Parrot Mki9100

I've been reading a lot about bluetooth kits for a while now and I finally pulled the trigger on a Parrot Mki9100. I found it on Amazon for $199 with free shipping and no tax.

I had been comparing the different models: CK3100, MK6000 and MKi9100 and decided that the A2DP capabilities of the MKi9100 were worth the extra money. I bought the QC harness, which was 1/3 of the Parrot kit, but since I've been reading about how easy it makes things I decided I would give them money for their work.

I was also thinking about buying the Subaru iPod connection kit, but could not convince myself to pay $120 for it. The MKi9100 will connect to the iPod and will also play mp3s from a USB device. I still don't know though if it will do this out of the box.

I have placed the order for both items today and will update this thread once everything is installed.

I don't know where I'm going to be mounting the MKi9100 screen, but I liked the fact that the blue OLED display should be similar to the blue colors of the HU. It's going to be a little hard to find a good spot where it doesn't look too out of place.

Since our car does not use the CAN bus for the steering wheel controls, I will have to use the included wireless controller for the Parrot kit, and hopefully it won't get too much in the way if mounted on the steering wheel. We'll see.

Has anyone installed an MKi9100 or MK6100 in their Legacy?

I've got the MK6100 along with the specb wheel and sub.

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54548&highlight=parrot&page=4

I've got the MK6100 as well. mounted the screen on the steering column just behind (or next to) the parking light switch.

I don't have pics but it's just like this...

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1374768&postcount=40

Does the Spec B steering wheel do anything special with the Parrot? Or you just have the wireless remote clipped to the steering wheel.

I got the QCSUB-1MK because that's what quickconnect products recommended. It has an RCA stereo input. I got this since I assumed this would get me the best audio quality.

I mounted my screen in the same place. Wireless remote on the wheel, but I think I'm going to move it somewhere else. I was just stating that this setup works if an 05 owner had changed to the specb wheel:

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106027&highlight=sti+airbag

I mounted my screen in the same place. Wireless remote on the wheel, but I think I'm going to move it somewhere else. I was just stating that this setup works if an 05 owner had changed to the specb wheel:

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106027&highlight=sti+airbag

Gotcha. The remote looks nice. The screen I'm still trying to figure out where to install.

The problem with the 08 Spec B and GT wheel is that it has buttons in the lower quadrants of the wheel like in this generic picture:

http://image.automotive.com/f/auto-shows/2008-subaru-legacy-and-outback-debut-at-detroit-auto-show/1074524+w631+cr1+re0+ar1/2008-subaru-legacy-interiorjpg.jpg

I'm wondering if the remote will still fit in there. We'll see. Harness will arrive today. Turns out it was shipped from San Diego, so the package will only have to go through the local distribution center.

Amazon shipped the Mki9100 yesterday and should be here tomorrow.

I got the harness today and there's a note on the bag:

"You can optionally use the 2 supplied female RCA phono plugs for music AUX IN for car stereos with an auxiliary input. If you use the RCA phono plugs, you must switch off the "mute on music streaming" setting in the Parrot MKi kit menu."

http://www.quickconnectproducts.com/Find/images/QCSub-1MK.jpg

I think this means that there is a set of RCA plugs in the back of the head unit that I will plug into the harness. This will make the Aux input in the center console unusable, but I will be able to use the connectors from the parrot.

I tried to look for pictures of a stock 08 head unit but couldn't find any.

I'll know more for sure tomorrow.

I tried to e-mail quickconnect products but their support form is broken.

Subscribed..... I have been waiting to pull the trigger on a 9100 or 9200

Ditto. Subscriberz!!!

I got the harness today and there's a note on the bag:

 

"You can optionally use the 2 supplied female RCA phono plugs for music AUX IN for car stereos with an auxiliary input. If you use the RCA phono plugs, you must switch off the "mute on music streaming" setting in the Parrot MKi kit menu."

