Car audio question

[Hoplon]

My jeep currently had no stereo in it. I was wondering if there was a way that i could hook my ipod up directly to an amp and run my speekers off of that. In other words i'd like to make it so my jeep has no deck to steal sense most of the time it has no doors on it.

[papa smurf]

My jeep currently had no stereo in it. I was wondering if there was a way that i could hook my ipod up directly to an amp and run my speekers off of that. In other words i'd like to make it so my jeep has no deck to steal sense most of the time it has no doors on it.you can buy an i-pod car adapter that can run off your speakers its more pricey than a radio

[Nebula]

when you say "no stereo" do you mean there is no head unit and speakers?

The only ways I know to hook up and ipod are these choices

1- FM transmitter.. you would still need a head unit to pick up the radio frequency.

2- Tape deck (the way I have it set up) this will only require a working cigarette lighter, and a functioning tape deck. Without getting too pricey, this is probably your best bet. The sound will be "direct sound" which is much more clear, not to mention the adapter will also keep the ipod charged (this is a Belkin unit BTW) You would need this http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=153161 and this http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=193794 .

3- Last but definitely not least, you can purchase a head unit that suports direct connections from the head unit (CD player) to the ipod itself. I only know of Alpine doing this kind of stuff, but I hear its well worth it if you are willing to spend the money.

Other than that, unfortunately I dont know of or think there is a way to just hook up the ipod to an amp and run it through your car... not 100% sure though.

[Smashley]

Its possible but would require some serious custom work, and would be very expensive.

[flcracker]

OK here is the gehhto way first get a old pair of headphones cut off the headphone part and there will be two worie inside so a total of four. Thenk get some rca wire cut the ends off it and inside there there will also be four wires splice the wires together so now instead of haveing a set of head phones you will have a jumper with RCA's on the ends plug those into your amp and then you should be good to go. I have used theis same kind of set up when wiring amps into cars with stock head units the most importan thing to remeber is when you are splicing then make sure they are both the same. Sorry for the bad puncuation if you have any questions you can post or hit me up in the vent channel or pm me and i will give you my cell. Good luck.:tongue:

[Smashley]

well I guess thats one way... lol

[sysdaemon]

im clueless when it comes to car audio

[flcracker]

Yeah i did the whole big car audio system thing in High School for few shops ,but then i kinda got tired of the tickets ,headaches ,and stuff geting stolen. :lol:

[Hae-Yu]

You don't need to make that flcracker, you can buy it, unless you just have tons of old cables laying around.

It depends on what kinds of inputs your amp has.

Do the audio inputs to the amp look like the red/white that you use in home tv/ stereo hookups? (RCA)

Do your amp's inputs look anything like the RED AND WHITE RCA inputs labeled "INPUT CH-1, CH-2, Ch-3, CH-4"? (NOT the multiprong jack on the right)
Like this? (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-znOtpDcq4Sl/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=120&id=morephotos&pi=3&i=500MRPF450&display=L#Tab)

You can go to Best Buy or Radio Shack and buy the cable. It is just a single minidin 1/8" jack to RCA "Y" cable. It costs like $5. The 1/8" jack is nothing special - the same thing cheapie PC speakers use, your ipod's headphones, any other headphones, etc. It's the same size as what your audio jacks are for your PC (mike, speakers, etc). I'm not sure what input level your amp requires or the output level of an iPod, but it will likely work. Maybe not perfect, but it should work. Initially, turn the amp's gain down and set the ipod volume at midrange and play with them to keep the sound optimal.

Plug it into the correct channels/ inputs/ line-in. If your amp says "line in" with only a single l/r pair, I'm like 80% positive it will work.

If it doesn't work, you're only out $5. Just buy one long enough to route it where you want it. When you leave, you can unjack and leave it hanging.

[Hae-Yu]

Here, this is what you need.
http://www.geartree.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/SFV/29865/vpid/1357651/vpcsid/0/rid/117758

If you wanna go crazy,
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&kw=MOIP2002M&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=255044

Also called 3.5mm instead of 1/8"

Make sure you get male-to-male.

See how the 1/8" end (the black, not the red/ white) has the 2 bands around it? That's stereo. You need that. A single band is usually mono. You don't want that. It's not always so obvious, but the pack should say "stereo."

[Smashley]

r u just gonna run the cables under the rug and have them hanging out???

[Hoplon]

I'll probably run the cables up though the center console. It should look pretty clean that way. If it doesn't work i'll just go out and buy a cdplayer with ipod inputs.

Thanks for the links Ultra.

[Hae-Yu]

Don't worry bout the links except the pictures. Shipping will prolly cost more than the cable. Any electronics store should have them.

This may sound like a "duh" thing, but hook it up first to test it before you run it. You can also test it out in a store like Best Buy where the car amps are exposed but connected to speakers.

Besides, the cable is useful to have. I use them to run my iPod into my home stereo, to connect my turntable to my PC, to connect a cassette deck to my PC, and other odds n ends.