Tunes!

[GreatOldOne]

Ok - Its slowly dawning on me that the car will be on the road soon, and my mind is suddenly on music.

I don't really want a head unit in the car, as I think it'll spoil the look. That and I don't have a great deal of space in the dash.

What I was thinking of was an amplifier in the boot, connected to my iPhone via a dock connector cable. This would give me music and navigation prompts as I have the Navigon app for it, and I could probably get it charging as well.

Is this possible? I've looked at some amps, but I haven't got a clue in this area!

[Chris Cussen]

I seem to remember that somebody on the MOC website was on about fitting at 100W amp to their MP3 player...

[limpabit]

This guy has done it.

http://forums.ilounge.com/archive/in...p/t-77287.html

[MartinClan]

I have also been thinking about sounds. It's a pity that you can't get a radio that has a sepperate face unit - there would be much more scope for siting it then. I know most of them come off nowadays - its a pity that you cant get a ribbon cable or suchlike to join the face to the body.

For me one of the most important parts of having sound in a car is the traffic news - it has saved me many a long queue in the past....

Robin

PS - Just to spur you on...
Boy was it chilly this morning - but what a great way to start the day

[GreatOldOne]

This guy has an interesting way of controlling an iPod when connected to an amp:

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost....&postcount=910
http://www.beigematchbox.co.uk/site/...o.uk/Home.html

Look at his projects page - it has some more details on the controller.

[MartinClan]

I am not sure that I would trust anything from a man that water cools his PC!

There is a fine line between genius and madness lol...

Robin

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by MartinClan

It's a pity that you can't get a radio that has a sepperate face unit

That's not really an issue, all you need to do is extent the cables and fit the mounting plate somewhere. Tis done in audio circles quite often

Will void your warranty though!

As for iphone -> amp. You just need a 3.5mm jack to RCA cable and hook it up to any old car amp.

You'll need at least 50wrms per channel so there's enough oomph for open car sound though.

[GreatOldOne]

I was thinking 4 speakers... Two in the quater panels behind the seats, and two in the footwells. Do you think that'd be enough, Patrick? (You're the audio guru around here... )

[MartinClan]

Originally Posted by Patrick

That's not really an issue, all you need to do is extent the cables and fit the mounting plate somewhere. Tis done in audio circles quite often

Thanks Patrick - I thought that you might have something to say on the subject ;-)

Do you know of anywhere I can find out more? I guess that the interface between the face and the body isn't always the same and some are more suited than others to this trick.

Robin

[Chris Cussen]

If you are up to making your own pre-amp look at http://amplifierlab.com/page/2/

The SPST switch could be replaced by a 2.5k linear pot (like R6) to give you treble control.

You will need 2, one for each channel, and use dual ganged pots. R1 should be logarithimic and R6 linear.

If you want a balance control then put a 500k linear pot between c1 and r1 on both circuits with the wiper going to ground

[Chris Cussen]

And convert the whole boot space to a boom box with a 12" woofer. I'd recommend at least 500w for that.

[Patrick]

In terms of extending the face plate, I can't seem to find anything at the mo except this photo:



What your doing is taking the front panel of the headunit off (not the face plate) and extending the ribbon cable then mounting the front panel somewhere else and clipping the face on to it.

Originally Posted by Chris Cussen

And convert the whole boot space to a boom box with a 12" woofer. I'd recommend at least 500w for that.

is that all I've got 1200RMS for my 12" ib sub in my daily and x2 280RWS per side for my front components. And mines a SQ non boom system Well I'd be getting that if I ran a 0db sine wave through it but I like my dynamic music so having a power reserve is essential. Car speakers are not very efficient so you end up with silly power requirements.

The system I have in the Sportster is keeping it relatively simple. I've got two wide bands for the top end and two 16cm's for the low end. I'm running them active - ie there is not passive crossover. The frequency cut is taken care of on the amplifier with a low and high pass in the right place (take a bit experimenting to get right). Each driver has up to 50rms available - the wide bands are using less of the power and the the midbasses a lot more. The lower the frequency the more you end up needed. It could ideally do with a small sub to take care of the really low stuff with it's own dedicated amp - but that's a little overkill.

[Simon]

Yes my remotely mounted front face plate worked for a few weeks and then stopped working - not quite sure why but could be my dodgy soldering! However I've returned the Kenwood unit back to standard and it now works a treat in my wife's car...

For the Cabrio I've ended up with a Sony head unit located in the boot and controlled via a Sony wired remote joystick mounted on the steering column.

This works really well but does have the disadvantage of not having the radio / track display on the dash (not the end of the world though). I quite like having the ICE located in the boot as its perhaps a little more secure in an open top car.

Finally, I would agree with Peter that it's all a bit pointless really as you cant hear the radio when your on the move (not with my exhaust anyhow !)

Simon

[Chris Cussen]

I might try the MP3 into power amp combo, as I've got an amp lying about somewhere, but to be honest I'm not fussed about having music in a car like a Marlin, if I want to sit in an armchair and listen to music I've other vehicles to choose from.
Though Patrick's set up does seem awesome.

[Patrick]

I tried an amplified aerial under the scuttle but it doesn't work. Not tried plan B yet but I think it would have to be a normal one maybe mounted behind the seats.

[Patrick]

Stumbled across this today - the headunit is in the boot and the front panel is in the centre console:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=409009