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OK, so I have had my 08 LS460 for 2 weeks now and am ready for some upgrades. I scoured the forums doing lots of searches for bluetooth and audio upgrades etc and after reading countless threads I am more confused than ever. So my goal is to get Pandora from my iphone 7 and my audio books through my audible app to play through my stereo with the best quality as possible. At first I was just going to buy a lightning adapter to 3.5 male aux plug and see how that works. I am assuming it will play audio through my speakers but do not know if a good bluetooth connection with be a better quality. Also by using the aux jack, can I switch tracks using my steering wheel controls? If bluetooth streaming is better quality than what device do you recommend. Not looking for apple car play or videos to be played through my Nav. I see there are systems made by Grom and Vais technology among others. Lastly I am most likely going to add a subwoofer and amp to the factory stereo. Is there a device that will do bluetooth and allow me to connect a sub and amp or is that two totally different hardware items. Thanks guys in advance.
From what I read back when I was investigating this for my BMW without Bluetooth audio there is a Airplay adapter you can buy which lets you stream music lossless to your car. BT is a convenient but lower quality audio stream from what i read. I never did it because I eventually got my LS460.
This is what people used a couple years ago with a lot of positive reviews. However I think now there are many people selling adapters like this.
I had a bluetooth w/ audio input cord in the center console. It worked alright. Then sometimes it was humming which drove me crazy when there's no audio streaming. I thought it was my car...so long story short, I didn't really use it any more after multiple times when it was humming. I have the Grom VL2 now that I can stream through that. It's a lot more expensive than the $15 bluetooth adapter I got but no humming.
I had a bluetooth w/ audio input cord in the center console. It worked alright. Then sometimes it was humming which drove me crazy when there's no audio streaming. I thought it was my car...so long story short, I didn't really use it any more after multiple times when it was humming. I have the Grom VL2 now that I can stream through that. It's a lot more expensive than the $15 bluetooth adapter I got but no humming.
Humming is not an option for me... lol I will most likely look in to that Grom unit.
OK, so I have had my 08 LS460 for 2 weeks now and am ready for some upgrades. I scoured the forums doing lots of searches for bluetooth and audio upgrades etc and after reading countless threads I am more confused than ever. So my goal is to get Pandora from my iphone 7 and my audio books through my audible app to play through my stereo with the best quality as possible. At first I was just going to buy a lightning adapter to 3.5 male aux plug and see how that works. I am assuming it will play audio through my speakers but do not know if a good bluetooth connection with be a better quality. Also by using the aux jack, can I switch tracks using my steering wheel controls? If bluetooth streaming is better quality than what device do you recommend. Not looking for apple car play or videos to be played through my Nav. I see there are systems made by Grom and Vais technology among others. Lastly I am most likely going to add a subwoofer and amp to the factory stereo. Is there a device that will do bluetooth and allow me to connect a sub and amp or is that two totally different hardware items. Thanks guys in advance.
It works great. It isn't quite as perfect as the built in units on the 2010 and up, but with a little manual manipulation, it's good to go. I keep it plugged in the mini plug. I have the charging adapter ready when needed to plug in to the "cigarette" adapter. When I get in my car, I start the engine, turn on the bluetooth, press the tao bluetooth on my phone and it's connected. If I leave my phone in the car (going to the gym), then I leave the unit on and it's still paired when I get back in the car. However, it seems when you leave with your phone, that's where I have issues. So, I turn the unit off when I leave and restart the process. A bit of a hassle perhaps, but for $ under $15, I have bluetooth.
I too have an 08 LS460. After much reading and deliberation, I went with this: TaoTronics
It works great. It isn't quite as perfect as the built in units on the 2010 and up, but with a little manual manipulation, it's good to go. I keep it plugged in the mini plug. I have the charging adapter ready when needed to plug in to the "cigarette" adapter. When I get in my car, I start the engine, turn on the bluetooth, press the tao bluetooth on my phone and it's connected. If I leave my phone in the car (going to the gym), then I leave the unit on and it's still paired when I get back in the car. However, it seems when you leave with your phone, that's where I have issues. So, I turn the unit off when I leave and restart the process. A bit of a hassle perhaps, but for $ under $15, I have bluetooth.
Just use the AUX connection. Wired connection is always better than wireless BT. If you have Amazon music you could use Alexa in the app to shuffle your music without searching while driving. Either that or waste money on BT transmitter that hum or spend $600 for Grom Vline that still requires tethering from phone for internet. I’m using AUX connection right now. I will likely give my LS to my son in few years. Then newer LS for me. Ask yourself how much do you drive a day? How long you plan to keep the car? How much you willing to spend for BT?
Just use the AUX connection. Wired connection is always better than wireless BT. If you have Amazon music you could use Alexa in the app to shuffle your music without searching while driving. Either that or waste money on BT transmitter that hum or spend $600 for Grom Vline that still requires tethering from phone for internet. I’m using AUX connection right now. I will likely give my LS to my son in few years. Then newer LS for me. Ask yourself how much do you drive a day? How long you plan to keep the car? How much you willing to spend for BT?
After driving the car and putting about 900 miles on it so far I think being able to unlock the Nav screen and have access to phone settings on nav screen while moving is now becoming very important to me. I use this car as my work car going to meetings and I am on the phone alot while driving and constantly using Nav for strange locations. I am sure I can use the Voice feature but I have not had much luck in my previous cars using them. More frustrating waiting for the prompts to end etc.
On a side note, thanks for all of your advice and options...
07-26-18 | 12:31 PM
A/V Bluetooth Recommendations
