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Stock radio, Alpine upgrade, or aftermarket?

Old 06-28-2011, 04:31 PM
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Default Stock radio, Alpine upgrade, or aftermarket?

Which one would you guys suggest I get? I intend to use some kind of hands-free bluetooth solution for my Droid X2 at some point, either the Toyota Blu Logic system or an aftermarket.

One thing I'm interested in, conceptually, is calibration with a calibration mic, something akin to the Audyssey system that my home theater uses. I'd like a completely flat frequency response and as far as I'm aware I can't really get close to that with basic equipment, since built-in equalizers tend to lack resolution, i.e., the equalizer in the stock Scion tC radio only lets you adjust bass & treble, which I believe according to the manual means roughly 100Hz & 10kHz, respectively.

I guess my point is, I'm not opposed at all to an aftermarket solution, as long as I can get bluetooth hands-free functionality similar to or better than Toyota's system.

What do you guys think I should do?
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Old 06-28-2011, 04:58 PM
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aftermarket.
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Old 06-28-2011, 05:53 PM
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Are there any systems out there that offer calibration similar to Audyssey's, but which aren't Alpine? Alpine doesn't seen to have a good selection of head units, or maybe I'm just not navigating their web site correctly.
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Old 06-28-2011, 06:44 PM
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aftermarket

i love pioneer
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Old 06-28-2011, 08:47 PM
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I'm gonna chalk up another one for Pioneer. Been using their head units for years. Great quality so long as you don't scrape the bottom of the barrel. Most of the models offer an "Auto-EQ" feature that will set a custom sound stage for your vehicle if that's what you're looking for. The mic is optional though so make sure you buy that as well.
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Old 06-28-2011, 09:21 PM
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aftermarket
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Old 06-28-2011, 09:31 PM
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Do you think the Alpine IMPRINT system works with the Alpine premium upgrade offered by Toyota/Scion?
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Old 06-28-2011, 09:48 PM
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It looks like the Toyota part number on the Alpine upgrade is PT545-00111. It would certainly make things really easy if this cleanly ported over to an Alpine part number, then I could perhaps more readily determine if it supports the Alpine IMPRINT process of auto EQ.
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Old 06-29-2011, 03:59 AM
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aftermarket
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Old 06-29-2011, 05:02 AM
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dont want to steal your thread...

BUT which aftermarket Pioneer units work/fit in the 2011 tc? I am looking for an aftermarket radio/nav. Im sure this is helpful for the OP as well

any info on which ones and what is all needed, etc would be great :D
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Old 06-29-2011, 06:55 AM
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My guess is pretty much any Pioneer will fit fine, even double DIN (those are the bigger ones).
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Old 06-29-2011, 07:34 AM
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Originally Posted by johnmk
My guess is pretty much any Pioneer will fit fine, even double DIN (those are the bigger ones).
yup double din....especially since the stock HU is already double din
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Old 06-29-2011, 11:16 AM
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Originally Posted by johnmk
It looks like the Toyota part number on the Alpine upgrade is PT545-00111. It would certainly make things really easy if this cleanly ported over to an Alpine part number, then I could perhaps more readily determine if it supports the Alpine IMPRINT process of auto EQ.
"Compatible Units: iDA-X100, iDA-X200, CDA-9886, CDA-9884, IVA-W505, IVA-D106, IVA-W505/P1,IVA-W505, IVA-D106, iXA-W404, iDA-X305, iDA-X303, CDA-105"

I doubt the unit supports the Imprint function. I don't see it anywhere on the Scion website, nor have I heard anything about it on the forums. I'm not saying 100% that it doesn't. I just think that the Imprint function would be something that would be advertised. If you have any electronic guru's at your dealer, I would ask them to confirm.
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Old 06-29-2011, 07:25 PM
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Your goal of an auto tune solution will require aftermaket, and not likely be cheap. I recommend against the alpine h100 add on unit as i've read over and over that it's auto tune is crap. I'm using one in my tc now and it works well, but I tuned it manually. Many of the current pioneer double din head units feature an auto tune option, but I don't know how well it works. The top option is the pioneer p99, and I hear its autotune is very good.
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