Audio System Upgrade - VFII Calais V

[mfrancis1990]

Hi All,
Just thought I would post some information on an audio system upgrade I recently did on my VFII Calais V.

Like possibly many of you, I was disappointed with the MyLink system, lack of apps, sound quality, lack of Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

I looked around and researched and read different reviews and ended up settling on a Kayhan Audio unit - https://kayhanaudio.com.au/product/satnav-for-holden-commodore-vf/

I had some concerns as there was some mixed feedback on the web. But I decided to go ahead. I had a professional installer do the work as an additional level of consumer protection if something went wrong. Kayhan Audio's installer I chose to use was Maroochydore Car Sound.

Well, there were some teething issues getting it fully functional, but Maroochy Car Sound were just amazing, and Kayhan Audio's backup was fantastic.

The system has been in now about 3 weeks, and I could not be happier. It is awesome. The unit is super responsive, it all works, heated seats work, HUD works, all parking radar work, reversing camera works, the vast majority of control buttons below the screen all function and it looks entirely factory.

I would highly recommend looking into doing this if you want an upgrade on the factory MyLink. I am super impressed by the result. The sound of the system is so much better as well. I will try and post a link to a video I have taken which shows it all working if people are interested.

 

[426Cuda]

Good results. Lack of integration with TheHUD and factory buttons would be a deal breaker for me on any upgrade.
Which control buttons (if any) don't work as intended?
What was the cost?
I'm one of those people who don't have any issues with Mylink and think the sound quality for a stock system (Bose) is great. TBH I actually prefer it over the unit on my Wife's Astra which has Android Auto etc.
I'd be interested to see a vid though.

 

[Hq King]

Hi All,
Just thought I would post some information on an audio system upgrade I recently did on my VFII Calais V.

Like possibly many of you, I was disappointed with the MyLink system, lack of apps, sound quality, lack of Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

I looked around and researched and read different reviews and ended up settling on a Kayhan Audio unit - https://kayhanaudio.com.au/product/satnav-for-holden-commodore-vf/

I had some concerns as there was some mixed feedback on the web. But I decided to go ahead. I had a professional installer do the work as an additional level of consumer protection if something went wrong. Kayhan Audio's installer I chose to use was Maroochydore Car Sound.

Well, there were some teething issues getting it fully functional, but Maroochy Car Sound were just amazing, and Kayhan Audio's backup was fantastic.

The system has been in now about 3 weeks, and I could not be happier. It is awesome. The unit is super responsive, it all works, heated seats work, HUD works, all parking radar work, reversing camera works, the vast majority of control buttons below the screen all function and it looks entirely factory.

I would highly recommend looking into doing this if you want an upgrade on the factory MyLink. I am super impressed by the result. The sound of the system is so much better as well. I will try and post a link to a video I have taken which shows it all working if people are interested.

As cuda said I would be keen to know more

 

[mfrancis1990]

Hello All,
Here is a link to a video I did: https://drive.google.com/open?id=11vgGp_ZYwVWA5VP04GrAus0yAsSG6Cs2

Excuse the monotone voice - it is what it is.

Also, the video was actually 3 smaller videos I put together. I was recording the video from my iPhone and when I switched to Car Play and played music of course the iPhone stopped recording video.

I wanted to provide some finer details on what is still missing. In the HUD with the MyLink you got NAV in the HUD. The NAV instructions in the HUD are no longer there, but I personally could live without that for the other benefits. Because the NAV is no longer integrated with the HUD, speed limits that were visible in the HUD are no longer visible in the HUD. Again I can live without that personally. Lane Departure warnings, the visuals all work as normal, but the audio alarms do not function. Forward collision alerts, the visuals work in the HUD as per normal, but the audible alarms do not. Again I can live without all the alarms, and there used to be many false positives anyway.

With respect to control buttons below the screen, they all so far are operational, the only one which is not is the NAV control button. When I raised this with Kayhan Audio, they advised that they built the integration to support the most basic model commodore which does not have NAV and does not have that button. So now the Tune/Menu knob when pressed fires up the NAV.

