New Stereo and Compressor for my Puma

[Craig]

So for the latest addition to the Puma I decided I NEEDED a Compressor and a new Stereo.

For the Compressor I chose the ARB CMKA12. I haven’t really every been a fan of ARB stuff, but this little compressor is pretty good. It will pump the tyres on the Defender from 18psi up to 32 psi in about 1 min 25 secs and is reasonably quiet.

I chose to get the “on board” style rather than the on in the little carry box and I mounted it under the bonnet on the firewall near the heater in that vacant area.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/07/395.jpg

The install was pretty easy and the supplied wiring kit is good. The wiring kit also has some extra wires in it if you want to fir air lockers in the future, however as I have TC I don’t think this will be an option.

I have mounted it with a nitto socket that is accessible with the bonnet raised and I just plug my inflator into that…

Job Done, for now… Maybe later I might fit a tank to give a bit more capacity but we will see.

Next…. The stereo

So I wanted a Bluetooth phone kit, reverse camera and IPod all in one unit and there are a few good one around, however I went with the JVC AVX-77 JVC Products Australia : Welcome (http://www.jvc-australia.com/JVC/client/c_products_details.jsp?catID=28&prodID=484)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/07/1112.jpg

It’s a really cool unit if a bit over priced. RRP in Aust is a crazy $1549.00 but a friend in the states found one for around $450 USD, and it only cost about $80 to mail it over. Bargain!!!

Install was pretty standard affair although made a lot easier by purchasing a standard plug PC2-36-0 Female ISO Bare End Adpater Wire Connector NEW - eBay (item 320396100965 end time Nov-06-09 11:35:04 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320396100965) adaptor from fleabay. Just solder and heat shrink all the wires together and plug it in. I took a flylead off the reverse light to power the reverse camera and also run it forward to the unit.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/10/623.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/10/624.jpg

I setup the mic input for the phone kit on the A pillar and I run the video cable from the camera along the edge of the roof liner and down the pax side A pillar.

It all worked fist time (which is nice) and I’m very happy with it…

The hands free kit is brilliant and connects to my phone within seconds of getting the car started and the reverse camera image pops up within seconds of putting it in reverse.

The IPod input is a usb cable and even display track info and cover art on the display… overall Fantastic. although I may need some better speakers...

I think I will convince the wife I NEED a snorkel and dual battery set-up next. :)

[lambrover]

look's good mate nice work, got to love fitting new toys to your car.:D

[VladTepes]

Excellent !

[dmdigital]

Looks good Craig! I expected the video to be a slide out one when you said it was a single DIN unit.

[Craig]

Yeah, I had a slide out one before in my old 300tdi, but it got choked up with dust and the vibrations reeked havoc with the motor.

This one has a little motor and the screen slides down to put cd/dvd's in. plus its got a detachable face so its a bit less inviting.

[Mikes defender]

Craig

Are the connections behind the sterio normal? I heard that it was a CAN BUS or some thing and that i would need a speical adpator. I think that the salesman was talking ****. Don't have a puma yet but next year i should. I was planing on getting a sterio for this defender then tranfering it accross. buy was put off by this CAN BUS thingo.

Mike

[JohnR]

Craig

Are the connections behind the sterio normal? I heard that it was a CAN BUS or some thing and that i would need a speical adpator. I think that the salesman was talking ****. Don't have a puma yet but next year i should. I was planing on getting a sterio for this defender then tranfering it accross. buy was put off by this CAN BUS thingo.

Mike

Can Buss normally refers to the dash board and ecu data transfer system. Which I don't think the defenter uses (I stand to be corrected here :) )

As for the stereo the sales man was talking the preverbial! The standard stereo connect like any other stereo and installing an after market one is just as easy. The biggest drama I had was running cables and storing them in hidden locations, but this is no different to any other car.

Chreers,

[ingwe]

Craig

I knew this forum was going to be bad for the wallet. Picking up the new Defender this week and now you've got me contemplating another $1500 for the stereo. Great post - thanks

Andrew

[solmanic]

Craig

I knew this forum was going to be bad for the wallet. Picking up the new Defender this week and now you've got me contemplating another $1500 for the stereo. Great post - thanks

Andrew

Make sure you budget another $200 or so for a compact sub-woofer. It makes all the difference to the sound quality. :BigThumb:

[dmdigital]

Craig

Are the connections behind the sterio normal? I heard that it was a CAN BUS or some thing and that i would need a speical adpator. I think that the salesman was talking ****. Don't have a puma yet but next year i should. I was planing on getting a sterio for this defender then tranfering it accross. buy was put off by this CAN BUS thingo.

