Relik

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to determine the best option I have for replacing my factory radio in my 1989 Camaro that hasn't worked since I bought the car a couple of weeks ago (No Bose, No Power Windows ... not sure why that matters so much and I just have a couple of quick questions that I’m hoping you guys can answer! (Sorry for the long introduction, just want to be sure you have all the details!)

I've gone back and forth looking at single din; double din with modification; tablets; and custom installations involving a car computer (Raspberry Pi in this case) and I think I've decided on attempting the custom installtion with the Pi. The main reason is because they recently released a touchscreen that is compatible with the Pi directly (plugs right in and just requires GPIO connectors so no extra power source!). The Pi and video control board mount directly to the back of the screen, so it seems like an awesome option for the Camaro.

Anyway, the screen measurements appear to really, really close to the stock bezel's available space, with a possibility of about 1/8th of the top/bottom of the screen being hidden, which I think could be easily taken care of with minor modification. The width seems fine and the outer sides of the screen appear to be really thin, so ultimately I think it'd be really easy (easier) to mount.

This brings me to my main question. With the screen's size, I wouldn't have any way to hook up a radio head unit to handle powering/pushing the speakers in the car. I've been researching amplifiers and anything else I can think of, but I do not have the knowledge to know if I would get a bad connection or a bad audio feed given the options I've seen. Basically, I've seen several options that were "2 channel" amps with varying Wattage output (such as 300W). I just don't know what would work best here.

The Pi has a 3.5mm (1/8) audio output, as well as HDMI, but I figure the 3.5mm would work best for this application. So I've been trying to find something that would push all 4 car speakers with enough power; accepts the 3.5mm input; and can easily be wired up to a 12v switched/ign source for power. I figure that it would be 2 channel and I could just wire both of the left speakers + and - wires to the amp?'s + and - and that would work... if speakers will share the connection without being degraded that is... I just don't know.

So, sorry for the long post, but does anyone have any ideas on what I could use that would simply accept a 3.5mm input and output enough power to all 4 speakers in the car over 2 channels?

I have done some electrical/installation stuff in the past, however nothing too extensive. I wired up a Pi in my 2002 Xterra with a monitor and ran it through my head unit, but that was quite different given I won't have a head unit in the Camaro!

If it helps, here is the link to the Pi's new screen they put out: https://www.adafruit.com/products/2718 ... and here's something like what I'm thinking, but I do not think it would provide the clean signal/power I would need based on reviews:
Thanks for any help you can provide!

Ps - I'm definitely not an expert in these things, so please provide links if you have them to something that may work if you could! Thanks!

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

You are overthinking this. Buy one of these: http://www.mycablemart.com/store/car...FQiJaQod9n0L8g (or any 3.5mm to RCA adapter) and hook it up to any automotive 4 channel amp.

Relik

Thanks Am!

Any suggestions on an Amp? All I can find are amp's that are pretty expensive.

I saw this too, but it has two 3.5mm inputs and ratings that aren't great...
Seems like that would be perfect it if just split 1 3.5mm input across all 4 channels.

I know I am overthinking it, but there are just so many amps out there etc. it is hard to know what will work the best for the best dollar value.

Thanks for the help!

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

I wouldn't think it would be an issue to get RCA splitters to just split the input cable again.

I am not sure what your budget is here, but for most car audio amps you are looking at 100-150 dollar range.

Relik

Hey Am,

It's hard to determine which amp may work best as I have little to no real knowledge of car audio, so ohms/voltage noise etc. I just don't quite get.

I'm trying to keep the budget under what you'd pay for a good single or double din (with bezel mod) because I feel like you could do so much more with the Pi. What I'm really after is a nice touchscreen that can play media/ipod control that is relatively inexpensive. It's just so hard to find the best option with the 1.5 din hah.

I appreciate the help!

Relik

Just wanted to update everyone - I ended up just going with a single din option for now given the price range and needing a radio.

If I ever go with the Pi screen option I will update with what I did, but for now I decided not to go that route. It does seem like an awesome idea but there are many considerations when comparing it to other options.

Thanks for the help!

Evanslooten

I'm actually undertaking this endeavor now! Mine just doesn't have a radio at all! I went with the Pi 3 (been waiting for it to release!) - it has built in Bluetooth and WiFi. With the setup I should be able to hook into a DynamicEFI equipped ECM and tune right from within the car, SSH from a laptop to tune outside the car, stream from the net tethered to my phone, or play audio stored on the SD. Way better than some crummy ol' radio!

Relik

Hey Evan,

This sounds awesome! Would you mind linking the products you intend to use and how you will be wiring it all up? I would love to see that!

Thanks!

-srs-

I've looked at using one of my Pi's but the problem I have is the lack of control. If you use the 3.5mm jack, you're only getting stereo ability. For me, I need to be able to control all 5 channels separately. I looked into converting the HDMI but didn't make it very far.

Relik

Hey srs,

Yeah it seems to be a little complicated converting to multi-channel audio. The most I've done is split the audio from HDMI pass-through in my Xterra so I could run the audio directly to the rear aux 3.5mm input on the head unit. This was mainly due to some static issues I read about over the 3.5mm out jack on the Pi. That was pretty easy though and only supported stereo. Sorry I can't be of more help there!