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So whatever happened to amber illumination?

#1
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2/12/07 at 7:20pm
  • Joined: July 1999
  • Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
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I am in the market for a new head unit for my 2001 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 but I'm finding it hard to find any that feature amber illumination. It appears as though almost all car stereos have some sort of blue illumination of varying degrees of obnoxiousness and my eyes really have a hard time with that color (and it doesn't match my dashboard lighting either).

I was first looking at the JVC KD-HDR1 which features HD Radio built in as well as SRS Circle Surround Auto along with a display that doesn't appear to be too hard on the eyes. I've read comments online about JVC's iPod interface being somewhat clunky and some people question JVC's car audio reliability so I started checking out other brands.

I came across the Alpine CDA-9885 which features a bit more information in the display, a high speed iPod interface, and a red/blue display that can be made completely red. The red illumination would match my amber dash lighting better than blue. I then found another new model, the the CDE-9881 which is available in Europe as the CDE-9881R/RB in either a red/blue switchable model or a green/amber model. I see that the color I am looking for is at least made still but I guess car stereo manufacturers think we Americans only want bling bling blue in our head units.

Are any of you aware of any models that are available here and feature amber illumination? Do you think it would be difficult to swap out the bulbs in a head unit and change it to amber (especially the Alpine models since they are actually made that way for some regions)?
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#2
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3/6/07 at 10:25am
  • Joined: February 2007
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

Depending on what you are looking for out of the head unit, I would say Nakamichi is what you might want to consider. Very beautiful, simple, and in most cases look very stock (some people want something flashy but to me that is just not necesary). Nakamichi is very highly reguarded for thier attention to quality and sound quality. They build some of the most saught after SQ head units available on the market today, and it's hard not to recomend them here. In the short time I have been a member of this forum, it seems there is a much larger number of people who realy care about quality and high end components in their systems than I have ever experienced on any form, and for that I realy do not feel "bad" about recomending quality products such as Nakamichi. I would love to know more about what your entire vehicles system consists of, or what your main goals are with it, as Nak might not suit you, but I am not seeing the "I want to get 5 amps, 30 subs, and 50 speakers for 10 bucks, can you help me?!?!" threads in this forum at all, I don't feel the need to hold back... yes I rant. but i HOPE to be helpful in here. I suggest going to onlinecarstereo.com as they are now an authorized Nak dealer and have a good selection of Nak decks! And any audiophile will basicaly be put into an instant orgasm if you are looking for the smoothest, best feeling rotary volume knob available... buttons anger me! anywho.. this rant is done for now.
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#3
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3/6/07 at 10:30am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

ALSO. For further help, I would suggest getting an account on CarAudioForum.com and posting in the general forum that I said to go there for more assistance finding the right Deck for you. The maturity level on that forum can hit rock bottom sometimes, but there are some legends in car audio there, and quite a few extremely knowledgeable members that will help at any chance they get. I would normaly come here first if I were to have a question on home theater, and likewise, I am going to suggest the car audio forum that I frequent for any car audio questions. I hope I'm helping.
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#4
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3/8/07 at 12:52am
  • Joined: July 1999
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

This all started when I got my first iPod for Christmas a couple of months ago. I thought it would be nice to be able to listen to my new toy in the car so I don't have to lug a bunch of CDs around with me. I looked at the various ways to use an iPod with the factory stereo but none of them really interested me. I figured now would probably be a good time to upgrade the stereo in my vehicle.

I currently have a 2001 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 X-Tra Cab with the factory head unit and speakers. The head unit is decent but very basic and the speakers are just cheap paper cone type jobs. I would like to at least upgrade the head unit and the speakers and probably add amplification and a subwoofer at some point. I'm more interested in accurate sound reproduction than I am in being heard for several blocks.

I bought a pair of Infinity 6810cs component speakers for my doors and a pair of 6812cf 2-way speakers for the rears. According to Crutchfield they drop right in but I have read that I may need to do some trimming of some sort to get the woofers to mount in the factory door locations.

I have also been looking at head units the past few weeks. I have noticed that a lot of head units have a cheap feel to them. I was impressed with how solid both Alpine and JVC models feel (especially Alpine). JVC is about to introduce some new 2007 models that I am interested in. I like the JVC KD-G730 and 830 along with the JVC Arsenal KD-AR780 and 880. JVC's regular car audio catalog for 2007 is here and their 2007 Arsenal catalog is here

Thanks for the link to CarAudioForum.com. I'll take a look in there and check the place out. Maybe someone there knows just what is involved in installing those Infinitys in my doors.
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#5
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3/8/07 at 12:53am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

Duplicate post.
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#6
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3/8/07 at 12:54am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

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#7
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3/8/07 at 12:55am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

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#8
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3/8/07 at 12:56am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

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#9
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3/8/07 at 12:56am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

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#10
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3/8/07 at 6:04am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

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#11
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3/8/07 at 7:24am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

how much are you willing to or planning to spend on the front components, amplifier for them (it would be sacrelige not to amp a decent set of components and take full advantage of what they can sound like), and possible sub/amp? as well as the head unit? again, for a rock solid feel, highest quality sound, and highest quality build, Nakamichi is the first place I would turn. old school stock looking deck too... no 2 bit tool off the street is going to see that and think high end (even though he could be looking at a $1600 head unit)... JVC and Alpine are both good places to look. Alpines 2004-2006 lines have annoyed and disapointed me to no end, lets hope their 2007 line has something better to offer, or I'll keep sending the budget minded folk to Pioneer... I miss the days of recomending Alpine to be honest.
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#12
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3/9/07 at 12:50pm
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

I don't want to spend a fortune on a stereo system for this truck. It's a 4x4 that actually sees the dirt from time to time so I want to keep things simple and easy to replace if I break something. I'm familiar with the Nakamichi name but I think that their head units may be a bit more expensive than what I'd want to put in a 4x4 pickup.

