Any experienced C5 South Florida installers out there? I am looking to put the Pioneer double din AVIC-D1 in, but I am sure that ther ewill be some customizing. I want to put in components and maybe a sub. I have piddled around with car stereos but I want this done right, can someone in South Florida help out.

 

If you do not mind a little drive North I can take care of it for you. If not try to find Mad Dog Audio. It is in Miami. I think it is Mad Dog Audio.....it is Mad Dog something...lol. The owner Manny aka Mad Dog is very very good.

 

Hey EatRice, I am finally going to put a system in i think. Have you had any experiene with the AVIC D1? It is the double din Pioneer Nav with 2 CD slots, one for the Nav and one for audio. It apparently has ipod hook ups, xm traffic etc. Looks like a top unit. How do you do double dins in the C5? You are in Tampa right?

PS - any tips on what to put in my car would be much appreciated. I am choosing the D1 because Nav with XM radion is important to me. I am unsure about a sub, all I want is good crisp sound, I don't need to shake the doors off my car. I was thinking components in the doors and mid ranges - low ranges in the rear. I have a 2004 Z06. Without a sub, i was thinking a decent mid priced amp, something like the Alpine MRP-F240. Any suggestions would be helpful, given the price tag on the D1 I would like to keep everything reasonably priced.

 

I have not installed or even seen a D1 yet. But from what I have read they are very cool. Only problem I have seen is they do not play DVD's at all. Incase you want to use it for video you will need another source. Also I believe you will need an external XM brain and external Ipod controller....I think but not positive. You are lucky also since XM traffic is available in the Miami area. Last I checked XM traffic was only in a few cities across the country.

As for installing it I would make brackets to hold the unit in place and then modify the factory radio bezel to give a finished look. The radio bezel could then be retextured and painted black for a factory look or smoothed and painted a high gloss color for the custom look. It is not a huge ordeal to install it just takes some time. As for your other equipment I would look into a five or 6 channel amp....maybe a JL 500/5 or DEI 6 channel, a JL Stealth box, and some nice seperates. That would give you a very nice system with little room taken up and you can achive a factory look. I am not big on recommending actual product because there is alot of good product out there and most of the time it is personal preference. I personally like JL Audio, MB Quart, and Focal as first choices. There is alot out there really depends on your budget and tastes.

Yes I am in Tampa...let me know if I can help you out.

 

I think you are right about the external madules for the D1. You would think that someone would make a custom bezel to make the din a double din, i guess not. Is the DIN customization a finished look, something that looks professional? I guess you would take out the center bar and finish the sides. Do you have a pitcure of the finished product? How long for the installation, If I drive up how long do I have to stay in Tampa. Also, PM me with estimated installation costs if you don't mind. If the JL stealth box the one that fits in the rear cut out in the trunck area?

 

Here is an in progress picture of my remolded radio surround. It has been retextured and painted to match the stock pieces around it. I did this in my spare time; I'm not a prof. like eatrice, so you are in good hands if you go with him.





(side note: the piece under my screen is being reworked right now for some custom interface buttons, and the ac controls need to be lowered a bit)

 

That looks good Scott. One of the main reasons I am going with the in car computer is I am going to mold the monitor right into the factory bezel. I do not what to have the back mounted radio piece anymore like I have now. Is that a CD tray below the monitor? I am trying to find one of the old school CD/DVD players that I can just slide the disc in....no tray.

Thanks for the heads up on mp3car.com. I am learning alot on there and have already talked to a couple people that are local and into in-car computers. I am going to start buying the parts for two of them in the next couple of weeks.

 

i have a slot loading dvd player. what you see in that picture is just the hole for it; though that is getting ripped out. i'll be molding in the avic-n1 detatchable faceplate there so i'll have professional looking buttons and ***** for it (Above those buttons will just be a slit to slide a cd into).


here is a link to the slot loading dvd drives:
http://www.mp3car.com/store/index.ph...614df2c58c9ff6

 

AVIC N1 face plate? Does that mean you are going to use the N1 also or are you just using the face plate for the buttons? I have seen a few guys on the computer forum using both a computer and a conventional head unit. I am not sure why though....do you know?

Thanks for the link.

 

i'm just using the faceplate for the custom buttons. it'll be an empty shell (actually i dont think it's the avic-n1..it's one of the mobile multi-media units)

i think people use the h/u becuase of am/fm. the development for a good fm receiver is still in the works since the fm cards for home computers dont get good reception in the mobile environment. I ended up just purchasing an xm unit to solve the radio problem.

 

Faceplate idea is very good one. I would like to see that when it is finished. That will be really cool. I was wondering about FM...I do not listen FM much especially with all the MP3 that is going to be available, DVD audio, and XM.

 

EatRice, please email me (rpinder@gmail.com) to help me put together my system. My speakers are awful, there is a little distortion in them already - kind of like something is blown. I need to replace the system and want to start getting the components. Looking to do one sub int he back, components int he doors, not sure if I need rears as well. I would like a Nav with XM and iPod adapters. I need your guidance, and will need your installation. Thanks.