iPod/iPhone Stereo Alternative
Discussion
Hi All,
There have been a few threads lately about MP3, or iPod connections to the stock unit. I really wanted to get my iPhone working with the stereo, but couldn't really afford the double din replacement method. I have no soldering skills at all, so the Aus Holden kit someone linked to a while back was a no go for me, even though I think it's genius. I really wanted to keep the stock look of the Monaro dash, so I opted for one of these bad boys:
www.parrot.com/catalog/products/parrot-mki9200/
I've just got back from having it fitted. It works like an absolute dream. The Parrot syncs with the phone book over bluetooth and they installed a bunch of cables into the glovebox. There's a straight forward audio jack, a USB socket for memory stick use, or an iPod/iPhone socket which streams the audio to the stereo and charges the iPhone at the same time. It comes with a colour display which displays the album art and cuts the music when the phone rings and displays a caller picture. There's even an SD memory card slot on the display if you want to use that for music instead of the phone.
It does exactly what I wanted and I'm over the moon with it. Fitted for just shy of £270 all in. That included repairing the butcher job on the wiring from the previous old kit I already had in there.
The company I used are www.autosparx.co.uk/ in the Medway City Estate. The service was top notch. A real professional outfit. They told me they had fitted out a VXR8 recently and we had a chat afterwards about the Monaro, which they prefer
.
I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules by posting this, but when you get really good service, you wanna post about it and I thought people may be interested in opinions on the kit.
There have been a few threads lately about MP3, or iPod connections to the stock unit. I really wanted to get my iPhone working with the stereo, but couldn't really afford the double din replacement method. I have no soldering skills at all, so the Aus Holden kit someone linked to a while back was a no go for me, even though I think it's genius. I really wanted to keep the stock look of the Monaro dash, so I opted for one of these bad boys:
www.parrot.com/catalog/products/parrot-mki9200/
I've just got back from having it fitted. It works like an absolute dream. The Parrot syncs with the phone book over bluetooth and they installed a bunch of cables into the glovebox. There's a straight forward audio jack, a USB socket for memory stick use, or an iPod/iPhone socket which streams the audio to the stereo and charges the iPhone at the same time. It comes with a colour display which displays the album art and cuts the music when the phone rings and displays a caller picture. There's even an SD memory card slot on the display if you want to use that for music instead of the phone.
It does exactly what I wanted and I'm over the moon with it. Fitted for just shy of £270 all in. That included repairing the butcher job on the wiring from the previous old kit I already had in there.
The company I used are www.autosparx.co.uk/ in the Medway City Estate. The service was top notch. A real professional outfit. They told me they had fitted out a VXR8 recently and we had a chat afterwards about the Monaro, which they prefer
. I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules by posting this, but when you get really good service, you wanna post about it and I thought people may be interested in opinions on the kit.
Nope, no FM channel. It is wired into the cars existing electrics much like you would with a replacement stereo. I didn't want to go down the FM route, as although they work well enough as a cheap alternative, I know you can get interference and things like that.
One of the cables that comes hard wired into the Parrot, is the standard iPhone dock cable. When you connect the iPod it charges just like normal. When you play the iPod, it comes out of all the existing speakers and subwoofer. Even more amazingly, it works perfectly with the stock radio/CD unit powered off. All speakers still work. If the stock unit is on, when you power off the Parrot, the radio or CD immediately kicks in to take over.
The steering controls all work as normal with the stock unit, but not with the parrot, which comes with it's own wireless remote. I've attached mine to the base of the steering wheel as the Ro doesn't have a lot of dash space. I can post pics if anyone is interested.
I was concerned at first that they had routed it into the permanent live, but the parrot shuts down correctly as it should. I set my Monaro in the dash settings to power off accessories when the key is removed as I once left my stereo on and came back to a flat battery (oops). Now when I remove the key, the parrot turns off too. Very nice system.
One of the cables that comes hard wired into the Parrot, is the standard iPhone dock cable. When you connect the iPod it charges just like normal. When you play the iPod, it comes out of all the existing speakers and subwoofer. Even more amazingly, it works perfectly with the stock radio/CD unit powered off. All speakers still work. If the stock unit is on, when you power off the Parrot, the radio or CD immediately kicks in to take over.
The steering controls all work as normal with the stock unit, but not with the parrot, which comes with it's own wireless remote. I've attached mine to the base of the steering wheel as the Ro doesn't have a lot of dash space. I can post pics if anyone is interested.
I was concerned at first that they had routed it into the permanent live, but the parrot shuts down correctly as it should. I set my Monaro in the dash settings to power off accessories when the key is removed as I once left my stereo on and came back to a flat battery (oops). Now when I remove the key, the parrot turns off too. Very nice system.
I've just googled it and it looks great. It's a bit pricey at between 80 - 100 queen sheets just for the adaptor.
Thanks for letting us know. I had no idea you could get that. I might ring my fitter and see how much they would supply it fitted. I still haven't fixed my Parrot remote to the dash yet as I can't find somewhere really suitable. The Monaro dash is pretty busy already.
Thanks for letting us know. I had no idea you could get that. I might ring my fitter and see how much they would supply it fitted. I still haven't fixed my Parrot remote to the dash yet as I can't find somewhere really suitable. The Monaro dash is pretty busy already.
As I was out taking pics of the car mat clips, I thought I would update this thread with some pics if anyone was interested.
Cable into cubby hole - iPhone will fit flush if you take the rubber tray out:
Cable Cluster - Middle one is standard USB for Memory Sticks.
Screen and control placement:
iPhone MP3 off in Bluetooth mode - Normally get signal strength and battery life on display but I'd just switched the ignition on:
Cable into cubby hole - iPhone will fit flush if you take the rubber tray out:
Cable Cluster - Middle one is standard USB for Memory Sticks.
Screen and control placement:
iPhone MP3 off in Bluetooth mode - Normally get signal strength and battery life on display but I'd just switched the ignition on:
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