Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

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Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby aag321 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:55 am

Hey All,

This guide is written to replace the factory Gen5 McIntosh System with an aftermarket stereo whilst keeping the factory McIntosh amp. if your the kind of person that's up for anything DIY then this guide is for you. Word of warning this is not a small job!

I'll start off by giving a big thanks to Tresidder17 and his write up for his replacement in his gen 4. Without this guide i would have never begun to attempt this. I'm not going to be covering how to do the McIntosh plug conversion as this is covered by Tresidder17's post, more info here: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=35068

This is the starting point and the head unit i will be replacing.

Image

The parts you will need :

A gen 5 outback / lib non navigation face covering ( i bought mine from onboost parts)
Aerpro FP8223
Aerpro APP09 - Because i didn't want cut the factory loom.
Aerpro APA53
6 -7 component cable plugs ( used to cut up and wire in)
dc to dc converter to wire up factory camera.

On each side of the car you will need to pull back the covering, unplug the Antenna clip on the passenger side, and the amp plug on the drivers side.

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Antenna plug
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Amp Plug

Pull the vents off, Just getting your fingers in the vents and pulling the plastic seems to be the easiest way to remove. unscrew all the obvious screws and remove the deck.

At this point with the head unit out, your going to have to cut the McIntosh pug from the deck, leave your self plenty of slack to wire this up.

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At this point follow the wiring guide provided in this post : viewtopic.php?f=22&t=35068

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The new deck unfortunately doesn't slot straight it as it fouls on the rear plastic housing and probably not ideal. This step may not be required with some decks, but i will be removing to make more room with a simple box cutting blade.
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Once i cut this off i got a small mallet and bent back the steel brackets

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Much more room now to play with now and deck is ready to slot in.

Here's my first attempt with the stock plastic housing on.

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My attempt to fit with the outback housing:

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Wiring in the steering control was a little different then most places documented. I ended up having to go through service manuals to confirm where everything was wired up.

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On the main 20 pin loom:

Steering ground can just use normal ground.
Input one is wired into Pin 4
Input two is wired into Pin 11

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Running through the learning options on the stereo, it seems to pick up all the inputs as expected.

Reversing camera proved to be a little bit of a pita. The deck does have CAM + and CAM - but this seems to be too much voltage and the camera didn't function with these inputs. I needed up going to jay car and buying a dc to dc converter for 10 bucks. The stock reversing camera requires 6V to operate. This did the trick and now functions as expected.

The Green connector houses the reversing sensor wire. Wiring into the brown wire will give the reverse sensor.
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The pins are labeled correctly on this diagram looking at connector J901. I spliced the stock wires and added my composite end to the stock wiring loom.

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Apologies for the blury photo.

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Working reversing camera.

With everything working i though i'd try spraying the outback covering. Turns out i'm not so great at spray painting, but it will do for now. I may sand it back and give it another go at a later stage.

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Any questions I'm happy to answer!

Happy boating!

AAG
Last edited by aag321 on Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:49 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Tresidder17 » Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:45 pm

Nice write up buddy. I'm glad my guide worked for you and thanks for linking my work :D
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby fedaykin » Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:59 pm

Great stuff, thanks.
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby ck5533 » Thu May 10, 2018 8:51 am

fedaykin wrote:Great stuff, thanks.


+ 1

Thank you. very helpful
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby bananabrah » Wed Nov 28, 2018 9:55 pm

Great post, thank you! It's seriously hard to find information about GEN 5 Liberty installs.

Can you provide some more information about the fascia you bought? Did you buy an additional fascia piece that immediately surrounds the double din? Looking at fascias from standard Liberty and Outback the double din area seems to be angular. There are parts on ebay that look like they will fill that small void, but they are another $45.

What did your fascia cost from Onboost? I'm trying to get a quote from them but they've been very bad at getting back to me. I got one quote elsewhere for $145. Is that reasonable?

I'm looking at replacing the whole system, including the amplifier. Can you clarify something for me please... do the speaker wires run from the stock head unit to the amp through the din cable, then from the amp directly to each speaker location? How is the cabling run from amp to speaker? If I am installing a new head unit and new amp perhaps I am best off rewiring everything?

I'm collecting up all my parts now... I think it's gonna be a long process! Thanks for all your help!
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby aag321 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:22 am

No problems! The main reason for the post was because it was so hard to find information online!
I'm trying to find the receipt for what i bought, but from the images it looks like it was: https://aerpro.com/fp8223

With onboost, i ended up going to them and visiting them and picking from a handful of options they had. i recall paying 130ish.

Speaker cables run to the amp under the seat in the harness loom. i dont have a pin out of that loom, but that might be a little trial and error if you replace the whole unit to figure out what wires do what.
If you go down that path, please share your findings of that pin out! would be handy to have!

Good luck! its defiantly not an easy task and requires a little patients.

Cheers,

Andrew
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Roadsy » Tue Jun 14, 2022 8:31 pm

Thank you for the instructions - got it all installed and working including the steering wheel controls and reverse camera.

