mschmid4

I had been searching for a handsfree bluetooth/A2DP installation for my 2005 non-navi TSX for quite awhile and recently came up with a good combination I wanted to share with everyone. My main criteria was that all audio had to run through the stock stereo headunit/amp/speakers to provide the best audio quality, everything handsfree/wireless, minimal visibility, and A2DP support. For those of you unfamiliar with A2DP, it is a "Stereo Bluetooth" profile supported by many newer cell phones and mp3 players. It allows you to wirelessly play music through a headset or in this case, your car stereo. The biggest attraction for me was to use streaming music services like Pandora or Slacker and play them in my car. Forget about paying for XM

The equipment I purchased was a fairly simple install and relatively inexpensive. I learned most of the info here on how to do the install here in the forums so I wanted to give a good writeup in case anyone else wanted to try it. The two main components were the Soundgate HONAUX4 for the auxiliary stereo input and the Motorola T605 for the bluetooth. I went with the motorola because it was cheap, supported A2DP, and had RCA outputs (vs external speaker or speaker wire taps).

Pros:
Quality wireless stereo through factory audio
Automatic bluetooth sync when you turn on your car
No splicing, easy install
Extra 3.5 aux input
Minimal visible changes to car
Relatively cheap
Good handsfree microphone sound

Cons:
Can't switch songs from steering wheel (must use T605 buttons)
Odd phone audio wiring
Music on phone does not shut off when you turn car off
Have to switch to AUX on factory stereo, no automatic mute for phone calls
No power to phone (but I wanted to be fully wireless)



Wiring diagram is here. Total cost was around ~$165. I did consider having Bestbuy do the install, they quoted me $70 so for some people that might be worth it. Here are the basic steps to follow:

1. Buy the Soundgate HONAUX4 to create an auxiliary input to the factory stereo, it shows up as a second CD changer. I bought it here, they shipped the next day and had the cheapest price by far.

2. Remove the tray below the stereo (see video below)

3. Remove the plug from the back of the stereo (see video below)

4. Plug the HONAUX4 into the back of the stereo, put the original stereo plug into the HONAUX4

5. Buy the Motorola T605. I bought it from a reseller on amazon for about $60. I think it is an older model which is why it is so cheap.

6. Cut the wiring harness off the power adapter cable so you have access to the wires



7. Buy two Littelfuse FHM200BP ATO Add-A-Circuit Kits for tapping into your fuse box. I have got these from Autozone and Murrays in the past, looks like amazon has them also.

8. Crimp the red power wire to the Littelfuse, insert the 5 amp fuse, place the unit in position 33 (constant) in the fuse box.

9. Crimp the green ignition wire to the Littlefuse, insert the 3 amp fuse, place the unit in position 29 (ignition switched) in the fuse box.

10. Loosen the nut below the fuse box and wrap the black wire around for a ground. Or find another ground.



11. This step I took a guess on and it seems to be working fine. The issue is that the music from the T605 is sent through the standard RCA cables but the phone audio is either sent to an external speaker (included, sounded great actually) or the Orange and Blue wires from the wiring harness. I guess some cars have line in for phone only, but I don't believe the TSX does. So I did a workaround to route the audio from the orange and blue back to the HONAUX4 (because I wanted all audio through the factory speakers). The first part was the "RCA Plug to Tinned Wires" which I picked up at radio shack. This converts the orange and blue wires to a mono RCA jack.

12. Next steps are up to you, I used some stuff I had on hand. The basic idea is to route both audio sources into the HONAUX4, since only one source would only ever play at a time there never should be a conflict. I used a couple of RCA splitters you can get anywhere, but I like monoprice.

13. Mount all you stuff, hide your wires, etc (test first obviously). This is not the easiest because there is quite a bit of extra wire, just get some cable ties. I mounted the junction box (using double sided tape) for the T605 behind the dash in the area below the sunroof button, there is a nice flat metal panel you can use. I don't like where I put the T605 user interface (by the shifter) because it is slightly bright at night, so I may place it in the not an ashtray.

