Nice Pony
12-02-2007, 03:07 PM
I installed a Kenwood DNX7100 head unit a couple of weeks ago.
Part list:
1. Kenwood: DNX7100 GPS Navigation System
2. Kenwood: KCA-BT100 Bluetooth Hands Free Box
3. KT&C Co. Ltd.: Color Waterproof Bullet Camera 92 degree with mirror image.
3. Metra: 95-5812 Dash Mount Kit
4. Metra: 70-5521 Wiring Harness for factory subwoofers
5. Radio Shack: 7805 +5V Fixed-Voltage Regulator
6. Philmore: 30-16070 Round Rocker Switch SPDT, ON-ON
7. Miscellaneous 18AWG wire, multilink butt connectors, wire taps and electrical tape.
Other available options that I did not choose or need are a 6 or 10 disc CD changer, TV tuner, HD radio, SAT Radio and iPod cable.
It replaced the stock Shaker 500 head unit with the Kenwood DNX7100. The install went very smoothly after reading a few write-ups on this and other forums without which it would have taken a bit more time to figure out some of the wiring. The two best write-ups and ones I would recommend you read were by TacoBill on The 4.0 Collective Forums and hags1 on The Mustang Source Forums. TacoBill also posts there. Thanks goes out to both of these guys for there great write-ups and all the other posters with other useful information.
One of the write-ups suggested pulling +12V for the dimming function from a blue/yellow wire at the hazard button. My Mustang is a 2006 V6 Coupe and did not have this wire and none of the wires at the hazard button would go to +12V constant when the headlights were turned on. I found a tan/white wire at the headlight switch that did and tapped into it for this function.
I found quite a few write-ups about the stock subwoofer amps needing +5V instead of the +12V provided by the head unit and used the most suggested remedy of wring in a small +5V fixed-voltage regulator available from Radio Shack for a couple of bucks, Model #7805 Model Catalog #276-1770. A couple of people said this did not work on there installs and they still get popping when the amps power up. I would be willing to bet they got the regulator wired in wrong. After you build the wiring harness test it with a volt meter and a +12V source to see if what come out the side going to the stock wiring harness is lowered to +5V. I get no popping when the amps turn on.
I found one write-up by TacoBill talking about the difference in the wiring for the factory subwoofer amp on the Shaker 500 verses the Shaker 1000. You need to use a RCA Y adapter with the Metra harness for it to function correctly with the Shaker 500 because the Shaker 500 only has one connection to the amp in the factory wiring harness where the Shaker 1000 has two. You need to use the white connector on the Metra harness only on the Shaker 500 connecting to the DNX7100 subwoofer preouts out using the Y cable to both the white and red leads on the DNX7100 preouts.
Some installers had difficulty finding the correct wire to control the reverse camera function and ran a wire all the way to the trunk to tap into the +12V at the backup lights. The same wire is available as a white/yellow wire in the wiring harness that runs under the passenger side sill plate and can be tapped into there to keep the wire shorter.
The Metra dash mount kit is all plastic so you don't want the weight of the head unit to stress this mounting system. I found that the Shaker 500 has a rubber support in the rear that supports the weight of the head unit from the rear. The DNX7100 is about 1/2" shorter and has a 5mm tapped hole in the back in the correct position for this support. I pulled the rubber bushing off the Shaker 500 and it reveled an aluminum adapter that is screwed to a stud on the back of the Shaker 500. I unscrewed the adapter from the Shaker 500 and found that a 5mm screw will fit through the aluminum adapter so I went to ACE hardware and acquired a 1/2" nylon spacer and a 5mm screw that was long enough to go through the adapter and spacer and screwed into the back of the DNX7100. I did grind the head of the screw down to the diameter of the aluminum adaptor before installing it. Next I installed the rubber support bushing over the reused stock aluminum adapter. Make sure the screw does not go to far into the DNX7100 or you will damage the head unit. When fitting the DNX7100 into the car guide this bushing into the slot provided in the dash for this purpose.
I haven't decide on how or where to mount the reverse camera but have tested all the circuits and functions. I am using a small round ON-ON rocker switch so I can turn on the camera and have it display instantly without have to having constant power and selecting through all the video sources to get to it from the user interface. Of course it comes on automatically when you shift into reverse. I did find that you don't need a mirror image camera because you can have the software in the DNX7100 do this for you. Read Read Read the manual!!!
The GPS antenna has a magnetic mount. Inside the trunk about midway under the package tray and centered is a rectangular hole that is just the right size to sneak the GPS antenna into. This puts the GPS antenna about centered under the back window and hidden under the package tray. It works fine being under the package tray carpet with no loss of signal at all.
