itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

Thread has been cleaned up. I was on vacation for a few days sorry for taking a little longer then normal.

B_ROCKS_IT

Hey heavy,

Any updates on this lately? I have been tied up on horsepower stuff but im still very interested in this.

barrok69

Last week on a trip out to the golden state I had the chance to visit Mr. Heavymetals and he was kind enough to let me drive around in his car and play with his prize radio.

I must say when i got in the car I was like.. hmm not much to see here. Looks stock. Which is exactly the look I'd go for. With the exception of a couple pinhole LED's and a switch everything retains the stock appearance of the CTS interior. The screen can be made much brighter than stock and the clarity is very good. When flipping over to "mac mini input" it was clear that this was a high resolution screen. The font were tiny but super crisp and visible on his itunes playlist.

The temporary/ziptie mac mini placement behind the center console would be my only gripe about the whole setup. And that really isn't an issue for anybody with a can of resin and a roll of fiberglass. I was doing some brainstorming and came up with a few good places to stuff it into that would make it remain accessible without taking away from the "stock" look. For the continuous work that Heavy is doing at this point it's the perfect location for him to have though.

I must say adding a rear backup camera in our cars is a nice feature, and the fact that it comes on and overrides the stock display automatically is even nicer. The night vision on the camera was decent and you can even enable it during driving with the flip of a small hat switch. Heavy pushed it further adding a front camera which is actually really great for parking in tight spaces and seeing how close you are from crunching the front lip for all you lowered guys.

Heavy has clearly put in a lot of time and has got his sound system dialed in real nice with his 5.1 conversion. The sound fidelity was impressive. The highs didn't pierce my ear drums, the mids were nice and crisp and the lows had good thump without sounding muffled or distorted.

Once I clear out a few of the projects I'm working on, this mod will be next on my list of things to do.

Thanks for the hospitality and letting me drive your bitchin' ride!

Keep up the good work!

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

The only update I have is that it works.

No problems so far.

I have not put the touch screen into operation yet.

Thanks for your continued interest.

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the comps.

I think the Mac is gonna stay mounted where it is as the IR works with it.

What did you think of the ride (KW's and driveshaft?).

fatninja

So, this thread has been quiet for a few months. Have you done anything new with your setup and will you be releasing a kit or howto anytime? I'm really interested in this and I've been lurking here for awhile.

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

The "how to" is here:

http://www.mp3car.com/worklogs/153699-a-macd-v.html

I have parts to do the conversion, but it is involved and not for the technically challenged.

What I have been doing lately is upgrading the alternator and battery wiring.

240 amp alternator (Fastlane/Mechman) and 0/1 gauge redundant cables to the battery (a bitch!).

I have plans to fiber optic the OEM radio output to the 5.1 decoder.

FYI, I put together enough "kits" to modify about 6 units as I had a # of requests and a few deposits.

However, there were cancellations and "no shows" and people went a different direction.

Bottom line is I have the only converted unit (that I know of) and it works.

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

Over one year later and still going.

I am working on another "add on" as I can't leave it alone.

hefftone

The 5.1 decoder thing is over my head. Would you please briefly describe what it does?

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

So these were kits to DIY, or we can send in our unit to you? I don't have nor do I want to purchase the precision equipment necessary for it.

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

The decoder takes the stereo signal and splits it up into front, rear, center ch and sub woofer. In other words it takes the OEM setup and turns it into 5.1.
Great if your DVD is encoded that way.

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

To DIY requires some equipment, I did buy enough parts to do 5 units, but those that were interested (a few put down deposits) lost interest or were scared.

I think some went to the Android.

If you are interested, PM me.