[hearingyourlies]

Installed. 560 delivered to my door with Ipod interface too. Took a grand total of about 4 hours from start to finish. I'm chasing down an intermittent drivers side dodgey speaker, but I think that's cause I taped everything off. I just couldn't wait. I'll crimp it all next week.

The system is tits! With the iPod hookup it takes about 10 seconds to load all your stuff (7k songs for me) and then it's all just the touch of a button. Superfast! Not quite as fast as the iPod itself, but damn close.

It's super intuitive. I wanted the pioneer 4200 but got tired of waiting, so went with this. Glad I did.

Only gripe I have is that when you first turn on your truck it takes about 8 seconds to load up. Not a big deal really, just throwing it out there.

Oh, and I just hooked the brake wire to the ground wire and I can watch movies when I'm driving. WHOOOPS!!

Ill report more as I get to know it better.

Oh, and the menu outside (not the screen) is color adjustable. Matches perfect to the amber.

 

[chaz]

got the 512 ,looks just as good gets easer to use after its been for a while

 

[hearingyourlies]

update:

Well, two days after install the radio started exhibiting some funky behavior. The left speakers kept cutting in and out, then the rear. Then the left. Then it couldn't read my iPod.

So, talked to crutchfield.

After telling the guy that I was not a total ****ing idiot he finally decided it would be prudent to send a new one. It should be here tomorrow.

As if to prove my point, today I noticed that when the unit starts to cycle on it starts to vibrate MY WHOLE DASHBOARD. I pulled the top of the dash off and felt the radio, and sure enough, the vibration is definitely internal.

It only happens when it first cycles on, like a lawn mower that just won't pull start right.

Man, I hope the next one isn't like this.

 

[chaz]

try sodiering<spelling> its easy do it all on a bench and plug it in,go mine from crutch
those are good units,maybe you got a bad one?good luck

 

[hearingyourlies]

Well, now I'm going insane. I'm on my second radio now, and this one has worse symptoms. After 20 minutes running around with my music blasting it will just fade and start to crackle and then come back up to normal sound for about five minutes. It only happens intermittently and I have no idea where to look. I'm gonna take of the caps and solder everything on Tuesday but I really don't think that's it, doesn't make sense if all the speakers fade at the same time. Any ideas guys?

 

[TheOregonFront]

get an amp.

your working your speaker too hard with no extra power source. mine used to do it when i blast my music untill i got an amp.

 

[chaz]

yes he is right that unit (pretty sure 22 watts rms)the stock speakers are not rated very high ,maybe 15 or less,i can check i you want they are in a box stored away,i did the same thing got a headunit (ddx 512)and used the stockies for about a week,they sounded good for a little while but started to get hot at high volume(thats called blowing a speaker)it melts the coil inside the magnet(stinks too).kepp the noise level down till you can get some better speakers in there are 6x9 s in the front and 6 3/4 in the rear 6 1/2 will go to just drill them in.

 

[hearingyourlies]

So if I just replace the speakers with a better set this won't happen?

 

[TheOregonFront]

So if I just replace the speakers with a better set this won't happen?

you will still get it. i had a kenwood deck. and infinity speakers. still did it. amped em and no more crackle

 

[hearingyourlies]

So essentially the amplifier in the unit is working too hard to push the level of volume I want out of the speakers and is cutting out to protect itself? This explains the fadeout and then crackle?

 

[chaz]

yes try to go just slightly higher than 55 watts 22 watts rms or get larger and an amp,
talk to crutchfield they will set you up.if you keep the stock speakers they will sooner than later burn up.

 

[hearingyourlies]

So I guess it's time for new speakers and an amplifier. Any recommendations? I'd "like" to keep it under $400 bucks ....

 

[TheOregonFront]

So essentially the amplifier in the unit is working too hard to push the level of volume I want out of the speakers and is cutting out to protect itself? This explains the fadeout and then crackle?

yeah you got it. i have an amp for sale actually. its an MTX thunder elite 404 sounds very awesome and crisp. its used for maybe 4 months. untill i sold the 03 and it was under the seat so its got some surface scratches thats it. pm me if your interested thats what i used for my speakers

and for speakers i had infinity reference's and they were great ive heard kappas are a +1 also

 

[BluJay]

So if I just replace the speakers with a better set this won't happen?