 

http://www.quickconnectproducts.com/Find/images/QCSub-1MK.jpg

 

I think this means that there is a set of RCA plugs in the back of the head unit that I will plug into the harness. This will make the Aux input in the center console unusable, but I will be able to use the connectors from the parrot.

 

I tried to look for pictures of a stock 08 head unit but couldn't find any.

 

I'll know more for sure tomorrow.

 

I tried to e-mail quickconnect products but their support form is broken.

I know the HU on the 05 models do not have the RCAs. I would install thescreen in the same place on the steering column as it holds the microphones.

I know the HU on the 05 models do not have the RCAs. I would install thescreen in the same place on the steering column as it holds the microphones.

I got the MKi9100 earlier this morning. Can't wait to get home and get it installed.

The microphones and the screen are separate on the MKi9100. I was thinking of mounting the microphones behind the rearview mirror like other installs I have seen.

I got the MKi9100 earlier this morning. Can't wait to get home and get it installed.

 

The microphones and the screen are separate on the MKi9100. I was thinking of mounting the microphones behind the rearview mirror like other installs I have seen.

(eagerly rubs hands together)

All right. I finished part 1 of the install yesterday. I say part 1 because I still have an important thing to do: mount the display! I still can't decide where to put it, but in the meantime I got everything connected and working.

I put the microphone under the home link mirror and ran the wire up to the headliner along with the mirror's power cable:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/havanahjoe/P1050608.jpg

I wanted to run the microphone wire down the driver's side A-Pillar but I had a hard time getting the pillar off. I spent almost an hour and could not get the damn clip to let go. I then tried the passenger's side and it came off on the first try.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/havanahjoe/P1050609.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/havanahjoe/P1050610.jpg

It turned out a little better since I could work with the cables better on that side by removing the owner's manual holder in the glove box.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/havanahjoe/P1050611.jpg

Installing the blue box was the easiest thing. I just plugged in the QCSUB-1MK harness into the blue box, then connected it to the HU and then connected the car harness to the QCSUB-1MK harness. I didn't take pictures since this is pretty straightforward.

I put the multi-connector (ipod, USB and line in) inside the glove box. I ran them through the manual holder opening. I need to drill a hole on the cover to put it back in. For now I just left it out. The cable holder on the multi-cable will help keep things stable in there and I can use the space originally meant for the owner's manual to store the ipod.

I mounted the remote on the steering wheel and it's not a bad place but I might put it in another location.

Since I was not able to find a good spot for the display, and it was getting late, I just left it in the same place as the multi-connector.

Now for the operation and my thoughts on the device.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/havanahjoe/P1050614.jpg

Pros:

-Great iPod integration. Song Title, Album and Artist show up on the screen. Changing songs works well and you can fast forward or rewind from the remote. Song is paused when call comes in and will resume on call end and it will also remember the song and position when the car powers off and resume on power on.

-Calling quality is great so far. I haven't done much testing but it works as it should. I can be heard and I can hear properly.

-Good audio quality when playing music

-Can use the media player on the Blackberry and can even use Slacker, Pandora or any other audio streaming app on the Blackberry and use A2DP to get the audio to the car.

-Contacts synchronization. I can voice dial any contact on my phone and it will announce the name of the caller when the phone rings.

-Charges iPod

Cons:

-With the current setup, the Parrot is hijacking the speakers so the HU does nothing. I can't control volume, bass, treble, input, anything. Even powering off the HU will not stop the audio from getting to the speakers.

-With the current setup the NAV does NOT mute the audio while playing music from the Parrot. It of course won't mute the audio while a call is in progress, but this I guess would be expected.

-The iPod mode allows you to do random by song or artist. Unfortunately (for me) this setting is not remembered when the car is turned off. I have to go into the menu every time to activate it again.

-The remote is a little iffy. Sometimes pushing a button will not do anything and I have to press it again to change songs or to activate voice dialing. Not that big of a deal.

-When you turn the car off, the Parrot will keep playing audio for about 5-10 seconds. It's a little weird.

