I got my one upgraded in the past two days now. However I have decided to do some experiment and go for
this one here.
Actually first they sent me the wrong cable. Actually it was the Subaru 20-Pin connector. But they have been able to send me another 28-Pin Harness. Unfortunately also this one was not complete. The 28-Pin connector got much more features as they use with the harness shipped:
- Reverse input not used
- No 6V power supply for reverse cam on 28-Pin
- Parking break input pin not used
- Microphone delivered instead using Levorg buit-in mic
I have decided to extend the hardness slightly:
- Connected input on pin 2 (brown/yellow) connected (28-pin connector)
- Camera 6V supplied to pin 11 (white) (generated from blue ACC pin via step-down converter from AXXESS)
- Supplying 5V on pin 4 (gray/blue) for mic-amplifier taken from USB (not tested yet if it works)
I have decided to go for a separate amplifier and decided for a very small Pioneer GM-D1004. First I tried to connect the pre-amp outs from the chinese HU to the AMP. This didn't work very well. The output was pretty loud and there were clicking noises which seem to have always the same volume no matter the selected volume, but pretty loud base noise. Strange enough the noise also completely disappeared when the HU was on mute but the noise re-appears when unmuting, even if nothing played. Finally I changed the cabling to use speaker-level inputs on the AMP which is much better now. I can still hear some repeating "chirp" noise every few seconds but this might be solvable by a filter and it's not hearable during driving or when anything is played. The channels are just not dead-silent when nothing is played. I guess the HU is guilty here.
BTW: I have fitted the amplifier in the dash right below the 2DIN HU slot. There is sufficient space. I have to see whether this becomes a temperature/heat issue later. Up to now it works fine and keeps the cabling short.
The second issue I have is that the steering-wheel controls are detected properly but randomly the buttons are mixed/not recognized correctly. I can program them but after a while all buttons turn to "volume up" action. I will likely try to attach the AXXESS ASWC-1 between the HU and the steering wheel. Perhaps this will solve the problem.
I have also added a Kenwood KSC-SW11 Subwoofer which perfectly fits under the seat (put my one under passanger seat). The cabling can be easily run under the carpet via the holes which are already there. I have routed my cables to the center console and from there to the radio. The Subwoofer is a good support at high volumes but less noticable on low volumes. Perhaps because I have connected it to the Subwoofer output of the HU. I need to experiment a little. The volume control pod is placed within the center console glove-compartment (drilled a hole at the back-end and run the cable in there).
The speakers got replaced some weeks ago by the Kicker set (tweeter and all main speakers).
At the moment I am quite happy with the setup. Only the steering wheel controls are an item I need to have a look for sure. Automatic switching to reverse works fine too with good quality of reverse camera. I have also added an USB camera which is supported by the DVR app. The camera is simply mounted at the front of the car in the lower grill compartment and almost invisible there. This way I can also use it as a visual distance sensor when parking.
