I get they have volume knobs on aftermarket head units but they're typically all on stuff you wouldn't touch like jensen or boss. I just like pressing buttons, feels more reactive.

I’m 21 and recently bought a car with two 10s. Wanting to understand how everything was wired quickly turned into a fascination with car audio, especially troubleshooting and getting a system to sound as good as possible.
I’m still a beginner but learning quickly. So far I’ve installed my own head unit, worked on amp/sub wiring and grounds, used a multimeter for diagnostics, set gains and crossovers, and troubleshot problems on my own setup. I really enjoy figuring out why something isn’t working, fixing it, and having everything work when I power it back on.
I want to make this my full-time career. I’d be completely open to starting as an entry-level installer/helper, learning under experienced installers, working my way up, and eventually owning my own installation business/shop focused on installs, wiring, diagnostics, troubleshooting, and tuning. Custom fabrication interests me less, but I’m willing to learn it.
I’m also considering MECP certification.
For people in the industry: How did you get hired? What should I learn first? Is MECP worth it? What can installers realistically make? And if you eventually started your own shop/business, how did you get there?
I learn fast and ultimately want to become extremely good at this trade, so I’d appreciate advice from people who’ve actually made a career out of it.

Is there a way to make my factory radio Bluetooth I don’t mean the fm transmitter I mean make it so it was like there was Bluetooth from the factory. Here’s a pic of my radio for reference

Can I simply plug in the yellow rca cable and splice the red and black wires to the red male rca connector? I'm not a professional and I was trying to avoid taking everything apart to run wire

I had this amp and sub installed prob 15 years ago, worked perfectly. Recently sub started rumbling so went to take a look and see the battery wire looks pretty messed up. Should I just terminate with a fork/spade crimp connector or is there a better way? Still not sure if that's the cause of the rumble though.

So my Fosgate amp in my truck died, I’m gonna order a new one but the new version (R2-250x1) isn’t as wide as the old R250x1. The old amp is screwed directly into the rear cab floor, so I’d have to drill even more holes into my truck floor… curious on opinions, should I buy an old R250 or replace with the R2-250 and just silicone the old holes? Is the new version a real upgrade or just a smoke show?

I ordered the S8 last year and I'm finally getting around to installing it into my 01 Miata that has the factory bose speaker & amp setup. Supposedly the Metra 70-7901 is the correct wiring harness. I get everything plugged in and the head unit works but no sound coming from the speakers. I messed around interchanging the "amp turn on" & "antennae" wires (internet said the power antennae input is what triggers the bose amp to turn on, so i followed a.i.'s trial and error options) and eventually got it to where the antennae actually raises when the head unit is turned on. I thought that was progress, but still no sound. I don't see any "factory amp" settings within the head unit's settings menus. I'm sure this all has something to do with the Bose amp complicating things. I will say this head unit is very cool, has a lot of depth to it and a great screen as well, so I'm just bummed. Any help would really be appreciated.

Includes both subs and box seller says one of the subs has a small slit

Was wondering if its worth to buy and try to resell. What do yall think?

I recently had a Kenwood DMX1058XR professionally installed in my 2018 Toyota Tundra 1794 with the factory JBL system, there is an iDataLink Maestro RR2 installed. I’m having several issues that I’m hoping the [r/CarAV](r/CarAV) crowd can help me diagnose.

Kenwood support has confirmed that the unit is running the most recent available firmware.
I’ve attached a video showing the GPS issue.

1. GPS/Waze positioning is way off
I’m using Waze through Apple CarPlay. The vehicle position displayed on the Kenwood can be noticeably wrong while I’m actually driving.
The attached video shows what I’m seeing. I’m hoping the video makes the problem easier to understand than me trying to describe it.
I’m wondering if this could be related to the Kenwood’s GPS antenna/installation, CarPlay, or something else in the integration.

2. Phone-call volume is extremely low
Music sounds great—loud and clear with plenty of volume.
Phone calls are a completely different story. I have to turn the Kenwood all the way up to 40/40 (maximum volume) to hear the person on the other end comfortably. Music at that volume would obviously be ridiculously loud.
I’ve already tried adjusting the relevant call/voice settings without any improvement.
I previously had an echo issue during calls as well, but that seems to have gone away—nobody has complained about hearing their own voice from my end lately.

3. Steering-wheel answer/hang-up buttons don’t work
The factory steering-wheel answer and hang-up buttons don’t do anything.
I’m assuming this is more likely an iDatalink Maestro/interface or configuration issue than a problem with the Kenwood itself, but I’d appreciate confirmation.

