There is a lot of talk here about aftermarket head units that don't look like shit, and while there are a few companies making proper looking units that somewhat match the interior of your car, they tend to be a lot more expensive. Below I have a solution for many of you who would prefer a completely stock look.
Buy a line driver such as the JL Audio CL-RLC. What you need is a good set of speakers, a 4 channel amp, a sub (optional) and the line driver. This will allow you to wire the amp directly to your speakers bypassing the radio. You can use either use a 3.5 aux in, or digital in from your phone/mp3 player. The line driver comes with its own volume knob that you can be placed anywhere. This setup completely bypasses your radio. It will remain in place, but will not work. You can supply power to your radio so it still powers on, and lights up.
The downside is that you will loose FM/AM function, or a CD player. Many new cars, and head unit don't even come with a CD player anymore anyway. Most of us already have a phone charger in the car, many of you already have a phone mount in the car, and now all you do is run an aux cord to your phone, and bam! You have a great working sound system
All other functions, and controls are delegated to the amp: gain, treble, bass, xfade, etc. Your audio device can run presets. You can use a dedicated MP3 player for your car, or use your phone. You can stream internet radio, or use a multitude of streaming software that lets you play music from your home PC.
And should you ever decide to remove the radio to make room for more gauges, you'll still be able to play that Eurobeat down on the touge!
Can't imagine how bad this will sound. But might be useful in a pinch, or for a beater.
Jordan Lewis
There are a lot of people who don't own cars with a decent stereo, which amuses the fuck out of me.
My car's got a damn good one stock, that reads from a USB stick or aux input. The USB stick method means I can use the buttons on the steering wheel to control it. Apparently I can control it by shouting at it while pulling a flappy paddle, but I don't think that's a smart idea.
Adam Barnes
Sounds great honestly. Mine works like a champ.
Angel Ward
...
Zachary Brown
I wish I had an aux port
Adam Stewart
It's $10
Parker Sanders
How's the sound? Parents have $5k Bowers and Wilkins shit at home so I'm spoiled but can't afford any good audio myself
Jonathan Mitchell
Sounds great to me. But then I'm not picky
Justin Ross
Good solution if you dont want to spend the money on an amp, and such. These come in higher wattage too.
Connor Ward
Everyone always posts this without a link or name
Adam Miller
Either wire an aux jack into your CD changer control or if you don't have one get an FM modulator that physically connects to your antenna
tfw shit box's speakers are blown out tfw it wouldn't be worth putting anything new in because the car is probably on the verge of death
Carter Moore
What are the higher wattage ones?
Connor Kelly
see
Charles Thomas
Can you splice these things into your stock radio cables so you can still use the radio?
Chase Stewart
bump
Parker Sullivan
No
Jordan Rivera
I could use a fiio amp, right?
Landon Murphy
No, that unit itself is an amp. If you find a way to wire your car speakers into an AUX port, sure, you can use a portable headphone amp. If you think a portable headphone amp can power actual speakers.
Car speakers need real amps. Either the kind thats present inside head units, the dedicated kind that powers speakers, and subs, or the cheapo kind that is just an aux in and 15watt to two speakers.
Jayden Roberts
I'm running 4 speakers on it. No break up at full volume. I'm actually quite impressed with it.
Brody Rodriguez
would an amp this small be suitable for front and rear 4.5"/6.25" speakers in a corolla?
Jose Cook
I'm running two 4" and two 6x9s. Although they are stock speakers from 1992
Dominic Baker
shit yeah. Random question, but do you/anybody else have recommendations for cheap replacement speakers? My shitbox only has 2 front speakers (4" each), and I'm going to install rear speakers since there are none, not sure what size to go with on the rear tho.
also cheap 1-channel amp for a sub? I managed to pick up a working JL Audio 12" 1000W sub for $25 because the cone broke and the guy glued it. and it's probably stolen lol
Jace Ross
Pioneer sells super cheap speakers that sound fine.
Logan Nelson
>No break up at full volume Because it's like 5 watts total
Andrew Wright
find your car on crutchfield.com and go from there
Bentley Richardson
>BMW BUSINESS CD
GOLLY GEEZ. I'M A PROFESSIONAL AND GOOD THING THAT IT IS A BUSINESS CD DRIVE AND NOT A PLEB CD DRIVE.
Nolan Jackson
knowing Veeky Forums and /g/ most of you will fuck up the insulation of cables and the circuit board and burn down your car.
Just go to a pawn shop and buy a fucking car amp and wire it up desu in the future I wont buy head units anymore, just gonna make an aluminum panel and put that in place of the radio. Volume knob, power switch and aux input jack are all I need. (might put a bluetooth module behind it so I can wirelessly play music)
Alexander Wright
This is shit tier advice and your stereo sounds like garbage. You just don't know what a good stereo sounds like. A fucking line driver? With no equalizer running off a freaking 3.5mm auxiliary jack?
