got a new head unit, finally! Options

[lagos]

so ive been rocking the oem cd player for the past 4yrs. since i got an ipod for xmas, i thought it was finally time to replace the oem one with something that had at least a line in so that i can play the ipod in the car.

i went with an alpine 9851. anyone else got the same unit? any opinions?

[lagos]

oh .. i also have a question on installing this in my car. i have a factory amp so that has to be removed. from what i remember, there are 2 plugs on the amp, so i just removed the amp,cd player, and the wiring that connects the cd to the amp. then connect the harness i made, directly to the plug that used to go to the amp? will they mate up ?

[runriot95]

I have the 9855 which is a few models up from what you have. It's probably very similar performance-wise but more bells and whistles. The sound quality is great and the biggest problems I have are more with the complexity of the glide-strip feature that yours(luckily) doesn't have. Anyway, I think you made a good choice.

Now for installing it:

If you want to bypass the factory amp and either use the stereo's built-in amp or an aftermarket external one(which I recommend) then you will have to locate the factory wiring plugs. This can be a chore as mine were held in place underneath the factory amp with a plastic fastener. I say plug(s) as there are 2 blue plugs that you need to locate. If you get the wiring harness that is for Toyotas 1987 and up, it will have 2 plugs that will match up with the blue factory plugs. They key really is getting to those plugs. I had to remove all the center trim to get to mine.

Good luck!

[lagos]

i just realize something...this head unit dosnt seem to have a line in? wtf?

do alpines need a special adaptor for line in ?

This post has been edited by lagos: Dec 29, 2005 - 12:29 AM

[lagos]

just realized i need the inet to rca plug. you would think they would give you something like that for free instead of making u buy it

[x_itchy_b_x]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp;js...d=1099388651051

id get that. its badass.

[lagos]

yeah i thought about it.... but i think i rather pick the songs from the ipod display. with that, you have to use the tiny lcd on the head unit to search through all you albums. so, i think ill just get the rca adaptor

[x_itchy_b_x]

yeah. i have a clarion so i dont have the direct connect option like the alpine.
so i too use the rca to headphone cord. its pretty cool. aux input.
the nano fits right in the little ashtray with a little filling of the plastic.

[Silver94CelicaOw...]

The wiring part should be easy, and you shouldn't have to rip the wires off of the stock amp. Leave it all intact and just make a run to Circuit City or Best Buy and ask for a wiring harness for a 98 Celica. Because I have the 8 speaker sound system, I used a Toyota Avalon harness after finding out that it would work and all my stock wiring to the amps is intact still. No need to change it unless you really want to.

I think the standard harness made for the 6th generation almost anywhere is for the 6 speaker setup, so finding one is easy at places like I mentioned. Just connect the leads from the wiring harness to the harness leads from the Alpine and you should be good to go....just plug it right in and turn it on.

[lagos]

The wiring part should be easy, and you shouldn't have to rip the wires off of the stock amp. Leave it all intact and just make a run to Circuit City or Best Buy and ask for a wiring harness for a 98 Celica. Because I have the 8 speaker sound system, I used a Toyota Avalon harness after finding out that it would work and all my stock wiring to the amps is intact still. No need to change it unless you really want to.

I think the standard harness made for the 6th generation almost anywhere is for the 6 speaker setup, so finding one is easy at places like I mentioned. Just connect the leads from the wiring harness to the harness leads from the Alpine and you should be good to go....just plug it right in and turn it on.

yeah i already have the harness done. all soldered and shink wraped.

my problem is that i have a factory amp below the stock head unit. so i have to try to unplug that and then make sure i plug in to the 2 plugs that used to go to the amp and not the ones that went directly to the back of my old head unit. that way ill be by passing the amp and going directly to my speakers.