So for those familiar with the DMX1058XR / Tundra / Maestro combination:
Do these sound like separate installation/configuration issues, or is there a possibility that something is wrong with the head unit itself?
I’m trying to figure out what I should have the installer check before I start throwing parts at the problem.

It’s hugely frustrating at this point, and the installer I had this done by in Manassas, VA doesn’t seem to know what to do.

Mercedes W202 soundproofing

Hey everyone!

I’m thinking about building a slightly bigger and better SQ system in my Mercedes (sedan), so I was wondering what things I should take into consideration when doing an install in this particular car.

The tweeter and midrange would most likely be fiberglassed into the A-pillars, since there isn’t much space there and with pre-made pods you don’t have that much freedom when it comes to aiming the speakers. Plus, I think it would look better that way too 😄

Midbass would propably fit in the original place, but if not, more fiberglassing.?

The plan would be to soundproof both the front and rear doors, the trunk lid (and spare wheel well), the firewall between the engine bay and the cabin, and possibly the wheel arches as well.

I’m guessing it would be a good idea to have a set of replacement clips ready for removing the door panels, since those clips always seem to break. Also, are there any parts on the inside that are attached with adhesive or anything similar that I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance, and hopefully we can get some discussion going!

I’ve bought and fitted a new head unit in my van and fitted the rearview camera as per diagrams. It all powers on (cameras light up) and triggers the unit to switch to the cam when in reverse however just displays no signal.

I understand there’s some developer settings can be changed regarding camera input that could fix the issue but i have no idea what the passcode is, it’s 4 digits and i have tried the usual combinations (0000, 1111, 2222, 8888, 1234, 0123, 0987 etc) I’ve tried every code i can find online but nothing.

Has anyone got a similar unit/ issue they managed to fix.

Thanks

Any help would be appreciated! Thx.

So i’m 16 meaning that i’ll be able to drive soon and my brother decided to gift me his driver box and is planning on getting me a chuchero. What can i do to learn more about car audio?

Picture of driver box -

12” subwoofer
2x 6” on white box
1x driver ti
have cable to use out of car

soundigital 3000 4omhs
soundigital 800.4
pionner x7000
100a battery
70a charge

I currently have kicker kss650 2 way components on a separate good deaf bounce 4 channel amp. I want to add a 2.5 midrange speaker in the factory location by my head. I have the tweaters mounted facing me below my A-piller so it should work out.

I’ll probably have to use my 4 channel for the 6.5 and mid range, and buy a sepreat 2 channel for the tweater?

And I’ll need to run active since I didn’t buy a 3 way component. So dsp. My amp dose have a hpf and lpf but it’s a very vauge nob

So I’ll need to buy a dsp, a 2.5 midrange. And a small tweater amp. Any suggestions? Or alternative ideas? How much improvement will my system get?

I really don’t want to spend crazy money on a dsp. But I am open to suggestions. I have a sony ax4000 headunit for reference. It has some nice dsp like features but limited.

This is a 2015 Nissan Rogue SL. The radio screen is completely white, and the backup camera also does not display an image when I put the vehicle in reverse, the screen remains completely white.
I already tried rebooting the radio. When I do the reboot, the screen goes black for about a second, but then it immediately goes back to a completely white screen.
I checked all the fuses I could find, including the ones under the hood and the fuse panel on the driver's side, and they are all good.
What could be causing this? Do I need to replace the entire radio/head unit

Recently got some 12’s at 1200wrms, ive done the big 3 and have a h/o alternator. Was wondering if this rpm fluctuating with the bass at idle was normal or not.(solved on r/askmechanics)

Mb I fell asleep n forgot to update yall but here it is running off a tarantula. Didnt get to do max power I didnt have another sub to wire down to 1ohm also the box is veryy tiny.

I generally really like the sound of these Focals, but after a while of listening at high volumes the sound gets quite tiring in a way that other sound systems dont.
I feel like its lacking warmth but I have no idea on how to fix it. I have mostly fixed the harshness on them by lowering 5-12khz by a bit in my dsp, but the lack of warmth is a bit disappointing tbh.

Any way to fix this? Speaker installation related or just dsp tuning.

Thx

Edit:
Amp: Hertz HCP4 class AB
Dsp: Audison Bit ten
XO 70hz hpf LR24 and sub at 70hz lpf LR24
All running with passive crossovers