Need aftermarket head unit suggestions
 

I don't know a lot about car audio or audio in general, but even I know that the sound system in our cars sucks and I can't stand the buttonless nav unit in the BRZ. I want something that sounds better in general (probably going to eventually change out the tweeters and add a sub), but for now, just the stock stuff. I don't honestly know enough about audio to know what will make it sound better. I flirted with the idea of the OEM audio plus system for a while, but I just can't justify $1200 for it without even changing out the crappy nav unit.

I was looking at the Pioneer AVH-X5500BHS, and it seems good aside from the resistive touch screen (bleh), but the only capacitive touch screen head unit I can find is the Pioneer App Radio 3 system (which is getting awful reviews).

Is this unit (Pioneer AVH-X5500BHS) a good choice for our cars? I don't really need nav (never use it, I'm good with directions and have my phone for when I really need some help). I really just want to improve the sound in the car, leave room for some speaker upgrades and sub addition, and add real buttons to my head unit, all while looking nice. The nicest-looking unit was hands down the AppRadio 3 system, but again...crappy reviews. Thoughts?

thread subscribed since I am looking for something similar. :)

I have the 8500 which is the removable face version of the 5500. It's a good quality unit. The only grip I have is sometimes it asks my iPad for permission to access other apps and I have to touch the screen on the iPad to allow it to work. On the flip side, the ability to have two USB ports active and use both for music sources is wonderful. You can have an iPhone and Android phone both charging and both are available sources for playing music. The 5500 has app radio functionality built in also. So you can have apps run through the head unit without needing to mess with your phone. Sound quality on the head unit is good. I have RCA preouts running out of mine so I can not comment on the amplifier included in the head unit. If you are just looking to replace factory to improve sound great unit by itself.

If on the other hand you do go full on audio quality, then it still is a good unit paired with a DSP. If you do not want a DSP, then there are other brands which offer features like time alignment and parametric EQ which would be a better buy without a DSP. Kenwood and Alpine make some solid units with these features.

I installed the AVIC Z150BH (DIY install is in my signature)

Absolutely amazing....
- Improves overall sound quite a bit...way better than stock
- Nav is great/quick
- Buttons for all of the major actions (next/prev track, modes, volume, etc.) and they glow whatever colour you want to match your interior
- touchscreen is very responsive
- video quality for DVDs and iPhone Videos is amazing

It's $1200 on pioneer but i got it for $850 on ebay plus about $100 for all the mounting kits, cables, etc. (you'll see all the products you need for any head unit in my DIY)

Hope this helps

Nice! Good to know. So one of the reasons I didn't really want navigation is because it looked like the AppRadio thing would just use the navigation from my iPhone and put it up on the headunit. It does do that, right? And assuming it does do that, does it still let you play music from the phone while you're in that mode?

Also, from pictures I've seen, it looked like the unit would glow in different colors to match your interior lights. Just wanted to confirm that it actually does that.

I was actually pretty interested in that unit because of your DIY. Then I saw that it's $730 on Amazon and has a 3.5 star rating. Reviews seem to be better on the units without nav, and if the AppRadio thing works like I think it doesn't, I really don't want to pay $400 extra for navigation, and honestly, that's the biggest thing.

I just got back in town yesterday. I drove from Orlando Florida to Columbus Ohio using waze on the 8500. It works great. It does guessed location based upon gyrometer movement of the iDevice for location when you have no GPS signal, "Like the 2 half-mile long tunnels I went though." The entire trip I was playing tracks from my iPad as well. You can listen to your music on the device and use waze. The touch screen also works just fine with waze. On a side note, the iPhone/iPad GPS chews through battery faster than it can charge. I got around 900 miles into the trip before the battery on my iPad started running low(10%). For long drives, put waze to sleep mode for long stretches of not turning at all. It will charge back up during that time.

You can set the color to what you would like. I matched mine to the gauges.

App radio sucks I tried it out and the technology just isn't there yet..Purely my opinion but built-in is always better and I haven't found a unit that beats this one in that area. If you're considering an AppRadio setup I would highly recommend going to try it out and seeing how it works when your car is off to on....you have to click a bunch of "ok"s and "allow"s before you get started every time and it can be a bit laggy.
Just my two cents - it's a huge decision as its probably the mod that will affect you the most in daily driving...Make sure you're happy before you buy!

Whoa, wait...it doesn't charge your phone when it's plugged in using AppRadio?

Does anyone know what the difference is between the AVH-X5500BHS and the AVH-X2500BT besides the size of the touchscreen? If that's the only difference, I really don't care about the extra 0.9" and I actually like the buttons better on the 2500.

That's not what I said. The phones GPS drains the battery in the phone faster than it can charge. Without using a GPS navigation software it charges. It charges just as fast as a wall outlet. The GPS in the phone drains the phone really quickly.

I saw this deal, bought it and am having it installed for free thru the sale at Best Buy on Thursday. Pioneer Avic-x850bt. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-...&skuId=7781086

My bad, I misread. I see that you did indeed say that. Thanks for clarifying. :thanks:

I have the 5500 in my car. I'm not an audio person but I can now actually hear my music when I'm driving interstate speeds and not have to constantly adjust the volume. It has been very intuitive to use, I haven't even opened the manual aside from using the wiring diagram. The Bluetooth phone features seem to work much better than the oem unit. I'd definitely recommend it from my experience.

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I'm definitely leaning toward the 5500 after more research, and your pictures help as well! :thanks: