Truthunter's 2015 Toyota Camry XLE V6

[Truthunter]

I’ve always been interested in building a moderate SQ system ever since I heard a competition vehicle back in the 90’s, but never got around to dedicating the time/money to do so. Recent years have been dedicated to home improvements/repairs and I still have some more, uh, a lot more of that to do… actually I know now that will never end with owning a house. So I decided that I just have to do it. I sold my classic motorcycle to fund the project… it’s safer, and I’m safer, with it sitting in the private museum it resides at now anyway.

This is my first true full on car audio build. I’ve installed a few “deck ‘n four” in previous vehicles but never got past that. So if any of you see me doing something that doesn’t make sense or you feel there would be an easier way to accomplish it, please feel free to comment / criticize. It will take me awhile to complete (if it ever gets completed!) but I’ll update this thread as I make headway.

When it was time to buy a new vehicle; the ability to replace the head-unit without much hassle was toward the top of the list of “needs”. I know a lot of people have some great sounding systems using the stock unit but I wanted to have the option. I ended up with a 2015 Toyota Camry XLE V6. A dealer down in NC made me an offer I could not refuse which sealed the deal.

[Truthunter]

The stock Entune Premium Audio w/ Navigation really leaves a lot to be desired. I can not hear a difference between playing 128k WMA file and the same track on the CD player. I can clearly tell the difference on my home system playing the same tracks. It’s almost like the DAC down converts the CD audio. Even the FM radio seams to introduce all sorts of digital artifacts to the signal that I never hear on the stock system in the wife’s car (2011 CR-V). And after reading about, and confirming it for myself, the noise floor issue people are having with the same vehicle when using the factory Toyota head units as a source to feed aftermarket equipment, I decided I would rather just start fresh with a clean source.



Since the XLE V6 comes standard with Navigation, many vehicle options are controlled through the stereo, and it displays information on an aux screen in the gauge cluster; I had to choose an aftermarket Nav with Idatalink Maestro support. I spent many months reading & researching the differences between the Big Three’s offerings (Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine). Luckily a shop about an hour from me (Sounds Incredible Mobile Audio in Brookfield, CT) had each of the flagship ddin models on thier sound board. I spent several hours getting familiar with each one. I finally decided on the Alpine unit for the following reasons: I could care less about carplay or android auto, to me the UI is more intuitive than the others, it has more of a stock look and feel, the hard buttons are larger and feel more substantial, 9 band parametric eq AND bass/treble controls, and it comes in an 8” screen version that I will try to make fit.

Here’s a photo of all the equipment I plan to install minus the subs which I haven’t decided on yet.

[claydo]

Some nice gear on that table......looking forward to what you build!

[Truthunter]

Unfortunately, Alpine does not make a perfect fit kit for the 2015+ Camry like they do for the 2012-2014 model years. That leaves me no choice but to get a dash install kit and modify it so the 8” Screen will fit. There are two companies that make a dash kit: Metra and American International (AMPP also sold under the BEST name). Sounds Incredible ordered both kits so that I could inspect them and see which one would be more suitable to fit an 8” screen in it. I chose the Metra kit in this case. Overall it felt much more substantial, using thicker plastic and the shape of the face provided for a flat surface to work with unlike the AMPP kit which would require cutting into compound curves.


I disassembled the dash kits main piece and masked it up for protection.

[Truthunter]

Then I cut a piece of ⅛” hdpe sheet the exact size of the face bezel on the Alpine. I used this piece to center and trace out the hole that will need be cut out.

[Truthunter]

A scroll saw was used for the rough cut



Then the cuts were refined with a combination of a tile cutting bit on a rotary tool, a file, and an mdf board covered in 120 grit sandpaper.



I found the bracket alignment tabs had to be removed also

[Truthunter]

I thought it came out pretty good for my first go at it.

[Truthunter]

Nice evening on the deck connecting the Alpine’s harnesses to the Maestro and TO2 Harnesses.

[Truthunter]

Used Tesa OEM fleece harnessing tape to clean it all up. Notice the GPS antennae adapter in the upper right corner - Idatalink just released this adapter in Sept ‘16 and as far as I know is the only one that offers it for Toyotas. It plugs directly into the back of the Alpine and then into the Toyota GPS antennae connector in the dash. No need for an additional aftermarket antennae on the top of the car.

[chithead]

Very nice! You did an excellent job on the harness and fitting the Alpine into that bezel!