2008 350Z Installation Process

[Milk Mayne 10+ year member]

I recommended the same thing in his other thread. I think you'd be pleased with it. It has all the functions you're looking for and looks really good, even has a volume knob, which is a must for me since I hate using touchscreen volume controls.

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

@Nasty08impala
Thanks. The ddx470 looks like a great choice. Good price,.. it's NOT Pioneer (I don't think I'll ever buy a pioneer head unit in the future (I didn't buy this one.. it came with the car) ).. The pioneers seem prone to problems.. and PICO issues , ie: RCA issues with whine , etc. The DDX470 is $335. That's a really good deal,.. and is Kenwood.. Kenwood has always made great Head units.. (actually was the brand I had in my last full on "system".)

Few questions on that model.

It has 2 Pre-outs. It does have a third set of RCA's for sub right?

It mentions it has a crossover for the Sub,.. but nothing else. I was controlling my front and sub with the decks crossover. Does this headunit not have a "highpass" xover?

And, online it says it's available in my local stores.. so that may be the one!

I may even get Bestbuy to install it.. I'm honestly SICK of tearing things apart on this.. It's all back together.. all the stuff I bought,.. Front components, Rear MB Quarts,.. Stealth box.. JL 10" Sub.. PPI 5 Channel Amp.. 4 Gauge wiring kit, 14gauge wire.. amp rack, fabrication all over the car.. etc is DONE. I'm not a fan of Bestbuy installing stuff.. but a headunit.. Come on.. Even those morons can successfully put in a deck.. and with their installation fee,.. It's warranted forever, literally. So if it dies, etc.. They replace it no questions.

Think it's $99 for their installation, steep -- but 40+ hours .. I'm done.. lol.

yes it has 2 sets and. A sub out all 4v and yes it has hp xovers ..pretty decent eq for the money

 

---------- Post added at 02:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:26 AM ----------

 

I recommended the same thing in his other thread. I think you'd be pleased with it. It has all the functions you're looking for and looks really good, even has a volume knob, which is a must for me since I hate using touchscreen volume controls.

Yea i love mine for the money

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

press and reset the unit on the front, make sure that the face can still open. also make sure you removed any transporting bolts from the player. how did it die?

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

plz make sure your wiring correct so you don't cook another screen.... confused what happened to it

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Kenwood eXcelon

 

[Chromatic]

press and reset the unit on the front, make sure that the face can still open. also make sure you removed any transporting bolts from the player. how did it die?

I pressed reset numerous times in all configurations.. No go.

The front face will not open.. It just beeps... That's it.

Transporting bolts from the player? Are these bolts in it when it's new? -- Because this headunit has been in this car since 2009. The original owner installed it (or had it installed) 5 years ago.. It just came with the car.

plz make sure your wiring correct so you don't cook another screen.... confused what happened to it

Wiring is fine. I Only tapped into the remote, and front speaker wires .. and cut and capped the rear speaker wires. No major 're-wire" back there really. My front speaker wires are run with 14g speaker wire up to the headunit.. and spliced in to factory wiring. The rear speakers are all dedicated wire straight to amp,.. Sub is dedicated wire as well. I have 3 sets of RCA's off the back of the headunit.. Front , Rear, and Sub - Preouts.

As for the screen.. This is part of the reason I'm considering letting Bestbuy install it. I can obviously install a headunit from all I've done. This isn't a case of it never worked after I touched it.

What I think happened is When I was handling it, and putting trim pieces that go on the SIDE next to the console/headunit.. I had to really bang on them hard to get them into place. I can only think that force killed it.

I've read online where people with these pioneer head units have hit some potholes and such and theirs died.. and did the same beeping. They took it in for service and it was toast. The pioneers are really not that well made.. or shall I say, they are prone to premature death + Blowing Pre-amp which results in engine whine. Notorious for RCA pre-out noise/ground issues.

