Why, the Kenwood is more and won't connect to your OEM Bluetooth, you have to use a parrot.
There are two wires that have to be connected from the OE plug to the headunit, the Eclipse is as close to plug and play as you can get.
Edit:
Err, Uhh, the bluetooth is not from the factory, it is an add-on. It is direct to the h/u but comes with a microphone. The steeringwheel switch will still work with this unit though.
A lot fewer connections from the previous AVN series.
When I pull my 5495 out I will do a side by side pic.
From what I remember there is about the same # of wires coming out of these connectors. I'll find out tomorrow though
I called eclipse today and the antenna cable and the 13 pin cable for the sat/hd radio connections are the same and you don't "have" to change them if you don't want to. All the other connectors are different. They are smaller from what I remember.
That grey plug is for the back up camera instead of the blue plug with the Y/R/W RCA jacks for the camera everything is a straight plug in on this unit.
There is no speed wire only reverse and parking wires on this. I found that to be a little odd, but I guess it's reading it from the GPS instead of the vehicle which makes more sense.
I'll post up some more pics and info tomorrow after I swap out the old for the new.
One or two odd things really, the instruction manual(s) 3 to be exact for the 5495 are now replaced with (1) and a fold out poster of instructions and quick start guide. Nowhere in any paperwork does it discuss the SD card and map updates. This is to come, I guess???
Scratch that, found the novel that this thing should have...
I'd be interested to hear your take on this new unit.
I upgraded a while back from the AVN30d to the AVN6620. Most of the connections were exactly the same and it was a really easy upgrade.
The 726e seems to be a step in the right direction. I just wish they would cater a little more to us SQ guys and add real time-alignment functions and 2-3 way active capabilities.
If they did this, I'd be all over it in a heartbeat!
__________________
____________________________________________
05 Sequoia 4x4 Ltd. Phantom Grey Pearl, Weld 20" wheels on Toyo tires, MagnaFlow cat-back, Amsoil fluids, custom 15" overhead DVD system, Eclipse NAV system w/camera, Sirius tuner. Hybrid Audio Technologies drivers and DLS coaxials, TRU B-2110 and H-1 amps, 13" eD sub, iPod hookup. SilverStar Ultra lamps.
I'd be interested to hear your take on this new unit.
I upgraded a while back from the AVN30d to the AVN6620. Most of the connections were exactly the same and it was a really easy upgrade.
The 726e seems to be a step in the right direction. I just wish they would cater a little more to us SQ guys and add real time-alignment functions and 2-3 way active capabilities.
If they did this, I'd be all over it in a heartbeat!
The part in red, you lost me. I don't know what you mean here. I'm just a dumb country boy...
As for the install and the unit itself. WOW!!!
The install was pretty simple. I already had the 5495 so I just put the new wires where the old ones were. That was easy.
I ran the bluetooth to the visor. I pulled the visor out and removed the A-pillar and ran the wire behind the guage cluster came out nice and clean for it being a seperate unit. The Bluetooth works AWESOME, made a couple calls from the cab and no background noise was heard and the volume control for the speakers adjusts the volume for the person on the other end. It is really clear.
The navigation is SIC! It is very similar to the garmin, but it shows the addresses as you drive down the road on both sides. It also shows where no left turns are and even has a photo radar notification. It will warn you when you are speeding as well. I don't know the 1/2 of it and I am already very impressed over the 5495.
The iPod functionality is almost as good as the iPod itself. It doesn't display the same as the iPod does, but you can pic genres, albums, artists, movies, videos etc. The picture quality on videos and movies is outstanding.
The older Sirius brain works with the new unit, but it doesn't sound as good as the new brain and interface do. So the new one isn't necessary but for sound it most certainly is. A MARKED difference between the two.
The remote for the 5495 works with the 726e even though it is not listed as an accessory on the Eclipse website. All functions of the remote work with the 726e. It's sweet!
Sound quality is better, no question. It doesn't have as much of an Eq that the 5495 has, infact the 726e just has bass, mid and treble. You can also adjust the subwoofer separately and there is a SVC which adjusts the volume. The overall sound is better with the new unit vs the old unit.
Full steering wheel functionality is achieved by:
1: connecting the brown wire from the hu to the light green wire of the K5 connector.
2: connecting the brown and black wire from the hu to the brown wire of the k5 connector.
3: connecting the gray wire to a ground
With this you have full functionallity of the volume, changing stations, changing modes answering the phone, hanging up the phone and muting the stereo. This is all functions on the steeringwheel switch. AWESOME!!! This is a biggie that's not available on the 5495.
All in all bang for the buck, no question, this is a SIC unit, I am very impressed.
Here's some pics
The AVN726e is on the left AVN5495 on the right. Notice how much smaller the connectors are.
That does look pretty nice! So, it plays music videos and movies from the iPod? That would be awesome.
Is there any usable search function on the iPod? That's the one thing that really bugs me with the 6620/IP106 combo..........no real way to search for songs other than just scrolling through album, artist, title etc. which takes so long that it's basically useless.
By time-alignment, I mean most high-end SQ decks have the ability to time-align each individual speaker so that the sound from each reaches your listening position at the same time. If you've never heard a properly time-aligned system you are missing out! The sound stage is amazing.
The "Seating Position" functions on the 6620 and prior Eclipse units is actually a pre-set time-alignment function. It's actually not too bad, but it isn't adjustable. It's fixed.
When I mentioned 2 or 3-way active capabilities, I mean the ability of the deck to control each tweeter, mid-bass and woofer independently. In this type of setup, your speakers are connected directly to each amplifier channel, bypassing the crossovers supplied with the component set. The frequency and level of each individual speaker is controlled by the deck and amp. This allows you to set crossover points wherever you want and in some cases, allows you to time-align between tweeter and mid-bass, rather than between speaker groups. It just basically gives you the ultimate control over your entire system.