Better speakers will allow you to push more watts into them making them louder, also geting multi stage like 3 way speakers will allow crisper sound becasue its seperating the bass / mid / treble..

per the previous reccomidation you need an amp to raise the ammount of watts you can safely push through your speakers.. making them loud like you want it.

for example most head units are say 52x4 watts peek (meaning thats the maximum you can ouput per speaker is 52watts for up to 4 of them...)

I have a pair of 6x9 that handle 160w RMS (RMS is contuinal power what they can handle continously for hours at a time..)

So if your running 1 head unit at say the 52x4 you definatly need more power even for the factory speakers .... (i do have the fosgate package) my fronty has 4 tweeters 2 front / 2 rear speakers ... so i would be pushing only 26 watts per speaker (crossing over 1 tweeter to each speaker) wich is not much and espically if you push your deck to its limits .. its going to crap out... ( this doesnt even take into consideration the 8'' sub in the back)

Deck isnt made to push sound, the watts included are a convience .. ALWAYS get an amp...

so keep your awesome deck and hook it to a nice 4 channel or more amp.. i would reccomend a 1.5f or 2.0f capacator as well expically if your running the factory battery, or else your looking at dim dash every bass hit...

If this made any sense... hope it helps :comphead:

{edit}

So essentially the amplifier in the unit is working too hard to push the level of volume I want out of the speakers and is cutting out to protect itself? This explains the fadeout and then crackle?

It shoudlnt "cut out" so to say unless your grounding out somewhere on the body either its the deck or a speaker somewhere...

The "crackle" is your speakers are 1.blown 2.torn 3.melted 4.grounding out.....

THis is all assuming it sounds like crap as soon as you turn it on ... not when you crank it to full power...

 

[chaz]

The "crackle" is your speakers are 1.blown 2.torn 3.melted 4.grounding out
well said....:comphead:

 

[hearingyourlies]

It doesn't cut out (like no sound at all), it just fades really low and starts to crackle badly. After a few seconds it'll start to come back up to volume, but not as high as it was. And no, it doesn't sound like crap when I first turn it on. It'll run good for say 15-20 minutes and then these symptoms will occur.

 

[BluJay]

{smile} at Chaz .. Right, vauge but good enough lol

It doesn't cut out (like no sound at all), it just fades really low and starts to crackle badly. After a few seconds it'll start to come back up to volume, but not as high as it was. And no, it doesn't sound like crap when I first turn it on. It'll run good for say 15-20 minutes and then these symptoms will occur.

To me that sounds like overheating / conectivity issues,

1. have you checked the remote wire? (usually the blue one)

2. your profile doesn't specify your state, could it be uber hot out when this happens?

3. does the deck have speed control fader?

 

[hearingyourlies]

1. I've triple checked everything, but I guess it can't hurt to check again.

2. NY. No correlation. Happens on cold nights at 60 and hot days at 90.

3. Huh?

 

[BluJay]

3. Huh?

lol.. humm.... like in the factory deck it has a controler that turns the stero up when you accellerate and lowers it when you brake.. i was wondering if the new deck has that feature and maybe its fubar? its probably far fetched just thinking outside the box...

Personally at this juncture i would try a process of elimination..

I would take out the deck and the battery sit in my house and test each connection with a speaker ... trying to identify a weak point within the deck...

(im positive you know this but for people not so educated with decks make sure you dont cross a single wire while testing or POOF goes your deck... electrical caps and tape work great!)

If everything came out suscessful and i did not have the same results ... then i would check the wires to and from each speaker to the harness .. it could be something as simple as a negitive wire is loose on a speaker ... that same problem could blow your deck...

 

[hearingyourlies]

Well like I said Tuesday I'm going to solder everything, so that should really rule out and connectivity problems. But I'm leaning towards something besides just one loose wire because when the music fades all the speakers fade, not just one ...