[RocketScott]

The wiring part should be easy, and you shouldn't have to rip the wires off of the stock amp. Leave it all intact and just make a run to Circuit City or Best Buy and ask for a wiring harness for a 98 Celica. Because I have the 8 speaker sound system, I used a Toyota Avalon harness after finding out that it would work and all my stock wiring to the amps is intact still. No need to change it unless you really want to.

I think the standard harness made for the 6th generation almost anywhere is for the 6 speaker setup, so finding one is easy at places like I mentioned. Just connect the leads from the wiring harness to the harness leads from the Alpine and you should be good to go....just plug it right in and turn it on.

So does the avalon wiring harness power the 8" subs off the head unit? Seems like that's a lot to power by itself.

[nowitzon]

i have the 9831 with the phone option and mx settings they are very good decks u should go get the vpowerd amp to go along with it everything will be crystal clear

[Silver94CelicaOw...]

So does the avalon wiring harness power the 8" subs off the head unit? Seems like that's a lot to power by itself.

If you mean the stock 8" speakers, they are powered by a second amp that comes stock with the 8 speaker setup....the Avalon harness comes with RCA leads that take a front and rear stage audio signal from your aftermarket headunit and sends it to all the stock amps, thus all 8 of your stock speakers will work, plug and play, with that harness. I, however, am using an external amp to power a set of 8" Kicker Resolution RMB 8 mid-bass woofers instead of the stock woofers. Sorry it took so long to respond to your question.....but if you have any questions regarding the pesky 8-speaker setup just IM me.

Art, im not sure if i understand why anything has to be run through the amp. If you bought your harness from a store, it will utilize the amp that you're talking about. So ditching it isn't neccesary....so if thats what you used for your harness just keep the amp. Otherwise, you can just wire up all the speakers to the leads from the Alpine....the rears directly to the rear leads, and wire the tweeters right into the 6.5" leads from the Alpine but put a low-pass crossover along the line of the tweeters so you dont blow them.

You might have it all figured out or working by now Art, but I just wanted to make sure that I understood what it was you were doing with the wiring. The ways I listed were the only two ways I would really think to do it.

[RocketScott]

So does the avalon wiring harness power the 8" subs off the head unit? Seems like that's a lot to power by itself.

If you mean the stock 8" speakers, they are powered by a second amp that comes stock with the 8 speaker setup....the Avalon harness comes with RCA leads that take a front and rear stage audio signal from your aftermarket headunit and sends it to all the stock amps, thus all 8 of your stock speakers will work, plug and play, with that harness. I, however, am using an external amp to power a set of 8" Kicker Resolution RMB 8 mid-bass woofers instead of the stock woofers. Sorry it took so long to respond to your question.....but if you have any questions regarding the pesky 8-speaker setup just IM me.

Art, im not sure if i understand why anything has to be run through the amp. If you bought your harness from a store, it will utilize the amp that you're talking about. So ditching it isn't neccesary....so if thats what you used for your harness just keep the amp. Otherwise, you can just wire up all the speakers to the leads from the Alpine....the rears directly to the rear leads, and wire the tweeters right into the 6.5" leads from the Alpine but put a low-pass crossover along the line of the tweeters so you dont blow them.

You might have it all figured out or working by now Art, but I just wanted to make sure that I understood what it was you were doing with the wiring. The ways I listed were the only two ways I would really think to do it.

So It's like the amp integration harness that Metra makes. I ended uo getting another amp to power the subs (Alpine 8", can't remember the model number) and using the standard Toyota wiring harness to run the rest off the HU.

He needs a high pass filter or a "bass blocker" for the tweets.

[Silver94CelicaOw...]

*Doh.* I meant high pass. Either way, he needs an adjustable crossover to filter out low frequencies, depending on whether its neccesary with his installation. Kinda sad I confused high-pass for low-pass though.....I go to college for music engineering/recording and deal with it on a daily basis.

And yes, the harness I used was the Metra amp integration harness, which I believe was for a 2000-something Toyota Avalon. Worked great for me.