Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Promo Van Build for Esteamz Entertainment 42 inch lcd tv on outside of van

Styles is CEO of Esteamz Entertainment and a very good customer of ours at NVS Audio. We had built a few cars for Styles in the past but nothing as wild as this! Styles spoke to me and told me that he wanted to do something "over the top" to promote is company and his up and coming artist. He wanted us to convert a chevy express van into a mini limo and promo van for long out of state trips to do shows. this was no problem for us, he wanted in car pc with mobile hi speed internet, touch screen navigation with over speed warnings on major highways, ipod control, dvd , playstation 3, seating for at least 8, 4 subwoofers. All this was no problem for us..... He is where is get a little crazy .... Styles wanted a big tv on the outside of the car to show dvd video of his artist, i said 20 inch , he said no bigger, i said 30 inch, he said no bigger, i said 42 inch !??? he said that should be ok. Now my worry was being able to install the tv solid and safe , maintain the factory line of the van, protect the tv from theft, protect the tv from the sun and make it serviceable. As if that wasn't challage enough, Styles wanted to add a micraphone system that would allow his artist to proform on the roof of the van to the video as the video played and the music, and the artist both came out the speakers in the van van loud enough to perform in front of a crowd of a few hunded people!!!!
I though it over for a few days , came up with a game plan gave Styles a call. He liked what he heard ,gave us the green light and dropped of the van. What came next was 3 months of hard work and late nights, but we made it happen and it came out great! Since the build the van had toured up and down the eastcoast hitting every major music even and car show, winning awards and turning heads everywhere!
The van has had a couple of minor accidents and some broken equipment (from some of the wild parties that take place inside and outside of the van) but nothing major we were alaways able to get them back on the road doing shows after a few days and a few upgrades along the way.

The begining :




The Teardown :
We compleatly gutted the whole van and started fresh, down to the bare metal!








With the carpet removed we begain the build.
We cut a BIG opening on the outside of the van and framed it out with a 2x2 inch welded steel tube frame to reenforce the opening we just made and to give us a solid surface to mount the tv and the bulletproof glass. We when with bulletproof glass because it is shatter proof and we can drill throu it for the mounting holes. Welding the steel frame took a long time because first we had to level the van on jack stands , then we had to level the frame before we welded it together , then we had to level the whole thing to the nav before we welded it in place. After the tv frame was mounted we then tacked the subwoofer enclosure. We had to cut away most of the driver side rear wheel well and then rebuild the whole thing out of 7 layers of fiberglass to build the base of the enclosure. it had to be solid because it would also serve as the bench seat bottom on that section of the van. We used 2x4 to brace the inside of the encloser and made the chambers 1.25 cf per woofer. We ran 4 optima yellow tops in a custom rack under the rear bench seat and one under the hood. The factory altinotor was upgraded to a OHIO genorator 250 amp and we ran 0 gauge power and ground front to back under the van (the carpet was removed to make way for the custom hardwood floor , so the would be no wires running under the wood flor of the carpet do to the lack of clearance.). After the encloser was done the the bottoms of the seats were built we moved on the the rear seat entertainment, a masive 36 inch lcd motorized up directley behind the rear seats witch also acts as a partition for privicy!!!! Also added for good measure were 2 nine inch fipdown tvs and a 15 inch flipdown incase the larger 32 inch screen was in the closed position and not in use.
We welded a 1x1 inch steel frame for the 36 inch lcd to ride up and down on and a 2x4 and mdf wood frame to keep it all in place and protected.







2009 Toyota Camry Factory Navigation retro fit

When we first tackled the project we had no clue how involved it would be, but we love a challenge here at NVS Audio so we rolled up our sleeves and made it work. What made the install even more difficult is the fact the the owner of the car brought in all his own parts after the Toyota dealer dealer sent him to us because they could not perform this install, even though it was all factory parts. The customer brought us :


Factory touch screen Toyota Nav radio



Full Radio Harness (runs the length of the car from front to back, behind the cluster , under the console, and under the seats then to the trunk.)






New steering wheel
(the only way to control the blue tooth in the new nav radio)

Xm tuner box

Nav antenna

Blue tooth unit box

what he was missing :

JBL factory Amp
(this amp must be used because communication between the radio and the amp is digital!!!)

