My Q goes ghetto

[Jesda]

I camped out in front of Best Buy with my brother for Black Friday. We both picked up a DVD-LCD-touchscreen head unit, and I also got a sub and amp.

Sub + Amp = $130DVD LCD HU = $350

Installed it myself with the amp tucked away under the rear seat. Its highly entertaining and very distracting -- the bestworst purchase I've ever made.A waste? Yes.Better things to spend my money on? Yes.Should I have spent that $480 on maintenance? Yes.But I did it anyway.



The most ghetto-ricey part? The subwoofer has neon lights that dance with the music. Effectively, I no longer have a trunk!

So, now I'm one of those idiots who drives down the highway watching movies.

[elwesso]

howd you get power to the amp?

[Jesda]

howd you get power to the amp?

I tapped into the 12v socket in the dash and ran a tucked-in wire down the center console to the rear seat.

[ceningolmo]

Girls Gone Wild while driving FTW.

[maxnix]

No love for the DubDIN?

Does it control your climate also?

Jump Daddy Jesda?

[Jesda]

No love for the DubDIN?

Does it control your climate also?

Jump Daddy Jesda?

There was a nice looking double-din unit for the same price, but it had no knobs. If I had to use the TFT for everything I'd lose my mind. With this, the volume knob is a volume knob and I can use the knob on the right to pick DVD menus or go through the functions. And of course the LCD can be closed during playback.

[louiegz]

$350.00 seems cheap for that. Looks like you got a good deal. Can you hook that up with GPS? That would be cool. Well, you can't control the A/C with that screen in the way, but at least it doesn't block the vents.

[konatown]

well, yea you got a deal on it. But it's Dual aka Pyramid aka Patriot. Not so good.

[CrimsonQ]

well, yea you got a deal on it. But it's Dual aka Pyramid aka Patriot. Not so good.

Unless your a serious audio guy, Dual will do just fine.

Good grab Jesda, that screen looks nice!

[AZhitman]

No self-respecting Brown man can drive without his ICE!!!

Way to go, J.

Oh - and us right-wingers HAVE to have a volume knob. Touch-screen is just not tactile enough.

[BIGT94z]

looking good man did u happen to be in line at best buy at 4 am

[Jesda]

We camped out at midnight and the line was -still- long! Five hours. I yanked the rear seat out of the Q and used it to sit on the concrete while we took turns warming up in the car. Wasn't too miserable though. I had my laptop out so a bunch of us in line could watch episodes of The Office.

well, yea you got a deal on it. But it's Dual aka Pyramid aka Patriot. Not so good.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised by Dual. I first bought one of their MP3 head units in 2005 for my Maxima, just to make some music and get by. I wasn't expecting much at all (made sure to get the extended warranty from Best Buy), but it sounded quite nice and reliability has been superb. I then suggested a similar one to my brother, which he's been using in his G20.

The best part is that the documentation is written in CLEAR and PERFECT English with fantastic diagrams and illustrations. The company is based in Kent, Washington, so apparently someone there realized that people who pay for low-buck hardware probably enjoy the savings from self-installs.

No nav support, but I could I suppose find a GPS unit with video output and wire it up that way. Rand McNally will suffice as it always has. This head unit replaced a 1999 Alpine tape deck and changer. While it isn't as clean and rich, its plenty powerful.

I also forgot to mention that I bought some fantastic Alpine 6x9s to go in the rear deck. The stock 4" speakers in the front doors are terrible by comparison, so I feel compelled to replace them very soon. For now, playing with the fader will do.

I'd probably consider Dual long before buying Sony, though that isn't saying much.

[mrzabala]

My brother bought the the amp + sub dual from best buy to= $130. He made me carry that ****.... It felt like 90 or more lbs especially with the big box it comes in. What a ***** to carry.

[FarFetched]

Back in Ukraine (where I am form) I remember one of my classmates (rich parents) had DUAL home stereo system with dual reverse tape decks, an amp, a turntable and some bitchin' speakers. All it was in 1987-1988...Have they stoppped building Home audio system since then?Cheers!

[CrimsonQ]

Back in Ukraine (where I am form) I remember one of my classmates (rich parents) had DUAL home stereo system with dual reverse tape decks, an amp, a turntable and some bitchin' speakers. All it was in 1987-1988...Have they stoppped building Home audio system since then?Cheers!