 

[Chromatic]

yes it has 2 sets and. A sub out all 4v and yes it has hp xovers ..pretty decent eq for the money 

---------- Post added at 02:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:26 AM ----------

 

Yea i love mine for the money

Nice to know it has High pass.. . And.. $335.. for built in blue tooth.. can't beat that by much even online. Kenwood brand, I trust.. Is likely more hardy than Pioneer.

And yes.. Analog dials for controls on the left hand side.. that is something I missed with the Pioneer that was built for the most screen real-estate possible. Sort of combining best of both worlds here.

I don't know bestbuy's "install hours".. I guess they install open to close. Hope I can get in there pick one out and they can immediately put it in , which shouldn't take anyone more than 30minutes-45mins at most.

Again, the reason for the bestbuy install (if I go with it).. is just 'warranty'.. and if something does fry.. etc.. It's warranted from them installing it.. So I just drive back up there and they will put a brand new one in no questions asked. Plus I'm just absolutely sick (right now) of installation work. I'll need a few weeks to recover. At the moment it's worth the $50 or $99 (depends on headunit I guess).. fee to install it. I wouldn't let best buy install my speakers, wire the car, sub, amp etc.. But I'll let them put in a headunit. I don't see any harm in that.

Further.. I have done all the work.. All they have to do is remove 6 screws.. one easy to pop off panel.. pull old one out.. and put new one in .. plug in 3 sets of rca's,.. the wiring harness, the satellite radio plug,.. antenna plug.. and so on. Takes a few seconds to "wire it up".. they can feel free to double check that out of course.

But again,.. all I did was splice into remote wire, and front speaker outs behind headunit.. I didn't touch power, ground, and other such wires.

So the only explanation I can possibly come up with for this thing dieing on me is me.. not thinking about the headunit,.. banging on the sides of that console getting the "knee pad" piece to go into place.

I'm going to head over to bestbuy in 30-45minutes now that it's on my mind. If they can't squeeze me in.. Hrmm.. I still want it installed by someone with a warranty.. so maybe I get it today and bring it back tom. for install. Again, just so if anything happens EVER they replace it.. they back their installs 100% forever if you don't ALTER them. Which I'm done with everything.. so no alteration.. except I'll check gains again with new haeadunit even though it's still a 4v preout-.. signals vary slightly from headunit to headunit.

 

[Chromatic]

Finished! -- Went and bought the Kenwood DDX470 and BestBuy couldn't install today.. So I just brought it home and installed it.

Here she is done:





I really like this headunit.. It has more features for Audio.. Built in Front, Rear, and Sub crossovers active -- Very handy.

I love the actual volume knob, attenuate button,.. Phone button etc.. Where I don't have to look away from the road. Still a 6.1" touchscreen and DVD player.. best of both worlds.

Bluetooth works excellent,.. It's new for me to have it in my vehicle, so it will get a lot of use.

There is a difference in this HU and the Pioneer one though.

To get the proper voltages when retuning the amp.. I had to bump the gains higher using this Headunit.. Despite it having 4V pre-outs as the Pioneer had.

Particularly the Sub channel.. Sub channel is probably 85% or so now to get it to the level needed. (That's at a 79hz tone.. at 40hz.. the voltage is WAY higher.)

The fronts/rears didn't need much of a bump.. about 10% compared to the Pioneer.

Sounds great though!

And.... she's done! My hands can heal.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

Finished! -- Went and bought the Kenwood DDX470 and BestBuy couldn't install today.. So I just brought it home and installed it.
Here she is done:





I really like this headunit.. It has more features for Audio.. Built in Front, Rear, and Sub crossovers active -- Very handy.

I love the actual volume knob, attenuate button,.. Phone button etc.. Where I don't have to look away from the road. Still a 6.1" touchscreen and DVD player.. best of both worlds.

Bluetooth works excellent,.. It's new for me to have it in my vehicle, so it will get a lot of use.

There is a difference in this HU and the Pioneer one though.

To get the proper voltages when retuning the amp.. I had to bump the gains higher using this Headunit.. Despite it having 4V pre-outs as the Pioneer had.

