jazzymt

The CD player should be the same as before...

The Sirius is CRYSTAL CLEAR, but the bass isn't so great. The Zune pumped at full volume + the stereo at full volume yields only mediocre sound, not very loud. Any suggestions?

The bass must be a function of either Sirius or the player. My XM unit has exactly the opposite problem - they overmodulate the bass on most of the channels & it's negatively set on my headunit.

 

The Zune being quiet is because you're using the headphone output. Headphone voltage levels are significantly lower than the line level audio signal the internal CD changer provides, so you're going to have to crank the volume to get it loud enough to hear.

 

You have a couple of options to help with that though - one is to get a Zune dock that provides a line level out. Since the Zune is so new, there's not many options out there, but a quick search found this from Belkin. I'm sure by summer there will probably be quite a few more things out there for it.

 

Option number 2 is to get a pre-amp to boost the headphone signal coming from the Zune - it could also be used to boost the bass from your Sirius receiver. PAC audio makes a couple of them & I'm sure there's other ones available out there too.

 

The last thing that may be causing you problems is if you're connecting the Sirius unit and your Zune together at the same time, one may be drawing the signal down of the other...

Hey guys - I got nailed hard by the flu Tuesday and have been laid up all week. Luckily, I think I was mostly caught up with all the orders & issues before my week of misery ensued - but if you needed something & I haven't followed up with ya - please email or pm me again. I'm not 100% yet, but should be recovered enough to catch up with everything this weekend.

My first impression would be that it won't work - the overseas subaru radio looks nearly identical on the outside to ours, but is made by kenwood & the internals are totally different.

 

The only way to really know would be to take it apart & test it. Since starting this project, I've found 4 other Subaru radio's that are directly compatible with the same mod as our 3 Legacy/Outback radios:

 

2004 Legacy/Outback P-128

2004-06 Baja P-131

2005-06 Impreza P-133

2003-06 Forester P-130

Grumble, grumble - the iPod cables did not show up today, so backorders won't be able to go out until Friday (and arrive Monday). Sorry everybody - they told me they were arriving today...

Jazzy,

 

wasn't ticked at all about the availability/backorder (hope I didn't come off that way).

No harm, no foul. It was a question as much as anything to make sure folks were aware that although they can order, I still don't have any.

 

AFAIK - they should be here tomorrow, so all backorders should ship Thursday & arrive Saturday.

Still no luck with my aux-in board... any ideas?

PM me your shipping address & I'll send you a replacement board...at this point I can't think of anything else, so we'll have to try replacing that to either rule it out or hopefully solve the problem.

In the instructions it says that the ribbon cables can be inserted either way into the circuit board...

It still says that? Wups - well, yea, that isn't true. The aux-in board has sockets that can go in either way, but the radio does not.

What would that mean if there are/aren't 14 soldered pins and one empty hole?

It would mean I sent you the aux-in board for the 02-04 Impreza. This is what it should look like (as you've already figured out).

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c161/JazzyMT/solder_pins.jpg

 

It sounds like you've got the right board. The only other thing I can think of is either one of the cables is backwards, or not plugged in all of the way...

Possible, but unlikely - there's another possibility though. Count the number of pins on the bottom of the board that are soldered on each ribbon cable socket. There should be an empty hole at the end, and 14 soldered pins...

I'm afriad I'm out of ideas then... have you tried reinstalling it without the aux-in board?

Did you make sure to put the all the screws back in the same location as they came out from? Sounds like either the loading mechanism gear is jammed from a long screw where it should have a short screw, or the ribbon cable is not fully seated & the CD player isn't getting power...

The cable is disconnected up near the driver side vent above the radio. This is the install instructions for the Metra faceplate which points it out - hopefully that helps.

Jazzy,

 

How long is the ipod kit on back order for ( I put in my order earlier this week)??? thats a major bummer!

I'm not sure. Like I said they are backordered all the way to the manufacturer. You should have either seen that they were out of stock when you purchased the kit or received a backorder notification from me already.

 

...Checking my bank account, it looks like I have a big charge from my vendor on Friday, so they probably shipped to me on Friday (hopefully) and should be here sometime next week.