-On power up the Parrot takes a while to start playing music. It still takes less than what it took me to take out the iPod from the center console, turn it on and hit play. It's a lot less than the time it took me to use my Vision:M when it had completely powered off, as it took about a minute to power on. So in the end this is not a deal breaker for me.

Some of the cons are not that big of a problem, but I need to do some research and figure out how the alternate audio input method will work. From what I understand I can plug the RCA plugs to the Aux In of the HU and this way I can get audio through the HU and the Parrot will only mute the audio when a call comes in. This way I could get the NAV to work while listening to music from the Parrot. Otherwise, I would have to switch to FM or CD when using the NAV to go somewhere, which is not very often.

It kinda sucks that I can't control the volume from the steering wheel. The steering wheel controls are useless when streaming audio through the parrot with the current setup.

It's easy to give the control back to the HU, all that needs to be done is pause the music, and the audio starts coming out of the HU like it normally would.

I would think that when the Parrot is hijacking the speakers the HU can't do it's thing where it reduces bass when volume goes above 20. I think the audio is not changed at low or high volumes with the Parrot. Volume of course is controlled from the Parrot remote control.

I think that's it. I have some videos showing how the MKi9100 works, and I will upload them later.

Here's a video I put together:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzq-lpgNlUk]YouTube - Parrot MKi9100 installed in my 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B[/ame]

The first part of the video shows how the volume is controlled on regular FM but how it does not work when the Parrot is streaming audio from the iPod.

The second part shows some A2DP streaming from my Blackberry and the Voice prompt to make a call.

The third part shows a call being placed over the Parrot.

The fourth video shows Pandora streaming internet radio over A2DP to the Parrot and then switching back to the iPod.

You can optionally use the 2 supplied female RCA phono plugs for music AUX IN for car stereos with an auxiliary input. If you use the RCA phono plugs, you must switch off the "mute on music streaming" setting in the Parrot MKi kit menu.

I think this means that there is a set of RCA plugs in the back of the head unit that I will plug into the harness. This will make the Aux input in the center console unusable, but I will be able to use the connectors from the parrot.

No Subaru OEM radio (that I'm aware of) has RCA jacks. Many years back, some models had a 3.5mm Aux jack on the front, but recent ones have a proprietary harness connector on the rear (whose harness runs out to a 3.5mm jack mounted either on an "ashtray" pod or in the center console).

To use the QC harness' RCA jacks, you'll need to disconnect the car's aux harness and fabricate an adapter cable (or un-mount your car's 3.5mm Aux jack and get an off-the-shelf 3.5mm plug to RCA adapter).

From what I understand I can plug the RCA plugs to the Aux In of the HU and this way I can get audio through the HU and the Parrot will only mute the audio when a call comes in. ...

 

It kinda sucks that I can't control the volume from the steering wheel. The steering wheel controls are useless when streaming audio through the parrot with the current setup.

 

...

 

I would think that when the Parrot is hijacking the speakers the HU can't do it's thing where it reduces bass when volume goes above 20. I think the audio is not changed at low or high volumes with the Parrot. Volume of course is controlled from the Parrot remote control.

The key issue is that the Parrot has its own built-in speaker amps. When it's playing music (or a phone call), it's sending the audio directly to your car's speakers (completely bypassing your OEM HU).

The Parrot's Aux connection routes the music through the HU's amp instead of the Parrot's amp. So your volume, balance, bass EQ, and SWCs will all work normally. That's why you have to switch off the "mute on music streaming" setting — so that the Parrot leaves the HU connected to the car's speakers while playing music from your phone.

The Parrot always uses its built-in amp during phone calls. So that function will work even if the HU was powered off.

I recommend using the QC's Aux wires. The amp in your HU is probably marginally better than the Parrot's. Plus, if you have the OEM subwoofer, you can attach the QC harness so that your music goes to the sub but phone calls don't (by connecting things in this order: car's factory radio harness, QC/Parrot, subwoofer T-harness, OEM radio).

Thanks for all the info SCXdc!

