Looking for opinions on Head Unit.

Hi guys,

I have a 2010 Escalade Premium and I need to replace the head unit. I'd like to retain all of the stock features if possible (Bose, rear TV, steering wheel controls, maybe the NAV) and I'd also like to retain the factory HVAC controls. I'm MECP certified, so I can do installs. However, I've been out of the car audio game for about a decade, so I don't know anything about the current state of the art. I like these "Tesla-style" touchscreens, but I'm not really in a hurry to learn the hard way which brands are/are not reputable. Is there anyone who can make a solid recommendation as to where I might find the best value (highest quality at the lowest price)? I don't need any special features, as I don't plan on doing a full system. I just want something that my phone can connect to (via Bluetooth), that will play well with the factory components. I'd settle for a Kenwood DD DVD player, but it looks like the DD route requires a dash kit that bulges out and I'm not really feeling that.

Any and all advice is welcomed and pics of your setups would be great. TIA!

Talk to the folks at Crutchfield to see what is available for your truck at a price that meets your budget. That will include the head unit plus the interface module that preserves all of your truck's existing interconnected features. You are not looking for anything special, so you should have lots of available choices.

Kenwood and Pioneer brands are quite popular with folks on this Forum, and I have Kenwood units installed in multiple vehicles, one for over a decade, and I've never had a problem with any of them.

I put a JVC KW-M795BW in both of mine using the Maestro RR plus related harnesses. I used the AI GMK265 dash kit to keep the radio at the top and it looks ok to me, the looks was the biggest reason I resisted an aftermarket radio for so long. The JVC is reasonably priced with all the features I wanted and the Maestro makes it work like factory. The anti-glare coating on the screen is a love/hate because it really makes the high-res screen not look nearly as good as it should but the angle of the screen is these does get hit by the sun a lot. I have not tried Onstar as I don’t care about it and I also didn’t care about retaining the RSE, I just got the kids the cheapest iPads and it’s better so they can each watch what they want and I can listen to music.

Joseph Garcia said:

Talk to the folks at Crutchfield to see what is available for your truck at a price that meets your budget. That will include the head unit plus the interface module that preserves all of your truck's existing interconnected features. You are not looking for anything special, so you should have lots of available choices.

Kenwood and Pioneer brands are quite popular with folks on this Forum, and I have Kenwood units installed in multiple vehicles, one for over a decade, and I've never had a problem with any of them.

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That's what I usually do. Unfortunately, they don't have any information on these "Tesla-style" screens. I'm hoping that someone here might have experience with them.

91RS said:

I put a JVC KW-M795BW in both of mine using the Maestro RR plus related harnesses. I used the AI GMK265 dash kit to keep the radio at the top and it looks ok to me, the looks was the biggest reason I resisted an aftermarket radio for so long. The JVC is reasonably priced with all the features I wanted and the Maestro makes it work like factory. The anti-glare coating on the screen is a love/hate because it really makes the high-res screen not look nearly as good as it should but the angle of the screen is these does get hit by the sun a lot. I have not tried Onstar as I don’t care about it and I also didn’t care about retaining the RSE, I just got the kids the cheapest iPads and it’s better so they can each watch what they want and I can listen to music.

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I'm a big fan of JVC. They have great products at great prices. However, I'd like to see if anyone here has experience with these newer "Tesla-style" screens from Amazon.

Oh, don’t even bother. The software is terrible and in broken English. I tried so hard to make it work because it was pretty cool, but it was not intuitive, very buggy, and they couldn’t fix it. The HVAC control was essentially unusable. I also didn’t like everything had to be launched manually from an app, including CarPlay. It took days between each communication, so I returned it while I could still get my money back.

I just did this on my 2011 LTZ. Don't bother with Tesla style or android radios at all... I tried two different android radios (12.3" and a 9.7") and they both had noise through the speakers with nothing on (no music or anything) only way to get them quiet was to Mute the system or turn off the internal amp. Its noise through the audio on the android and the BOSE system amp. Both had canbus and both retained everything including the factory back up camera except sirius satalite and onstar and the rear screen. The rear screen is useless these days so I wouldn't base your radio choice on that. Needless to say I had to return both. I did my research about radios and i wanted something that fit cleanly and worked, mostly just music and carplay and reverse camera. All the crutchfield options were $400+ so I tried the androids first. The only nice thing about the androids is that they are small and while the harness is messy it basically leaves the whole radio cavity open with lots of room. The Tesla style are glitchy but also the screens are not bright enough for daytime use from what I have seen. My brother runs one in his 2017 denali GMC and he's had some issues with his.

You can also do the STINGER 10.1" floating screen but $500+$200 in harnesses its expensive but will retain the rear screen. I opted for the BOSS 10.1" which cost me like $417 out the door.

