

Exactly the type of headunit i was looking for...i wanted something where i can run torque on my screen...Question with torque u said it needed wifi/usb....are saying that it wont work with a bluetooth obd2?

Out of the box, I haven't found a way to take the bluetooth out of pairing mode.

What I mean is, my phone can find the head unit and transfer everything from contacts to call logs, etc. It acts perfectly for music playing and hands free calling, but I haven't been able to find a way enter bluetooth settings to pair the head unit to the OBDII scanner. It may come in a software update, but as it sits out of the box, it's only a 1 way bluetooth pairing.

With that said, there are 2 USB ports out of the back. A USB hub can be run off either of these if you needed more than 2. I am currently using one for the WiFi dongle. If you wanted to go the USB ELM route, I'm sure that would work fine. I bit the bullet and grabbed the WiFi version of the scanner.

that headunit is dope. looking into it now

OOO ok now i see what u mean! I was actually going to pick that headunit like a month ago but i decided to wait...Just havent heard anything about it until now. Glad you like it. I guess i might have to get it after all.

Correction, Torque USB only works in Android 3.1 and above. I think I read somewhere that a firmware update was planned. Maybe ICS is on the way. Not sure though.

I can vouch for the Hertz speakers, I have the HSK 165's in another car (the 2 speaker variant of 2forme's set) and they're killer. Probably some of the best mids I've heard in a car speaker.

win!

Your build is excellent. I was looking at that headunit but did not see it for sale anywhere. How much was it and what retailer did you get it from?

I tried the erins android head unit that runs 2.3. Long term it bothers me being stuck on Froyo, Gingerbread is worse, as you won't be able to get the latest google apps running properly among so many other things.

Does Rydeen have an update schedule for their head units or was that just a proof of concept?

This is nice true android HU. Is it made in either Japan or Korea ?

Two more questions:

What'd you do with the stock rears? Did you just disable those? Any plans to put anything back there as well?

How do you access the spare tire, do you have to remove the sub enclosures? I would probably be content with just one of the subs but those two looks pretty sweet.

One observation: that iGo navigation display looks similar to the stock navigation. I wonder if Fujitsu Ten is licensing iGo's nav technology.

I got the head unit from Audiowerks. They had it as a demo to see if it was a model they wanted to carry. If you're interested in it, you should call them and persuade them to carry it. They could give a better indication of final retail pricing.

Which apps are you referring to? Not sure if it was a proof of concept or not. I just saw through lots of web research that an update was supposed to be published at some point.

Not entirely sure. I know the Rydeen DV621 is identical to my unit (Adayo). Not sure if one is a rebrand of the other or both are rebrands of some other model. I do know Adayo is Chinese. If I get a chance, I'll pull the unit out and look for a "made in" sticker.

I personally opted not to hook up the rears. I like my soundstage in front of me, and the rear seat is so tiny, that barely anyone ever rides back there. I do have 2 unused channels on the amp in the event I want to update them.

The spare tire is perfectly accessible without removing the subs. Just take out the trunk "floor" and everything is all right there. Audiowerks even took the time to carve out spots for all the factory tools/jack equipment in the remaining foam. Looks very nice. I can take a picture if you'd like.

The nav licensing is certainly a possibility, however the iGo on this unit is a bit more intuitive, smooth, and has a lot more features. Maybe Fujitsu got a watered down version? I was under the impression that the Fujitsu head units ran Windows CE as a backbone.

Yeah if you could show us a pic of the trunk floor raised to show the spare/tools in the foam with the subs in place, that would definitely be cool. Let us know if Audiowerks decides to do some kind of a groupbuy thing. I'm in NY but I'd be willing to travel to MA for a good deal/install.

Appreciate you taking the time to share your build with us.

I am not sure why there are two channels unused, are you sure they didn't bridge the 4 channel portion to the 3 way set?

I'd be interested in an sub enclosure too if they wanted to do a group buy.

It's a 5 channel amp. 2 channels for the front components, 2 for the rear (unused) and 1 for the subs. :)

Can you take pics of the spare tire area? I love the sub enclosure.

I know its a 5 channel but you can bridge the front 4 channels to 200x2 to run the components :thumbsup:

Oh.... hmmmm..... good call.

Btw, timed the startup today. 24-25 seconds from hitting the "Engine Start" button until you're at the main screen (or last screen you were using).

I updated the first page with more install pics (of the tire access and tool layout)

Awesome build.. aside from the custom sub enclosures you should have done the install yourself! But nothing wrong with leaving it to the pros.. and kudos on giving them the credit.

That HU is sweet.. I might have to get one for my Tundra.. or wait for one with more up to date firmware.

I put up some videos in the poll thread if you wanted to see the head unit in action.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17228

I'm actually considering creating a custom home launcher for even better in car function. I'll be posting up some rough draft layouts and seeing what people think.

Nice gear!
One thing ill have to nag about is the mids in the dash. The air in front of the speaker needs to be separated from the air behind the speaker to work to its full potential. With some kind of baffle to seal the dash, im sure big gains would be heard.
The sub boxes look look very nice back there. Really nice work.

WITH YOUR PERMISSION, I'D LIKE TO COPY YOUR SETUP. THANKS IN ADVANCE LOL

Really diggin the head unit. I'd have to know how well it does while traveling though?

Go ahead, you should hit up Audiowerks. They might cut you a deal on an audio package or something. They ship stuff too.

Not sure what you mean here. One of the videos I posted in my head unit thread shows the Nav following me while I am moving... Could you be a bit more specific?

[QUOTE=2forme;490018]Go ahead, you should hit up Audiowerks. They might cut you a deal on an audio package or something. They ship stuff too.


Would ya happen to know if they sell that enclosure, and if so how much we lookin at? I plan on putting just one nice 10 in there. I personally think this car is just too tiny to need 2 subs.

[quote=DatDudeLoso;490100]Maybe! Call and ask. :)

Hm, I might have to venture up to MA from NJ to see what your guys can do. Looks great and along the lines of what I've had in mind ;)

Sure thing! I'd love to meet up with ya. I got a buddy of mine visiting from nj right now actually. Took him 5 hrs to drive from freehold.

My bad, I didn't realize you had another thread on the head unit. Thanks and it looks like Draco-REX already covered my question and answer.

I was mainly wondering how good the head unit would be on long road trips.

Well you're only out in worcester. You're welcome to come check it out :)