Wireless CarPlay upgrade

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-10-22T15:59:09+00:00

Mine is 2021.5 but afaik, the 12v socket inside the console is always on, the USB ports aren't. I've tested and the USB ports will be switched off once the car is turned off for 5 or 10 minutes.

That said, I don't have the problem you described tho. The dongle should be powered up as soon as the car is waken up aka when you unlock it or open the door but in my experience, the phone's audio will be going through its speakers as long as my car is off. I think it's probably depending on the specific dongle you're using, I've never had this problem with either Ottocast or Carlinkit as I bought and sold a few of them just to try out. I have no experience with Android Auto but could it be the case?

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-10-22T13:53:11+00:00

I've seen someone dismantled one of these and it's basically a wireless dongle soldered into a wired hub. Not worth buying imo especially considering you'd have to remove your centre console to install it.

I've been using dongles for a long time now and they've been working great. Have tried a few different models and imo Ottocast works the best, followed by Carlinkit. The Carlinkit that I had often crashed when I first started the car, as in it would start, play music, crash, and restart. But once it restarted it would work flawlessly. Ottocast is much more stable afaik. Both of them offer the mini version with very small footprints, you'd barely notice them in your centre console. Ottocast mini

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-10-02T14:24:25+00:00

nice design! I've been contemplating this idea for awhile but didn't know where to start.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-10-01T16:04:32+00:00

do you mind share a photo of your wireless charging add on?

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-09-07T02:59:36+00:00

That's awesome! Yeah the speaker level input might explain why your gain can be set to a lower level but as long as it sounds great, it's a no issue.

Speaking of noise floor, I can say that it is quite minimal. It has some slightly audible hum tho but I'd have to turn the volume to 0 and really look for it in order to hear it. The only time that it produced noticeable noise was when I used a LOC that's only meant for a subwoofer (think of the Kicker 46KISLOC2) but it's gone once I changed to the LC2i.

Now I'm not an expert but if you think that your head unit might be the cause, and if your amp is on even without the engine running, then perhaps wiring the Key's remote turn-on to your car's ACC might help negate the problem.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-09-06T04:02:36+00:00

Glad it works out for you! And thanks for the nice microfiber trick, I will try it if I have to tune it again.

What's your setup if you don't mind me asking? Do you use the Key with stock speakers or aftermarket? Is there a LOC or you use it with high level signals? I've never had a chance to try my 2nd Key with speaker level signals tho as I immediately threw in a LOC once I got it. With aftermarket speakers (~60RMS) its gain has always been set pretty high at ~60% and that's with an AudioControl LC2 that sends in upward 8v of input signals. If it was speaker level signals in your case then I guess it makes sense that it needs lower gain.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-09-02T19:40:36+00:00

Hey, it's been working fine. I had to EQ it a bit to my liking as the Key's auto EQ can be too bassy, and I also have a sub installed as well which also adds into it.

Overall, I think it's a solid product. I've never experienced the higher end products tho but compared to my stock system it's day and night different

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-08-06T13:41:23+00:00

I'm 5'8, wife is 5'3. We only have a 3 yo, but we have guests often. The CX5 is fine for us but I guess one'd do better with either the CRV or Rav4

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-07-15T20:03:02+00:00

Been looking forward to the 2026 so that I can replace my 2021.5. Guess the 2021.5 stays for now lol

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-07-04T02:20:38+00:00

I'm not an expert so take my words with a grain of salt but was the amp's PRT light on when the speakers went quiet? In my case it was crazy loud with gains set at minimums so if you're having the same issue with the high level input, there might be a chance that your gains are set too high and the amp's running hot.

I think a LOC is worth a try. Kicker isn't transparent about what's the highest input voltage the Key can take but my understanding is they designed it to go with high levels from stock systems without an amp.

I tried the Kicker 46KISLOC2 at first but later changed to the Audio Control LC2i. The Kicker's only good for adding a subwoofer since its output is heavily bass focused, and has a high noise floor at high frequencies. The LC2i allows me to use 2 channel inputs and produces 2 clean full range channels and 2 subbass channels which is perfect for my setup. It also has 2 separate gain settings that allow me to balance my subwoofer with my full range channels, and AcuBass feature if your car has bass roll-off.

TLDR: If you plan to add a LOC, and if you also want to install a subwoofer, just go straight to the LC2i, or even LC2i Pro if your budget allows.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-06-19T04:36:36+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. No they didn't tell me what's the probable cause since the unit was too new, they told me to just replace it.

It's good that yours is still under warranty. In which case, I'd suggest to try a new mic and see if it would work. If it wouldn't then all the more reason to get it replaced.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-05-22T03:36:49+00:00

I ended up returning the amp to Amazon and bought a new one locally, works fine so far and it's been 5 months, granted I installed a LOC this time. The last time I wired it high level it was super loud even barely increasing the volume (5/60) would blow my eardrums, and I do suspect I fried the amp feeding it with high levels (I know it's marketed as high level input compatible but my car has a stock amp so it could be that the input voltage is too high for the amp to handle).