From what I understand, they were bought out by another larger company(pioneer?panasonic?) in the early 90's

I dont think they make home audio after that.

[Jesda]

I just found a navigation add-on for my head unit. Neat! Has a 20GB hard drive for MP3 and video storage.

http://www.dualav.com/builtinnav/index.html

Its like $600-$700 though.

Info on the company, apparently Korean:"Dual is an international company headquartered in Heathrow, FL, with facilities in Kent, WA. The company has a total commitment to providing high-quality products at affordable price points.Dual Electronics Corporation is the U.S. based subsidiary of the Namsung Corporation. Headquartered in Seoul S. Korea, Namsung is a public company registered on the Korean Stock Exchange. "

[TBrack]

haha I bought the same things for my g50 on black friday! Except I went to Circuit City and I bought the Jensen head unit with a Jensen sub box but no amp (already had a 1000w volfengag)Don't feel bad all premade boxes are now

[gabossie]

PARTY IN JESDAS TRUNK!

[gniknave]

We camped out at midnight and the line was -still- long! Five hours. I yanked the rear seat out of the Q and used it to sit on the concrete while we took turns warming up in the car.

that's pretty ghetto, but innovative at the same time. That install looks pretty clean. Good stuff

[Falkdesigns]

Nice setup Jesda!!

[Mhotep]

Looks good. I'm about to put the same unit into my '97 Q45. Did you have to do anything special to get it to fit? Did you have to put on an adapter to decrease the signal to the speakers since there is a an amp close to the speakers?

[DrewQ45]

I tapped into the 12v socket in the dash and ran a tucked-in wire down the center console to the rear seat.

Jesda,

Which socket is that? You might wanna run a thick + fused power cable directly from battery terminal to avoid overloading OEM circuits. Punch through rubber grommet in firewall with hanger to feed through.

All in all it looks nice man!

[Jesda]

I've always wondered how the hell you get it to go from the interior through the firewall. I might do that. Thanks Drew!

Looks good. I'm about to put the same unit into my '97 Q45. Did you have to do anything special to get it to fit? Did you have to put on an adapter to decrease the signal to the speakers since there is a an amp close to the speakers?

I already had an amp bypass professionally done in 1999 (last owner), so I'm not sure. Its very much worth dumping the OEM speakers. As far as fitment, it has a bracket that comes with it, which I removed. I attached the OEM brackets with the old screws and it fits perfectly.

[slinger5150]

I used to own a couple of car audio shops in Chicago. I would definitely recommend running a power cable from the battery under the hood. Fuse it within 12" of the battery, so if it shorts anywhere towards the amp, you won't short the battery. As he said, use a hanger to feed the wire through the rubber grommit in the firewall. You don't want to overload oem circuits. The last thing you need to do is fry a computer module $$$$$ over an amp.

[elwesso]

I've always wondered how the hell you get it to go from the interior through the firewall. I might do that. Thanks Drew!

I already had an amp bypass professionally done in 1999 (last owner), so I'm not sure. Its very much worth dumping the OEM speakers. As far as fitment, it has a bracket that comes with it, which I removed. I attached the OEM brackets with the old screws and it fits perfectly.

Run it through the drivers side with the hood cable. I did the writeup on Q45.org

be sure to use a fuse! Shocker style in this case is NOT good!

[WidebodyZ]

I thought you called it ghetto since Britney's Pairs was on the screen! Trailer trash FTMFW!

[kimrober]

Hey.. not bad at all! Would it have been better if you had installed the dash unit in lower slot of DIN, so that you could've had better access to your AC control unit?

[elwesso]

Hey.. not bad at all! Would it have been better if you had installed the dash unit in lower slot of DIN, so that you could've had better access to your AC control unit?

isnt the point of AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL so you dont have to fiddle with it??? I always have mine set at 69, rain or shine, hot or cold... I only use the OFF button sometimes.

[Jesda]

Hey.. not bad at all! Would it have been better if you had installed the dash unit in lower slot of DIN, so that you could've had better access to your AC control unit?

Thought about that. Problem is, the screen would hit the shifter in park while closing. I can reach Auto and Defrost, which are the only ones I ever use. I leave it at 70.

[peety]

well well well, i was thinking about the same thing. now i will stick to just the factory system. hey what about a 10in or 8in in that little compartment on the rear borad? i f i cant do that what else can i do to get a system that sound good?