Replacement For Nakamichi Stereo W/ Bluetooth/aux?

[chrismccaleb]

Hey everybody,

New to the forums - what an incredible community!

I'm looking to replace the factory stereo (Nakamichi, 6-disc changer) in my LS400 with something modern, most importantly with an Auxiliary input or Bluetooth functionality. I've done a bit of research online, and it seems like most units (such as the Pioneer AVH-P3400BH) either don't fit, or won't interface with the disc-changer or amp.

Does anyone have a suggestion for this? I listen to a lot of podcasts and music via my iPhone, and I'd really like to be able to hear them through the car stereo. I've tried the simple solutions (cassette adapter doesn't work, FM transmitter is useless in Los Angeles) and am looking for something better.

Thanks in advance!

chris.

[1990LS400]

Maybe ship your Nakamichi to http://factoryradios.../page.html?id=1 (near San Francisco) and have an aux-in added - their mod has gotten excellent reviews on car forums. I think the most expensive of their three aux-in options is around $75. If you want Bluetooth A2DP, then plug a Bluetooth adapter into the aux-in after it is added to your Nak. Or just plug your iPhone directly into the aux-in - might be easier if you have a charging cradle for your iPhone similar to what I have for my Samsung phone and like I'm going to buy for my wife's new iPhone 5 she is being "issued" by her employer next week to replace her Crackberry.

I had planned to send the Nak in my 2000 LS400 by now to have an aux-in added but I'm busy with a more important project involving 4,000 pounds of porcelain tile (ouch!) - should have done it when my LS was in the body shop for a month. Only last night did I finally verify that the 3.5 mm aux-out jack on my Samsung Galaxy S3 charging cradle should work with Factory Radio's aux-in mod.

If you want Bluetooth hands free for your iPhone, I highly recommend purchasing an inexpensive Garmin GPS. The now $199 Garmin 2595 I have mounted in my LS has an excellent Bluetooth phone feature and very accurate voice recognition for making calls with voice commands.

Here is a photo of my Garmin/phone set up. When I get an aux-in added to the back of my Nak, I'll be able to hide its cable in the leather phone console where the phone's charging cable and the Garmin's traffic receiver are already hiding.

[chrismccaleb]

Wow, thank you so much for all the advice! Extremely informative. If I get that mod, I'll definitely let you know how it goes!

[1990LS400]

Wow, thank you so much for all the advice! Extremely informative. If I get that mod, I'll definitely let you know how it goes!

I FedEx'ed my 2000 LS400 Nakamichi head unit this afternoon to Factory Radio Service in Rancho Cucamonga CA to have them add an aux-in on a cable and a switch for it on the radio face - $85 not including $15 to ship it back to me. For an additional $10 they are going to replace the two backlight bulbs in the display.

I'll post photos of how to remove the head unit when I get it back and take photos of the modifications. It takes me maybe ten minutes to remove the radio head unit but I've done it lots of times for a variety of reasons since I bought the car in '03.

[chrismccaleb]

Incredible! I can't wait to see. Was the process anything like this:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/audio/headunit.html

Looking forward to hearing how it turned out. Thanks again!

[1990LS400]

Incredible! I can't wait to see. Was the process anything like this:

http://www.lexls.com...o/headunit.html

Looking forward to hearing how it turned out. Thanks again!

The instructions on that website are for a 90-94 LS400. I owned a 90 LS400 for 13 1/2 years. It's actually a little easier to remove the radio on a 95-00 LS400 than on a 90-94 LS400. The "secret" to removing the center vents without them falling apart or breaking (they are fragile) is the pull the inner side clips inward with a small blade screw driver as you gently pry the vents out.

[1990LS400]

There is not much to see in these photos but they show the small on/off button that Factory Radio Service added to the face of my 00 LS Nakamichi next to the Fader control and the 3.5mm aux port added to the back of the radio with a cord attached to it. Workmanship of the added switch and aux port is flawless and the sound quality is excellent. The radio must be in FM1 or FM2 mode before the aux switch works. Yep, the first photo shows streaming from Pandora to my Nakamichi system.

I found that the 3.5 mm audio out of my Samsung Infuse charging cradle is two low to power the new aux-in. Instead of being able to permanently plug the aux-in to the charging cradle, I have to plug it into the top of my phone each time i want to stream audio. Also, I'm getting some interferrence when I charge the phone while streaming audio from it ... will try to resolve with filters.