I just bit the bullet and did a BOSS 10.1" floating screen from Crutchfield. This included the PAC Harness and readyharness service that splices it all together. Even then I still had to do some mods as I had a real hard time fitting everything in the dash with the included single din install brackets with the lower storage bin. Crutchfield will tell you that you need to use it and it only comes with the Bin... I ended up buying a metra double din install kit $14 and using it for my BOSS single din, then made a basic ABS cover plate for the bottom opening... this gave me alot more room to fit the large PAC module and wiring. I also mounted the radio further back in the mount so it would push the 10.1" floating screen back to give me more room for the shifter on the car. With all this the radio works, no static noise, and It has wired carplay/android auto which I prefer. The factory reverse camera works and the BE10ACP-C https://www.crutchfield.com/p_104BE10ACC/BOSS-Audio-BE10ACP-C.html?tp=78184 comes with a reverse camera that I'm using as a front camera which can be toggles on/off from the main screen. I run on of these 8" ones in my 78 corvette and it works fine. Also you want a screen with a radio volume knob... trust me... anything with buttons of touchscreen is going to bother you big time.

If you go with a smaller screen 7" double DIN style it will fit in the dash like factory but i find the position is too low and screen too small to be useful when for the same price you can get a 10.1" style. The floating screen is nice as you can move it up and down and you can position it to face you if you want. Including tilting it away from the shifter handle for clearance... which is really the only issue with this style radio and that I lost adaptive reverse angle lines (the kinda that move with the steering wheel).

Below are pics of the end result as well as the two android radios that I first installed. The vertical android radio would randomly reboot when connected to carplay, the horizontal one worked wirelessly but had the most noise interference. The hoizontal screen also stretched the reverse camera view causing it to look weird. The side shot of the radio mount you can see the below version (has the pocket) which takes up space and I needed that space for the PAC module. Above that is the double din mount with the open bottom which gives me more room and everything clears. You also can't see it easily but the radio is mounted back .375" from the available slots. Originally with the single DIN I made my own brackets and mounted it 1/2" or so further in which helped more with clearance to the shifter. The plastic brackets on the double din mount wouldn't allow that much. The 10.1" BOSS screen is easily removable for theft as well by pressing the two buttons next to the large screen plug and it just pops out.

Recently installed this one. Still learning how to work the features. So far I am happy with it.

I'm glad that the folks at Crutchfield were able to meet your needs, and that you are happy with the result.

Stinger HU.

Well I can tell you stay away from the android radios. I got one for my 07 Denali and it sucks car play takes 5-7 business days to load and there is always noise like someone else mentioned.
Sometimes if you turn the car off and back on it will black screen for a while.
Sometimes while using nav on the phone it will glitch out and I passed where I should have exited off the highway went 26 miles before it started working again and told me to turn around I was like wtf.

I’ll be getting something else probably a kenwood or pioneer because I’ve heard good things about them.

That's not fair. Not all Android HU are bad. Cheap ones are bad for sure. Pay more and they are better. China can make decent stuff but like everything else, you pay for it.
Problem is most Chinese stuff is junk because that is what people will pay for and then trash on all Chinese made stuff.
My Atoto X10 stereo works perfect but would not work properly with the Bose stuff. Replaced Bose stuff with Pioneer amps and it sounds great. AA starts less than 30 seconds after i turn the key. Maps have not glitched yet. Phone calls sound clear on both ends. Plays movies fine. Reverse cam looks as good as stock. 10 inch screen is easy to see in the day and it auto dims when the headlights come on. At $475 im happy with it.

SpareParts said:

That's not fair. Not all Android HU are bad. Cheap ones are bad for sure. Pay more and they are better. China can make decent stuff but like everything else, you pay for it.
Problem is most Chinese stuff is junk because that is what people will pay for and then trash on all Chinese made stuff.
My Atoto X10 stereo works perfect but would not work properly with the Bose stuff. Replaced Bose stuff with Pioneer amps and it sounds great. AA starts less than 30 seconds after i turn the key. Maps have not glitched yet. Phone calls sound clear on both ends. Plays movies fine. Reverse cam looks as good as stock. 10 inch screen is easy to see in the day and it auto dims when the headlights come on. At $475 im happy with it.

