Alpine ILX-F511. Game Changer

I see tons of people went out and bought this ILX-F511 unit during that insane sale. Maybe I missed it but how do you guys actually like it after installing? It is hard to find feedback on this head unit. I was looking at the ILX-F511 and XAV-9500ES.

 

I’ve been very happy with mine. Every once in a great while I miss the physical volume knob (not enough to buy the Bluetooth one that seems glitchy), but otherwise it’s been great. I’ve got no comparison other than the stock JBL and then adding the JBL DSP to that system. The DSP helped the stock JBL, but this alpine has been orders of magnitude better (reverted back to stock JBL amp and speakers until some future date)

 

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely like the appearance of the ILX-F511 over the Sony. The Alpine just looks like it belongs there whereas the Sony looks like a tablet mounted to the dash.

I heard some say the Sony has an edge in sound quality and EQ controls over the Alpine so I wanted to ask.

I’m also planning on going with the Alpine dash cam which can integrate into the ILX-F511.

 

I thought about that cam too but for the price and quality of picture, you can find better.

 

I’m on my 3rd nakita camera and it’s becoming unreliable. It seems they don’t like the heat… any recommendations on a different brand?

 

They’re talking about the dash cam for recording, not the grille cam. I’m still using my OG one… not sure why you’re having such bad luck

 

This is what I’m using for the grille cam. YMMV

$14 NOAUKA Waterproof IP69 Night Vision 170 Degree Car Rear View/Reversing/Reverse Camera Universal Color CCD high-Definition chip Backup Parking HD Front View Camera

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNM7GNS

 

I already bought it so we’ll see how it goes. I like that I can integrate it into the head unit.

 

So are you running the F511?

 

I tried one of those stupid Nexar dash cams and sent it back within the week. If the quality was as good as their marketing, they'd be #1 in the dash cam world.

 

If I'd gotten wind of that mega sale at BB, I would be. I've got a

$1,200 Pioneer DMH-WT8600NEX 10.1" Digital Multimedia Receiver - Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Built-in Bluetooth, WiFi and Amazon Alexa, Floating Capacitive Touchscreen, Single-DIN

Pioneer DMH-WT8600NEX and would dump it for the Alpine easy.

 

Yeah I was torn between the XAV-9500ES and ILX-F511 and ended up just ordering the F511 based on the looks and now I’m second guessing it because I hear more people running the Sony. I tend to overthink my truck mods!

 

Agreed. I bought the Apline dash cam so it would be integrated. Picture quality isn’t bad, but for the price there are better options out there. It works well for me, however I haven’t been able to get the phone app to work although it might be user error.

 

I had 1 or 6 beers one night and almost pulled the trigger on the radio + cam in one fell swoop. I'm really bad about those little impulse buys at times...

 

I had a rough decision deciding and just bit the bullet and ordered the dash cam. Went with the Alpine head unit so figured the integration would be cool.

It’s weird because the feedback ranges from the picture is absolute crap to the picture is great. Feedback is all over the place.

 

I've not heard one bad thing about the Sony and its painless installation.

The Alpine is great too, and I've always been partial to them, but this whole thread is all about how much of a PITA it is to install unless you get it from Crutchfield/TrailGridPro already wired up for ya.

 

Yep, been running Alpine since my teenage years. 24 years later still partial to them. I went with TGP so no issue there. Arrives Friday.

 

Cliff is super helpful and responsive. If you run into any issues, they're quick to help out.

 

For sure. Talked to him last week before I settled on Alpine. He’s a super cool guy.

 

If you look at the power wire going to those Nakita brand cams there is a thermistor (looks like a resistor) in heat shrink wrap. That is a temp control and is so close to the cam side it ends up inside the hood. Cut that wire and move the thermistor inside the cab with you.

I had where my camera would come on then off, on then off and cycled indefinitely until it cooled down. Moved it and no more problem. Caution: Thin wires so care is needed

 

I have been pretty happy w/ mine too, especially b/c I didn't pay $1700 for it. LOL There are sound (EQ) features that I don't even begin to know how to monkey with and the install was pretty simple thanks to the fine folks on this thread. I would say the only thing I don't like about it is the lag when you pause/play music. That lag might be a Carplay thing though... Just don't love that when you hit pause that it's at least a 1-2 second count before the music actually stops/starts.

 

Just my $.02:

• Had the F511 installed for 6 months and it was well worth it. Android Auto/Car Play is really nice. Sound is much improved over my stock non-jbl amp system. The extra gauges, tpms readout, hdmi hookup and lots of equalizer options are nice as well.
• Have not missed the volume knob as much as I thought I would. Between steering wheel volume and the mute button on the hu, i haven't needed a knob yet. But there's always the bluetooth rux-h02 to add later.
• I used the Axxess Trig1 to bypass parking brake. Only $9 from Best Buy.
• This was my first HU install ever. Only a novice solderer. If you lay out all the harnesses on a table and spend 30 min mapping out everything, it helps the install and time in the truck go a lot smoother.
• I too liked the idea of the integrated Alpine dash cam, but it is so overpriced for its specs. Couldn't justify it. I went with the Viofo A229 Pro 2 channel which has 4k front, 2k rear, 24hr monitoring with the hardwire kit and 128gb sd card, all for about $200 less than the Alpine. My wife has had the same dashcam set up for a while so I knew it was a solid choice.
• My nakita front cam froze in February, but they sent me a full replacement no questions asked. In the future I might upgrade to the alpine front cam, but it'll again come down to price vs usage. It is nice having the front cam for parking and checking cross traffic.
• The HU came with a free trial for Sirius, but I didn't install the antenna adapter. No sweat. The trial was for the "app only" plan, works from your phone, and Car Play has a Sirius app.
• The dasaita dash kit is a pretty good match for the factory "brushed silver" finish. It is also the only one with metal brackets, which I thought would fare better than plastic. One downside is that it doesn't come with any cover for the unused space behind the alpine screen. Literally can't see it unless you stick your head over the screen, but some might not like the idea of an opening into the dash. On the other hand, with the Maestro attached via velcro to the top of the Alpine unit (I installed it on the bottom half of the dash kit), it could easily be accessed if I need to remap the steering wheel controls.
• I did install the Alpine KAE-HF11DA screen protector, maybe overkill, but I figured it was worth the piece of mind. Fingerprints easily wipe off with a damp microfiber.
  

 

This is a CarPlay thing. It's pretty annoying that Apple hasn't done anything about it, but it's part of how the UI and audio are cast separately.

 

@wackyhacky @TreeCat Thank you both for all the feedback. Sounds like a made a solid choice minus the Alpine dash cam. I liked the integration idea but sounds like it’s not worth the price tag and lacking in pic quality. I’ll have to see how I like it.

I did order the volume knob because 24 years of reaching for one is like second nature.

 

The volume knob can be frustrating, just to give you a heads up on that. You need to wake the knob up before or within the first 30 seconds of starting up the head unit, otherwise you'll need to go into the settings menu to reconnect it after it's booted. Even then, half the time I had to delete and re-pair it, which requires disconnecting your phone if using wireless CarPlay. Alpine missed the mark big time on how that device connects. It's so good when it works. It's so bad when it doesn't.

 

How stupid. Is this something that is even possible to fix in a firmware update?

 

Yes - it would require them to fix how the HU listens for bluetooth connections after initial startup is all. As of the latest OTA update, 6.0.000, it still doesn't work that way. I gave up.

 

Are you still using the knob? How annoying is it without? Easy to volume up/down?

 

@TRDFerguson did your idea with the wired battery here work?

 

I ditched it. I just use the steering wheel controls now.