I like things to stay working so I used multilink wring connectors for all connections. These connector are not cheap but they will never come loose or get moisture in them. They work like a standard crimp connector but after you make the crimps you heat the connection with a heat gun and this melts solder within the connector to join the wires more securely and then plastic resin melt to seal the connection and last but not least it shrink wraps itself! I highly recommend these connectors!
There are a lot of wires in the back of the unit running all over the place so I wrapped everything with 3M electrical tape just like the factory harness are done. This should keep things from becoming squeaky. I also pre-built the wiring harness between the DNX7100 wiring connectors and the Metra wiring connectors and tape it all up before even removing the Shaker 500. This saved a lot of time and frustration trying to wire everything in the car.
OK...Now for the results.
After using DNX7100 for a couple of weeks I am totally satisfied! The DNX7100 gets some bad raps for having a cluttered and dysfunctional user interface on the receiver side. All I can say is I love the interface! You just need to take the time to understand where things are and what they do. The manual is very detailed on virtually every available function. Read it! This unit can play just about any type of media out there and has so many functions that I don't see how they could possibly make the interface easer to use. You do need to read the manual closely a number of times to understand how every thing works. If you don't read the manual you will never understand how to use all the features. If you are looking for something simple that has limited functionality then don't get the DNX7100!
The hands down coolest feature IMHO, aside from the Garmin Nav which is second to none and needs no explanation, is the ability to directly play music from USB thumb drives. You transfer the music in MP3, WMA or AAC format to the drive using whatever method you like. Plug it into the USB port and it simply plays it. Of course you can select what folders or songs to play and create play lists if you like. If correctly formatted it will display album art in a small window to the left of the text information. I haven't quite got that completely figured out yet but did get it to work on a couple of albums. It must have something to do with they way I was adding the MP3 tags. When I find out I will post on that.
The mini plugs for direct iPod hookup are analog and you can play any analog audio of video source through them. Just for the fun it I played some MP3s off my Razr cell phone through it and it sounded great! Of course with an iPod cable you can control the iPod from the DNX7100. An iPod hooks up to both the mini jacks and the USB port for full control.
The DNX7100 brought the stock subwoofers and speakers alive. They sound great with this system! Sure for a few more bucks you can get some even better sounding speakers and ones that will fit right in as replacements and eventually I may add them but for now I am very impressed with the sound coming from the stock speakers. You do need to mess with the output levels of the sub woofers and equalizer for the speakers a little but the results are outstanding. If you don't make the adjustments you will be disappointed. Just do it!
Bottom line, I give the DNX7100 a 10!!!
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w282/Nice_Pony/Kenwood1.jpg
Part list:
1. Kenwood: DNX7100 GPS Navigation System
2. Kenwood: KCA-BT100 Bluetooth Hands Free Box
3. KT&C Co. Ltd.: Color Waterproof Bullet Camera 92 degree with mirror image.
3. Metra: 95-5812 Dash Mount Kit
4. Metra: 70-5521 Wiring Harness for factory subwoofers
5. Radio Shack: 7805 +5V Fixed-Voltage Regulator
6. Philmore: 30-16070 Round Rocker Switch SPDT, ON-ON
7. Miscellaneous 18AWG wire, multilink butt connectors, wire taps and electrical tape.
Other available options that I did not choose or need are a 6 or 10 disc CD changer, TV tuner, HD radio, SAT Radio and iPod cable.
It replaced the stock Shaker 500 head unit with the Kenwood DNX7100. The install went very smoothly after reading a few write-ups on this and other forums without which it would have taken a bit more time to figure out some of the wiring. The two best write-ups and ones I would recommend you read were by TacoBill on The 4.0 Collective Forums and hags1 on The Mustang Source Forums. TacoBill also posts there. Thanks goes out to both of these guys for there great write-ups and all the other posters with other useful information.
One of the write-ups suggested pulling +12V for the dimming function from a blue/yellow wire at the hazard button. My Mustang is a 2006 V6 Coupe and did not have this wire and none of the wires at the hazard button would go to +12V constant when the headlights were turned on. I found a tan/white wire at the headlight switch that did and tapped into it for this function.
I found quite a few write-ups about the stock subwoofer amps needing +5V instead of the +12V provided by the head unit and used the most suggested remedy of wring in a small +5V fixed-voltage regulator available from Radio Shack for a couple of bucks, Model #7805 Model Catalog #276-1770. A couple of people said this did not work on there installs and they still get popping when the amps power up. I would be willing to bet they got the regulator wired in wrong. After you build the wiring harness test it with a volt meter and a +12V source to see if what come out the side going to the stock wiring harness is lowered to +5V. I get no popping when the amps turn on.
I found one write-up by TacoBill talking about the difference in the wiring for the factory subwoofer amp on the Shaker 500 verses the Shaker 1000. You need to use a RCA Y adapter with the Metra harness for it to function correctly with the Shaker 500 because the Shaker 500 only has one connection to the amp in the factory wiring harness where the Shaker 1000 has two. You need to use the white connector on the Metra harness only on the Shaker 500 connecting to the DNX7100 subwoofer preouts out using the Y cable to both the white and red leads on the DNX7100 preouts.
