VW Phatnoise hooked upto a Kenwood Headunit?

[mrudell2]

Hey everyone,
  Sorry if this has been beaten to death, but I've searched and had no luck. I currently have a Phatnoise in a 2000 Golf with a single din radio. I've been wanting to upgrade the headunit to a Kenwood model since mine is on its way out. Is it possible to hook the VW Phatnoise upto a Kenwood Music Keg compatible headunit? If so, what all do I need to purchase? Do I need to put the Kenwood firmware on the DMS??

[A543]

You will need a Kenwood Keg cable, the VW one won't work. You will need to install the latest Kenwood firmware on your Phatbox as well. The first time you do this make sure the DMS has the KW firmware on it. Disconnect your Phatbox from the car for about 10 minutes. Make sure your headunit is OFF. Insert the DMS into the Phatbox and then hook the Phatbox up to the car. Wait about 10 minutes for the LEDs to stop flashing. This will reprogram the Phatbox with the new firmware without the headunit trying to talk to the Phatbox with the old (VW) firmware and possibly damaging something.

[LloydDobler]

Couple of notes when shopping Kenwood.  Obviously, make sure it has the cd changer controls.  After that I highly recommend getting one with a two line display.  With a two line display you can view playlist name as well as track title and artist.   With a Kenwood single line display you are usually limited to either playlist or filename, not both.  I have a single line display in one car and while filename is alright, because I display artist in the filename, I've been frustrated not seeing the playlist from time to time.

Other than that, what A543 said is right on.  I have a VW box running off a Kenwood head unit in my daily driver.

[mrudell2]

Excellent. I appreciate your help. I found some more information on this and I found a few companies that I can order the cable from, however, it is a special order cable. This really wouldn't be a problem, but my headunit is currently dead, I think. Is there somewhere that I can purchase the cable from that would have it in stock or does anyone on here have one for sale??

[A543]

http://www.pacparts.com has them I think. Check the buying and selling section of the forums for more leads on where you might be able to get Kenwood cables.