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Having a stereo without a head unit?

K85 Octane

K85 Octane

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I'm wondering if I can hook up to an amp's input with my Ipod and play music, good quality music.

I would like to make an all-in-one box with speakers and amp, and use it as a stand alone system. Just wondering if it's possible and how it would sound. Thanks :waytogo:
 
It is possible. I know that there are buggies who have done such things. Can't remember anyone specific that I can point you towards. I know there was a drawback to it, I wanna say volume control or something, but you just handle that from the ipod
 
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This is my shop stereo. DBX BX1 amplifier and a Samsung phone. Phone controls the volume and the quality is awesome. The amp is high end, don't use a cheapo. Same concept as your thinking.
 
yeah you can do it...there is an available inline volume control available too. I'll have to look through my pictures and see if I have any of my set up.

Basicly I had room between my cage and roof for my amp, ran my input and volume control to my dash bar along with an ipod mount I found on a side by side sight, my wake board tower speakers are mounted at my B pillar near the floor. Much better than anything else I had in the truck.
 
I used to do this exact thing in my K5.

I had a somewhat cheap speaker box in the back seat with a couple of 8's or 10's and tweeters in it. I believe it was around $60 at Pep Boys. I had it connected to a used 60W x 2 Alpine amp I found in a shed. The amp was wired to the power line feeding the stock radio so that it was off when the truck was off. It sat under the driver's seat.

Back then my source was a Sony Mini disc player sitting in the drink holder of the console. Just had a 1/8" stereo-to-2 RCA plugs connecting it to the inputs on the amp.

I used the volume on the Mini disc player for volume. Worked great, except no radio. I rectified that by getting a cheap (less than $10) Sony AM/FM radio with a belt clip. It was tiny. Kept it clipped on the visor and just moved the audio cable as needed. I memorized the buttons on the radio. It used a single AA battery that lasted over a year.

Ghetto, yes... but it all worked great.
 
awesome replies! Thanks guys. My blazer is doing fine, but I'm looking at picking up a 67-72 and would rather not cut the dash if it hasn't already been done. I would also rather run my source directly to the amp instead of going through a modern "stock looking" stereo. Probably hide everything behind the bench seat where the tank normally is. :D
 
I haven't had a head unit in the K5 for years. Basically once I had a full-time PC installed I just used that. I put a DVD-ROM drive and 1" EQ in the dash opening and use the EQ for fader, subwoofer level, etc., to get the right levels to the 3 amps. Sometimes I just run the audio cord to my Sony MP3 or my phone instead.

I thought I would hate not having a "hard" volume control, but it's only an issue with the PC, like when it's booting or shutting down (THUMP!) or when Windows locks up and I can't control anything. The portable devices are OK with their built-in volume controls.
 
Sure you can do it with any amp. You need something like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00004Z5CP/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1387334344&sr=8-1

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Plug that into the RCA inputs on the amp. Works easily with a 2 channel amp.

A 4 channel amp has 4 RCA inputs, 2 for fronts and 2 for rears. I have only used a 2 channel amp but I figure you could make the 4 channel work with an audio jack splitter and 2 sets of the cords above.

Wire the amp with a switch to activate it like a stereo deck would. Or I suppose you could just run that to an ignition switched power source if you don't mind it being on every time the truck is. With a separate switch you could run it through battery power so you could play the stereo even with the truck off.

I think you could also run things thru an equalizer too for a little more control.
 
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mrk5 said:
You could also use something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai-Tripath-Class-T-Amplifier/dp/B0049P6OTI/ref=pd_cp_e_3

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I'm also planning to get a bluetooth adapter so I can connect cordlessly. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Speaker-Adapter-Bluetooth/dp/B004VM1T5S/ref=pd_cp_e_3
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so with one of those you'd just have to convert to DC, correct? I like the bluetooth one. I use a car dock all the time with my smart phone. just as easy to reach and use as a stereo. could just run pandora through that...
 
COCHEV said:
so with one of those you'd just have to convert to DC, correct? I like the bluetooth one. I use a car dock all the time with my smart phone. just as easy to reach and use as a stereo. could just run pandora through that...
Click to expand...

I didn't notice that first one I linked uses an AC plug. My hope with the bluetooth adapter is that it runs on 12vdc so I could just hardwire power to it. If not I would use some sort of inverter set up. There are other choices for bluetooth adapters that might be easier to power; I had just picked that one because it has a large number of high rated reviews.
 
muddysub said:
same here, i plan to do this with my suburban. a friend of mine is a car audio guru and said its easy.
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I've been wanting to do this in my mustang. Its kinda rare it has a black interior, and the interior is nice. And the factory radio was designed by the guy who designed the rest of the interior so it looks like is belongs there. All the radios on the market today look like spacecraft. This is the reason I put in a radio from a 1999 truck in my crew cab, its a huge improvement over factory, but looks normal and is easy to use.
 
Ya I hate most modern aftermarket radios. If I can't figure it out w/o the owners manual, it's too complicated. Which is ok, most of them work the same, but every now and again someone designs one with their own intentions of what the buttons should do.

My favorite had a 2.5" lcd touch screen, and like 1 button. That thing was sweet. No CD player, used SD cards. Should have yanked it out before selling that Bug.
 
I don't use an in-dash player because I don't want to entice anyone to steal it when I have the doors off. Bad enough there's not much I can do about the speakers, let alone loosing the head unit too.
 
K85 Octane said:
I'm wondering if I can hook up to an amp's input with my Ipod and play music, good quality music.

I would like to make an all-in-one box with speakers and amp, and use it as a stand alone system. Just wondering if it's possible and how it would sound. Thanks :waytogo:
Click to expand...


I just did some googling and this seems very popular in the boating world.
 
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