Mike


Can Buss normally refers to the dash board and ecu data transfer system. Which I don't think the defenter uses (I stand to be corrected here :) )

As for the stereo the sales man was talking the preverbial! The standard stereo connect like any other stereo and installing an after market one is just as easy. The biggest drama I had was running cables and storing them in hidden locations, but this is no different to any other car.

Chreers,
The Puma is a CANbus system for the ECM, Alarm, ABS and basic BCU systems. As I understand it even though the alarm system isn't actually CANbus, it has been interfaced. The radio and a lot of the switches and controls are not operating through the CANbus system though. Therefore (unlike say a new Commodore) you can simply pull out the radio and install a new one.

That said it should also be possible to add things on to the CANbus - like Cruise Control perhaps.

[Craig]

Craig

Are the connections behind the sterio normal? I heard that it was a CAN BUS or some thing and that i would need a speical adpator. I think that the salesman was talking ****. Don't have a puma yet but next year i should. I was planing on getting a sterio for this defender then tranfering it accross. buy was put off by this CAN BUS thingo.

Mike

Mike.

Sorry for the delay.. just finished a really busy few days.

As previously stated, I believe the CAN BUS is for the "black box". The factory stereo has a pretty standard plug, (PC2-36) that you can get from ebay as stated in my original post... somthing like this PC2-36-0 Female to Bare End With Butt Crimp Connector - eBay (item 160354034280 end time Nov-04-09 03:46:43 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/PC2-36-0-Female-to-Bare-End-With-Butt-Crimp-Connector_W0QQitemZ160354034280QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Terminals_Cabling_ET?hash=i tem2555d86268#ht_1626wt_939)

there are no special requirments other than hooking up a reverse lead to activate the camera and a park brake lead to watch DVDs (but you can just earth this out if you want to play them any time)


Craig

I knew this forum was going to be bad for the wallet. Picking up the new Defender this week and now you've got me contemplating another $1500 for the stereo. Great post - thanks

Andrew

Andrew, If you have any friends in the US they are only about $450... you might get one sent over. or try these guys http://www.electrawarehouse.com/productDetailsByName.php?name=JVC+KD-AVX77 They may be able to send you one. with the AUDUSD at 0.92 at the moment JVC have a lot of cheek to be asking this much for them in Aust.


Make sure you budget another $200 or so for a compact sub-woofer. It makes all the difference to the sound quality. :BigThumb:

Solmanic, I've looked every where for one of those little subs that you have, but they dont seem to be available any more.


Craig

[VladTepes]

Aren't' radio frequencies in the US different than here ? ie the gap between each frequency is different meaning foreign tuners don;t work, or work as well, here ?

[Craig]

Vlad,

Yeah, I'm not sure on that one... it seems to work ok but you have me thinking now. I might have to get the book out and have a look.

Stay tuned

Craig

[rogan]

Unlike some brands like Alpine, JVC have a selectable tuner (don't know if it's across the range or model specific). The AVX77 has three regions to select from: US, Sth America, and Europe. Sth America and Europe do the right FM frequencies for Australia; only difference is the step for the AM band.

I imported mine from US cos the pricing in NZ is equally as ridiculous. With the strength of the AU$, well worth importing. Even better if you know someone flying home who could bring it back.

My only gripes with the AVX77 is the reversing camera will only show in the centre of the screen, I'd like to have it fullscreen but it might be a bit fisheye. The wallpaper feature is next to useless, it would be way better as a screensaver function. I recommend setting it to off/proximity in the AV menu.

Mine has a bit of a BT delay that's annoying when answering calls, about a 2 second gap before I can talk/hear. Otherwise it's a nice allround unit and sound quality is pretty decent as well. It's an active sub so no need for a separate amp.

Highly recommend a small sub to fill out the bottom end. One that may be worth looking into is the Focal Bus25 (http://www.focalaustralia.com.au/access_1.html#bus20). It's on special at fhrxstudios (http://www.fhrxstudios.com/) (RRP$599 but doesn't give a sale price). No idea how much grunt it has but being Focal it's bound to sound reasonably good.