Quickclicknick 8 Report post Posted August 27, 2015 Hello All, I have a BRZ with the most basic head unit, it's the one that has a mono LCD and no bluetooth, never mind DAB. About now Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are becoming established in the after market ICE and since I have Android it leads me to the Pioneer AVIC-F70DAB, which is expensive, but ticks the boxes. Does anyone have any experience with this or similar? Any wiring harness challenges? How about fitting antenna for DAB and GPS? Cheers Nick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted August 27, 2015 I can't really help with most of it, but a head unit with DAB has an aerial that in my case is stuck to the front windscreen. It seems to work okay, reception depends upon where you are of course. YMMV. You will need to fit the GPS receiver somewhere too, but in my case it's stuck on the A-pillar next to the DAB aerial. I don't think you'll have any issues with that. I don't think the Android/Apple Play units are really good enough yet, though they are getting there. There are a few on here that have fitted a Chinese unit that does much the same thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quickclicknick 8 Report post Posted August 27, 2015 Thanks Lauren, Since my post I have had the radio out and had a look at the cables. As my stock radio has a DAB button on it, presumably to work with an external DAB module, I am hoping that the car comes with a dual FM/DAB feed from the roof shark fin, negating the need for a 3rd party windscreen mounted aerial. Do you know if I am wishful thinking?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted August 27, 2015 I can't really answer that, my car is an earlier model, I had all mine installed for me, so I can't answer that, but I'll bet it doesn't. I don't think a windscreen mounted aerial will bother you, though, mine is very discreet. Once you have DAB though, you'll never use FM again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keethos 842 Report post Posted August 27, 2015 I vaguely remember reading that the head units are DAB ready but like you said, needs the DAB module which I believe has a separate aerial rather than using the car's current aerial but I could be wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quickclicknick 8 Report post Posted August 27, 2015 I have established that the aerial socket on the back of the stock Fujitsu Ten unit is a square grey connector (SFA12F I think it is called) with 2 pins. The cable is also grey and I think it is coax. Given that DAB aerials and shark fin kits that are FM/DAB have two separate cables I conclude that the 2014 BRZ UK spec shark fin is FM only. I may be wrong and there could be another cable wrapped away out of sight but from my quick look earlier I doubt it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted August 27, 2015 If mine is anything to go by, the shark fin barely picks up FM. . A case of style over function I reckon... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gringosteve 213 Report post Posted September 1, 2015 Having read a few posts, DAB on the standard head unit requires an additional module and a windscreen mounted aerial Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Test Drives Unlimited 278 Report post Posted September 1, 2015 My Toyota Dealer has quoted me about £325 to fit DAB to my DAB Ready GT86 Oh that includes the 10% discount Yet by the time you take into account the £750 for the Sat-Nav Software that already paid for when I ordered the car this DAB item then starts working out to be very expensive Possibly at some point I will have everything ripped out and have a Aftermarket Unit Installed with all the bells and whistles Sent from my Archos 53 Platinum using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted September 1, 2015 My Toyota Dealer has quoted me about £325 to fit DAB to my DAB Ready GT86 Oh that includes the 10% discount Yet by the time you take into account the £750 for the Sat-Nav Software that already paid for when I ordered the car this DAB item then starts working out to be very expensive Possibly at some point I will have everything ripped out and have a Aftermarket Unit Installed with all the bells and whistles Sent from my Archos 53 Platinum using Tapatalk That's the conclusion I've come to. Especially given that an aftermarket unit shouldn't look 'too' aftermarket in the Toyota dash, I reckon it'll be money better spent to simply get a decent double din dab/nav device installed along with whatever aerials etc are needed. For what it's worth I have one of the small external magnetic DAB aerials on my Citroen, and whilst it's not exactly pretty, it works superbly. Supposed to be better than stuck on windscreen ones... 1 Test Drives Unlimited reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted September 1, 2015 The Toyota head unit, is really not that good. Fit something decent aftermarket and I think you will find it much better for just about everything. I had an Alpine INE 925R (fitted in April 2013), that has DAB, Satnav and an actual pre-out for an amp, far better sound quality etc. Okay, not cheap at £800 but when you compare to the cost of the sat nav, it really is a no brainer. 2 Gringosteve and Test Drives Unlimited reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted September 1, 2015 The Toyota head unit, is really not that good. Fit something decent aftermarket and I think you will find it much better for just about everything. I had an Alpine INE 925R (fitted in April 2013), that has DAB, Satnav and an actual pre-out for an amp, far better sound quality etc. Okay, not cheap at £800 but when you compare to the cost of the sat nav, it really is a no brainer. I don't find the sound quality too bad on the stock unit (bearing in mind the road noise it having to fight against) but the UI is awful. To get back to Radio 4 from my iPod takes scrolling through options that don't exist (whilst staring at the unit and running over innocent cyclists). It's got to go! I may try Alpine. Have been a Pioneer fan for years, but the last couple I've fitted have been a little disappointing - or perhaps just not to my taste... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted September 1, 2015 I think Pioneer are a little low end these days. There are things I love about my Alpine unit and some things I don't (like how complicated it is to tune DAB channels. 2.5 years later and I've still no idea). The sound quality is excellent, though but I admit, I just took out everything that the car came with as standard and had an entire new audio system installed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Church 209 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 Cheap Alpine (simple FM + ipod/usb interfaces) sounded wonderful (much beter then T&G I (panasonic's?) on GT86 on 4 speakers) on my old '99 corolla even on it's completely stock two door speakers But then again i guess most top audio vendors may potentially sound better due eg. integrated amps and due most often being much newer offering then ones that comes as stock and which usually been there around for many years despite cars bought as new recently. Only reason i'm choosing not replacing stock HU (yet) is because i plan to use it for many years and hence am waiting out for when top audio vendor headunits will have everything i may ever need within one device with no compromises/limitations. Android (with support for good/cheap/more functional android's navigation apps vs stock OE ones) / Mirrorlink / backup camera support / torque / good different input support for misc. media / good audio quality. Right now it seems that i have to choose between chinese Android headunits for android/obd/torque app, or top vendors for mirrorlink & better audio (but of course in most cases proprietary embedded OS-es with limited extra applications support unlike on Android). