So I had been somewhat satisfied with my somewhat "Basic Stereo Upgrade", but kept thinking this is not the way some vocals should sound, and the "presence" that I'm familiar with in nice sounding systems I have had is missing.
So after reading a few things, and I think it was either MapleLeaf, Geomoto, and SweenyP who also did their systems, checked the frequency on the head unit and determined that it is NOT a full signal, I finally decided to change the head unit.
In all my past cars, at least 4 of them, this has ALWAYS been the case(inferior low volts out, sound signal, OEM managed output limited to protect speakers, etc). But here on this forum or on some other forums, people said that the newer model cars have good head units and good sound where I wouldnt need to change the Entune. But that is false. And in the next few days/I hope, I will have this thing installed and I can report back.
Mind you all I have been listening to are a handful of tracks that I am very familiar with, and now know extremely well, so besides me trying to do a swap compare, I am confident I will be able to tell the difference with little placebo effect. Maybe there is a way someone can suggest I record the output maybe at the same volume level, with the same track times...?
Anyways, its the Pioneer avh-4100nex.
One thing I noticed is that Metra and American International that make dash kits for this look pretty dated! They are recessed and just a blastic bulk. Scosche also makes some but no luck with any for the 3rd gen Highlander.
Do I go through the trouble of custom making it or maybe take the available and hope the recess design give me some shade for better viewing? (Although the screen on this HU does tilt).
So after reading a few things, and I think it was either MapleLeaf, Geomoto, and SweenyP who also did their systems, checked the frequency on the head unit and determined that it is NOT a full signal, I finally decided to change the head unit.
In all my past cars, at least 4 of them, this has ALWAYS been the case(inferior low volts out, sound signal, OEM managed output limited to protect speakers, etc). But here on this forum or on some other forums, people said that the newer model cars have good head units and good sound where I wouldnt need to change the Entune. But that is false. And in the next few days/I hope, I will have this thing installed and I can report back.
Mind you all I have been listening to are a handful of tracks that I am very familiar with, and now know extremely well, so besides me trying to do a swap compare, I am confident I will be able to tell the difference with little placebo effect. Maybe there is a way someone can suggest I record the output maybe at the same volume level, with the same track times...?
Anyways, its the Pioneer avh-4100nex.
One thing I noticed is that Metra and American International that make dash kits for this look pretty dated! They are recessed and just a blastic bulk. Scosche also makes some but no luck with any for the 3rd gen Highlander.
Do I go through the trouble of custom making it or maybe take the available and hope the recess design give me some shade for better viewing? (Although the screen on this HU does tilt).