I have owned a well engineered and somewhat inexpensive system that sounded fantastic in the past so I know it can be done. Back in the late '80s a shop in Riverside, CA called the Audio Shoppe put together a system that consisted of my existing Pioneer head unit, an Alphasonik amplifier, Speakercraft plate speakers (5.25" mid-woofer and a tweeter), and a Speakercraft 8" dual voicecoil subwoofer. This was all in a regular cab Toyota pickup and provided me with very balanced sound reproduction. When the owner of the shop first demo'd that system to me in his own pickup (I think he had an Alpine head unit) I thought he had a pair of 10" subs behind his seat but it was just that lone 8" sub.

What I want to do is replace my factory head unit with something that I can connect my iPod to, install the Infinity Reference speakers that I have already purchased, and then add some form of amplification and a subwoofer.
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#13
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3/10/07 at 9:33pm
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

I was somewhat bored this afternoon so I made my way over to the Audio Shoppe to see what they could do for me. It appears as though they still know their stuff. The system they recommended to me consisted of my already purchased Infinity 6810cs and and 6812cf speakers in the factory locations, an Image Dynamics ID8 V.3 subwoofer, and an Arc Audio KAR 400.4 amplifier. They are open to whatever head unit I want to use but they prefer Eclipse and Pioneer.

I was a bit put off by what I perceived to be a small 8" subwoofer but I was assured that it can move more air than a lot of 10" subs and that it would be more than adequate for the cab of my pickup. I have the option of having it placed in a simple MDF enclosure that will rest on the rear shelf area in my X-Tra Cab or in a pretty slick stealth install in one of the two storage compartments in that shelf.

I have a lot of faith in this shop after having a sytem engineered by them for several years in a previous pickup of mine. I think I may just let them do their thing once I decide on a head unit.
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#14
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3/12/07 at 5:10am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

it seems like you might be more comfortable having a shop do the work than doing it all yourself, and for a shop recomending ID and Arc, I have no further input than to say this.. If you don't mind paying someone to do the work for you, I see no reason not to go to them!Big A+ to them for being a local audio shop running half decent brands, and not trying to get you to buy their bottom line RF for 300% markup, or trying to charge you $250 for a JL W1!
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#15
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3/24/07 at 4:56pm
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

I was just searching once again for information on performing an LED bulb swap in an Alpine head unit and actually found something this time. I figured this was an option but now I know it can be done.

Changing blue to amber on an Alpine HU

I've removed surface mount components before but I have never actually had to solder one back in place. Maybe a repair center would be willing to do this sort of thing.
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#16
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3/28/07 at 3:55pm
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

Alpines have a color changer that you can rotate to amber
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#17
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4/3/07 at 7:16am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

Not on all of their HU's some of their middle of the road and most of their higher end units do, but a handfull of their middle range and lower end units dont have that color selection function


and a good example is Alpine's CDA-983X series.. Arguably the best bang for the buck line of head units in the last 5 years. Their 9831, 9833, and 9835 all have that option if I remember correctly. Yet their lowest model(still ringing in at like $250 new I believe it was), the 9830, does not have that option.
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#18
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4/3/07 at 1:07pm
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

There are only two models that are currently listed on the Alpine site that allow you to change the display color (unless I've missed any). The CDA-9885 ($350 list) will allow you to change the blue buttons to red and the DVA-9965 ($1600 list) has the option of 4 different colors.

I was doing some more web surfing yesterday and found a place (or a person) that advertises head unit LED color swaps. You can read more about it here and here is the original message thread that I found (scroll down a bit to read about the head unit LED mods).
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#19
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4/4/07 at 6:17am
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Re: So whatever happened to amber illumination?

I personaly would err away from the 988X series myself. Alpine has been going downhill sugnificantly in the last couple years. 2005 I believe was the last run of 983X series head units. After that they did away with 4v pre-outs on anyting below $300. And a lot of the important musical adjustment and sound quality features were sacrificed for iPod controls and XM Radio tuners. I personaly am not happy that this is the trend with the price-friendly head units these days. Short of getting a $500+ Nakamichi or Denon deck, (witch if you think you wanna drop a lot of cash on a good audio system, i would recomend!), you are looking at an LED swap. And if you do decide that you are looking for a midrange HU and having someone swap the LEDs, or you doing an LED swap, I would definately look into Pioneer and Eclipse. In the last couple years, they have been a lot more function filled as far as usefull functions, and at better price points for what you get.
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