iPhone Car Stereo Cradle Combination

[2000c43]

I have wanted to upgrade my car's stereo for some time. The Audi RSNE unit is the best looking and a true factory upgrade. However, it is expensive, I assume the map software is not as up to date as Google Maps, and I would still want to add a phone cradle somewhere thereby ruining the aesthetics.

Therefore, I decided to wait for Apple's CarPlay head units to come out. They look great and I was interested in the unit from Alpine. But, you are forced to plug in the Lightening Cable to use the stereo, therefore, requiring a phone cradle yet again. The CarPlay unit cannot function over bluetooth, at least in this iteration of it. Plus you do not have access to all of your phone's applications and are only allowed to use the apps that Apple has enabled with CarPlay.

So, I ended up finding the Sony XSP-N1BT. It is a discontinued unit and has its flaws, but I found it for a little over $100 brand new. I figured that with the dash kit and wiring harness from enfigcarstereo.com, I would be into the stereo for $200 and could afford to "hack" the Sony up a bit. The Sony eliminates the need for a separate phone cradle since the head unit is the cradle. It has bluetooth for phone and audio, USB, CD player (I'll never use it), and a traditional tuner. The theory is that you use you phone as the main brain of the stereo for navigation, streaming audio, etc.

http://www.sony.com/electronics/in-c...ayers/xsp-n1bt

I could not be happier with the end result. No additional iPhone cradle needed and I have access to all of my phone's applications. Car is completely unmodified thanks to the enfigcarstereo.com wiring harness, so no wires were cut at all. Took me some time to open the chassis of the Sony, remove the upper bar / clamp since my iPhone 6 Plus was at the maximum for size, soldered on the USB to the back of the unit, and fabricated my own lightening dock out of the scrap plastic from the Sony unit itself and some super glue. This way I can jump in the car and simply dock my iPhone and take off. No loose wires in the car. If somebody borrows my car, they can simply bluetooth to the stereo or listen to the tuner or CD without plugging in their phone.



Fun project, sounds great, and a nice result IMHO.