Toyota Blue tooth Mic
(some Carmrys come pre wired with the mic , this one did not. Some also have it in the rear view mirror)  

Install took about 3 days and 2 trips to the dealer to get the radio programed , but everything works perfect and the customer is very happy.
After we got everything to work we also retro fit the the Toyota auto dimming rear view mirror, added the Viper 5901 alarm remote start , Viper dsm 200 Smart start, I Simple ipod adaptor, and NAV TV video on the factory nav screen interface. 


Monday, January 17, 2011

NVS AUDIO's Best of CES 2011

NVS AUDIO Best of CES 2011

We are so excited!!!! CES has been so boring for the past few years, more features built in to these gps systems,  every new radio coming out with built in bluetooth and usb, another no name brand company coming out with speakers and amps, but NOT THIS YEAR!!!

No stuff, no directions, new, new , new !!!!!
From Viper Directed electronics :
Smart Start 2.5 with gps tracking
lock unlock your doors, start your car and track your car from almost any smartphone!
http://www.viper.com/


Pioneer Car audio
http://www.pioneer.com/

Is no offering Netflix Movie streaming live on there Multi media head units for 2011 !! and Pandara radio direct control!! Twitter,facebook, and more now at your finger tips in the car!

 Pioneer products and technologies are a hit and continues to receive great
coverage at CES.  Thanks!

CES
Your Smartphone Now Has Four Wheels
Examiner.com
Mark Albertson
http://www.examiner.com/technology-in-san-francisco/your-smartphone-now-has-four-wheels
“Information can follow me from my television to my smartphone and into my
car,” declared Ted Cardenas, Director of Marketing for Pioneer, at a press
conference yesterday.  Cardenas announced enhancements to SmartCradle, a
device that lets drivers dock their iPhone into in-dash navigation
products.

CES: Pioneer Receivers Read Your Twitter, Facebook Feeds
CNET.com
Antuan Goodwin
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027728-283.html Pioneer updated its AVIC X and Z series in-dash receivers with the ability to interface with the Aha Radio mobile app for iPhone.  Taking advantage of the iPhone’s 3G connection, Aha aggregates the user’s social network feeds, RSS feeds, and podcasts into an audio stream that can be listened to while driving.Thanks,Thomas ScuderiPioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.973 800 8000 <
Pioneer Delivers Netflix to a Car Radio
January 5, 2011 by Amy Gilroy
Filed under Car 2, Car News, Industry news
Leave a Comment
Pioneer Electronics has become the most aggressive aftermarket company in delivering apps through your radio.

Nine of its 2011 models have an App Mode that lets you watch Netflix and many other video apps on your AV deck and listen to many audio apps. If the app permits it, you can watch video on the larger car radio screen provided you are in park with the emergency brake on.

Pioneer is also delivering audible Facebook and Twitter updates as you drive through Aha Radio in two new decks.

Then there’s a new GPS cradle that adds a speakes, Bluetooth, a gyro sensor and enhanced GPS reception to an iPhone running a GPS app. Pioneer’s first GPS kit also has a miniUSB slot and AV output. Called the SmartCradle, it is due for release this spring at $120.

How about Star Wars-like heads up holographic-type displays on your dash? Pioneer is demonstrating at CES, its ability to use an RGB laser to project a display of a navigation map on your windshield. The image takes on a holographic effect that seems to hover above your dash. The technology is shown as a prototype but it may come to market in the not so distant future. Pioneer noted that as radios in cars are replaced less frequently, it makes sense to focus on displays and technology elsewhere in the car.

As for Aha Mobile, it will be available this spring on the AVIC Z130BT and AVIC-X930BT (at $1,200 and $800 street prices). Users connect their iPhones with the free Aha Mobile app to the decks and they get audible information on traffic, access to over 100 podcasts and Facebook and Twitter updates and Yelp information.

Pandora radio control over an iPhone is now offered on 9 new Pioneer head units starting at $150 on the DEH-6300UB.

Also new are 6 ¾ inch speakers that fit in 6 ½ holes for 20 percent more cone area.

Pioneer is also now licensing its PAIS network API to other companies. It aggregates content from Slacker, Facebook, Yelp, Accuweather, Twitter and other apps so that it’s easy for the user to quickly get content from the sites, as required in a car environment.

Fresh start 2011

NVS AUDIO Fresh start 2011 !!!!

