Adding alpine head unit in single din?

[AMontemagni]

I have an Alpine headunit that plays MP3's, (unlike our RL's). But obviously I want to keep the stock headunit becuase of the steering wheel controls, 6-disc changer, etc...

There looks to be a single-din opening directly below the stock unit which is currently a pull down storage space. Would I be able to install my Alpine unit in there? and also connect it to my stock head unit as an Aux Input ?

ANy ideas?

[Erock40]

If the headunit has a remote control you can add this to keep your steering wheels controls I believe. I'm sure some of the more qualified members will know.

[bongus]

I would agree with ERock. There are aftermarket modules you can purchase that will allow you to use the RLs steering wheel controls with an aftermarket system. Refer to this link for more information. I'm not sure if your Alpine unit has connections to interface with the PAC unit but the PAC guys are very helpful and can guide you in the right direction. In regards to adding your Alpine as an auxiliary unit with the OEM radio...can be done. You will need to buy an auxiliary adapter and that will provide you with RCAs. Do a search for auxiliary adapter in this forum section and you should find your answer.

As a side note, why do you want to go through all this trouble for .mp3 capability? I would suggest getting an .mp3 player and using the auxiliary adapter to connect the player to the OEM HU. Even if you add your Alpine unit, the only thing you can control with the steering wheel is volume. Also, you will need to wire power, ground, etc...seems to me that you are putting in a lot of trouble for really no added value (just my 2¢). Have you considered eliminating the stock HU and replace it with your Alpine then add a PAC unit (if possible)...this set up should allow you the use of your Alpine and steering wheel.

[Erock40]

The only reason I had a clue is that I just had one put in my S2000 along w/ a Pioneer 5800, Pioneer XM, and an aux unit. It took the guys longer to program the PAC module than to do the install. I think why it took so long is the S2K's only have a channel button(not up/down) mute, volume, and mode button. but it came out really clean. Though it is hard to hear the music at 9k rpms

[hofffam]

Originally Posted by AMontemagni

I have an Alpine headunit that plays MP3's, (unlike our RL's). But obviously I want to keep the stock headunit becuase of the steering wheel controls, 6-disc changer, etc...

There looks to be a single-din opening directly below the stock unit which is currently a pull down storage space. Would I be able to install my Alpine unit in there? and also connect it to my stock head unit as an Aux Input ?

ANy ideas?

I wouldn't attempt what you suggest. Bongus has good comments on this. I don't know what adapter he is talking about - but you'd need one that could take the preamp outputs of your Alpine and feed them to the RL hu AUX input. Unless this adapter can fake being a Honda accessory, your steering wheel controls will do nothing but control the volume. You won't have any control over the tracks played, etc.

One of the main reasons I ditched the factory headunit was to add MP3 at lower cost than the Honda accessory. I also wanted outboard amplifiers, etc. and didn't want to compensate for the factory unit's frequency response. Hence I replace the factory unit with an Alpine 9853. I use the PAC SWP-ALP accessory to integrate steering wheel controls. I have vol up/down, source, and track skip controls for the Alpine.

[bongus]

Originally Posted by Erock40

The only reason I had a clue is that I just had one put in my S2000 along w/ a Pioneer 5800, Pioneer XM, and an aux unit. It took the guys longer to program the PAC module than to do the install. I think why it took so long is the S2K's only have a channel button(not up/down) mute, volume, and mode button. but it came out really clean. Though it is hard to hear the music at 9k rpms

My personal experience with the PAC module is that programming the unit is not difficult but it does require following the directions COMPLETELY. The unit is very particular about the sequence the buttons are programmed and how much time you have to enable that function. If you program enough of these units, it is really easy to install. Also, it does not matter what labels the buttons have on the steering wheel...the PAC unit allows you to change the functionality of the buttons to whatever the PAC can program. For example, I made the Mode button on my RL activate the Mute function on my aftermarket HU...I found the Mute button more useful than the Mode button. This characteristic makes the PAC unit even more valuable.

[hofffam]

Bongus - I agree completely on the PAC unit. It is picky, but once you get the programming sequence down, it works well. The real problem is the Ridgeline. We only have two up/down buttons plus the mode button. My Jaguar had vol up/down, mute, track up/down, mode (source), and disk. The disk change caused the radio to skip to next preset, and the track up/down caused the radio to scan up/down.

The Alpine units expect a different signal for radio up/down and cd track skip.

[imnfni]

just replace hu.