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I'm trying to decide how to get digital music in my car. My entire glovebox and all my cubbyholes are taken up by CDs. The way I see it, there are three options. An inline FM modulator, a stock stereo with a tape deck and tape adapter, or a new, modern stereo. The stock stereo would be <=$50 and nobody would ever try to steal it. Going off this thread, a decent new stereo would be >=$100, right? I'm not sure what a good modulator would cost, I haven't looked into that option as much. I'm not very worried about it getting stolen, except when I go to Denver 1-2 times a year. I live in a decent, if low-income neighborhood, and most of my neighbors have nicer cars than me anyway.
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Jun 16, 2015 16:39
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 08:08 |
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Okay. Is there any reason to get a cheap aux-equipped stereo over the OEM stereo for my model? I have a stereo the PO put in right now, would that make it hard to go back? The speakers are all stock.
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Jun 16, 2015 17:54
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Geoj posted:Are you possibly thinking of an FM transmitter? I've used modulators in the past and it's almost indistinguishable from an auxiliary line in as far as audio quality is concerned. I guess I'll take a look and see what the wiring looks like. Are aftermarket wiring setups manufacturer specific, model specific, or what? Bluetooth might be nice, I guess. I had it on a work van, though, and I almost had to yell to be heard. Is that going to be a problem with cheap aftermarket stereos too? Are there recommended models, or is it just brands to avoid?
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Jun 16, 2015 20:32
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RillAkBea posted:If you can give up CDs completely you can get a USB/AUX/Radio only head for way south of $100! I would be completely okay with that. It would be nice to have my glovebox back. My fiancee just inherited her grandmother's car (ZX2 with 34,000 miles) and it only has a tape deck. We bought a tape to aux adapter from Best Buy, and it's skipping. Are there any recommendations on those? I had or have in a box a tape adapter from maybe 10 years ago, and it worked perfectly, so I know it's not a problem with the technology.
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Jun 20, 2015 20:03
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Well, from a quick google, Colorado defines distracted driving even as adjusting the radio, so I don't think putting in a new head would make it any less illegal. I had an FM transmitter years ago and I'd honestly say adjusting the mp3 player was easier than messing with the stereo. You can at least watch for a green light while you adjust the mp3 player. If you're loving with something on the stereo screen, from experience it takes just as long and you have to be looking down. I wasn't using a tablet, though. That sounds like a pain in the rear end. Also a tape adapter could be now while a new head would be a couple months from now. Apparently the Sony is supposed to be good, so unless I can find my old one, I'll probably just get that.
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Jun 21, 2015 03:11
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My radio isn't turning on after the car was out of commission for 2 years, including a drained battery. What's the first few things to check? I need to reattach the faceplate but it seems connected fine, just might as well reseat it.
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Nov 1, 2019 02:45
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STR posted:You didn't happen to hook up the battery (or jumper cables) backwards, even for a split second (just enough to give a spark), did you? No, but the body shop did completely drain the old battery to the point it wouldn't even try to crank. I replaced it though.
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Nov 17, 2019 00:01
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I bought a Subaru SVX that somehow still has the original cassette/cd/AM/FM head unit, and I don't want to get rid of it, but I do want to be able to play music off of my phone. So a cassette adapter seems like the logical choice, but this thing's head unit is hidden behind a fold-down panel. I could probably snake a flat aux cable through the crack but I saw there are some that do bluetooth. Does anyone have experience with those? The issue I see would be that they presumably operate off of battery, which means I would have to remove the adapter and charge it at what I'm sure would be inconvenient intervals. Are there any other options I should look at? If I should just go with the cable, should I just go with whatever's cheap or are there certain adapters that have better sound quality or reliability?
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Mar 22, 2021 04:46
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Are head units designed to look like '90s tech but with modern stuff like bluetooth connectivity a thing? I know there are head units made to look like they were made in the '60s but I haven't seen anything like that for '90s stuff. I've currently got a double-din unit with AM/FM, cassette, and CD, but the cassette buzzes horribly so the adapter isn't helping. I almost forgot, when I am using the tape adapter, but not with the radio, I hear a whine that varies in pitch with the RPM of the engine. Low RPM, lower whine, high RPM higher whine. Has anyone ever heard of that? I assume it has to be some sort of interference between the radio and some part of the engine's electrical system?
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Aug 7, 2021 04:05
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Thanks, I'll look into those. Are Cartoys or similar car audio in-person stores a thing anymore? I feel like I might want to look at some of these in person to see how the texture/shade/gloss of the plastic goes with the rest of the car. I guess my other option is get one that doesn't match and just keep the cover closed all the time and control the bluetooth either with voice or from my phone.