If you are poor as fuck and lack an auxiliary jack this could work but if you want a nice sounding stereo that looks stock please, piss off.
Eli Flores
>no equalizer of course all you want to do is bang shitty bass at full blast without regard to sound quality or clarity. >inb4 i'll adjust the shitty potentiometers on my amp once
James Gray
>what is a minidsp Oh right, it's something I own.
Connor Allen
literally see OPs post.
Jaxson Allen
Or do an isimple media wire -> PAC knob for volume - > an amp -> speakers, cheaper, sounds better, and you get EQ on the amp
Jordan Ramirez
Did you read the post dumb nigger? You can have any input you want. 3.5, quarter inch, digital, etc.
And it's up to the amp you choose, with gold control and optimization that will make it sound good.
Feel free to add any inline equalizer if you want.
Charles Anderson
I'm not concerned with the looks of the radio, it doesn't exactly apply to me
Jackson Phillips
>I enjoy one DSP setting for all genres of music Like I said, max bass all the time. Your stereo still sounds like shit, better clarity, but still shit. Two band EQ not any better than a factory stereo. Hell, you may as well just hook up a LOC and run your extra speakers off the OEM head unit since you aren't going to be reaching in your trunk to adjust EQ...ever. EQ via input is trash, adjusting the pots on an amp is not a suitable way to set up a stereo unless loud bass is your only intent >Feel free to add any inline equalizer if you want All the difference in the world. With that plan is sound.
Ethan Bennett
I have my shit set flat and the sub amp has an external volume knob to adjust bass depending on genre. You're p dumb my dude.
Dominic Rodriguez
>only needing to adjust the bass >everything else is flat
Lucas Clark
>flat response is bad ??? I actually measure shit too, measurement mic with room EQ wizard etc. Shit sounds so cash.
Connor Smith
Shut Up Cuck.
Charles Davis
Would buying a chinkshit no name headunit be a bad idea?
Carson Parker
I got a cheap ass Dual with bluetooth, usb and aux in fur like 30 dollars off ebay, it did me well til I got a nice pioneer one. Would recommend.
Kayden Wilson
Dual is okay. We used to sell that at Best Buy and get an amazing employee discount on it. Like 80% off.
Noah Sanchez
Bought a Kenwood hu with aux input and sub out for $16. Sound with stock speakers has improved 300%, literally instantly turned into hifi. Found a JBL GTO 75.2 for $30 and wired it in with supplied cables so 0$ spent on wiring. Use an Altec Lansing ADA890 subwoofer thats been gutted of the toroidal and amp circuit (sounded like shit in stock form anyway), port has been cancelled so now its sealed.
It can go loud, but sounds premium as fuck at low (normal) listening volumes, which is what im after. Has that warm Pioneer sound, altough nothing in there is Pioneer.
Last time I had a good aftermarket hu+amp+sub was in 2005 and cost me $400.
You can have premium sound for the cost of a few hamburgers in 2016, no need for improvised shit, line drivers and stuff. Biggest issue was rewiring the ISO plug, because I soldered it and heatshrank the connections, which was very time consuming, everything else took an hour and half.
Isaac Flores
I have a golf mk3 with an rare original Nokia DSP sound kit. the cassette player mechanism died on me. so i bought an converter kit that makes it possible to install an aftermarket stereo
bought that,cables, and re installed my old bass.
problem is i got the worst case of alternator whine. when driving.
Justin Gray
>problem is i got the worst case of alternator whine. when driving. Could be a bad bearing. Replace it before its broken
Parker Cook
add bluetooth and a cd player and i would buy that in a heart beat
uhm i mean in my stereo. when the car is shut off. it works.. well fine! but as soon starting the car and driving
What kind of sound are your trying to accomplish with a line driver?? throw that garbage out son and get a head unit with a big ass Pre-out like 8 volts or more.. your amps will thank you for it and won't need to work as hard.. if you can't afford it, get an older head unit with an aux input and a big pre-out..
Connor Rivera
You probably have bad grounds. Find the negative cable going from your battery to the chassis and engine, clean up the contacts.
You may also need to check out, or install one of them electric dampeners. Forgot what its called, but cars with dizzy use them, keeps electric noise down. They tend to use some piss 18 gauge wire that corrodes, or breaks easily. Usually right next to the ignition coil.
William Adams
Wowzers! Veeky Forums has no idea whats going on when it comes to car audio.
I expected better of you faggots.
Gavin Bell
P much this
Dominic Taylor
Satan, please show us the way!
Satanic trips checked.
Camden Baker
oh, you have something credible to add?
Joseph Rodriguez
Some Nakamichi headunits are nice, though I never owned one so I can't say how good thw sound is. They usually have high reviews.
Everybody hold the fuck on. That thing in the second post, is that an mini amp or what? could i use that to just send the signal to my big amp i have in the boot? By cutting up the cinch cables and fucking soldering them on there?
