Audio Guys (and Gals) Enter: Pick my head unit.

[XanRules]

So as much as I'm really loving the BRZ, the head unit/NAV system is the hottest of garbage. NAV takes a solid thirty seconds to find my location. If I miss a turn? Game over, it literally takes two minutes to recalculate my route. Quick, seamless searching? Forget it, hit this little nubbin a few times and hope we can navigate the 300+ artists on your iPod. Bluetooth? Maybe, if we feel like it. Audio quality sucks though.

Needless to say I'm looking into replacements, but it seems like all the frontrunners have fatal flaws.

The most recent (currently available) Pioneer units are mostly great - I love Pioneers - except that their NAVs feel quite a bit behind the competition in terms of UI and features. In addition, the GPS is used to defeat the common parking brake bypass mods (i.e. it'll still know when you're moving), and as a result most options are greyed out when the vehicle is in motion according to reviews - even changing songs is a bit of a hassle, apparently.

The Kenwood DNX570HD looked nice as well - the UI was buttery smooth and the Garmin nav is excellent - except that the Bluetooth is not compatible with Motorola phones at all, and the most recent firmware update has literally broken the functionality of the NAV software. I'm waiting on confirmation from Kenwood but it looks like none of their units are compatible with Motorola phones - which is absurd. Bluetooth is bluetooth, you'd think.

The Alpine INE-W927HD also seems nice, but the UI seems clunky and it's well over a thousand dollars MSRP. I'm also wary of motorized flip-down faces.

So, my criteria:
1. All the functions of stock (Nav, Bluetooth, Sirius/XM, iPod-in [I will be using the servo extension mod to keep my stock USB port], aux-in [same]) - CD optional but preferred. Bluetooth must be compatible with Motorola phones. I don't care about Pandora/AppRadio type shit, but I want to be able to make phone calls.
2. Ability to do a parking brake defeat or something like it - basically I want it to do the same shit whether or not I'm driving. I don't care about watching movies while I drive, but I want everything else to work (NAV, etc)
3. GOOD sound quality.
4. SMOOTH UI. The Kenwood appealed to me because the touchscreen felt/behaved nearly like what you'd see on a smartphone. Very smooth and quick scrolling. Too bad about all the bugs.
5. Under $750, the lower the better. With this in mind, I have no problem buying used/refurbished from reputable sellers.


aaaaaaaaand, GO!

[OICU812]

Kenwood DNN990HD

[XanRules]

Originally Posted by OICU812

Kenwood DNN990HD

$1000, Bluetooth not compatible with Motorola phones.

[OICU812]

Originally Posted by XanRules

$1000, Bluetooth not compatible with Motorola phones.

Really? wtf time to buy a Samsung or Apple I guess lol.

[XanRules]

Kenwood is pretty ridiculous about what they want to support. Basically if your phone is newer than two years old, you're fucked.
I've emailed them for confirmation, though. I really did like the DNX570, just worried about the firmware update breaking shit (though such issues are often overstated online).

[mashal]

You are expecting the "perfect" HU, it doesn't exist. They will all have something better than the competition.. Stick with pioneer for best bang for $$

[Deathalo]

Pioneer AVIC-8000NEX... when it comes out.

[XanRules]

Originally Posted by Deathalo

Pioneer AVIC-8000NEX... when it comes out.

almost double my budget. Also I'm gonna wait a while to see how they perform long term.

Maybe down the line, though. It is a nice piece and it's certainly what I'd buy if I could currently afford to drop over a grand on a head unit.

[ericmpena]

Weird. My stock HU knows my location as soon as I open it. Takes me less than 10 seconds to select and load a route from favorites or history...and if I miss a turn it takes less than 10 seconds to reroute. The only time I experience lag is if I try to search for a Street Name before inputting the City first. It lags because it tries to pull up every single street under that name in the US I guess. Selecting city before street name and it always locates it smoothly. Maybe your GPS is messed up.

[XanRules]

Originally Posted by ericmpena

Weird. My stock HU knows my location as soon as I open it. Takes me less than 10 seconds to select and load a route from favorites or history...and if I miss a turn it takes less than 10 seconds to reroute. The only time I experience lag is if I try to search for a Street Name before inputting the City first. It lags because it tries to pull up every single street under that name in the US I guess. Selecting city before street name and it always locates it smoothly. Maybe your GPS is messed up.

Now that's interesting. I have no problem looking up destinations.

[sshole]

What about those Chinese ebay special Android headunits? They do most everything you want and are cheap to boot.

[DJ_Joee]

I have used pioneer double din decks in my past two cars and my limited brz (here in canada) came stock with pioneer's avic-x930bt, bypassing the head units safety feature is as easy as grounding one of the pins from the secondary harness and that also saves you from having to ground the ebrake wire (just leave it hanging there) if you cant find it on google shoot me a pm and ill guide you through it its a 5 minute mod and that will allow you to use every single feature that is usually disabled while driving including inputting an address, dialing a number and changing audio settings and i have personally yet so see a deck that performs like this although maps are old on it, never had a chance to install firmware everything else runs smoothly, it even has a feature where you plug in a measurement mic (i used the one that cane with my denon home theater amp) and get out of the car and let the deck analize your whole setup and set speaker delays and eq to your cars interior sound properties specificly

[DJ_Joee]

Also forgot to add that although its not indicated online that some older pioneer decks dont support the new iphone 5 and 5s all you have to do is get the 30pin to lightning adapter from the apple store (25$ if im not mistaken) and the deck runs it perfectly with all the features and menu except for on deck video streaming from the phone

[tiz22]

Check my signature for all the details on my head unit (in the DIY)

It's a little over $750 (I paid 850) - but cheaping out on something you use literally every time you get in the car IMO is a waste...That's like cheaping out on tires/wheels

I have zero complaints with my HU, ebrake was easily bypassed (also shown in DIY) and the GPS works pretty damn good...Sound quality + device support over bluetooth or cable is awesome