Looking for everyones opinions on Double-din headunits.

[baseacegoku]

As the title says I am looking for a double-din head unit and since I have been out of the stereo game for at least 10 years I dont even know where to begin to look. So please, give me your totally biased opinions on which brand and model of double-din units I should be looking at.

If it helps the unit will be going into an 04 XLT Explorer and I do not plan on adding any aftermarket speakers or amps.

 

[Tech By Trade]

I run a Pioneer app radio 3. You cant get the 3 anymore, but the smaller screen 4 is available. I rooted my phone and installed appradio unchained, also installed a parking brake bypass. Now I have my phone on my display while driving. I opted for the one without the dvd/cd player as the last time I played a cd was 200X something.

 

[baseacegoku]

I run a Pioneer app radio 3. You cant get the 3 anymore, but the smaller screen 4 is available. I rooted my phone and installed appradio unchained, also installed a parking brake bypass. Now I have my phone on my display while driving. I opted for the one without the dvd/cd player as the last time I played a cd was 200X something.

How has the quality of the piece been? any issues?

 

[Tech By Trade]

The unit itself is solid. Pioneer gave up support, but an outside programmer designed his own andriod plugin for it. Check it out over here. Its pretty solid if your phone has MHL.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2451980
http://www.cnet.com/news/unlock-full-android-app-mirroring-on-your-dashboard-with-this-appradio-hack/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mars.area51.arunchained&hl=en

 

[baseacegoku]

The unit itself is solid. Pioneer gave up support, but an outside programmer designed his own andriod plugin for it. Check it out over here. Its pretty solid if your phone has MHL.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2451980
http://www.cnet.com/news/unlock-full-android-app-mirroring-on-your-dashboard-with-this-appradio-hack/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mars.area51.arunchained&hl=en

What is MHL? I have a Galaxy S5 and the wife has an iPhone 5s. Will this unit support both?

 

[Tech By Trade]

Android only for the MHL connection. The S5 has it. you can stream blutooth music from either the iphone or android.

 

[baseacegoku]

Android only for the MHL connection. The S5 has it. you can stream blutooth music from either the iphone or android.

And what is MHL?

 

[Tech By Trade]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link

 

[elevatorguy925]

I just went that route, found a reasonably priced pioneer double din. minimal dash modification was needed to fit the head unit. I now have HD radio, dvd, cd, USB options and blue tooth to the phone music and operation. There is an app by pioneer that is awful and didn't work, to mirror the phone. I have a reverse camera added as well.

 

[baseacegoku]

I just went that route, found a reasonably priced pioneer double din. minimal dash modification was needed to fit the head unit. I now have HD radio, dvd, cd, USB options and blue tooth to the phone music and operation. There is an app by pioneer that is awful and didn't work, to mirror the phone. I have a reverse camera added as well.

What model is that, how did you rig up the reverse camera, and how does the camera sense that you put the car in reverse?

 

[elevatorguy925]

Pioneer AVH-X3700BHS.
Reverse camera is triggered by reverse light input to the radio, you need to tap the reverse light circuit.
The cameras are available on line, amazon, ebay etc.
It sounded better than stock, but I also changed the speakers, and added a sub and then it really improved.

 

[baseacegoku]

Pioneer AVH-X3700BHS.
Reverse camera is triggered by reverse light input to the radio, you need to tap the reverse light circuit.
The cameras are available on line, amazon, ebay etc.
It sounded better than stock, but I also changed the speakers, and added a sub and then it really improved.

How is that one? You like it? Any issues you have noticed?

 

[elevatorguy925]

It has worked well so far and I am happy with it although it has only been a month or so.
It would be better if I could integrate the phone apps, but I only gave it a short attempt with the pioneer software.
It isn't too bad for the price point, there are many options depending on brand and price, I wanted to go with a brand I knew.

 

[Tech By Trade]

The appradio unchained app should work with that one too. I also added backup cam to my appradio 3. The 07 uses can-bus to signal the factory unit so I needed to buy a metra analog converter, but same idea as tapping into the reverse line.

 

[baseacegoku]

are there any good writeups on how to do this install including backup camera and parking brake bypass?

 

[DjDom]

Honestly, Pioneer is my go to brand for car stereos at the moment.
The only thing I don't like about the Pioneer double dins is the lack of a volume knob, replaced by buttons.
It takes a bit to get used to, but after a while, you forget about it.

You can usually pick up the model from the year before for pretty cheap in comparison with the newer ones. I believe mine is a 2013 model, but still works with everything.

 

[Big_Pezzy]

For a touch screen Double DIN, I would definitely recommend a Pioneer. What is your price range?
A great site for anything audio is sonicelectronix.com
Wide selection and very competitive prices.

 

[drdoom]

I have a Jensen Nav HU I need to put in my '05 with steering wheel controls and factory sub, it looks fairly involved. No real instructions came with the unit, just a wiring diagram and of course the user manuals. I have the adapters and stuff but one of the things not mentioned in the literature is the GPS antenna I'm not real clear on where to mount it. Or the parking brake no mention of that or the reverse (which I assume only applies to back up cam installs).

 

[drdoom]

I have the new HU working and the steering wheel controls I have those working and the parking brake i got that wired. But I am unsure about the subwoofer. I added the 5V stepdown and a sub harness but the head unit I have has a sub out only on the AV harness so I plugged the sub harness white rca into that. I don't think I'm getting any sound out of the subwoofer.

 

[Tankentaisha]

Are there any stock radios for newer Explorers that would fit into my 2002 so that I could have usb or bluetooth connectability? Be great if I could have built in GPS and rear view camera as well.

I'm a big stock-appearance fan but am not completely against getting an aftermarket radio especially if it had a non-blingy look to it.