Need a tough stereo

[Pizza_Man]

So I need some kind of audio in the jimmy. Tired of not having it. But every time I look into it, I always hit problems or I find something wrong with every idea. I don't want to hack up my dash much more or even touch the doors. Also this is on a 71, stick shift and no factory radio. although the PO had a cb, but all that is gone, except the hole in the dash. And I have no center console and no room under any of my seats.
I was thinking about using all marine grade stuff or weatherproof, because i have a bad habit of being topless in the rain. And of spilling my drink (yes, I HAVE ruined a speaker with a soda). But I have no idea on where to mount anything other than the deck. And most of the marine grade stuff is water resistant... not fully waterproof. And I don't want cheapy speakers, because at 60 or so, you have to yell to have a conversation. But I'm not made of money.

 

[zombie1969]

Ipod nano.Tell the cop its a hearing aid.

 

[Pizza_Man]

Ipod nano.Tell the cop its a hearing aid.

I did that earlier in the year when there was chilly mornings... but with an ipod classic. I have a hat with ear flaps and you could not see the wires at all - I even got away with it at school.

 

[Vrmasson]

So I need some kind of audio in the jimmy. Tired of not having it. But every time I look into it, I always hit problems or I find something wrong with every idea. I don't want to hack up my dash much more or even touch the doors. Also this is on a 71, stick shift and no factory radio. although the PO had a cb, but all that is gone, except the hole in the dash. And I have no center console and no room under any of my seats.
I was thinking about using all marine grade stuff or weatherproof, because i have a bad habit of being topless in the rain. And of spilling my drink (yes, I HAVE ruined a speaker with a soda). But I have no idea on where to mount anything other than the deck. And most of the marine grade stuff is water resistant... not fully waterproof. And I don't want cheapy speakers, because at 60 or so, you have to yell to have a conversation. But I'm not made of money.

I'd go to crutchfeild.com I'm about to order a pioneer head unit from there, they are a pretty well known place. They have stereos that will fit right in the existing spot, so no cutting of hacking. the bad is they they are only IPOD/ AUX cable setup AND cassette , but that would allow you to use an ipod. and maybe even make a few mix tapes. haha.

 

[Fordum]

I had a similar situation in my old Jeep. It went topless all during hunting season, plus it was called upon to cross deep streams.

In my case, I did not have all the audio options we have today.
AM/FM was it.
I mounted my radio up behind the dash.

Remoted the volume control and on/off switch, set the push buttons on the channels I liked, and drilled small holes in the flat Jeep dash and ran rods in to the push buttons.
My speakers were 5 watt waterproof horns like go on PA systems.

Audio fidelity was not great, but you could darn well hear them at speed, even with the transfer case needle bearings singing.

Nowadays, you could put a pretty sophisticated system completely behind a dash and run it with a small remote.
If it was infrared, a small hole drilled at the right spot, would let the beam through.

Or, most of the home automation places sell infrared repeaters that let you shoot your beam at a little eye, it converts it to an rf frequency that it sends down a piece of co-ax, and converts it back to IR at the other end.

With that, and a waterproof place to put the remote when not in use, you could put the stereo literally anywhere in the truck.

Let me know if you need a place to get the remote emitter.

5 watt horns would still be good for volume and waterproofness.

 

[Pizza_Man]

They have stereos that will fit right in the existing spot, so no cutting of hacking. the bad is they they are only IPOD/ AUX cable setup AND cassette , but that would allow you to use an ipod.

I've seen those and considered one, except i don't have the factory hole. its been cut to fit a CB. although i will go check out crutchfield


Fordum, I never thought of the 5 watt horns. how good are they as far as quality and sounding nice?

 

[Fordum]

I've seen those and considered one, except i don't have the factory hole. its been cut to fit a CB. although i will go check out crutchfield


Fordum, I never thought of the 5 watt horns. how good are they as far as quality and sounding nice?

As far as sounding good, they are loud.

You are not going to get high fidelity out of a PA horn.
My Jeep had the needle bearings in the transfer case that screamed all the time.
So, I could have put $1000 apiece speakers in and not known the difference.

However, if you want to listen to heavy metal, you are not going to be listening for the subtle nuances in the music, and if you want to listen to something quiet sitting still, the horns sound better than they should.

Not great, but you can enjoy the music.

Of course, you have to have an amp that will drive the horns, most radios will handle 5 watts no problem.
If you have an amp, then you might need stronger ones.
The horns go up to a couple hundred watts I think.
But you will not be able to sit in front of a 25 watter cranked up.

Like I said, I took a stock am/fm radio, and remoted the on/off switch and volume contols.

My father would borrow the Jeep for a week and drive up to Al. to turkey hunt. I had the top on for that.

Early one morning, before daylight, waiting for a turkey to gobble, he was sitting in the Jeep.
He saw this pushbutton switch and knob, unlabeled sticking out of the dash.

He asked his hunting partner, who happened to be our mechanic, what they did.
He said he did not know, it was something I had put on, and maybe he should leave it alone.

My father said the hell with that, and turned the knob all the way over.
Nothing happened. Well, what does this button do?

Full volume, twin horns inside a metal cab.
Aimed at the driver.

When he finally found the button again, he decided he would not mess with anything he found in the Jeep.

J.

 

[chalet2506]

Try a remote mount system. Not this model, but I put a Jensen marine stereo in the dash on my 72 about a year ago. Has been rained on once, no problems yet. I ran the ipod cable into my glovebox and leave it connected, rarely use the cd player.

http://www.jensenmarinedirect.com/j...ipod-sirius-satellite-radio-ready-stereo.html

Also, There 3 on the tree on here that didn't want to hack the dash on his 70, he mounted a radio in an ammo can and mounted that under his dash.

 

[Pizza_Man]

Full volume, twin horns inside a metal cab.
Aimed at the driver.

just thinking about that hurt my ears

Also, I've considered a remote system or theres a box some of the boats have that is waterproof and has a door to get to the radio... but what about the speakers?

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Marine speakers. Water proof.

Although most speakers are fairly waterproof anyway.

 

[Fordum]

Like he said, marine speakers are pretty tough. But if you want an extra level, those PA horns are outdoor rated.
Basically they are made to just mount on a pole out in the weather and take it.

J.

 

[Pizza_Man]

i'm leaning toward the pa horn... what all do you need to hook one up? At this point, I'd be happy if all it did was play off of my ipod