Hello everyone,

Just went out on a limb and bought a 2006 E500 as a project car. It's got 128k miles on it, but I'm the second owner! First was a semi-retired physician who drove this car incredibly gently. The interior is completely pristine.

Anyway, first order of business is to upgrade the NTG1 to something more modern. I know people have had great success with the Android models from China, but I was hoping to grab an NTG2.5 unit from a nearby junkyard and keep things OEM.

I do have the Harman Kardon option, though. The Android upgrade thread got me thinking: what if the AVIN MOST interface to keep the original HK system with the Android unit would also work with an NTG2.5 upgrade? That way, we'd avoid the need for a new amp.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

AVIN don't allow refunds on the interface, so I'm wary of pulling the trigger.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

 

Why would you need a MOST adapter with an NTG 2.5 upgrade? Also, why would you need a new amp with the NTG 2.5 upgrade? I believe its a plug-and-play upgrade.

 

The experience with NTG2.5 upgrades so far - on this forum and others - has been that cars with the Harman Kardon system have compatibility issues. The NTG1 HK system doesn't work with NTG2.5, which necessitates buying new amps that cost over $1,000.

The same issue existed with retrofits of 3rd-party head units until the MOST adapter came along. So, I'm hoping that the adapter would also work with NTG2.5.

 

The MOST interface converts an RCA output into a fiber optic input. Isn't the NTG 2.5 also fiber optic? I don't see how that would work, but I could be missing something here.

Either way, I have a chinese android headunit in my E500 with the AVIN MOST Interface going to my HK system and I've got to say that i LOVE IT. It sounds great, even better than the stock Logic 7 IMO.