I recommend using the QC's Aux wires. The amp in your HU is probably marginally better than the Parrot's. Plus, if you have the OEM subwoofer, you can attach the QC harness so that your music goes to the sub but phone calls don't (by connecting things in this order: car's factory radio harness, QC/Parrot, subwoofer T-harness, OEM radio).

I assumed I was going to have to find a way to get the audio from the Aux In to the QCSub rca plugs.

I currently have the harness connected like this: factory radio harness, subwoofer t-harness, QC/Parrot, OEM radio. I assume that when plugged in this way everything is going to the sub?

I currently have the harness connected like this: factory radio harness, subwoofer t-harness, QC/Parrot, OEM radio. I assume that when plugged in this way everything is going to the sub?

Right. You'll want to leave it that way until you change to using the RCA connections, so your streamed music goes to the sub.

Just wanted to give everyone an update on my Parrot Mki9100.

Yesterday the unit froze up on me all of a sudden. The screen got stuck displaying "Parrot" and nothing would work. I was unable to find the fuse that was giving power to the unit and ended up disconnecting the battery to reset it.

I turned the car on and I was able to get music working.

This morning on my way to work I did not get any music from the unit after a little while. I looked at the screen and sure enough, the thing had frozen again at the same place.

Once I got a chance to try to reset it again while at work, I pulled a bunch of fuses (some new ones that other members suggested) and I still could not get the unit to turn off!

I called the Parrot support line and the tech suggested I remove the screen and that should reset the unit. I did that and the screen turned off, but after putting it back on it would not turn on, so I called the Support line again and was told that removing the screen would not reset the unit, so the kit is probably still frozen.

Howard from Quickconnect Products has been really helpful and when he heard that it is freezing he suggested that the unit is defective. Parrot Support seems to agree.

I'll disconnect the battery again tonight and make sure that I'm running the latest version (apparently the first release had some freezing issues). If I am running the latest version (I should, since I updated it with a file I downloaded from the parrot site right after I finished the installation) then I need to send it back to Amazon for a refund and then buy it again (that is if I still feel like buying it again).

Sorry to hear. I bought mine at Costco so whenever it takes a sh1t I can return it. I love Costco.

That's true! I don't think Costco has them now, or I don't remember seeing them. Their website doesn't list it.

I had some issues getting my MK6100 to work when I first got it too. I went through a couple screens, the cord that connects the screen to the blue box and finally the blue box itself was replaced. It's worked fine since the blue box was replaced.

The remote seems to go through batteries a bit more quickly than I'd like but otherwise it's been great.

Parrot was a little slow to respond but overall the service has been good.

Cheers!

Yesterday the unit froze up on me all of a sudden...

same story here with an mki9100 installed last month in my 2005 OB

the kit turned itself off while I was listenning to the radio (on the head unit), engine was off.

I've reported this on the french parrot support forum, at least two other guys have encountered this issue in the past few days.

the kit was running the latest firmware (1.14a)

I have not checked the US or UK parrot support forum.

However, I've had the kit installed by a professional, so I will return the car tonight so they can take the parrot unit out and have it exchanged under warranty.

Right now, I am very happy to have spent a few more € for the install : I'll leave them the joy to deal with parrot support...

..I went through a couple screens, the cord that connects the screen to the blue box and finally the blue box itself was replaced. It's worked fine since the blue box was replaced.

manufacturing quality consistency seems weak !

the blue box on my kit failed a couple of hours after it had been installed, actually before I got the car back from the installer, 'went to RMA right away

Yup. Although, I'm pretty sure it was the blue box from the very beginning it just took replacing all the other stuff for them to finally figure out what the problem was.

Still trouble free since then. Thanks for bumping this thread. Reminded me I need to find a nice 5 or 10 pack of CR2032 batteries online (for the remote). The stores charge an arm and a leg for them retail!

Cheers!

I haven't had issues with mine for a while. I did do a firmware update after the issues and it's been working decently since.

I still have to move the microphone somewhere it doesn't pick so much road noise and I still have not found a place I like for the screen.

Anyone have pictures of their installs?