I installed the Audio Link this weekend.
RPM sent me a link to a scanned picture of CX-7 console-removal instructions. They were ok except the first thing it tells you to do is start with the bottom-center of the bezel. You'd need a helluva short screwdriver to get under there. I didn't have a very short one, and wound up putting a hefty scratch in the underside of the bezel. Fortunately you can't see the scratch unless you're looking up from shift-knob level, but next time I won't bother with that one. I used taped-screwdrivers and plastic putty knives along the left & right edges to pry open the bezel. You just have to be slow and gentle, it comes off.
Pretty easy to get the stereo out... I've got a Sport version. I wanted my cables coming out below the bezel, in the storage area in front of the shifter, and I didn't want to drill anything. So, I also unscrewed the climate control unit-- you can't easily remove the manual unit, it has a cable-control that's pretty fixed, but you can unscrew it and push it up out of the way. Also unscrewed the fasteners to the storage area, then you can push the back of the storage area back enough to easily pass the ipod & aux cables through. Then screw the storage panel back together, it's a pretty good fit; Just enough tension I can pull the cables out a little if I need to but they're not going to rattle.
I wrapped the audiolink control unit with electrical tape to prevent the cables from disconnecting, then mounted the control unit in the cavernous space to the left of the stereo. There's a big panel to the left of the stereo chassis, I used two 11-inch zip ties and crisscrossed them to get a secure hold.
The cables from the audiolink to the input devices don't flow quite the way I'd expect, the splitter feels like it's taking the ipod in one direction and splitting out to the control unit and the aux cable in the other direction-- it works fine and the cable-wierdness is all hidden away so it's not a problem.
The audiolink allows you to use the ipod control while on CD1, but when you advance to subsequent CD's (playlists) you don't have direct ipod control anymore. It's a tradeoff. Steering-wheel control is better when you give-up direct ipod access. You can tap the control 5 times and jump ahead 5 songs when you don't have ipod control. But when you are able to use the ipod, you can only jump ahead one song at a time. Also you get song-time-data on the car display if the ipod screen is disabled. I believe what is happenning is the ipod actually just becomes a storage device in these modes where you don't have control. I think the audiolink is actually decoding and playing the songs there, whereas when you have ipod control, the ipod is sending out the sound, through the wire, and the steering wheel control is sending a single back to the ipod like a remote control.
I don't want to just leave the ipod sitting in the tray in front of the shifter. I've hunted around and found that Kuda makes a nice cradle, it looks like I can plug the audiolink-ipod cable into the back of the Kuda cradle, then drop the ipod into the Kuda cradle. So no cables to connect each time I fasten the ipod. Kuda also makes a mounting device for the CX-7-- it's kind of big and leather. I prefer the vehicle mounts from Proclip and Panavise. I will probably get the proclip that puts the mount just to the right of driver's knee, and attach the Kuda ipod cradle to it. The panavise looks like a better viewing location but it's a bit of a reach to use the ipod-wheel from there.
RPM sent me a link to a scanned picture of CX-7 console-removal instructions. They were ok except the first thing it tells you to do is start with the bottom-center of the bezel. You'd need a helluva short screwdriver to get under there. I didn't have a very short one, and wound up putting a hefty scratch in the underside of the bezel. Fortunately you can't see the scratch unless you're looking up from shift-knob level, but next time I won't bother with that one. I used taped-screwdrivers and plastic putty knives along the left & right edges to pry open the bezel. You just have to be slow and gentle, it comes off.
Pretty easy to get the stereo out... I've got a Sport version. I wanted my cables coming out below the bezel, in the storage area in front of the shifter, and I didn't want to drill anything. So, I also unscrewed the climate control unit-- you can't easily remove the manual unit, it has a cable-control that's pretty fixed, but you can unscrew it and push it up out of the way. Also unscrewed the fasteners to the storage area, then you can push the back of the storage area back enough to easily pass the ipod & aux cables through. Then screw the storage panel back together, it's a pretty good fit; Just enough tension I can pull the cables out a little if I need to but they're not going to rattle.
I wrapped the audiolink control unit with electrical tape to prevent the cables from disconnecting, then mounted the control unit in the cavernous space to the left of the stereo. There's a big panel to the left of the stereo chassis, I used two 11-inch zip ties and crisscrossed them to get a secure hold.
The cables from the audiolink to the input devices don't flow quite the way I'd expect, the splitter feels like it's taking the ipod in one direction and splitting out to the control unit and the aux cable in the other direction-- it works fine and the cable-wierdness is all hidden away so it's not a problem.
The audiolink allows you to use the ipod control while on CD1, but when you advance to subsequent CD's (playlists) you don't have direct ipod control anymore. It's a tradeoff. Steering-wheel control is better when you give-up direct ipod access. You can tap the control 5 times and jump ahead 5 songs when you don't have ipod control. But when you are able to use the ipod, you can only jump ahead one song at a time. Also you get song-time-data on the car display if the ipod screen is disabled. I believe what is happenning is the ipod actually just becomes a storage device in these modes where you don't have control. I think the audiolink is actually decoding and playing the songs there, whereas when you have ipod control, the ipod is sending out the sound, through the wire, and the steering wheel control is sending a single back to the ipod like a remote control.
I don't want to just leave the ipod sitting in the tray in front of the shifter. I've hunted around and found that Kuda makes a nice cradle, it looks like I can plug the audiolink-ipod cable into the back of the Kuda cradle, then drop the ipod into the Kuda cradle. So no cables to connect each time I fasten the ipod. Kuda also makes a mounting device for the CX-7-- it's kind of big and leather. I prefer the vehicle mounts from Proclip and Panavise. I will probably get the proclip that puts the mount just to the right of driver's knee, and attach the Kuda ipod cradle to it. The panavise looks like a better viewing location but it's a bit of a reach to use the ipod-wheel from there.
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