Recommendations for head unit?

Meh. It's OK, but not great. I listen to sports talk via iHeartRadio.

 

I don't know about you but my bass is over compensated by the OEM head unit until I turn up the volume to around 25. So if i'm listening to music at 15 - 25 (below 15 the whole system is pretty quiet) my bass is like way out of whack and is booming. Then I turn it up to 25 (or higher) and you can audibly hear the bass tone down as the head unit is no longer compensating. I have a full system (minus the head unit) so maybe that issue is exaggerated.

 

Yep, this is exactly my problem. I set the bass properly at low volume, but when I wanna rock out and crank it up, it dials the bass waay down. So I basically cranked the sub amp up to compensate and used the remote volume knob to adjust the amp on the fly. Because when I'm done car-moshing and turn the HU back down, the bass is ridiculously disproportionate. Made it impossible to get ANY semblance of consistency between volume levels. I presume it's to protect the pathetic stock speakers and their quarter-sized drivers. But god is it infuriating. I just want to set the EQ and set up my system accordingly.

 

I'd suggest scoping the FS threads here. Personally I don't have a backup cam and don't care about nav or Apple so my personal experience would be of little use.

 

OP, you dont need the Maestro for the ILX 650 to maintain steering wheel controls. You can use the

$68 Axxess ASWC-1 Steering Wheel Control Interface

Axxess ASWC-1 Unit. That Alpine unit doesn't support Idata Link info so the Maestro will be overkill for it. Maestro is used to provide info from the Cars ECU for and not all radio's have that function built in. You can get steering wheel control with the alpine for under $70. I think the Axxess unit is around $50 and then the other harness to prevent any cutting which may be $15

$14 Metra 70-8114 Steering Wheel Control Add-On Harness with AUX in Fits Select 2002-2015 Toyota/Scion/Lexus Vehicles

Metra 70-8114. I do agree the Alpine would be the best bet in that price range.