The Heated Seats all work, but the control buttons below the vents do NOT, nor do the lights in those buttons. But on the screen, you can turn on the heated seats and the screen icons have 3 lights that show the level of heat just like the control buttons used to on the dash. So as far as I am concerned, this is sufficient.

All other integrations seem to be functional. Automated dipping of passenger side reversing mirror on selection of reverse - Yes.
Blindspot detection in side mirrors - Yes
Lighting including puddle lights - Yes
Automatic door locking - Yes

All the above can still be changed via screen.

So in my mind so far, the level of integration is outstanding. It looks factory, and sounds great, and I can install apps, get Car Play, get Android Auto. To me so far it is a big tick.

Hope this helps.

 

[mpower]

Good results. Lack of integration with TheHUD and factory button woukd be a deal breaker for me on any upgrade.
Which control buttons (If a any) don't work as intended?
What was the cost?
I'm one of those people who don't have any issues with Mylink and think the sound quality for a stock system (Bose) is great. TBH I actually prefer it over the unit on my Wife's Astra which has Android Auto etc.
I'd be interested to see a vid though.

i'm with you, i'm a new VF owner and think that the MyLink is pretty good. I don't care about apps (USB and phone streaming just work) and the Bose system sounds good to me (although I am considering upgrading the subs). I think the stick MyLink gets is over earlier software versions and the hud integration is just so good. Maps i rarely use but when i have they have done the job.

The description above seems to target base models for some reason!?

It does sound like a good system especially if you like Android Auto/Carplay. I think i would consider this system if I wanted to use a lot of maps maybe that seems like the biggest + for it.

 

[Paul Cordingley]

HUD integration (Nav, speed limits etc.) is absolutely essential for me, and like others I think MyLink is fine, quite good even.

 

[stooge]

The cons:

1: the nav crashes a lot.
2: there is a massive glare issue on the screen so during a sunny day it will be hard to see and the reverse cam will be hard to see and by hard I mean almost impossible.
3: the handsfree is horrible and has no background noise cancelation so when you are doing 100kmh you will be hard to hear to the person calling you.
4: the phone Bluetooth system is poor and annoying to operate, if you have a lot of contacts its a pain to make a call while driving.
5: almost every time you get into the vehicle and start it the unit will display that a door is still open but the door is not open and you have to tap the screen to get rid of the picture of the door open that covers the screen.
6: after you change a aircon setting the aircon menu may flash up again once or twice and if you use it at the wrong time like when reversing it will get stuck on screen until you change the ac settings again.
7: when you reverse it cuts all audio output to the speakers.
8: you have no admin access over the unit and it is not verified or is rooted so you wont be installing Netflix etc from google play and kayhan has removed the ability to access root on the firmware updates or they removed the root.
9: some of the wiring is poor and can break easy.
10: the supplied wifi antenna is junk and the wifi drops out a lot.
11: it does not always remember what it was playing/doing the last time you stopped the vehicle.
12: minor issue here but the outside temp displayed on the unit does not work/update properly and on a 28deg day mine was showing 13deg.

another problem is the total lack of customer support from kayhan, if you message them about a problem don't expect a reply but if you message them about a sales enquiry you will get an answer within a few hours.

I have posted some info about the kayhan unit HERE and I am getting close to removing mine and putting the mylink back in because some of the constant issues with it are just not worth it.

the screen glare issue is the biggest problem.

Spoiler: Screen Glare/Brightness

 

[mpower]

my nav has not crashed (limited uses)
glare, i've not noticed any - but have no doubt you are experiencing it.
handfree is great - i have a sunroof, i have have it open and tell mylink lady to call and have a conversation. on the motorway.
bluetooth - nfi perfect on my use case of two identical phones
doors never play up


dunno about the other stuff got bored and stopped there.

 

[RED LION]

Very different opinions here...

 

[mwb235]

I'm one of those people who don't have any issues with Mylink and think the sound quality for a stock system (Bose) is great.

+1