Looking for help with Choosing A New Head Unit. I want the Kind that is Single Din .. but double Din Screen like the Power Acoustik PD-931NB. how Do i know if they will Fit and Clear the buttons under ?

 

Guess I just have a different idea. I just essentially have a Bluetooth and aux input head unit. Most of the time in the XF I just have my smart phone on a CD slot mount and use its sat-nav, media player, engine diagnostics.


When I want to do more serious things I have a Toshiba Encore that hangs on the glove box and doesn't block any controls.


Real purpose was that I can use the same devices in my Jeep, the 'vert, the Vixen, and working on a mount for the Judge, capability is not tied to just one car. Or it can be a desktop with dual 24" monitors. Modern times.

 

The flip up style of head units fit. The challenge is depth to a degree with all the harnesses and cables, you need to find ways to move them to the outer openings. If they are too bunched up you will find you will run out of space as the heater core and related mechanisms are back there. The other issue you will deal with is when the screen opens up it will block the controls for the ac/heat system.

Now if you want to do a bit of customization there is room to flip flop the radio location and the controls, however if I were going to do that I would be looking to mount an ipad mini in the dash (next evolution of this install)

 

An iPad mini mounted in?? Pioneer (and rumored Alpine, Clarion as well) just announced they will be supporting Apple's CarPlay in their head units... I would much rather go that route, no?

 

It depends on what you are after really. In my case, I look at the cost of the head units that are proposed and what they give me, and the current system in the car after the head end. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hyperc...08/5892345911/


The ipad Mini approach gives me a few things that traditional head units don't. Things like navigation and real time traffic which are part of the head unit cost and the need for updates (paid) if available from the head end suppliers are already there in the ipad form a variety of sources with better map displays than most head units. Music and video content navigation is simply more elegant and less restrictive, add in voice controls and aftermarket head units are now significantly challenged.

I am not saying the aftermarket head unit companies are bad, they do offer a more traditional approach to solving the challenges, however if I am going to reconfigure the dash for a double din radio I want more from them in terms of functionality. I should also mention that since the ipad has no depth restrictions I can move it higher up on the center stack which makes it far more usable. Then there is the ability to pop it out and take it with me.

 

Do u have an idea where u would install the iPad? And is it safe to mount two shallow subs on the back wall in the trunk ?

 

Yes I do. The plan when I get to it is to remove the top vents and take the top two bays for the ipad mini. The heater controls will move down to the radio location. In the design of the ipad mount (I may purchase one already molded to reduce the time necessary to craft it) I will remount the display for the MS8 in the mount itself since it is not really needed on a daily basis, the remote for it gets mounted in the ashtray. As for the vent replacement I am going to look at implementing a single vent on the lower side of the console or reroute the piping to deliver airflow to the foot wells or some other creative solution.

As for the subs. One side is the fuel tank (closes to the driver/passenger) so don't drill into it. The other end is where the hatch latch resides and that panel is not a good mounting surface. There is some space behind the panel so if you wanted to build an enclosure off that panel and use the kit for securing the pull out hatch cover to anchor it in place on each side along with bolting it to the floor pan you certainly could. Just remember one thing the space you give up eats into the usable space for the trunk, shallow subs are nice but they still need airspace to work. You would do better to build into the left and right corners at I did for the first build back in 2004 when the Xfire first launched, shallow subs would mean less intrusion into the car.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hyperc...08/4857654931/

 

I gotta buy more hearing aid company stock...

 

Don't bother...they don't sound nearly as good