Hardwired I-pod setup?

Swifty1638 · 03-21-2007

Well, I sold my H/U and amp setup, so now i'm radio-less. I figured I could spend the money in a better area, towards something else. I wanted the ability to use my ipod, but I didn't want to spend the big bucks for that whole radio/wire setup. So, here's an Idea I think may work, but I want to test it with you guys.

Get a small amp. 75-80 watts would be perfect. Run your speaker wire from teh stock harness to the amp. Tape off the other harness you'd normaly use for the radio-power, acc power, etc. Run a power wire, from your battery, to a fuse, then to a switch (to control when the amp is on or not) to the amp finally. Then, ground the amp. Then, get the RCA to male headset connector from a radio shack, and hook that u from the amp to your headset plug-in on the ipod. Turn up the gain/volume on the amp, so you don't overload the volume on the ipod ( I hear that's sometimes an issue). Anyone see anything flaud, or missing here? I wanna know if it'd work, before I go do it, or ruin my expensive Ipod. I'm no wiring expert, so I'm curious.

-A. Swift

mdost03 · 03-21-2007

Why don't you just get a radio with a RCA Auxiliary input and get a RCA to Headphone cord and hook that up to your iPod? Seems like it would be easier.

Swifty1638 · 03-21-2007

Becauase a)I don't really want a headunit, and b) I don't want to spend all the money required for the radio, the wires, etc. just buying an amp would be easier, as I already have most everything else.

-A. Swift

**asshanson** · 03-21-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swifty1638

I wanted the ability to use my ipod, but I didn't want to spend the big bucks for that whole radio/wire setup.

This is a much cheaper (free) solution if you already have the amp. If not, you can get a cheap deck with RCA input for < $100 on sale online.

But yes, hooking up the amp's speaker outputs to the car's harness speaker inputs should work, using the ipod as a direct input to the amp. There really isn't any way to harm the ipod, because the amp is using the RCA plugs as an input.

That's going to be ugly though, ipod wire going to amp sitting somewhere in center console, big hole there and all. Unless you figure out a way to mount the amp in the double DIN slot... which would be different but kinda cool.

twack · 03-21-2007

I think it was on talk that i talked to some people about this, it works really good, and if you can hide the amp, dosnt leave anything out for people to want to steal.

Swifty1638 · 03-21-2007

That's what I was going for. Most of my music is on my ipod, and no longer cds. I don't have anything for the fm setup anymore, since I took out the antenna, and hardware. I don't want a deck, cause that's less to look at and want to steal, and I'd hide my amp behind the glovebox area or center counsole, and the ipod would sit in teh center counsole, out of harm's way.

-A. Swift

Swifty1638 · 03-21-2007

What size amp would work better? I don't really know what the wattage, pertaining to an amp really does.

-A. Swift

A//// Guy · 03-21-2007

twack · 03-21-2007

depends on what speakers you have, yould want a 2 or 4 channel probubly 200 watts 400watts maximum if you got really nice speakers. i used a pioneer 220 watt 2 channel and that was great

**asshanson** · 03-21-2007

200 watts RMS for 2 channel is way overkill if you're going for a simple cheaper setup. Most aftermarket decks have a 4x20 watt amp internal. I had a 2x60 PPI amp that powered all 6 speakers in my bravada (midrange and treble only), i could turn it up enough to hurt. Plus they were bridged down to like 2ohm which doubles the output.

I'd say 100 RMS will be plenty if you aren't looking for a killer setup. Something like this would work great, and it'll be pretty cheap.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ppi-precision-po...QQcmdZViewItem

twack · 03-21-2007

Like i said i dont know what kinda speakers he has. i had 150 watt speakers so it worked out fine, specially with the 1200 watt amp and sub setup that was next to it

**Goat Blower** · 03-21-2007

Decks are actually only like 6-10 watts RMS, the ratings they have on the box are usually peak. A good 25x4 RMS amp will sound great, even better if you power just the front speakers and bridge two channels for a small sub.

I just bought a cheap Kenwood deck and bought the direct Ipod hookup for it for my 2G, sounds great. I have replaced speakers and added an amp yet, but I've got the stuff sitting on my desk waiting to go in. I also just picked up a wireless FM docking station for my Ipod to be able to move from car to car. It definitely doesn't sound as good as direct, but since I drive a different car most every night, it'll come in handy.

crazy_skier · 04-02-2007

I would find a dock for the pod and wire that up to charge the pod and it is plugged in, and build the dock into the double din opening/behind it so that the double din is all sealed off except for the opening for your i pod.. and maybe a gauge or two. also, if you designed it right you could fit a greddy tt (even the old one) and a boost controller in the opening - I measured it all out when I planned on doing that.