Some installers had difficulty finding the correct wire to control the reverse camera function and ran a wire all the way to the trunk to tap into the +12V at the backup lights. The same wire is available as a white/yellow wire in the wiring harness that runs under the passenger side sill plate and can be tapped into there to keep the wire shorter.
The Metra dash mount kit is all plastic so you don't want the weight of the head unit to stress this mounting system. I found that the Shaker 500 has a rubber support in the rear that supports the weight of the head unit from the rear. The DNX7100 is about 1/2" shorter and has a 5mm tapped hole in the back in the correct position for this support. I pulled the rubber bushing off the Shaker 500 and it reveled an aluminum adapter that is screwed to a stud on the back of the Shaker 500. I unscrewed the adapter from the Shaker 500 and found that a 5mm screw will fit through the aluminum adapter so I went to ACE hardware and acquired a 1/2" nylon spacer and a 5mm screw that was long enough to go through the adapter and spacer and screwed into the back of the DNX7100. I did grind the head of the screw down to the diameter of the aluminum adaptor before installing it. Next I installed the rubber support bushing over the reused stock aluminum adapter. Make sure the screw does not go to far into the DNX7100 or you will damage the head unit. When fitting the DNX7100 into the car guide this bushing into the slot provided in the dash for this purpose.
I haven't decide on how or where to mount the reverse camera but have tested all the circuits and functions. I am using a small round ON-ON rocker switch so I can turn on the camera and have it display instantly without have to having constant power and selecting through all the video sources to get to it from the user interface. Of course it comes on automatically when you shift into reverse. I did find that you don't need a mirror image camera because you can have the software in the DNX7100 do this for you. Read Read Read the manual!!!
The GPS antenna has a magnetic mount. Inside the trunk about midway under the package tray and centered is a rectangular hole that is just the right size to sneak the GPS antenna into. This puts the GPS antenna about centered under the back window and hidden under the package tray. It works fine being under the package tray carpet with no loss of signal at all.
I like things to stay working so I used multilink wring connectors for all connections. These connector are not cheap but they will never come loose or get moisture in them. They work like a standard crimp connector but after you make the crimps you heat the connection with a heat gun and this melts solder within the connector to join the wires more securely and then plastic resin melt to seal the connection and last but not least it shrink wraps itself! I highly recommend these connectors!
There are a lot of wires in the back of the unit running all over the place so I wrapped everything with 3M electrical tape just like the factory harness are done. This should keep things from becoming squeaky. I also pre-built the wiring harness between the DNX7100 wiring connectors and the Metra wiring connectors and tape it all up before even removing the Shaker 500. This saved a lot of time and frustration trying to wire everything in the car.
OK...Now for the results.
After using DNX7100 for a couple of weeks I am totally satisfied! The DNX7100 gets some bad raps for having a cluttered and dysfunctional user interface on the receiver side. All I can say is I love the interface! You just need to take the time to understand where things are and what they do. The manual is very detailed on virtually every available function. Read it! This unit can play just about any type of media out there and has so many functions that I don't see how they could possibly make the interface easer to use. You do need to read the manual closely a number of times to understand how every thing works. If you don't read the manual you will never understand how to use all the features. If you are looking for something simple that has limited functionality then don't get the DNX7100!
The hands down coolest feature IMHO, aside from the Garmin Nav which is second to none and needs no explanation, is the ability to directly play music from USB thumb drives. You transfer the music in MP3, WMA or AAC format to the drive using whatever method you like. Plug it into the USB port and it simply plays it. Of course you can select what folders or songs to play and create play lists if you like. If correctly formatted it will display album art in a small window to the left of the text information. I haven't quite got that completely figured out yet but did get it to work on a couple of albums. It must have something to do with they way I was adding the MP3 tags. When I find out I will post on that.
The mini plugs for direct iPod hookup are analog and you can play any analog audio of video source through them. Just for the fun it I played some MP3s off my Razr cell phone through it and it sounded great! Of course with an iPod cable you can control the iPod from the DNX7100. An iPod hooks up to both the mini jacks and the USB port for full control.
The DNX7100 brought the stock subwoofers and speakers alive. They sound great with this system! Sure for a few more bucks you can get some even better sounding speakers and ones that will fit right in as replacements and eventually I may add them but for now I am very impressed with the sound coming from the stock speakers. You do need to mess with the output levels of the sub woofers and equalizer for the speakers a little but the results are outstanding. If you don't make the adjustments you will be disappointed. Just do it!
Bottom line, I give the DNX7100 a 10!!!
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w282/Nice_Pony/Kenwood1.jpg