__________________
____________________________________________
05 Sequoia 4x4 Ltd. Phantom Grey Pearl, Weld 20" wheels on Toyo tires, MagnaFlow cat-back, Amsoil fluids, custom 15" overhead DVD system, Eclipse NAV system w/camera, Sirius tuner. Hybrid Audio Technologies drivers and DLS coaxials, TRU B-2110 and H-1 amps, 13" eD sub, iPod hookup. SilverStar Ultra lamps.
That does look pretty nice! So, it plays music videos and movies from the iPod? That would be awesome.
Is there any usable search function on the iPod? That's the one thing that really bugs me with the 6620/IP106 combo..........no real way to search for songs other than just scrolling through album, artist, title etc. which takes so long that it's basically useless.
By time-alignment, I mean most high-end SQ decks have the ability to time-align each individual speaker so that the sound from each reaches your listening position at the same time. If you've never heard a properly time-aligned system you are missing out! The sound stage is amazing.
The "Seating Position" functions on the 6620 and prior Eclipse units is actually a pre-set time-alignment function. It's actually not too bad, but it isn't adjustable. It's fixed.
When I mentioned 2 or 3-way active capabilities, I mean the ability of the deck to control each tweeter, mid-bass and woofer independently. In this type of setup, your speakers are connected directly to each amplifier channel, bypassing the crossovers supplied with the component set. The frequency and level of each individual speaker is controlled by the deck and amp. This allows you to set crossover points wherever you want and in some cases, allows you to time-align between tweeter and mid-bass, rather than between speaker groups. It just basically gives you the ultimate control over your entire system.
Yes, this has a full iPod menu. When you select videos you get the seperate selctions of videos. Then you get the separate selections of which is in each.
I haven't played with it completely. I plan on playing with it more today and I will take a picture of the iPod functions so you can see how handy it is. I talked with someone on the bluetooth today and they couldn't tell I was talking on my truck. The bluetooth is very good.
The GPS also shows you where gas stations and other points of interest are on the map. You can search them but it shows you where they are during normal function. Pretty cool.
Gotcha. I don't think I want that much control. I understand the need and I'm sure its the sound of perfection, but that stounds like a lot of work.
The 7263 has gotten rid of the seat alignment, as far as I can tell. I haven't found it. Unless I don't know what I'm looking at.
I still need to read through the 232 page novel of an instruction manual. Maybe I will find it in there.
Okay, so the seat position alignment is still there. It's the EQ that got smaller.
This is the song list screen
Menu screen
Artist list screen
Search by genre
Artist list by Genre
Video list menu
So it pretty much has all the functionallity of the iPod, other than the album artwork. It lists names and titles and albums. It's as close to using your iPod as you are going to get.
Ya, that's about the same as the IPC-106 interface. The real bugger is that you can't search for a song or artist by name, or even type in a letter to go straight to that group.
Even if they would allow you to grab the bar on the right of the screen and and quickly drag it down would be a big plus. All you can do is scroll up or down one screen at at time.
So if you are trying to find a song in a large iPod library it takes forever.
You almost have to use playlists to get to songs quickly, but that has to be set up prior.
I've found that if you disconnect your iPod, quickly search for the song you are looking for, start it.........and then plug your iPod back into the cable, the Eclipse unit will pick up where it left off. That's much quicker than scrolling through 400 screens!
__________________
____________________________________________
05 Sequoia 4x4 Ltd. Phantom Grey Pearl, Weld 20" wheels on Toyo tires, MagnaFlow cat-back, Amsoil fluids, custom 15" overhead DVD system, Eclipse NAV system w/camera, Sirius tuner. Hybrid Audio Technologies drivers and DLS coaxials, TRU B-2110 and H-1 amps, 13" eD sub, iPod hookup. SilverStar Ultra lamps.
Ya, that's about the same as the IPC-106 interface. The real bugger is that you can't search for a song or artist by name, or even type in a letter to go straight to that group.
Even if they would allow you to grab the bar on the right of the screen and and quickly drag it down would be a big plus. All you can do is scroll up or down one screen at at time.
So if you are trying to find a song in a large iPod library it takes forever.
You almost have to use playlists to get to songs quickly, but that has to be set up prior.
I've found that if you disconnect your iPod, quickly search for the song you are looking for, start it.........and then plug your iPod back into the cable, the Eclipse unit will pick up where it left off. That's much quicker than scrolling through 400 screens!
Actually if you press and hold the up/down arrow on the screen, it will go inot a quick scroll mode. After a few seconds it starts paging through the list rapidly and displays the letter of the alphabet on the screen that it is currently paging through so that you know about where to stop.
I'm not sure if this is documented in the manual, I just discovered it while playing around with the unit right after I installed it.
Actually if you press and hold the up/down arrow on the screen, it will go inot a quick scroll mode. After a few seconds it starts paging through the list rapidly and displays the letter of the alphabet on the screen that it is currently paging through so that you know about where to stop.
I'm not sure if this is documented in the manual, I just discovered it while playing around with the unit right after I installed it.
You gave me hope, but no. Won't do that on mine.
__________________
____________________________________________
05 Sequoia 4x4 Ltd. Phantom Grey Pearl, Weld 20" wheels on Toyo tires, MagnaFlow cat-back, Amsoil fluids, custom 15" overhead DVD system, Eclipse NAV system w/camera, Sirius tuner. Hybrid Audio Technologies drivers and DLS coaxials, TRU B-2110 and H-1 amps, 13" eD sub, iPod hookup. SilverStar Ultra lamps.
Eclipse AVN726E
I'm just a dumb country boy...
Linear Mode
