Took my time getting the audio upgrade done, but it's finally complete!. Here's a quick writeup (this is also referenced in less detail in the indie service centers thread within the Murcielago/Gallardo sub-forum...

After taking ownership of my 03 Murci last year it became clear that the OEM stereo just wasn't going to cut it. I installed an Alpine iDA-X305S head unit myself, which was super easy (especially once I got a few tips from Infamous aka James from Mobile Addictions in NY). It's a great head unit and has Pandora support from the iphone. Catch there is the iphone is a POS and until Apple gets their firmware straight it experiences sound "drop out" every minute or so. No worries though, as I connect my ipod and it works just fine.

That got me along for a bit but it's been a while since I've had a car with a quality audio system in it, so the hunger for good sound grew stronger with every drive I took. My last car, an Exige S, I spent some time ugprading only the front and rear channel with no amp supplement, and that's as far as it went. The car before that (06 350Z) had a good front stage but the sub and pre-fab box were mismatched and performed only average.

I got to talking more to James from (Mobile Addictions) and we worked out a nice deal on some gear he had coming out of his own LP640. A Hertz Mille front stage and 10" sub, driven by an Audison amp was pretty much the exact setup I had been researching anyway, so I pulled the trigger on the gear.

I thought I'd be installing this stuff myself but I realized that task was best left to a pro for this job. That experience is described in more detail in the indie service centers thread but in a nutshell James flew down two of his best installers from New York to Louisiana to get this gear into my Murci the right way: professionally and cleanly. And they did an excellent job. I couldn't be happier!

I just came back from a nice long cruise and the new system is STELLAR. It's exactly what I wanted. Nice thump, but overall emphasis on quality instead of pressure. No matter what type of music I throw at it (and I listen to a lot of different stuff, from AC/DC to Oakenfold to Clint Mansell) it handles it beautifully. James' guys Christopher and Joseph did a GREAT job tuning the amp. And there's just enough space in the old-cd changer well behind the passenger's seat (no e-gear) to let the 10" Hertz sub breath properly. The guys from Mobile Addictions also trimmed everything up nicely with a beautiful amp rack in the boot and perfectly matched leather on the rack and the sub. I'm so happy! Here's a few pics to share below. Thanks for reading!

 

2 things, props for tackling the stereo install by yourself & props on the manual gearbox

i always use alpine products to great effect

edit: probably should have read what you wrote

 

Ya, the head unit I did myself. And I do enjoy doing this kind of work, but the amp was best left for a pro who works on Lambos regularly.

 

Nice man, very clean.

I also say cheers on the h/u install. I went to school for mobile electronics and love installing stuff.

 

Very clean install; the only way to add a stereo to an exotic IMO. Lovin' the gated manual! REP when I'm not all out...

 

work looks flawless, congrats!
bet it sounds 20x better now

 

Those issues have nothing to do with Apple's device firmware. Older iPod interfaces do not play well with the iPhone and newer iPods because the specification was changed in order to accommodate new features. Those who follow those specifications do not have issues interfacing with the new device.

It is not terribly uncommon for third party electronics vendors to pass the buck on to Apple and/or their customers because they couldn't be bothered to spend the time or money to properly support the devices.

As far as Pandora goes, stream buffering issues have more to do with AT&T's network sucking than much else. You can tweak the audio quality settings to address the issue somewhat.