Appradio 2 ordered!

[kismetcapitan]

after poring over the Audi/Bose wiring diagrams and doing some further research, it seems like the standard Metra Audi/Bose harness ought to fully integrate whatever headunit with the existing Bose system. Apparently...

- The Bose system is only 200 watts, but it sounds pretty loud for 200 watts. I found conflicting information, but it's clear that the stock speakers run at 2 ohms or less, and the subwoofer at 0.5 ohms!
- None of the Bose system processing apparently occurs in the Symphony headunit; it just sends four line-level outputs to the Bose amp, where all the processing happens. Hence, using a harness that takes RCA outputs from an aftermarket radio (front L+R, rear L+R) is all that's needed. On the Bose amp in the trunk, there is no sub input on the wiring pinout, only a pair (+ and -) of leads for the sub.

I've had some issues with the Dension iPod adaptor putting out the same output level as the radio or a CD, which sucks as I use neither. Hopefully the Appradio will play songs out of my iPhone at the same loudness and clarity that CDs play at with the Symphone headunit.

I think this headunit will look extremely clean - it's a 7" screen only, with minimal and discreet buttons. I considered a fully featured double-din headunit with DVD playback and its own nav unit, but it all becomes more complex and more aftermarket in appearance. GPS reception on my AT&T iPhone isn't always great but I'll just go with it and I think I won't have issues on road trips; I do wonder how much the included GPS antenna helps. For video playback, I'll need to have video files on my phone prepped. Voice control is pretty much limited to whatever Siri feels like doing...

I'm looking forward to this; if it works as intended, it will fully modernize the cabin of our 2003 car to have pretty much every feature you'd find on a 2012 model.

[kismetcapitan]

will post pics tomorrow, but installation of the Appradio 2 went mostly without a hitch. I used the basic Metra harness and I think the pinouts didn't quite match up; I had to tie the ignition and continuous power together, so that it's basically always on, although there is a sleep mode which I hope doesn't drain too much battery. I need to get in there with a multimeter and find the switched ignition positive lead and the illumination lead.

sound is very good, but doesn't have quite the EQ balance of the original Bose. Some tweaking of the crossovers and the graphic EQ got it close enough. Volume was as loud, if not a little louder, than the original Symphony headunit, and very clear, even though I feel the soundstage has suffered a bit.

I used a Scosche mounting kit and it looks perfectly fine, and the overall appearance is what I hoped it would be - clean and high tech.

For the cost ($410 on eBay plus about $70 for the harness, mounting kit and diversity antenna adapter), I think it's a far more powerful solution and a lot cheaper than an RNS-E.

The Appradio 2 touchscreen is a million times better than the Appradio - swipe and pinch works smoothly, and it is natural to use. The original Appradio is sluggish in comparison.

Anyways, integrating an aftermarket headunit with the stock Bose subwoofer and amp was completely straightforward.

[mrdave]

Very cool! Please post up some pictures!

Also, are the bose wiring diagrams something you can share? I'm very interested in those.

[kismetcapitan]

I've googled pinouts on the actual Bose amp and found it to be very complex. For the radio harness though, RCAs go into the speaker leads (the stock radio speaker outputs are line level), and then you just need power, ground, and illumination leads. The only irritating thing is the handbrake lead as Pioneer requires the handbrake to be engaged before letting you use certain apps, but there are workarounds - I ordered a second power shade switch and will wire it to fool the head unit that the handbrake is engaged.

[kismetcapitan]

here are some crap pictures; will take more when it's sunny/daytime :P

Unit off (power is wired to be always on; the radio doesn't turn off so much as it goes to sleep)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/tobereeno/photo-3.jpg

playing music:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/tobereeno/photo3.jpg

practically speaking, once plugged in, the iPhone only has ONE purpose - to "allow" apps when you select them on the Appradio. Well, two purposes - to use Siri as well. All that's left is to order and install a reverse camera.

The extra GPS antenna seems to work quite well; Google maps and nav software works a LOT better now. It's not the smoothest implementation of marrying the two devices, but its close enough for me to be very satisfied. Some listening time and creating a custom EQ has restored dimension to the sound and filtered out a bit of the harshness I'd been hearing. Rear tweeters are basically off and rear woofers are adding quite a bit to the bass, in the RCA configuration I have it in now. Installing a separate amp and speakers could be done, but wouldn't really be all that much better than the stock Bose system, unless I wanted bleeding eardrums and was going to compete in car stereo sound-offs, which isn't exactly on my bucket list.

[mrdave]

Do you need to have the phone available in order to use the system? Or could you hook it up and then throw it in the glove box or something?

[BuffaloRS6]

Do you need to have the phone available in order to use the system? Or could you hook it up and then throw it in the glove box or something?

^ Good question. I'm planning on order an AppRadio 2 in the next few weeks.

[kismetcapitan]

it ought to be that way, but unfortunately the iPhone needs to be handy. Every time you access an app, a popup appears on the phone asking you to "allow" the app to run. So it's there just so I can quickly hit "allow" on the phone. Otherwise, it's just there. It doesn't even need to be in sight of the sky for GPS because the Appradio has its own GPS antenna.

Annoying, but it could be worse. I've been cradling my iPhone for years so it's habit every time I get into the car.