New Stuff going on at NVS audio for the New Year!
We are picking up a new Hi End Audio line Audison and Hertz Car audio!!!
This is why we like it:
Audison Bit one Processor = hands down the BEST signal processor on the market today, with features like signal summing, time delay , time alignment, dsp, line driver, 30 band eq, tos link, digital in and out, and much ,much more....  the only neg is .... The price $1200 but for 2011 Audison is offering a more a more affordable option, the bit ten and bit ten D $400-$600 :-).

The Audison and Hertz speaker line now allow us to offer our customers product that now matched the level of service we have been offering our customer since day one. The products we have carried in the past have been very good but this bumps us into the GREAT  class. We are a MECP Master Certified Shop (the only one in the state of NJ) and we hit the top 100 installers list in the USA for 2010 so we felt we needed to carry product to match our certification.

Last Year 2010

NVS Audio Blog
He is where we let our customers know what is going on in the shop and tell about  sum of the new products on the market and why like them.
 
Apple Ipad Mania !!!!
3 hot new custom apple ipad installs this month in 3 cars.
CL600 AMG V12
Escalade EXT
2010 civic
 
We are getting a lot of request to install Apple IPADS in cars now at days, because the 10 inch screen size outshines any head unit available on the market today, with the 3g model you can download music and videos on the road, with the app store you can download almost anything to make it work the way you want (gps, pandora , internet radio, fm radio, sling box, skype, facebook , myspace, trapster) just to name a few. The 30 pin standard dock connector plugs right into most ipod ready factory or after market radios and if that is not an option you can use the headphone jack 3.5 mm to 3.5mm aux in on most factory radios and aftermarket. If you want better sound quality on more control we offer custom built solutions like true full digital signal out for the ipod or ipad to the signal processors and amps, wireless sync, wireless video and audio streaming. There is a ton of stuff we can offer our customers when it comes to custom installation and fabrication. Just give us a call or stop by the shop.
908-527-6772
758 Lidgerwood Ave. Elizabeth NJ 07202
Carlos Ramirez
Master MECP Tech and store owner   
 
Mercedes Benz clk 550
Pioneer touch screen Navigation install.
After stopping by a few local car audio shops and finding out that most shops are unable to do the install on these cars because of the fiber optic system the factory uses. The customer gave a call directly to pioneer to see what their recommendation was as far as getting the unit installed. They told him that a job of that magnitude would require the skills and knowledge of a MECP master certified car audio shop. After a little research and some phone calls the customer came to realized that we are the ONLY master MECP certified shop in the whole state, and we have already done many Mercedes fiber optic nav radio installs. He came down and we had him in and out in one day (one very long day , but we got it done in one day) ;-)
Customer even decided to have us throw in a custom radar detector with front and rear laser jammer for good measure since we already had the car all apart.
I would like to thank the customer for having faith in us to do the job right, and i want to thank my head installer Frenchy for doing a great job on the car and building a kick a** amp rack.
 
 
2010 Cadillac CTS4 navigation retro fit
We ordered the factory nav screen from the dealers with the up and down motor assembly complete, then the pain staking task of making it work began. First the game plan was to transplant the whole ctsv radio in the cts , program it to the car and feed the kenwood kos video signal through a nav interface piece. that did not work we found out after 3 trips to the dealer. The car would not program to the new unit. It can be done but it's just not cost effective with all the additional moduals that must be purchaced , installed and programmed to the car. So we chose to go in a diffrent direction, we took the facoty nav sreen appart and stripped the whle thing down to the motor and slide assembly. We then custom installed upper and lower limit swiches and a pulse timer. After some fancy wiring we got it to work! Now we had to get the kenwood 7 inch kos touch screen to fit in the new ctsv motor assembly case, and make sure there was enough clearance for the thick kos cable to go up and down. WE DID IT!!!
Inside the car looks factory , works like factory, and we were able to add all the ctsv features and more.
Garmin navigation, ipod , ipod video, usb, bluetooth, dvd, back ip camera, etc..
The customer is very happy and so are we!
 
 
 
Viper HD & LC3 and the Viper Smart Start
  *click logo above to see demo*
Viper 5902 Responder HD Color SuperCode SST 2-Way Security and Remote Start System

NVS AUDIO Best of CES 2011

We are so excited!!!! CES has been so boring for the past few years, more features built in to these gps systems,  every new radio coming out with built in bluetooth and usb, another no name brand company coming out with speakers and amps, but NOT THIS YEAR!!!