I could have added an A2DP Bluetooth adapter to the new aux-in but I have to get my phone out of my pocket anyway to stream audio ... decided there wasn't emough benefit to bother.

For an extra $10, Factory Radio Service replaced both head unit display backlight bulbs ... no more flickering! Service was fast ... radio received on a Thursday and shipped back to me the following Monday. I've VERY happy with this mod.

2000 LS400 - removing the radio head unit..pdf

[jainla]

Nice job. it's nice to know that someone is now offering this service for the older Lexus units. Becker will modify the older Mercedes head units with an aux in but it's not as elegant; you have to mount the jack somewhere visible and then plug it in or remove it to trigger the input.

I had them do this to the deck in the 560 and this year plugged the Parrot Mki 9200 unit into it to give that radio Bluetooth and iPod support. So far the Parrot has been fantastic.

Jim you may need a ground loop isolator; I got this one on Amazon for $10 and it works perfectly.

[1990LS400]

Nice job. it's nice to know that someone is now offering this service for the older Lexus units. Becker will modify the older Mercedes head units with an aux in but it's not as elegant; you have to mount the jack somewhere visible and then plug it in or remove it to trigger the input.

I had them do this to the deck in the 560 and this year plugged the Parrot Mki 9200 unit into it to give that radio Bluetooth and iPod support. So far the Parrot has been fantastic.

Jim you may need a ground loop isolator; I got this oneon Amazon for $10 and it works perfectly.

Thanks, Jorge! I will try the exact isolator you bought.

[chrismccaleb]

Wow Jim! I absolutely cannot thank you enough for doing this! So incredibly helpful. I'm sending mine in next week!

[1990LS400]

I can now confirm after installing the "PAC Ground Loop Isolator for 3.5 MM Applications" that "jainla" suggested that it completely eliminates all interference from the engine and/or electrical system when I stream audio stored on my phone or audio from the Internet (e.g. Pandora) via my phone while also charging my phone.

For some reason, this little miracle device also allows streaming audio when the the audio cable is connected to the aux-out port of my Samsung phone cradle ... very odd since this couldn't be done directly from the cradle's 3.5mm port. Unfortunately, there is a tiny bit of distortion when I connect the ground loop isolator to the phone cradle so I will connect the ground loop isolator to the phone's 3.5mm jack. I sure would have liked to avoid manually plugging the audio cable into my phone each time I want to stream audio from it but this is still great.

The next step is to hide the PAC ground loop isolator box inside the leather Kuda phone console. It's getting awfully crowded in there with the Garmin's traffic receiver antenna and all the cables that are already crammed in the small space.

Thanks, Jorge!

[jainla]

Yes the ground loop isolator is pretty good. For some reason sometimes there is a potential difference between two grounds in an electrical system (don't ask my why a thought a ground was a ground) electricity flows across them and causes that interference. Many ipod and bluetooth systems have them built in but sometimes you still need one.

Re: the distortion maybe there is something in the phone cradle that's interfering? Sounds like possibly a bad connection somewhere.

You could put in a AD2P adaptor (the Parrot MKi i'm using has one) but I find when streaming the sound from Pandora seems not nearly as good as the sound from decent MP3s or a CD. I'm not sure if it's just the bluetooth bridge or Pandora itself. One of the downsides of having a great audio system is that it's not that forgiving of crap content. Also having the cell phone radio and the bluetooth radio on just kills your battery so you'd need to plug it in somewhere anyway.

Glad to know it's working!

[1990LS400]

Yes the ground loop isolator is pretty good. For some reason sometimes there is a potential difference between two grounds in an electrical system (don't ask my why a thought a ground was a ground) electricity flows across them and causes that interference. Many ipod and bluetooth systems have them built in but sometimes you still need one.

Re: the distortion maybe there is something in the phone cradle that's interfering? Sounds like possibly a bad connection somewhere.

You could put in a AD2P adaptor (the Parrot MKi i'm using has one) but I find when streaming the sound from Pandora seems not nearly as good as the sound from decent MP3s or a CD. I'm not sure if it's just the bluetooth bridge or Pandora itself. One of the downsides of having a great audio system is that it's not that forgiving of crap content. Also having the cell phone radio and the bluetooth radio on just kills your battery so you'd need to plug it in somewhere anyway.

Glad to know it's working!

