i am no gadget man so i thought i would aask you guys. is it possible to have amp and speakers in the 40 that would work only of an i-pod? no head unit at all, just the i-pod. that way i can just take it with me.
i-pod?
- Thread starter bigsandy
- Start date
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yes. You can buy a rca adapter that will plug into the amp and control the volume with the ipod. You will have to have a switch to turn on the amp though. It's a lot easier to just buy an Alpine head unit for 140 bucks and buy the ipod cable. Best of both worlds. I Bought the JVC with ipod controls. I had a spare ipod that is permantly installed in the cruiser. Don't have to worry about theft. There is no way they would find it. The face plate is removeable. When installing a head unit it's a good idea to get some duct foil tape and tape the top of the head unit. That way if you have a leak it won't distroy your head unit. Could also buy a maine enclosure
- Thread starter
- #3
i will try to get some pics up of my dash. when i bought it it had a cheap-o in it that was " cut " in the corner to fit around the instrument cluster. i would like to see some pics of other dash mounted head units.
if you don't want to cut your dash or figure another enclosure for the head unit, a
simple cable is all you need.. 3.5 mm stereo jack to 2 RCA male specifically. it
should have ends like this
for less than $5 will plug the headphone output on the ipod to the audio input of
your amp
simple cable is all you need.. 3.5 mm stereo jack to 2 RCA male specifically. it
should have ends like this
for less than $5 will plug the headphone output on the ipod to the audio input of
your amp
- Thread starter
- #5
pics of the hack work soon as i can.
bigsandy, I'm running exactly what you're describing. I drilled two holes in my cheapo, plastic console, one for the switch to turn the amp on and one for the wire to come up from the amp to my iPod. The amps is mounted under the driver's seat.
I all you have now is the iPod and you'd need to buy the amp, I agree with Troll - just buy a compatible head unit. In my case, I had no working head unit and an extra amp laying around, so it made sense.
To install the amp, you run the main power wire direct to the battery (with a fuse, of course), but then you need to take the control wire that's usually hooked to the head unit and run it to one of the accessory fuses. Then install the switch on that control wire.
Here's my set up:
I all you have now is the iPod and you'd need to buy the amp, I agree with Troll - just buy a compatible head unit. In my case, I had no working head unit and an extra amp laying around, so it made sense.
To install the amp, you run the main power wire direct to the battery (with a fuse, of course), but then you need to take the control wire that's usually hooked to the head unit and run it to one of the accessory fuses. Then install the switch on that control wire.
Here's my set up:
I ran my iPod directly to an amp in an old blazer i had. it worked, however it sounded like crap due to being only able to control volume via the 'pod. when the iPod is maxed out on volume the sound is very crappy.
spend the XXX amount and get a head unit. most are available with aux RCA inputs. the cheapo way would be to buy a wal-mart head unit, plug the cable mentioned about (RCA to 1/8 headphone jack) that way you can blast your head unit and keep your 'pod at a reasonable volume.
i use the 'iTrip' and just tune it in with the radio. its great. we take the cruiser up the mountain, build a fire and i can dj from the fire pit wirelessly.
spend the XXX amount and get a head unit. most are available with aux RCA inputs. the cheapo way would be to buy a wal-mart head unit, plug the cable mentioned about (RCA to 1/8 headphone jack) that way you can blast your head unit and keep your 'pod at a reasonable volume.
i use the 'iTrip' and just tune it in with the radio. its great. we take the cruiser up the mountain, build a fire and i can dj from the fire pit wirelessly.
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good to find this thread. i've been pondering this for a while and now that some of the more major issues with getting the 40 tightened up are out of the way i wanna get some tunes back in it.
i have a fiberglass tub that never got a hole punched in it for a stereo. the dash pads allow for one but i never put one in. when i still had a steel tub i pulled the stock AM out and the only thing that would fit back in '82 was a shrimpo Pioneer "SuperTuner" that was anything but. At least it wasn't like the ones my buddies had in their Chevelle's and Nova's in high school.
after the Pioneer crapped out, i was given a RadioShack removable AM/FM cassette deck for xmas. lemme tell you the pain in the ass securing a sleeve in the dash to take a pull out unit fractionally larger than than the stock dash opening. total hassle. second time i brought it in to RS they told me it wasn't worth fixing.
so i didn't. i brought the Bose indoor/outdoor speakers i had mounted to the rear of the roll cage in and they've been in my kitchen for 10 years. sound great. crank in fact.
what i had been planning on doing a was putting a fat power amp in the glove box mounted to the firewall (fiberglass tub has no 'glove box' box. open the pocket, drop the map on yr feet. nice work Mallotte...) and then put as small a jack as i could right in the center of the dash where a head would be.
a mini-jack. mini-mal. no flash. no broken windows.
two problems with that scenario as Sir X mentions, the first being iPod as volume control. iPod, tweaked, pushing out ugly digital clipping ain't gonna do. gotta set it and forget it and control the power amp somehow. minimal. one knob.
the other problem is charging with just a mini-jack to speaker Out on the Pod.
so instead i guess it needs to be something that uses the dock connector to pull power and push audio. is a 'head' inevitable? maybe radio is worth having? i can't really see putting in a CD or cassette. an equalizer might be handy to shape the sound to accomodate the background noise in a Cruiser.
hmmm.
and what about speakers? new generation Bose indoor/outdoor? anyone?
i'm starting from scratch here so just about anything can happen.
i have a fiberglass tub that never got a hole punched in it for a stereo. the dash pads allow for one but i never put one in. when i still had a steel tub i pulled the stock AM out and the only thing that would fit back in '82 was a shrimpo Pioneer "SuperTuner" that was anything but. At least it wasn't like the ones my buddies had in their Chevelle's and Nova's in high school.
after the Pioneer crapped out, i was given a RadioShack removable AM/FM cassette deck for xmas. lemme tell you the pain in the ass securing a sleeve in the dash to take a pull out unit fractionally larger than than the stock dash opening. total hassle. second time i brought it in to RS they told me it wasn't worth fixing.
so i didn't. i brought the Bose indoor/outdoor speakers i had mounted to the rear of the roll cage in and they've been in my kitchen for 10 years. sound great. crank in fact.
what i had been planning on doing a was putting a fat power amp in the glove box mounted to the firewall (fiberglass tub has no 'glove box' box. open the pocket, drop the map on yr feet. nice work Mallotte...) and then put as small a jack as i could right in the center of the dash where a head would be.
a mini-jack. mini-mal. no flash. no broken windows.
two problems with that scenario as Sir X mentions, the first being iPod as volume control. iPod, tweaked, pushing out ugly digital clipping ain't gonna do. gotta set it and forget it and control the power amp somehow. minimal. one knob.
the other problem is charging with just a mini-jack to speaker Out on the Pod.
so instead i guess it needs to be something that uses the dock connector to pull power and push audio. is a 'head' inevitable? maybe radio is worth having? i can't really see putting in a CD or cassette. an equalizer might be handy to shape the sound to accomodate the background noise in a Cruiser.
hmmm.
and what about speakers? new generation Bose indoor/outdoor? anyone?
i'm starting from scratch here so just about anything can happen.
