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07 Stereo upgrade for 04 LGT - MP3's!!!!!


Muzza

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Just in case anyone was interested......

 

Upgraded my 04 McIntosh Stereo to a JDM 07 one and now I have Mp3 playability and more importantly iPod connectivity!!!......Hooray!!!!!

 

There was a bit of fiddling around to complete but well worth it. First you need to source a 07 unit which I bought online for $200 but some various places have given me a variety of prices.

 

Had a professional plastics company make the all important cut to remove the aircon fascia from the stereo as I didn't want to damage the face of the new one as it has quite a shiny clear finish on it (see pics). They didn't end up charging me anything so I guess if you're polite enough to the company you may get the same :lol:.

 

Am stoked with the result. The connectors plugged straight in from my old McIntosh - the only thing missing is the option to "brighten" the display of the stereo when you have the headlights on. This is no issue anyway at night as it is bright enough but before if I push the "bright" button beside trip computer/clock, it used to brighten everyting up but the new unit seems to have a different connector (and appears to be wired differently for that feature) - didn't persue this too much as it doesn't really bother me to be honest.

 

I also had to install a band expander (2 actually - car has two aerials it seems) due to my new unit being the Jap version. The radio works fine - is just 10mhz out as far as matching the station tuning with the actual station number. Who cares though - I haven't even tuned all the presets because I doubt I'll listen to the radio anymore.

 

Bought the factory accessory cable from Subaru and created an aux jack in the centre console of car. Have the Belkin iPod charger/adapter and the iPod now switches off when the car switches off etc and is always charged when car is on.

 

Before buying the aux cable from Subaru I tested the proper Clarion interface...and it SUCKED! It was so slow to respond and didn't display the tracks on the actual head unit like I was expecting and was very limited in it's functions in general (it also "disables" the actual iPod functions at the iPod while connected). A complete waste of money that cable would have been I have to say.

 

Total upgrade has cost me around $400 (NZD) + iPod.

 

I have to say - the new head unit seems to sound a lot better than the old unit even though it is using the same 13 speakers and amp also. It has a few more features (extra tone controls etc). The 6 disc changer displays the MP3 titles as I'd expect and is very easy to use.

 

Even if this costs you a bit more than this (I know I scored a bit of a bargin with the actual head unit purchase price) I would still highly recommend it - sure is mint having 14,000 songs available while driving!:lol::lol::lol:

 

Of course this only applies to those with the McIntosh units already in their cars unfortunately.

 

Hope you can follow pics ok.

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1036738498_2-NewStereo-beforecut..thumb.jpg.c0753fe5953e5fd5a1684634f8ab8013.jpg

1598732002_3OriginalStereo-outofcar.thumb.JPG.a3ad2bf3ec0f1c507af2431276c3805e.JPG

165656359_4-Originalsideview.thumb.JPG.a6a924d7c60d24aeae1d5486c52d363a.JPG

96519360_5-NewStereoassembled.thumb.JPG.d67cfebc2e0afc5d00296002c8d015ce.JPG

651465697_6-Rearofnewunit..thumb.JPG.8a724a79f4ffb1afeb31071443ab0717.JPG

1703759446_7-AuxConnectorforiPod.thumb.JPG.2a43343f49e313724a0f0e5e6496df78.JPG

140545810_7-Sideofnewunit.thumb.JPG.2efd554365054b54b3f78ea82287cd49.JPG

1166608696_8-Backincar.thumb.JPG.28ba861ab0f17d08c169bcfa534876b2.JPG

1000562064_9-Moreincar.thumb.JPG.93795c4b5768f1060770d649d94b3e16.JPG

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I'm a little confused. Why did you have to cut the fascia on your JDM headunit? Couldn't you have just taken the faceplate off of your HVAC controls to fit it over the entire thing?

 

 

Also for those wondering:

400.00 NZD = 304.806 USD = 325.276 CAD

 

Now, more importantly.......... will this work for North American Legacys?

 

Too bad we can't have 13 speakers in our cars :mad:

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I'm a little confused. Why did you have to cut the fascia on your JDM headunit? Couldn't you have just taken the faceplate off of your HVAC controls to fit it over the entire thing?

 

 

The aircon unit was just slightly different so it didn't quite fit in behind the new fascia (which is one piece - old unit is two pieces). It looked like it was actually going to fit initially....but I knew that would have been too easy!!!!....haha

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