After going back and forth on whether to trade the 06s I decided to keep the old girl for a while longer but the radio was killing me so after several winter months of research I went with a INE-W927HD 7” Alpine and the NAV-TV MOST-HUR/997 module keeping the OEM amp and an alpine backup camera.
Installation was not bad, spent more time cringing while pulling of panels off than anything else. Now the main reason for the thread is to help the next guy thinking of the same upgrade and informing of things I could not find online. Here is my summary.

The Alpine Unit:

1. The screen is clear and touch screen works as expected, it’s no iPhone but does work even though its screen is a bit smaller than expected.

2. The radio reception is about the same as the OEM unit, so so.

3. Bluetooth works well but finding someone in the contacts is useless and since the Alpine doesn’t have voice response it makes it tough.

4. The GPS is real nice and has a lot of voices and avatars to pick from but 3D view is very slow. The voice will come on saying your speeding when doing double the speed limit… That’s kinda fun but can be turned off. Note: a GPS antenna is necessary. It was not clear if the antenna was built into the unit or not and, IT’S NOT. You have to run a wire which I ran with the microphone wire to the rear view mirror. I had the microphone clip to the ceiling near the courtesy light and the GPS antenna (about 1” x 1” x .5”) stick to the dark part of the windshield.

5. The physical buttons on the bottom of the unit protrude outward about ½”. This tricked me because at first look they seem integrated in the unit. It’s nice but I was a bit surprised.

6. The big kicker is the USB connection. There is a SD slot behind the display, exactly where you would think would be perfect. But, nope, you can’t use that one, it’s for map updates and cannot be used for music. So you are left running another wire to a USB location for music or phone.


NAV-TV:

1. The NAV-TV does work with the steering wheel controls but you have to splice a 1/8” audio wire into the harness. Picture cutting your cellphone headset wire and keeping the jack end. You have to strip back the outer mesh and get the center white wire. Then un-tape the provided harness, find the right wire (Gray I think) and splice together. Even after all that the answer and hang up buttons do nothing.

2. The NAV-TV unit does not provide the reverse signal necessary to activate the backup camera. Not a big deal because you are already running a wire to the rear license plate, just run another wire alongside and connect to the backup lights. Not much more time but it was another surprise.

3. The NAV-TV unit will not allow control of the fader. It takes all the front pre-outs on the head end unit and jams them into the amp. So, if there’s too much sound coming from the front make sure you keep the OEM unit close and semi-connected because that’s the only way to control the fader. This means most of the fancy equalizers and vehicle specific sound adjustments are handicapped.


Alpine Camera:

1. What can I say? It’s a camera. It is clear and just into the fisheye area of wide.

2. Installation was easy but it is a bit ugly seeing a black cube above the license plate.

3. It uses color pylon looking icons instead of guided lines.

4. If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t bother with the camera.


I did take a few of pictures if anyone else is looking at starting a project like this, let me know.

 

Hondoo
I did the same install and posted recently on the 997 tt forum. I found that the Nav TV did work for my backup camera, and I bought the alpine license plate frame to sort of hide the camera.
I am surprised that you think the radio is so so; I think that the HD radio stations are quiet clear; much better than the PCM unit which staticed all the time - maybe my PCM was bad

I think that replacing the HU was the first step in upgrading the sound and functionality; and perhaps down the road I would do the speakers . But given the limitations of the cabin/road noise, I am pretty satisfied with the setup as is.

One thing I really wish this unit had was ambient noise volume control.

 

How does the sound quality compare to PCM? I keep wondering if it's going to make a difference since the actual DAC is in the amp (I think).

 

I think that the sound quality ( clarity) is much better for HD radio and BT audio; less so for satellite radio. The bass has more punch as well and seems less muddy. There are equalizer setting in the HU, i have yet played with - you can adjust various frequencies with the EQ but i have not spent enought time to determine if it is useful.

Here is my review posted earlier:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...w-install.html

 

In my neck of the woods HD radio is not an option and satellite is frustrating because of so many trees.

I say the sound is just ok because i cannot tell much difference between the OEM unit with a non compressed CD and the Alpine. I believe its because the NAV TV unit cripples the advanced capabilities of the head end unit.