Apologies if this has been asked before.....have an Alpine CDE 9874E head unit that I want to install into wife's Magna. The stock radio decides which speaker it wants to play out of unless you momentarily turn it right up and then it plays fine, and the AM reception is also average (yes we are old) plus there's no bass/treble/mid/balance controls. Question is which Aerpro conversion harness do I need to fit it ....AP7011 or APP0111 ? Any help is appreciated.

Cheers
Ron

Either of them work, as they are designed to have the large white plug (which is the same connector found on the back of the factory radio) fit into with the radio plug from the car's wiring loom.

The difference is that APP0111 is the a Mitsubishi to "ISO" connector (has the brown and black plugs) for which you buy another connector specific for your head unit (ie: "ISO" to Alpine). Connect the ISO plugs together and you essentially get a fully plug-and-play system. Just make sure the Alpine adaptor fits your new headunit -- there are a few different ISO to Alpine harnesses, but they all start with APP8xxxx from memory (APP8 being ISO to "x brand of headunit"), possibly expanded to APP8ALPx for Alpine headunits (APP8ALP is an actual product, but there are others with an extra letter on the end). The "audio guy" at your local auto store or JB HiFi type place that deals in car audio should know which one you need. Just look at the plug on the back of your headunit, and if it looks like the one for APP8ALP for example, then you should be good to go!

On the other hand, the AP7011 has free cables at the "ISO" end rather than the black and brown plugs. This method requires you to solder or otherwise crimp the free ends of the wire onto the supplied wiring plug for the headunits by reading up on wiring diagrams (headunits normally come with a plug that looks just like Aerpro's AP7011, but with a plug that obviously fits into the back of the headunit). This method is obviously much more complicated. The purpose of the AP7011 is so that you can connect the wires together (from the supplied headunit harness to the Aerpro harness) without chopping into your car's wiring. Sometimes headunit manufacturers have the wires coming out of the back of the unit without a modular plug. If that is the case with what you have, then this is the only method for you (unless you want to cut into your car's wiring harness and make all future upgrades/changes or going back to factory MUCH harder :nuts:).

Personally, I'd go for the first approach. This is what I have used and it is very quick and easy, it's just pull console off, old headunit out, plug adaptors in, new headunit in, console back on. These are the products that you find hanging up in your local auto store (don't remember seeing the manual wiring version there before) and it won't be much more than $30 for the pair.


EDIT: Although it seems like you've done your homework, make sure you do get the APP0111 or AP7011 (for whichever route you decide to take) as there is also a product for earlier model Mitsubishi's that have 2 smaller plugs into the car's wiring harness, rather than just the one large plug.

Thanks Hyphen appreciate your advice....found an APP0111 on eBay for $17.50 (free postage) so have just ordered it. Job for next weekend !
One more quest, will I need to worry about the power antenna ???

I was editing my post above while you were reading it, so make sure you grab the appropriate ISO to Alpine adaptor too as you will have a hard time without it.

As for the power antenna, I'm not quite sure about that. Unfortunately Mitsubishi found it in their infinite wisdom to supply the Series 1 VR-X's with a manual antenna. Most people believe that all TJ VR-X's got electric ones, but this is not the case unfortunately; it was only brought in at TJII I think (Series 1.5), when they got the digital odo, climate control, etc. The APP0111 should have the antenna signal wire connected correctly into it so it should work with the ISO to "headunit" harness out of the box (as far as I understand it cars with the manual antenna simply have a wire missing from the corresponding pin on the car's loom, which obviously makes sense - there's no wire to put there). There is also usually a free wire coming from the ISO to "headunit" harness too, which as far as I know is the amp signal wire (which also makes sense, as you need to run separate wires for aftermarket amps anyway). If you don't have an amp, you don't need to worry about it - make sure it is kept safe from grounding against metal though, just in case.

Thanks for that.....see how we go. Guess with a better head unit the stock speakers should perk up i.e. definitely not a doof doof person.

OK finally installed an Alpine head unit...almost all good i.e. it works sweet but the trim ring doesn't fit as it's a poofteenth too wide, say by 3-4 mm. Is it just a case of filing the sides down to fit ?

Some trims need to modified to fit....
If you can do it without compromising the finish then, I'd say. go for it...
I've seen some trim rings with two large lumps ( raised curves ) at either end and dont work well at all for a TW...
I've been known to go to the store where I bought it, and rifle through the parts bin til I find one that suits...

Thanks SHOOT...will do both ie file down AND suss out store after I destroy the trim ring !

Any time, if you get the opportunity, throw a pic or two up.
It's good how current/various models look and fit in our cars....
Anything else you need just holla!

Seen you mentioned this site in a previous reply..... http://www.dnaaudio.com.au/index.php/multi-pocket-mitsubishi-subaru-vw.html . Worth checking out before I grab the axe, angle grinder and 1/2 Bastard file ?

Time flies..... will post pic v soon (not that exciting though). Still got an issue with the front speaker/s. They usually don't work unless you quickly turn up the volume (as they did with the original head unit). What is the issue here. bung front speakers/wiring ???

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......any ideas would be greatly appreciated. It was a straight swap from the original head unit to an Alpine unit with one of those "Aerpro" cable kits.

Does it do the same with the new unit? (i.e. turn up the volume and the speaker works) if so I'd say the speaker is getting "stuck" therefore needs replacement but if it does it while car moving I'd check wiring at the speaker end first as it might be a loose connection....

Yes it does it with the new unit as well. Better get a new set of speakers of the same dimensions for the front and fit them in. thanks !

Yes it does it with the new unit as well. Better get a new set of speakers of the same dimensions for the front and fit them in. thanks !

Open up the offending door, and look at the speaker connections. If nothing sus, take the speaker out and look for something stuck in the voice coil. Only takes a small piece of rubbish to jam the voice coil. You may be able to fix the problem or if not, at least you have a speaker in your hand when you go to buy a replacement so you can check size, mounts and depth in store.

I suppose this means the original radio is ok, hope you haven't binned it yet! lol