Particularly the Sub channel.. Sub channel is probably 85% or so now to get it to the level needed. (That's at a 79hz tone.. at 40hz.. the voltage is WAY higher.)

The fronts/rears didn't need much of a bump.. about 10% compared to the Pioneer.

Sounds great though!

And.... she's done! My hands can heal.

Thanks for all your help.

Told ya .lol ..and i leave my sub level on +10 thats where u get the 4v at anything less than +10 with be less voltage..i always set my amps at max level so i know i cant exceed them and tear stuff up

 

[Chromatic]

Told ya .lol ..and i leave my sub level on +10 thats where u get the 4v at anything less than +10 with be less voltage..i always set my amps at max level so i know i cant exceed them and tear stuff up

I set the Sub level to +10 as well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Good call on the headunit... It's nice, can't decide If I want to leave it on default where the colors rotate or just dial the colors into the amber to match the rest of the car.. hence the picture where it's on a reddish color.

As far as setting gains to max.. From all I've learned here and elsewhere.. I was under the impression you want to set your gains to match the voltage that equates the rated "RMS" of the speakers you are pushing so you don't mess them up. Pushing my gains to 100% would be pushing more power.. and would cause distortion and clipping as I cranked the volume no?

I dialed this in at Volume 27 of 35.. which is about 77% volume.. I feel like I can push the sub harder with the amp .. When I pushed that level up to 10 it really helped of course.. but this sub has a lot left in it.. however, I don't really need nor want more. This is already insane lol.. These JBL's are now absolutely screaming.. the JBL's do sound better on this Headunit, shrug. The MBQuarts I did have to fade up to 60-80% to front of course.. as they are just crazy loud and high quality.. they overpower the JBL's.

But, I'm glad to get a better tone, and it's actually brighter with this headunit for whatever reason out of the JBL's.

For now I've set the X-over's on the Fronts and Rears at 100hz.. and Sub at 100hz. Considering I listen to Rock/Alternative mostly.. it sounded good to my ears. Didn't hear vocals or anything coming through sub at 100hz crossover (of course I have the amp set as well.. so it's probably actually getting cut off somewhere around 80-85hz from amp.. so the headunit sub X-over is just a redundant "backup" if you will for the sub.

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

I set the Sub level to +10 as well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Good call on the headunit... It's nice, can't decide If I want to leave it on default where the colors rotate or just dial the colors into the amber to match the rest of the car.. hence the picture where it's on a reddish color.

As far as setting gains to max.. From all I've learned here and elsewhere.. I was under the impression you want to set your gains to match the voltage that equates the rated "RMS" of the speakers you are pushing so you don't mess them up. Pushing my gains to 100% would be pushing more power.. and would cause distortion and clipping as I cranked the volume no?

I dialed this in at Volume 27 of 35.. which is about 77% volume.. I feel like I can push the sub harder with the amp .. When I pushed that level up to 10 it really helped of course.. but this sub has a lot left in it.. however, I don't really need nor want more. This is already insane lol.. These JBL's are now absolutely screaming.. the JBL's do sound better on this Headunit, shrug. The MBQuarts I did have to fade up to 60-80% to front of course.. as they are just crazy loud and high quality.. they overpower the JBL's.

But, I'm glad to get a better tone, and it's actually brighter with this headunit for whatever reason out of the JBL's.

For now I've set the X-over's on the Fronts and Rears at 100hz.. and Sub at 100hz. Considering I listen to Rock/Alternative mostly.. it sounded good to my ears. Didn't hear vocals or anything coming through sub at 100hz crossover (of course I have the amp set as well.. so it's probably actually getting cut off somewhere around 80-85hz from amp.. so the headunit sub X-over is just a redundant "backup" if you will for the sub.