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 It's even better Church, when you add a separate amp and digitial sound processor. But all a case of how much you want to spend of course. But even just changing the head unit will improve the situation, though the front door speakers are very poor on the GT86. They may only weigh a mere 191g which is impressive, but I honestly think changing the head unit and the front door speakers will reap significant benefits. The rear speakers are useless and pointless, best thing is to simply not use them. I really think Toyota only put them in so they can say the car has X amount of speakers, but saying they are useless is being very kind indeed I think! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 I'd budget for at least an external amp. I think the reason for my increasing disappointment with the last couple of units I bought (on cheap cars sopurely to get iPod functionality rather than sq) was that the integrated amps in the head units are a bit of an afterthought and I think they expect you to use the pre outs into something meatier. Put it this way the '50x4 mosfet' power stage in the Pioneer head I have in the Citroen isn't a patch on the same rated unit I had in a Skoda Fabia ten years ago... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quickclicknick 8 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 The car already has an external amp from the factory. It is configured to drive just the front speakers. The head unit's own 50W x 4 amp is only used for the relatively low current demands of the dash and tiny rear speakers. I imagine that during the design stage it was realised that a standard 50W X 4 HU power stage and nominally efficient 4 ohm door speakers would be OK but too lardy (and maybe not loud enough to fight the tyre noise). I speculate that the decision to go to 2 ohm neodymium magnet door speakers was to keep weight down, but maybe at the expense of efficiency (and so ultimately maximum volume). The problem of sufficient loudness was solved in two ways, firstly by using 2 ohm voice coils and secondly by using a basic (and light) external amp with a bridged output stage capable of driving them loud enough. 2 ohm voice coils means the door speakers draw twice the current from the same output voltage and this is beyond the reach of a standard HU with it's single supply. The factory external amp (for JUST the door speakers) is fused at 15A and most head units are fused at a mere 10A for the whole unit including radio, GPS, display, CD drive AND output stages. This tells the story. I agree that the front speakers are cheap, but they are very light and they do move air when driven from the factory amp. BTW my car doesn't have any *EDIT* speakers (just the tweeters) in the dash though the grilles lead me to believe that there were some. I'd like to know if they are fitted on anyone elses car? It reminds me of the factory fit Bose system in my old Alfa GT which had fake tweeter grilles with shiny Bose badges in the stock base model holes in the doors and then better than stock coaxials in the lower holes. When I bought the car I challenged the dealer that the tweeters were fake and he only believed me when he put his ear directly in front of one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 That's interesting... So if one were to install a new head unit, using the usual aftermarket adapter harnesses, presumably you'd still get the benefit of the stock amp. Is it a speaker level one driven off the speaker outputs from the head? My upgraded system in my old BMW was similar. Standard head - outboard speaker level input amp and extra speakers. That was pretty good. I'll say again, though hardly audiophile, the standard set up isn't bad for a stock set up - had far worse. I'm just after more functionality really... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quickclicknick 8 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 Nicebiscuit I wish I knew the all the answers to those questions as that is where I want to be headed myself. I am learning about how it is configured and what all the connections are. I *think* that I will keep the stock door speakers and the stock factory amp and fit an Android Auto HU. I definately wont be fitting a Chinese Android HU (as has been discussed higher up this thread) as the OS they come with *will* be a bug ridden nightmare and very hard to upgrade / maintain. My theory is that I change phones far more than cars OR car stereos. This is what Google and Apple want you to think too and that is the reason for Android Auto and CarPlay. The rear speakers are tiny and you could say they are pointless but they weigh next to nothing. If you try setting the F/R balance to front only you will def notice that they are missing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 Hmmm... I think I have a plan then... Head unit first and we'll see - I can do that bit myself. If it's still lacking I'll get someone with a bit of expertise to set about the amp and speakers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quixote 35 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 Stock, you get tweeters up top and woofers in the doors, no mids though. The stock HU is useless, first step I did was upgrade to the same HU that Lauren has - it drove the stock speakers much better, but nowhere near as good as going the whole hog with power amp, 3-way components and sub in the boot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 Stock, you get tweeters up top and woofers in the doors, no mids though. The stock HU is useless, first step I did was upgrade to the same HU that Lauren has - it drove the stock speakers much better, but nowhere near as good as going the whole hog with power amp, 3-way components and sub in the boot Did you fit the HU yourself? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Test Drives Unlimited 278 Report post Posted September 2, 2015 Is it worth upgrading the Speakers first and worrying about getting a New Head Unit at a later date ? Sent from my Archos 53 Platinum using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KevinA 695 Report post Posted September 3, 2015 I want a HU that will run Tom Tom so then can ditch the Toyota T&G. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted September 3, 2015 I want a HU that will run Tom Tom so then can ditch the Toyota T&G. I like TomTom too but doesn't work via Apple CarPlay apparently (don't know about Andriod). Sony do some decent head units with integrated TomTom. I quite like the look of those at the moment. My 'must have' list is DAB and Nav... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