No stuff, no directions, new, new , new !!!!!
From Viper Directed electronics :
Smart Start 2.5 with gps tracking
lock unlock your doors, start your car and track your car from almost any smartphone!
http://www.viper.com/



Pioneer Car audio
http://www.pioneer.com/

Is no offering Netflix Movie streaming live on there Multi media head units for 2011 !! and Pandara radio direct control!! Twitter,facebook, and more now at your finger tips in the car!

 Pioneer products and technologies are a hit and continues to receive great
coverage at CES.  Thanks!

CES
Your Smartphone Now Has Four Wheels
Examiner.com
Mark Albertson
http://www.examiner.com/technology-in-san-francisco/your-smartphone-now-has-four-wheels
“Information can follow me from my television to my smartphone and into my
car,” declared Ted Cardenas, Director of Marketing for Pioneer, at a press
conference yesterday.  Cardenas announced enhancements to SmartCradle, a
device that lets drivers dock their iPhone into in-dash navigation
products.

CES: Pioneer Receivers Read Your Twitter, Facebook Feeds
CNET.com
Antuan Goodwin
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027728-283.html Pioneer updated its AVIC X and Z series in-dash receivers with the ability to interface with the Aha Radio mobile app for iPhone.  Taking advantage of the iPhone’s 3G connection, Aha aggregates the user’s social network feeds, RSS feeds, and podcasts into an audio stream that can be listened to while driving.Thanks,Thomas ScuderiPioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.973 800 8000 <
Pioneer Delivers Netflix to a Car Radio
January 5, 2011 by Amy Gilroy
Filed under Car 2, Car News, Industry news
Leave a Comment
Pioneer Electronics has become the most aggressive aftermarket company in delivering apps through your radio.

Nine of its 2011 models have an App Mode that lets you watch Netflix and many other video apps on your AV deck and listen to many audio apps. If the app permits it, you can watch video on the larger car radio screen provided you are in park with the emergency brake on.

Pioneer is also delivering audible Facebook and Twitter updates as you drive through Aha Radio in two new decks.

Then there’s a new GPS cradle that adds a speakes, Bluetooth, a gyro sensor and enhanced GPS reception to an iPhone running a GPS app. Pioneer’s first GPS kit also has a miniUSB slot and AV output. Called the SmartCradle, it is due for release this spring at $120.

How about Star Wars-like heads up holographic-type displays on your dash? Pioneer is demonstrating at CES, its ability to use an RGB laser to project a display of a navigation map on your windshield. The image takes on a holographic effect that seems to hover above your dash. The technology is shown as a prototype but it may come to market in the not so distant future. Pioneer noted that as radios in cars are replaced less frequently, it makes sense to focus on displays and technology elsewhere in the car.

As for Aha Mobile, it will be available this spring on the AVIC Z130BT and AVIC-X930BT (at $1,200 and $800 street prices). Users connect their iPhones with the free Aha Mobile app to the decks and they get audible information on traffic, access to over 100 podcasts and Facebook and Twitter updates and Yelp information.

Pandora radio control over an iPhone is now offered on 9 new Pioneer head units starting at $150 on the DEH-6300UB.

Also new are 6 ¾ inch speakers that fit in 6 ½ holes for 20 percent more cone area.

Pioneer is also now licensing its PAIS network API to other companies. It aggregates content from Slacker, Facebook, Yelp, Accuweather, Twitter and other apps so that it’s easy for the user to quickly get content from the sites, as required in a car environment.

NVS AUDIO Fresh start 2011 !!!!

New Stuff going on at NVS audio for the New Year!
We are picking up a new Hi End Audio line Audison and Hertz Car audio!!!
This is why we like it:
Audison Bit one Processor = hands down the BEST signal processor on the market today, with features like signal summing, time delay , time alignment, dsp, line driver, 30 band eq, tos link, digital in and out, and much ,much more....  the only neg is .... The price $1200 but for 2011 Audison is offering a more a more affordable option, the bit ten and bit ten D $400-$600 :-).

The Audison and Hertz speaker line now allow us to offer our customers product that now matched the level of service we have been offering our customer since day one. The products we have carried in the past have been very good but this bumps us into the GREAT  class. We are a MECP Master Certified Shop (the only one in the state of NJ) and we hit the top 100 installers list in the USA for 2010 so we felt we needed to carry product to match our certification.