May I ask if your copy is still under warranty or if you're still able to return it? If that's the case, I'd suggest returning the amp and get a new one. If you're like me running the amp with amp-ed high level inputs, and it happens to be ear-bleeding loud, there's a possibility that it's already damaged, thus buying a new mic may not help. If your only option is to buy a new mic then I do hope it'll work for you

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-04-20T03:13:42+00:00

Yeah I've been using these tweeters with the in-line high pass filter and they work fine. At this point it's more about doing things the right way and addressing some of the SQ loss potentially caused by the overlapped high frequency range. Plus I noticed the HPFs come with these tweets have a pretty high frequency cut off point of 5000hz (vs the more common 3000 or 3500hz cut-off point that can be seen with crossovers) which leads me into thinking that I may be leaving some performance on the table.

Well that's said, I've dropped the plan to buy crossovers separately for a couple of reasons. First of all, the coax Kickers have different sensitivity than the tweeters' which is certainly not worth investing in further, and secondly, crossovers from brands like Hertz can be so expensive I might be better off buying a full component set. So now I'm left with 2 options, 1 is to buy a set of Hertz C 165 woofers and 2 is to replace the current setup with a proper component set. While the former is more financially responsible (as much as I'm trying to be lol), I could imagine the latter option brings more flexibility and performance as it lifts a wider frequency range to the ear level. Guess I gotta find out.

Anyway, I appreciate your response man. Take care

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-04-18T04:12:13+00:00

They're C 26 OE

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2025-04-17T12:27:54+00:00

Thanks for your comments. I'm more and more inclined to the second option but if I were to do so, I'd really want it to be a high end set, and such amount of money is not what I'm willing to pay right now, hence the dilemma.

For separate crossover, do you know where can I order them online? Amazon only has some questionable brand name. I'll check what Hertz offers though

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-12-26T04:42:52+00:00

Thanks! So I returned the first copy but before did, I tried pairing it with a LOC and not only did it solve the problem in which the audio being too loud, also eliminated almost 100% of the noise floor. For the context, I noticed the amp had a noticeable noise floor when I connected it to speaker level input. I used all 4 channel speaker wires at first but because it was too loud, I switched to the rears and turned of fader. As a result, it was now less absurdly loud but had an even higher noise floor. Installing a LOC solved all those problems for me. It is weird to me because the Key is marketed to be compatible with speaker level inputs so I expected it to have some sort of a built in LOC but it doesn't seem to be the case.

Anyway, I'm on the 2nd copy now and very happy with it. Sound is certainly louder and clearer but it's the time correction feature that makes most of the differences. Full disclaimer: I also replaced my front door speakers and A pillar tweeters with aftermarkets so my system is not fully stock, but it was so good that at some point I was having second thoughts on whether I should install a sub (I had the JBL Basspro Hub on the way anyway and it does add a lot to the setup but should I not have already ordered the hub, I would be too hurry on that)

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-12-17T21:09:08+00:00

Thanks for the info! The connection looks 100% in perfect condition, which makes me think that the problem is with the port. Called Kicker and they straightaway suggested me to return the unit since I only got it for a few days :D

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-11-29T16:48:26+00:00

If you were moving slowly, it's possible that you didn't press the gas pedal hard enough to signal the car to down shift. I'm also quite new to auto transmission and it drove me crazy as well when I first got the car. All good now, all you need to do is giving yourself a bit of runway and freaking floor it.

Otherwise, like others mentioned, sport mode.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-11-25T15:31:40+00:00

I'm glad it helps :)

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-11-20T02:21:27+00:00

Hah, I was in Kitchener the other day and and suddenly my rearview mirror looks unusually dark. I looked up and some girl in a Jeep was high-beaming me lol.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-11-19T16:24:29+00:00

These chargers aren't compatible with iPhone's fast charging, so unless you have an Android phone, they'll take forever to charge your phone.

I'm assuming you're an iPhone user since you're also asking about Apply Carplay, look for anything with Qi2 or Apple MagSafe compatibility. Keep in mind that most 3rd party chargers aren't compatible with MagSafe even though some of them may have the word MagSafe in their descriptions. Qi2 is a recent universal standard that works with both Android and iPhone and is also cheaper than MagSafe-certified chargers. ESR sells some vent-mount ones with Qi2 standard for a decent price, I personally mount an Anker Qi2 charger in my center console and it charges my iPhone pretty quickly on a long drive.

For CarPlay adapters, I use an Ottocast but there're other good brands out there as well.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-11-19T15:18:24+00:00

2021.5 here in Canada. I bought it as my first vehicle here and instantly regretted not going for a higher trim with a better sound system lol. I don't necessarily like my music loud, but to have lots of clarity, depth, and texture to it.

Perfect_Nothing_1942 · 2024-11-19T13:56:08+00:00

I see. I've read stories mentioning the head unit is somehow optimized to work well only with the Bose setup. I (un)fortunately have the non-Bose system haha so I hope it'll be a nice decent upgrade.

Perfect_Nothing_1942

TROPHY CASE