Yes it could possibly clip but the hu has a level that it clips at also my kenwood is 29 ...as long as u set the gains with the max level u plan on listening to daily and had the sub at +10 u should be ok .as far as the equation to get the correct rms it will get u close but no way of telling if at that level clipping occurs ..only way is with dd1/oscope.and yes i overset my filters on the amp then adjust them at the hu ..really nice to be able to do that on a sub400 dd

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

I matched my color to match the bluish green of chevy factory gauges ..looks clean..change it to amber

 

[Chromatic]

@NASTY08IMPALA -- Have a question. This headunit wouldn't power on at all until I hooked the antenna cable into it. Why? Does that mean it's using the Antenna as a ground?

I'm noticing a TINY bit of whine with nothing playing.. (very faint).. and I get what feels like a static electric shock when I get in and out of the car.. I do have cloth seats,.. but the Pioneer headunit didn't do this, at least not the shock.

Any easy way to fix this without pulling the headunit out? IE: Ground loop eliminator in the rca's or something? The whine doesn't bother me really cause it's so quiet... but the shock seems odd. I have my ground firmly bolted 3 feet away to the sheetmetal in the back of the car.

Any tips? I've read a few areas online the last 20 minutes about this problem.. and 3/4th's of the people say it's static electricity lol.. but it didn't do this before. So that doesn't seem right.

No fuses are blowing or anything of course.

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

@NASTY08IMPALA -- Have a question. This headunit wouldn't power on at all until I hooked the antenna cable into it. Why? Does that mean it's using the Antenna as a ground?
I'm noticing a TINY bit of whine with nothing playing.. (very faint).. and I get what feels like a static electric shock when I get in and out of the car.. I do have cloth seats,.. but the Pioneer headunit didn't do this, at least not the shock.

Any easy way to fix this without pulling the headunit out? IE: Ground loop eliminator in the rca's or something? The whine doesn't bother me really cause it's so quiet... but the shock seems odd. I have my ground firmly bolted 3 feet away to the sheetmetal in the back of the car.

Any tips? I've read a few areas online the last 20 minutes about this problem.. and 3/4th's of the people say it's static electricity lol.. but it didn't do this before. So that doesn't seem right.

No fuses are blowing or anything of course.

No idea never had that issue before

 

[Chromatic]

No idea never had that issue before

Roger. Just went back out and listened to it for an hour lol.. Went into the "Q tuning" or whatever it's called.. and made it sound even better.. I must like some serious brightness cause I pushed the "highs/treble" up to +7.. And they were already good.

Those JBL's even cutoff at 100hz hit hard on the 6.5" mids.. I had The fugee's killing me softly playing.. and the bass note played throughout the song is around 100hz'ish.. and you could feel those things next to your leg. Almost pushed them to cutoff at 120hz.. but didn't want to lose 20hz between sub at 100 and mids at 120.. (Only was thinking to push them cause I like to "protect" my speakers.. but meh.. they weren't that much if something were to happen to the JBL mids..).

Then I went to the Thriller album by Michael Jackson.. and played Beat it and Billie Jean (lol...) -- and it sounds like I've never heard it before.. all sorts of noises I don't remember.. like being in a movie or something.

Yes.. I'm thoroughly impressed with how this turned out. Last time I sat in my car (not moving) just to listen to music was 10 years ago or more..

As I'm typing this I can feel my ears .. lol. I guess that's the highs people talk about giving them a headache or something. But.. I had it cranked a bit.. I guess we do have to be careful with these sound systems.. you will lose hearing if you have it cranked for years on end no matter your age.

I put a CD in last.. and wow.. sounded even cleaner.

This time the car didn't shock me once.. shrug. But the whine is still there.. just barely though.. can't hear it when music is on at all.. but it's slightly audible when I have volume down to zero and I rev the engine. Not a big deal to me.. I know I can throw a ground loop eliminator in line and get rid of that without having to trace it down.. done it a few times with home stereo systems. I may even have one here somewhere,.. But not sure where I'd put it (as the one I have is RCA to RCA).. and this thing is fed 3 pairs.. hrmm.

Anyhow,.. Whine can be many different things I know.. from antenna, bad ground,.. exposed wire somewhere to Power wire interfering with RCA's.. Though I can't really spread out my power wire and rca's by the amp any more.