I just have one really unusual problem that I cannot seem to work out and I've double checked all the wiring, so maybe you've come across this before. So when I start my car without depressing the brake (so just accessories) the stereo functions normally, but when I go from completely off to starting the car then the headunit fails to turn on (blank screen) and from that point onwards it no longer functions. I need to reset everything by disconnecting the battery and then it works again.

I'm grasping at straws here but hoping you might have experienced this or hear about someone having a similar problem.
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby bigBADbenny » Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:06 am

Something to do with parkbrake lockout?

Eg am oem function that hasn’t been circumvented with the head unit upgrade?
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Trails » Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:12 am

Thread revival :D

UK owner of a JDM Gen5 GT S pack with the MacIntosh head unit here :)

I wanted to say thanks for the thread, I’ve managed to get my Kenwood double din up and running with the exception of the Reverse camera and DAB, which has a no signal :(

I wondered if anyone can confirm which two wires I need to splice the composite end to, I think it’s 2 and 3 from the J901 plug, presumably the dc step down is connected to those wires between the composite end and camera?
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Trails » Sun Oct 16, 2022 1:12 am

Hi, thanks to this thread I’ve managed to ditch my Macintosh head unit and get everything running with the exception of terrible DAB reception and the reverse camera.

I wonder if anyone can help with the latter? My new Headunit has a female phono in and separate wire for the reverse trigger, I’ve followed the instructions for the reverse wire as above, but I’m struggling with which wires I should splice into from the OE loom…I have a dc voltage 12v to 6v as advised above too.

Thanks again OP, would have been lost without this :)
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Trails » Tue Oct 18, 2022 10:39 pm

so desperate for an answer I posted multiple times :D
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Malibr » Sun Jan 08, 2023 2:15 pm

Hey Trails,

I've been away from this forum for a while. Hope this helps if you still need it........one of my lock down projects i completed.

I used the below item to obtain the female plug for the reverse camera harness from the car. The 8 pin plug J901 in the above diagram.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/262223344774?h ... Sw7XZXheK~

To make life easier i would suggest you get this adapter purely just to source that female plug.

I used a 12v to 6v similar to the below

https://aerpro.com/apvty01

i was able to remove the pins from the Toyota retention adapter and insert then into the Subaru female 8 pin plug.

Holding the female plug with the female end facing you and referring to the diagram for plug J901.

The RCA +ve wire from the retention plug goes in pin 1
The RCA -ve wire from the retention plug goes in pin 5
The power +ve wire from the retention plug goes in pin 3
The ground wire from the retention plug goes in pin 6

That leaves the 3 loose wires that supply the retention adapter
Generally,
Ground wire to ground.....obviously
Sometimes these retention adapters have a handbrake wire.....in our case it is not used.
the 12v input wire can either come from a reverse switch or if your head unit allows for on demand reverse camera (outside of being in reverse) supply it with accessory 12v power.
This means that the camera will always have power going to it. And can be activated by the head unit's reverse switch wire or a dedicated recall button like in some of the Kenwood units these days......This is how I set mine up.....works great. I used a Kenwood DDX9020DABS. I used some head unit brackets off a base model gen5 radio to make it fit along with similar coloured fascia made for JDM models and like coloured base model Libertys.

You can see the female plug in my photos below wrapped in foam. Also my final wiring harness with reverse camera and steering wheel control retention.

The astute amongst us will notice the brown ISO speaker wiring plug...... I decided to make it all plug and play and reversible. My Focal Access series speakers have migrated from car to car as i am happy with the quality they produce. So, to bypass the McIntosh amp and wiring i ran my own speaker wiring harness from the back of the head unit to each of the doors. Using the ISO standard also allowed me to install my Focal Impulse 4.320 Amp relatively easily without having to worry about wiring as it has an ISO Y-harness. Roof mounted tweeters stayed in place sub stayed in place centre dash speaker had to be removed as it fouled on the head unit. All door speakers replaced with my old faithfuls. In dash tweeters replaced using custom fabricated brackets. Found a spot to mount the crossovers under the immobiliser unit.

Also shout out to the OP really provided a solid foundation for this project.

End result for me Wireless and Wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, DVD player, updated bluetooth (non of this pair phone and pair player separate rubbish just to answer calls and play music), DABS radio, Dual USB, HD Screen, wireless mirroring, all while keeping it looking OEM retaining steering wheel controls and reverse camera. Loosing the factory Sat Nav was no brainer even with the updated maps. And the loosing the sub was fine as it was lacklustre at best, and my bass head years are behind me. 4 properly amped 6.5"s hit plenty hard.

Hope this helps. And happy to answer any further questions.
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Trails » Wed May 31, 2023 6:56 am

As per PM, thank you so much for this and apologies for the tardy response :)

Figured mine out and now I have a fully functioning head unit…shame I can now hear how terrible the speakers sound:D
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Re: Gen 5 McIntosh head unit replacement

Postby Malibr » Sat Aug 26, 2023 3:43 pm

Yeah. I'm really happy i decided to run my own speaker harness so that i could install my own speakers and amp. Sound quality and volume have greatly improved.
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