I see a few people have already found that JVC DDs with removable faces are tricky to install properly. I see some people have chosen to come forward with the mounting. Hoping I dont have to live with that.

I'm waiting on a spare bracket to arrive, I didnt want to mod my original bracket.. but in the meantime, I'm sitting here playing with my JDM trim part and the JVC AVX820. The best solution to the clearance of the removable face is just redrilling the mounting holes about 3/8 further back. Maybe alittle more.. and perhaps about 2mm down.

So my question is, as I have yet to pull my stereo for this install, do I have some space behind the double din when installed? I've read my DD depth is similar to the Kenwoods. (JVC = 6 5/16)

 

problem is that screen is that since it's meant to be taken off you have to mount it out otherwise it will not flip out due to the design. your options are mount it back and have a big gap around it. OR mount is properly and don't have a gap.

 

I assume youre talking about the 3mm of clearance at the top needed as the face tilts. I have plenty of room to move the DD a few mm lower. Just sitting here with the JDM trim and HU, if positioned properly, it operated fine from behind. Unless I make the HU stick out like 1/2", I'm gonna have to make something to fill the gap.. I mean, doesnt everybody with all brands have a gap to fill? I assumed, even before realizing how f'd up the mounting was that I'd have to fab something..

 

I've been doing a lot of investigating into this and some DDin units are just more flush and form fitting than others -- thus more OEM appearing. Sadly, the ones that tend to tilt down or have detachable faces are the least likely to be form fitting. Car it's going into also makes a big differences as the DDin face/trimplate may be better or worse -- the JDM has that gap while the metra kit doesn't -- don't really understand that... other than the DDin in japan is manufacturered around the nissan OEM stereo, not true ISO measurements for DDin..

sux

 

Again, go forward, its gonna look terrible. If I can push it back by redrilling the holes 3/8 back and 1/8 down, I'll have it pretty much perfect in regards to the DD opening. I dont have the metra harness yet.. or the backup camera, so I didnt want to dig into the car yet. But, if I have that space behind the radio, I'll push it back where the face is nearly flush and use adhesive foam and a plastic trim ring to fill the gap.

I think the DD+ size of the OEM kit is weaksauce too. But, if I can rear mount this thing, thats going to work in my favor.

What really sucks is I'm fighting to fit this AVX820 in and it's really not all that. While it has some pretty nice features for $430, including BT and whatnot, the USB is just weak. I used the same file structure as my Sandisk Fuse and it took 35 seconds to start playing with 8 gig of music after any source was changed, including taking a call. So, I used top level folders for genre and dumped all mp3s in to one of 4 or 5 folders, deleted album art and took out any non-mp3 files.. its now about 15 secs. It does pick up where it left off, so thats ok, but wtf is wrong with JVC?? They had this lame reindexing (when the usb hasnt even been removed) for years. Ever more bizarre, I took 4.5 gig of music and put them on a DVD and the USB.. the DVD plays in 10 secs.. 4-5 secs faster than USB. Hmmmm. I'm using a very fast usb drive too.

Also of note to anyone considering this unit, as the price is quite good.. I didnt notice until I got the unit, they dropped DivX and SD card from the 810. Still plays mpeg2 ok, but thats nearly a deal breaker right there. Its nice that they will read a 200g laptop drive, but with a 5000 file limit, youre kinda limited on what you'll be able to use 200G on.

Oh.. and 4 wallpapers? lame ones at that.. really? no way to add one? Wow, its like having my own time machine with the dial stuck on 1994.

At first I was amazed how fast the BT connected to my Blackjack 2. In testing it, it was responsive.. and clear. Works very well for what it does. Then I realized, it doesnt sync phone books.. You have to do it manually, one at at time. WTF? My 3 year old Parrot 3200 blows this out of the water for features. If I turn off phonebook sync, its probably even faster than the new JVC. Dont get me wrong, the JVC works and this isnt a big deal, I just had higher expectations of some new bluetooth device. I think the sound quality and BASIC BT operation of the JVC is pretty good.

 

Oh, and the phone book has a 100 number limit, got a contact with 3 numbers? ya got 97 left :/ Pretty sure the add on BT adaptor was 500 and had auto sync. I had chosen the 820 over the 810 + BT module hoping for better integration and features.. as well as hopefully less delay on the USB/ipod thing. No luck there. The 810+BT may be better for some.

I'm considering a return and taking the restocking fee or giving this to my wife, she loves it. Her pioneer 9800BT is good with the phone but lacks the cool factor of a double din.

Problem is.. cars get destroyed by crack heads when left at the dealer overnight.. or the mall.. or a hotel.. I really need some sort of removable face.

My only other option right now is a Pioneer avic f500.. but that will look hideous and have the same problems with slowness. But, it would be cheap.

 

A couple of guys at avic411.com have created these "fake" fronts/plates that conveniently cover the aftermarket DDin stereo and pass pretty damn well for the theft-protection effect ... might be a reasonable way to go if yer worried about theft.

I think the key to a DDin (besides just having good luck) is to keep the unit as "OEM" looking at possible to avoid theft -- but let's face it, if it's gunna get broken into, it will get broken into.

I wonder if on some or all of these units, with a little knowhow the front trim rings (not the dinky one give to fill gaps, but the front of the unit -- the glossy black plastic frame) could be removed and airbrushed to match more closely the dash brushed aluminum, etc. Glossy black is just a gimme that you've got the aftermarket unit in, however if it matched more closely the center console color.. maybe a little improvement in theft protection.

That being said -- it's weird how some technology will find its way into inexpensively priced units and not on more expensive units -- for instance a $200 garmin unit will transfer all of my motorola's phone book contents immediately to the unit and has a rather good bluetooth interface for phone calls. Yes, somehow on expensive DDin units there are tons of bugs, etc -- i guess software is also to blame, and the more advanced a unit, the more bugs there'll be.

 

I have willow, so it would probably be even easier to paint match.

Yeah, I actually have a spare OE face plate and buttons. Everything one would need to make a fake. Picked it up for $20 I think. And yet, its still a daunting task.

The buttons go all the way to the edge of where a DD opening will be. There's no just cutting out a square on the OE trim. You'd have to cut it slightly larger. The bottom row of presets and the top row of round source buttons would be at the outermost lip of a fake face plate. gluing them in would be tricky.

with our setup, the whole center console is one plane. there's no trim around the factory stereo, making a fake face really stand out more than you'd want.. Also, like my issue here, you'd have to set your DD back more than you'd probably want.

I have all the parts.. I think I just wasted about 2 hours and $20.

 

anybody got a stock changer sitting around they can measure for me?