Grabbed a short video to demo how it works. Shows:
1.) Tray removal
2.) Stock stereo input plug removal
3.) Fuse Box with taps
4.) Demo of bluetooth A2DP stereo audio and bluetooth headset operations of the Motorola T605.

Hope this helps somone considering a similar configuration.

litesout

Great write up! I really wish they'd put A2DP into the 1G's. The TL loaner I got had it, and it was awesome! I'd never used it before. If my phone supported multiple simultaneous BT connections, I'd get a T605 in a heartbeat.

clintrad4

I heard the hondaux4 does not work with the 2004 model, is that correct?

Nexilus

That looks so intimidating lol Good job!

solofuz

Very nice write up but seems like quite some work which you did a great job on.

For those who are interested in having the same setup but have an 04 like me, you can have the same setup but without wires. You can use the motorola T505 which clips on the window visor and is all hands free and no wires. It is able to do exactly the same thing just no labor.

goddsmack

That's looks pretty slick, I've been trying to find a solution for bluetooth in my '05 and that might work. I already installed the AuXHON4 as an auxillary input (because I did want to retain the XM feature). You said there was a demo for the Motorola unit? Where did you see it? Also, I dont' suppose you have install instructions for the Motorola unit as well? If it looks like it is, that's my next project for my car.

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you just use the double RCA jack and then just buy a "y" cable? I made two new holes, and put the connectors inside the center console just below the cig lighter port.



Y cable to a single RCA jack example.

goddsmack

Wait never mind, found it:

http://vimeo.com/3550593

samnguyen

humm...thanks for the diy, just one question, isn't the grom usb2 unit from grom audio's better?

goddsmack

For me, the Grom unit wasn't out yet when I installed mine. Plus looking at it online, it only has one input, either the Aux or the Bluetooth. I personally want both and retain the XM radio as well.

samnguyen

I see.

goddsmack

Well I finally finished, but I took the road less taken and installed the Parrot MKi9100 (I didn't do the MKi9200 because the screen is a bit big and would standout). I also ordered the QCHon-1MK harness so I don't do any splicing, I originally was, but after opening up the center console and realizing that I'd need d*ck fingers to get to the harness (blue plug), I said screw it. Trust me, you wanna order the harness, it makes it so much easier.



I drilled a hole on the rightside of the bar just below the stereo and fed the wire for the screen through there (can't drill in the middle, there is a light bar area).





The actual unit, I mounted in a space just below the amplifier/"not an ashtray" area and above the plastic housing for the shifter.


The USB/Ipod/Aux jack, I fed the wires and drilled a hole in the center console and fed it through there.



I mounted the remote for now just below the shifter area, although I originally wanted to mount it near the screen, but realized the plastic bar area is sloped wierdly and would look awkward. Well see how it goes and if it just becomes a headache, I'll move it elsewhere.



The final product:


The good, thus far:
-Has nothing to do with loosing XM/Aux functionality since I did want to retain that. The unit uses the actual speaker plug to interrupt sound going to the speakers.
-I'm impressed with the microphone quality
-Has the whole USB and Ipod control (from the remote), and an additional 3.5mm jack as well functionality.
-There is AD2P functionality as well for music playback
-It looks somewhat integrated as everything is hidden.
-For security, I can always remove the screen as well from it's plug (it just slides off).

The bad:
-When the unit interrupts sound, there is an annoying "pop" sound
-For phone calls there is a bit of noise (like interference sound). I was testing all this before I final mounted and it didn't matter where I moved the unit, it still made the interference sound when using bluetooth calls.
-Pretty tight spaces, so you have to be a bit creative with where you put your wires (especially for me since I already have the Soundgate unit as well in there).
-Unless you have magic fingers, you do have to partially deattach the headunit to get to that blue connector and attach the new connector. Not a big deal, but just becareful when removing the trim to get to the screws, a flat head screw driver will knick your trim when trying to pry it out of the clips.