View attachment 480497

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$475 and you paid more than my BOSS 10.1". I think the android doesn't play nice with the BOSE sound system with the stock amp. The Androids put out High Level Audio through the speaker connections to the stock wiring and supposedly the stock HU puts out low level signal to the amp. This means the android creates noise through the amp as your pushing more signal/power when the stock amp isn't looking for that. Only way to fix that would be to turn down the level on the android HU gain but you can't do that and thats why level 1 volume is louder than it should be and by level like 6-10 your blowing your ears out. You would have to do a bunch of rewiring to add High level to low level converters or use the preouts and connect them into the stock wiring which is not worth it. FWIW my BOSS is in Carplay in 15s on startup if you plug the phone in. The first android radio I bought was not cheap it was $350 and ran Android 15 4g/64g ram/memory. I'm also not a fan of the operating system in general but thats just personal preference and no VOLUME knob!

NASTY GM said:

View attachment 480360
Stinger HU.

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What mount did you do with? yours looks pretty close to the bezel.

I dont seem to remember volume being the problem.
The problem for me Maestro did not support Atoto.
Now they do.
Had i waited for Maestro everything would have been fine im sure but I did not know Maestro was working on supporting Atoto at the time.
My X10 is 10.1, 8g Android 13.
BOSS is not a brand i would buy personally and I dont need a volume knob. Like you say personal preference.

2011burbLTZ said:

What mount did you do with? yours looks pretty close to the bezel.

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The one it came with. It's adjustable.

SpareParts said:

I dont seem to remember volume being the problem.
The problem for me Maestro did not support Atoto.
Now they do.
Had i waited for Maestro everything would have been fine im sure but I did not know Maestro was working on supporting Atoto at the time.
My X10 is 10.1, 8g Android 13.
BOSS is not a brand i would buy personally and I dont need a volume knob. Like you say personal preference.

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Agreed, BOSS would not be my first choice but other brands are way outa the average persons price range. $1000+ for a headunit its nuts. BOSS does offer 5 yr warranty which you won't get with an android unit. Crutchfield will ship out a new unit in 5 years no questions asked. Android units offer alot of features for the price but if you can't get the audio signal clean then whats the point. I did alot of research trying to figure out if it was a ground issue, grounding the radio/RCAs, Ground loop isolator etc and only thing I heard that worked sometimes was adding high level line converters which is alot of extra "wiring" and money when it shouldn't be needed. Most stuff I found online was that this is a general problem with Android units and not much you can do.

The quality of the components is what you paid $1000+ for. My $500 JVC radios have all the features I want but the $1000 Kenwood radio in my car has a significantly better looking screen, it boots up in 1/4 of the time, connects to CarPlay almost immediately after booting, the whole thing just operates smoother as a whole, plus it has an optical out which made connecting to my DSP a one wire easy deal. I’m now looking into changing out my JVC’s with the higher end units in the trucks, too. They’re worth the money.

91RS said:

The quality of the components is what you paid $1000+ for. My $500 JVC radios have all the features I want but the $1000 Kenwood radio in my car has a significantly better looking screen, it boots up in 1/4 of the time, connects to CarPlay almost immediately after booting, the whole thing just operates smoother as a whole, plus it has an optical out which made connecting to my DSP a one wire easy deal. I’m now looking into changing out my JVC’s with the higher end units in the trucks, too. They’re worth the money.

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ya my pioneer was over $1k retail and I paid like $850, that was several years ago and it's been flawless and still has everything or more than what I will ever use
even there latest model you can buy today is exactly the same except it has alexa built in woo-hoo.....

Have not really noticed any noise but i did make sure everything had a good ground. I'm sure it helps my amp gains are turned down to about 1/4. Less gain = less noise. I can go higher than i like and down to a soft whisper volume wise.
When i bought mine i got a 3yr warranty. Don't think i'll ever need it but Atoto does take care of their customers.
Everyone's opinion is different and it should be. As a China Atoto android user i'm very happy with it. I would however not buy anything below the Atoto S8 as they are probably buggy junk.
I'm NOT saying it's better than Pioneer or JVC but the last name brand i had about 5 years ago was a Pioneer DMH5***NEX (cant remember exact) and the Atoto is every bit as good as that.
Maybe it's just my setup but Pink Floyd's the wall PT1, 2, 3 sounds amazing!

I really need to do something to upgrade the radio in my ‘13 Escalade ESV. I’m not a huge audiophile, the factory BOSE does the job. I’d be open to upgrading speakers down the road, but would probably only go as far as nice component speakers and a 4-Channel amp.

But I want wireless Apple Car play and a high quality back up camera that goes well with a newer high-res screen. A screen that isn’t going to glare and has good resolution.

I like the increased height of a floating screen don’t care about blocking the analog clock, but don’t want to block the 2 center vents either.

This is the Alpine Halo11 iLX-F511. It’s an 11” screen:




I think a screen in the 9”-10” would be a better fit to ensure no interference with shifter or center vents.

Anyone have a floating screen installed in their GMT900 Escalade?