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Aug 7, 2021 19:49
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I actually like the way that looks, and it looks like you can select the color so I could probably set it to green, which is what almost all of the other lights in the car are, so it fits. I've got a double-DIN but Subaru made a filler thing for the models that didn't have a CD player so I could either track one of those down or 3d print something to cover up the bare metal and hollow back and use it as a little storage cubby. I was also expecting to be looking at like $150-200 for a head unit so if that is decent (or at least as good as a 15-20 year old head unit like I have had in almost all my cars) that's a nice amount of savings. What should I be looking for with regards to specs to make sure that it will work with the speaker setup in my car? Matching voltages? Amperage? A certain number of plugs in the back? I'll have to look for the wiring diagram of my car, I'll check the link in the OP. Also, how can I tell if a speaker will fit in my car? Are there standardized sizes or would I need to compare measurements between mounting screws and the size of the speaker dish/cone itself? I've got a missing door card anchor so I'm going to try replacing that but if that doesn't fix the rattle I'll be looking for one new speaker and I've never done any audio stuff in any of my cars before aside from re-soldering an aux jack card that had failed in my Camry.
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Aug 8, 2021 00:29
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I'm not sure if anyone makes a wiring harness for my SVX anymore, some people used to but that was small batches a decade or so ago. Such is life having a weird semi-rare car. I also looked at those bluetooth adapters you plug into the back of the stereo replacing some other input but the inputs are all integrated minus the antenna so that won't work, the only wires are for the speakers, antenna, and illumination. I don't really need carplay or android auto or anything like that, I don't turn Siri on so I can't even use carplay. Or at least that's how it seemed when I was renting a 2021 Camry.
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Aug 8, 2021 08:46
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RIP Paul Walker posted:Wtf, I didn’t realize Subaru changed so much with the SVX. I always assumed it was a parts-bin special car like every other Subaru. That said: http://ae64.com/SVXharness.htm Oh drat, didn't realize they were still being made. At least I hope they are and that's not just a site for a dead operation. And yeah, there is very little parts compatibility with other Subarus, it has made finding parts to fix this one up fun.
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Aug 9, 2021 00:09
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Thanks, I've wanted one for almost half my life at this point so finally getting my hands on one has been great. I've actually got a project thread over here, although it has been kind of slow lately since I haven't been able to get major work done. I always feel bad bringing it up so much in various threads because I don't want to seem like I'm trying to draw everyone's attention to me having it, it's just that holy crap there is so much work that needs to be done on it that it's taking up a significant portion of my time and discretionary income. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3969337
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Aug 9, 2021 00:54
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I've decided to bite the bullet and buy a new head unit since the last part that was working (the radio) has started trying to tune into 2-3 stations at the same time. I'm going to order a wiring harness adapter and a head unit, but I need to figure out how I'm going to splice the wiring harness adapter into the harness for the head unit. I have seen those heat-shrink butt splice things and they seem nice but do they need a proprietary crimper? I'd prefer not to get any specialized tools since I don't do a ton of low voltage electrical work.
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Aug 16, 2021 20:33
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Looks like the Blaupunkt Fresno I was looking at might not work out so well, the stock stereo has four channels (six speakers but I think the door and dash ones are paired on each side) so I want to find something matching that. Doing some research it looks like it's 4x20w from the research I'm doing on decades-old forum threads. On Crutchfield's site, is the peak output per channel or overall? And the "Preamp output channels" number is what I'm looking for, right? This is, if I forgot to say, the first time in my life I have shopped for a car radio and while I'm going towards the cheaper end because all I really need is bluetooth connectivity and radio reception, I want to do it "right" inasmuch as not be leaving performance on the table within those parameters. Looking period-accurate has gone out the window, I've decided I'm just going to keep the stereo cover up (as seen below).
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Aug 19, 2021 00:48
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RIP Paul Walker posted:Pretty much all head units are 4 channel like you need. Preamp outputs are meaningless for your application :-) Thanks, I guess I'll order the Fresno then. Just probably ought to wait until next paycheck. I may have impulse-bought two vintage cashmere sweaters and a textbook on firearm design over the past couple days.  Yeah, I don't think I have ever seen that e-brake design on another car either. The biggest thing I didn't expect with that interior is there's no cup holders. I still need to figure out what to do about that, the previous owner put some flimsy center console cup holder thing in there but it kept coming out with the drink or getting knocked into the console so I pulled it out.
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Aug 20, 2021 16:48
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Okay, cool. It's a pretty small cabin even compared to my Impreza hatchback so I think 10w per channel should be enough. If not, no big loss. I don't generally turn the volume up that high anyway.
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Aug 20, 2021 17:41
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This is really weird, I was driving the '94 SVX I mentioned before where the tape adapter was popping and buzzing a lot, but I was down on the plains and it was working just fine. Then as soon as I started going up the mountain in a canyon/pass it started doing the same popping/buzzing thing, frequently sounding like speakers used to in the '00s when a text was coming in on someone's phone, if anyone remembers that noise. What could possibly be causing that based on location? I was driving for an hour to hour and a half before it started, so it's not like it started when the car warmed up or anything. I had hoped initially it was bad grounds or something that I could fix with my trusty $5 HF soldering iron but I can't see what would cause it to work just fine on the plains but completely fail once up in the mountains. Unless there's something that would cause a difference in function between 5000 feet elevation and 7-8000 feet?
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Dec 23, 2021 05:06
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 08:08 |
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I mean the issue there is my phone is my music device, but I guess I could put it on do not disturb and play music I have downloaded and see if that helps.
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Dec 24, 2021 06:48
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