RBS is the only grille available for Outback owners (other than the $400 JDM mesh grille), so it's a no-contest for us.

Jazzy, get on it and stock it

Actually, I am *finally* happy to report that I'll be adding this product to my site fairly soon. There will be some price/kit "restructuring" soon as well (using this GLI will allow me to simplify/reduce the number of different cables/adapters I carry).

 

Unfortunately - PAC is WAY behind on products right now - my iPod cables are indefinitely backordered...I'm sure they will catch up soon though.

Well there's your problem right there!

 

The cable is using the audio ground as a power ground - that's bad - if without the audio ground your iPod won't charge - that means the ground you used on the iPod cable is no good. You need a better ground - I would splice into the ground wire for the cigarette lighter - or use one of the bare metal sides of the radio if you don't want to splice anything. You need a good metal-to-metal contact.

Um - there shouldn't be any DC current on the audio for your iPod. The iPod is receiving power through the docking cable...separate from the audio signals.

 

I think I'm missing part of the picture as to how your iPod is connected. Are you using the cable I supply? How is it connected to power?

Gage,

 

I think most people have the iPod cable exit in the armrest cubby - generally they drill a small hole at the bottom, although the available alternatives are countless. Once you have the dash trim apart to take out the radio, you'll have a better idea what your options are and will probably have a good feel for where you want it to go.

Well - it's possible for them to be the same anyway - but it depends on your source. I have heard many reports from Sirius owners that it is lower, although it is easily as loud or louder with my Roady2 (XM).

 

The line level out on your iPod should also be significantly louder than the headphone jack...what adapter are you using for your iPod?

Well - Tuning is the obvious first answer - nothing on '07s yet. Lots of parts related to that.

Two questions first:

1) Are you connecting the iPod through the headphone jack, or a line level out provided by a docking connector of some kind?

2) Are your iPod & Sirius units always hooked up at the same time?

 

I don't think there's any risk of having the RS GLI installed wrong - it is probably a 1:1 winding and can be installed in either direction. What I suspect is that your iPod & Sirius receiver have mismatched impedances & they are drawing eachother's signal down. Have you tried plugging in only one at a time?

Congrats on the '05 XT - that's what I drive!

 

I can try and answer some of your questions:

1) Not sure - although I've heard the light in there is part of the "heat" problem, so taking that out might help.

2) I think the total length is about 6', split about 50/50 with the iPod "single" cable for the dock connector and the power/RCA/stereo connector wires.

3) That's a lot of stuff to cram in the cubby, but I think it would still reach. It sounds like you're going with the pro iPod kit so I would suggest an alternative approach:

Stuff the GLI, couplers and most of the cables behind the radio (there's tons of room). Hardwire the iPod power to the cigarette lighter wires under the radio and only snake the iPod dock cable into the dash cubby...you may only want/need a few inches in there to keep it clean if you're just throwing the iPod in the cubby, but you should have use of the full 3 feet or so of "combined" cable should you need it.

4) Since the iPod cable has only wires, it needs to be spliced into the power wires "behind" the cigarette lighter port, keeping it free for whatever other use you might have for it - the same is true for either/both cigarette/power outlet (dash/armrest).

 

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions.

Very nice work...nuf said.

Here are some pictures of my completed XM/Aux-In install. Had a custom radio shop do it....and once they figured out the interference problem I was having (think they had the GLI connecting through the wrong line), it works VERY nice!

Glad to hear it worked out for you Joe. I knew something with the GLI couldn't be working right, so I'm glad they figured it out. It's tough to diagnose stuff like that over the phone.

I need some help with installing this adapter on an 06 Outback with a 1 CD player (auto trans, manual climate ctrl).

 

I've taken the screws off of the front of the radio and it's loose but I can't pull it out. All of the wires in the back must be very short because I can't even pull the radio out enough to see where the plugs are (much less pull them out because those plugs are in there very tight).

 

What do I need to do? I'm at a loss.

I think what might be hangin' you up is the climate control cable. Did you disconnect it? Here's the Metra instructions on how/where to disconnect it.