[8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario Accessories] BennTech:
Parrot MK6000 Review Update (Part 1)

I wanted to give a follow up to my previous post. In addition to the MK6000, I've included some extra info to explain the nuances of A2DP for people who are diving into A2DP for the first time (like I was). After a lengthy and troubled install, I'm happy to finally have the MK6000 installed and working. However, had I known back then what I know now, I never would have bought it.

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PRICE/VALUE

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I had been eyeing the MK6000 for a long time, but couldn't find any reviews until mpd's post. The biggest deterrent to me was the price, which lists at $250, and has street prices around $200. In addition, Americans will need a $50 wiring harness because our car radios don't have the standardized European ISO connectors. In comparison, the iTech R35 has the same functionality as the MK6000 (but connects via 3.5mm headphone jack) and costs only $50 street--the same as the MK6000's wiring harness alone. Another option is to replace your car stereo with an A2DP unit. The Sony MEX-BT2500 is a Bluetooth car stereo with all the capabilities of the MK6000, but also is a full blown car stereo with a radio and MP3/WMA CD player, and it lists for $180 or about $150 street. So, for $200-$250, I expect the MK6000 to work flawlessly.

To put the cost into perspective, consider car buying. If the iTech was a $20,000 Honda Element, comparatively that would make the Sony MEX-BT2500 a $60,000 385HP 155MPH Porsche Cayenne S and would make the MK6000 a $100,000 500HP 171MPH Porsche Cayenne Turbo. Unfortunately, the MK6000 is no Porsche.

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MK6000 INSTALL

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Let me explain some things I learned since my previous post. As I stated, I tried the "normal" installation first. With the normal installation, the radio's speaker output goes through the MK6000, and the MK6000 drives the speakers. When the MK6000 activates, it grounds the mute line, which tells the radio to mute itself. However, if your radio has no mute line (like Hondas), the radio doesn't mute. And despite the fact that the radio feeds through the MK6000 and the MK6000 is telling the radio to mute, the MK6000 only mixes its own audio with the radio input. WTF? Why didn't Parrot mute the incoming audio internally, too? It's trivial electrically...even I did it as described later, and I failed Electrical Engineering three times! This is what my $200 bought me? I have to manually turn down my radio?

Also, the MK6000 feeds phone calls to the front speakers only. I don't understand their thinking with this either. Why not power all the speakers so I can hear the other party better? If you don't want people in the backseat to hear, then don't use a speaker phone! A2DP supposedly plays to all four speakers with the normal installation, but I didn't get A2DP working on my phone before switching to the alternate installation.

Anyone who has a downstream amp (even factory-installed amp for your factory radio, like me), will have to use the "alternate" installation using the MK6000's line-output instead of the ISO speaker connections. The reason is that the MK6000 outputs are "speaker-level" (high-power, high-noise), not "preamp-level" (low-power, low-noise). You can't mix-and-match these; they're incompatible. One way seems extremely loud (e.g., the MK6000's high-power output to an amp's low-power input) and the other extremely quiet (my radio's low-power output to the MK6000's high-power input). Hence why the MK6000 blasted through my speakers but my radio was barely audible.

One positive of the alternate installation (maybe the only positive?) is that calls go to all speakers, not just the front. Weeee.

However, there is a huge problem to consider with the alternate installation. The MK6000 powers on when you turn on your ignition and connects to your phone as a hands-free headset. In the normal installation, whether your radio is on or not is irrelevant because the MK6000 powers the speakers itself. However, with the alternate installation, you have to ensure your radio is on and its source input is set to the MK6000, otherwise you have no way to tell when you're receiving an incoming call except by looking directly at the MK6000 to see if its lights are flashing, but the lights are hard to see in direct light. If you modify the MK6000 wiring so it powers on with the radio instead of the ignition, then at least the MK6000 isn't intercepting calls when the radio is off, but that still doesn't solve the problem of switching the radio to the MK6000 source, so you still won't hear incoming calls automatically.

Fortunately for me, my Honda Element has a "Remote On" power lead and a 3.5mm auxiliary port with a detection circuit. The detection circuit automatically switches my radio to Aux input when something is first plugged in and switches back to the original source when unplugged. Most car radios will have the Remote On, many will have some sort of auxiliary input, but very few will have a way to switch sources like the detection circuit does.

What I did was beyond what most people would attempt (even professional installers), but suffice to say I installed a 4PDT automotive relay triggered by the MK6000's mute that automatically switches my radio to Aux and replaces the aux port audio with the MK6000 line-out. For those interested, I'll post the specifics of my particular installation in the more relevant Element Owner's Club forums after I draw out my final circuit diagrams and get the pictures and write-up together. The relatively minor downside to this method is that there is a delay before the MK6000/relay/radio each complete their part of the switchover, so I miss the first 1-2 seconds when the MK6000 is first activated (e.g., I rarely hear the first Voice Command tones).

Next, I connected the MK6000's ignition (on) wire to my radio's Remote On wire. Thus, the MK6000 should power on/off with my radio. I say "should" because the MK6000 frequently locks up and refuses to power off, particularly after I'd made or received a call. More than once I have received phone calls and had my MK6000 answer it, even though my car was off and back in a parking lot or my garage. I think this might be a "feature" for the normal installation to keep you from dropping your phone call in case you turn off your car. Even so, I tested several cases where the MK6000 stayed on, and even when I turned off my phone's Bluetooth and powered it off via soft-reset so I'm sure there's no connection, the damn MK6000 still wouldn't power off. So this is probably a bug instead. I was able to irregularly power off the locked up MK6000 by randomly pressing buttons, primarily by simultaneously pressing the Talk and End buttons (but don't hold them longer than 3 seconds or else you'll wipe the MK6000's memory).

To remedy the power off problem, I connected the MK6000 constant power to my radio's Remote On. Now I can reset the MK6000 just by turning my radio off/on. Plus this ensures the MK6000 is off when my radio is off and thus can't intercept my calls when there's nowhere to output the sound. Originally, I connected the MK6000's constant power to my ignition, so I was sure the MK6000 is off when I leave the car. However, after a couple of lockups while driving down the highway where I couldn't turn off my ignition, I ultimately changed to the Remote On.

I think mpd is only able to power off his locked up MK6000 because his ignition and constant power lines are switched. Apparently some cars have these ISO leads reversed. According to the manual, if you don't hear the MK6000 say "Goodbye" when you turn off your car, you're supposed to switch these wires. I recommend just the opposite because when the MK6000 locks up, it ignores the on/off wire. Then, the only way to power it off is to either disconnect your battery (have your radio anti-theft codes handy) or dismantle your dash to disconnect the MK6000 power connector directly.

Another problem I had was the obnoxious engine whine through my speakers whenever the MK6000 was active. During phone calls, it was so bad that I often had trouble hearing the other party. Note that I spliced the MK6000 directly into my radio's power connections. Thus, it has the exact same power and ground as my radio, and my radio doesn't have noise problems. Fortunately, I solved this by placing a $4 noise filter on the power line to the MK6000 (Parts Express #265-042). Virtually every car radio has a power filter built-in these days. Again, the MK6000 is no Porsche.

Not to brag, but I think my installation is the best possible installation (albeit one of the most difficult and the result of a lot of dumb luck): my MK6000 comes on automatically like a normal installation, I have calls and audio to all 4 speakers like an alternate installation, and I can reset the locked up MK6000 by simply turning the radio off/on.