highside4

Sitting in traffic today and all I could hear was hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. I'm over it. Looking to install an aftermarket head unit as per suggestions. Nothing else works in the tech pack works particularly well anyway. Easy to get a head unit with iPod integration and probably bluetooth that will work with an iPhone too. All I am losing is the volume buttons on the wheel, and frankly I'd rather use a knob. I guess if I look around I can find someone who makes the 1 din mount insert like phantom has in his photo. If anyone wants the wiring diagram I have of the ICC, probably better to send me message with your email address. Needs to be high res if you want to be able to read it. I'm not supposed to put it up anywhere really. I would like a subwoofer too, but my car is a work ute and it has to be small (need the space) and robust. Hmmm. I'm not a big poster to forums, but is the topic wandering? Cheers all

I have an 09 FG XR6T ute with standard 'stereo', + technolgy pack including bluetooth and ipod integration. When I first looked at the car the integration of all the parts seemed great, but when it gets down to it has really been nothing more than a headache. First couldn't get the bluetooth to work reliable with my iPhone 3GS. Installed a parrot 3200i(?) system, eventually (no thanks to Ford for their inability to help). Got it to mute the stereo, come up with 'phone'on the icc display etc. Also found stereo sound wanting so pulled the roof lining, door linings, rear lining and installed bitumen based deadener sheet and some barium mat here and there as well as alpine type R 6 1/2" coaxials in the rear (in the factory plastic speaker mounts - great fit) and same speakers in component version in the front (lots of MDF required to mount correctly). Factory speaker wires run back to a common point behind the drivers seat and into a Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.1 processor with the output into an Alpine MRP-F600 4 channel amp fed by 4 gauge wire straight from the battery and earthed to the chassis locally. Outcome? The sound deadener is awesome. Makes everything quieter, less resonance and the car feels more 'luxury'. Doors thud shut, I can understand people on the phone even at highway speed and they can understand me. Problem is the same low level signal noise described by others here. At low listening levels (which are now possible as the interior is quieter) the background hiss is very fatiguing. So much so that I have taken to listening loud or not at all. Best reduction was by turning the amp gain right down, and running the processor gain at the minimum level to still get reasonable volume. This means you tend to run the head unit at higher volume numbers where the s/n ratio is better. Its still far from great though and you miss out on the SPL the setup is capable of. Also, the rear speakers have a shocking resonance in freq between about 400-800hz which results in some pretty ordinary sound. With the 3Sixty.1 I can (and have)equalized this somewhat as you can equalize front and rear speakers seperately. In the front this frequency band needs boosting so without a processor you need to be very careful how you set up your fader and bass levels to have any chance! Wish I could have bought a 3Sixty.2 as the extra frequency bands available in the equalizer could have helped. Might have been able to cut the hiss a bit too. I've had enough of fiddling with this stuff now so I'm just going to suck it up. Oh and I'm looking at a wiring diagram of the ICC and there is only a single line out on it which looks like a summed on for the subwoofer amp. Has plenty of 'ins'though. Hope this is of some interest to someone. Oh, and I'm just an ameteur hacker and will defer to any of the talented indivduals out there who do this for a living. My apolgies if anything I have said is just wrong - my humble opinions and thoughts only. Cheers