Alpine Ipod Interface - fitted to Tuscan

[Lucozade]

I've got the factory fit Alpine CDA-9847R fitted to the car. Fed up with CD's lying around the place I'm tempted by the idea of an Ipod Interface or even USB playback.

Has anybody else opted for the Ipod Interface? It looks rather big and I'm concerned that your standard fitment places won't know the best places to fit one.

[shortlad]

I have a Pioneer head unit which was fitted when I bought the car. I found the Ipod interface on eBay and replaced the boot changer with the interface. It's a box with a cabel and the ipod connects to that. The box is tucked away out of sight in the boot. I plug my ipod in and place it carefully somewhere in my boot. I can call up all the tracks, playlists, artists, etc from the head unit.

Hope this helps.

[tuscan_al]

I got myself the stereo below, maily because as good as a dock cable is there are not many places to securely fit it in the car. The headunit is good enough and can leave the ipod in it without anyone realising its there.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fusion-CA-IP500-iPod-Docking...

[m0ssy]

Its a good idea to get one of these.

CDs in the car are a problem as they are a bit unsightly on the dash/ glove area and with the modern wonders of Ipod you can have your whole collection in the car if you choose.

I went for :

http://www.audio66.com/product.asp?id=5964&cat...

Had a nightmare fitting it, couldn't get rid of the engine noise through the grounds see:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

In the end I had to admit defeat and get ground loop isolators to get rid of the noise, which they did but seemed like I was cheating a bit but 18 hours of fitting made the cheating worthwhile

[shep1001]

Lucozade said:

I've got the factory fit Alpine CDA-9847R fitted to the car. Fed up with CD's lying around the place I'm tempted by the idea of an Ipod Interface or even USB playback.

Has anybody else opted for the Ipod Interface? It looks rather big and I'm concerned that your standard fitment places won't know the best places to fit one.

You could always sell it and replace it with one of Alpines dedicated IPOD head units. I run a IDA-X100 as trying to locate the interface unit was a pain in the arse. Good unit with a decent power supply and gives full IPOD control. I also got a second hand nano so I could leave it hidden in the car to save keep taking it in & out with me.

[The Surveyor]

Lucozade said:

I've got the factory fit Alpine CDA-9847R fitted to the car. Fed up with CD's lying around the place I'm tempted by the idea of an Ipod Interface or even USB playback.

Has anybody else opted for the Ipod Interface? It looks rather big and I'm concerned that your standard fitment places won't know the best places to fit one.

I've put the Alpine I-pod interface in my Tuscan. It's a Mk 2 Converible and the unit fitted nicely under the head unit just in the void behind the switches, velcro'ed to the tunnel. No need to dismantle the dash as the unit fits through the radio hole in the dash with the I pod lead coming out into the tray between the column and the radio pod. It's a PITA to get the head unit back in because of all the wires coiled up at the back, but it does fit, just!

The unit is great once connected with no drop in sound quality and it keeps the I pod charged too. The only problem is that you have to scroll through the albums to seach which it only does in alphabetical order. If you have a lot of albums it takes quite a while so a dedicated unit would be better.

Paul

[dvs_dave]

I've got an Alpine IDA-X 001 media hub in mine which has full Ipod control and even shows album artwork on the screen. I have the USB interface cable coming out beside the handbrake so I can use the flat area there for my iPod/iPhone. It works really well and I highly recommend it.

I'm also in the process of upgrading the speaker system to half decent however I'm very keen to keep the interior looking as standard as possible. I hate huge great speaker grilles, pods and boxes all over the place. Looks so naff imho. I also didn't want to spend silly money on a mega spec ground shaking system as it's simply a waste in a car with the acoustic environment of the Tuscan.

I've sourced some TVR NXT speakers (not cheap but ideal) for the dash which will bring the audio image forward whilst keeping the standard look.

The big issue was how to get better bass without a thumping great heavy and ugly bass box. What I went for was a "Mutant MT-5AS" underseat active sub which gets reasonable reviews. The important thing is it's about the size of a sheet of A4 paper and is only 67mm thick! I also found it re-branded as a Ripspeed unit in Halfords for £39. Bargain!!

There's not enough clearance under the seats for it so I mounted it in the passenger footwell where it fits perfectly and the bass is enhanced further by this location. It's also close to the head unit and battery for the power supply so no stripping the interior out to run cables. To mount it, I pulled the passenger footwell carpet back and used heavy duty velcro (true TVR style) to secure it in place against the back of the battery compartment bulkhead. I then got some wire mesh from B&Q and formed and wedged it over the sub to protect it and to give something for the carpet to stick back on to. Once in, I stuck the carpet back in place and it's impossible to tell it's even there and doesn't detract from the footwell space at all.

Once fired up, some fiddling with the levels, crossover frequencies etc. to dial out any boominess and it really does sound excellent. I was pleasantly suprised by how much bass it can actually kick out. Overall it's a vast improvement over the standard system, roof on or off, and it's completely invisible. I was so chuffed, I even gave myself a pat on the back!

[stillgrinning]

I changed the head unit for an Alphine XDA-100 (I think, without looking). It runs on the same speakers, attached to a mini IPod thingy and works a treat. I got the head unit from e-bay via Hong Kong for about £100 and an interface connection thingy from teh local car wireless place.

The whole thing works brilliantly and I couldn't be happier !