I think the distortion when the ground loop isolator is attached to the Samsung Infuse charging cradle audio-out port is due to the cradle's somewhat sloppy construction ... but the cradle still seems a bargain at $17.50 including shipping from AT&T if all it does is charge my phone and hold it so I can see it's screen and control apps. I don't remember any of the much more expensive non-Samsung cradles for the Galaxy S III having an audio-out jack but I will check to see any new ones have introduced now that the Galaxy S III has become so popular.

I suspect that the ground loop isolator suppresses low audio frequencies a bit as some have reported but I can compensate by cranking the Nakamichi base control up a notch. It's hard to tell. Steaming audio from a phone may not be as good as from a CD but the quality seems substantially better than audio from commercial music cassette tapes.

Maybe at some point I'll use a splitter and plug a Bluetooth adapter to the aux-in so I can either stream via Bluetooth or through the cable. Like I said previously, there doesn't seem to be much point since I have to control the streaming from my phone ... can't do it like you can from your Parrot remote control. The Garmin 2595 is working well enough for handsfree phone conversations although I miss the radio auto-mute -- just bought another Garmin 2595 for my wife to use in rental cars. I like how address information can be sent from my Android phone to the Garmin ... would be nice if Garmin came out with a SmartLink app for iPhone which my wife uses.

Jorge, thanks again for the suggestion on the isolator. I really like my old LS and these gizmos are satisfying enough to make me want to continue driving it a while longer.

[jainla]

Yeah I think when it comes to gadgets (especially ICE gadgets) you're almost always better off going aftermarket. The Nav in the LS430 is usable but it's starting to look a little dated compared to the newer units. Although I really like the Denso systems newer units offer more features and are a little easier to use (also far cheaper than the $2k-3k a Lexus nav unit will cost you).

I have yet to use the newest Enform systems, but generally I have see an OEM system that's as good as the Parrot system at voice dialing (and it will also sync with the iPhone). If you can wire in through the line out it's really the end all be all of car audio upgrades (short of a new head unit). If you are handy with a soldering iron and willing to put some ingenuity in it's amazing what you can accomplish.

That said, I may have hit the limit with auto gizmos. I like my LS but more and more I appreciate the simplicity of my older cars. A newer car with LKA, LDW and blind spot detection might be too much. With all those robots on board who's driving? The 560 and 240 are still cars, the LS430 is a rolling computer. The LS460 must be like the space shuttle!

[1990LS400]

That said, I may have hit the limit with auto gizmos. I like my LS but more and more I appreciate the simplicity of my older cars. A newer car with LKA, LDW and blind spot detection might be too much. With all those robots on board who's driving? The 560 and 240 are still cars, the LS430 is a rolling computer. The LS460 must be like the space shuttle!

I'm loving all these gizmos and I'm not sure I care who's driving. Your 560SEL was a huge step in automation above the 450SEL I had with it's automatic climate control, ABS and air bags. Your 240D that you have and the 240D I owned way too long are/were essentially "doorstops" (no, doorstops have better 0-60 times).

I would just as soon have the choice of driving or have the car drive itself while I crawl into the backseat and relax. I'm not above having my wife drive on long trips, running the front passenger seat all the way forward into "limo mode" and stretching out in the back seat while reading and/or listening to music. If my backseat reclined like the one in your LS430 UL then I'd probably get a chauffeur's cap for my wife and put diplomat flags on my front fenders. Or if I had a car that drove itself, my wife and I might both be in the backset enjoying a class of wine.

But then ... I remember the "boardroom" scene from Robocop:

[LexusJay73]

hey,,,new to the forum as an actual contributor,,been lurking for a bit. What mounts are you using for your gps and phone? I like that off to thr side set up. Thank you much!!

[1990LS400]

hey,,,new to the forum as an actual contributor,,been lurking for a bit. What mounts are you using for your gps and phone? I like that off to thr side set up. Thank you much!!

The Garmin is mounted on a Pro.Fit Bravo Ball which is attached to a modified (drilled out) Pro.Fit Legend bracket.

The Samsung S3 phone is in a Samsung Infuse charging cradle attached to a vehicle specific Kuda leather phone console.

I no longer have the 2000 LS400 and no longer attempt to use vehicle specific phone mounts since my wife and I no longer use the same phone models and we both now use protective cases on the phones. We now use iOttie phone holders in our vehicles.

The Garmins are not used in our current vehicles since they all have OEM in-dash navigation systems but we still use the Garmins in rental cars.

[LexusJay73]

thanks!

[sizbob]

not quite on topic but you guys seem to have this down........My CD changer seems to have no power. when I select CD it says load then error code 13. Any Ideas?

please reply to sizbob@aol.com