Thinking about my sound setup I might someday go with. Thinking about completely eliminating the head unit. If I go with front component speakers(mids and tweets) ran on one amp and a sub ran off of another, couldn't I just run rca cables from the ipod to the amps? I would kind of want to put gauges and switches where the head unit would be. Would also like to save a couple hundered bucks by not bying a head unit. The ipod would be coming out of the center console somehow. I don't have an ipod yet but plan on getting one. I don't know much about ipods and have been not paying attention to the audio world for the past couple years. I don't know if I could equalize or control sub volume or stuff like that. Anyways, opinions? Pros, cons?

It should work, but you won't have a radio and the buttons/contols etc may be hard to use while driving. You will need to have a holder of some sort that charges the iPOD or you will have the batterys going flat and it will need to be easy to remove so that you can add/change songs. It would also have to be hidden or you will need to take it out every time you get out of the car to stop some scumbag stealing it. I'd say it's doable, but it could be more of a pain than it's worth.

i really like this idea. I dont like the ipod however, i do like the Zune, and thats what i would use. You Could also use a PSP, i like the PSP alot because of the screen and whatnot. the only problem would be the controls. I Would hide it in the center console, easy enuff to fab up a folding bracket so that it could come out, hmmm, keep me posted on your progress, maybe we can throw ideas back and forth, this would be a great alternative for my GTA, which has no system in it right now.

It doesn't sound hard at all. Other than figuring where to put it on the console. Usually what I do is charge it up at night or whenever its not in use, then take it with you when you leave. It won't die on your average time driving.

I have a cable that tunes the ipod to a certain station on the radio and I just set the ipod in my lap while im driving, and pick it up to change songs. It helps to have some where to set the ipod when going around turns though.

I think it's a good idea. Id keep the wiring there incase you change your mind.

I appreciate the input. I'm going with the 4th gen center console. If anything, for storage the console compartment is a lot bigger than the thirdgen one. I'm definitely going to have to research the ipod more and ipod alternatives. A bracket that could fold out of the compartment sounds very sweet.

Controls could almost be fixed by using steering wheel controls from like a GTA or 4th gen firebird steering wheel. If the ipod data isn't too complex it might be possible to build a interface board to go between the s.w. controls and the ipod. If its possible. Really all i need to control when i'm in traffic is volume and be able to go to the next song. Thats kind of going down the path where it might be better to just get a head unit.

Interesting idea, but I'm curious about how to get any type of connection to the i-pod other than the simple input for headphones and of course the power charger. Short of getting a head unit that can interface with the i-pod, I can't think of how to control it easily while driving.

The i-pod's standard adapter connects to anything USB, so would you find some control panel that would connect to USB, or get really inventive and try to crack the i-pod open?

I'll also be watching to see how this goes. Its a really neat idea, but I wouldn't have the first clue on how to do it.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/accessories/

Check it out. It has a docking station and you can control the ipod with a remote. That's probably going to be the easy answer for controls. And the thing would probably stay charged. It says its for home use but i'm sure it isn't hard to make it work it a car. 49 dollars

Or take the "Radio Remote", the wired remote apart and rewire it to the switches on steering wheel controls instead of the switches in the remote. That wouldn't be too terrible to do either I would imagine.

One thing your forgetting is the 5v 'remote' wire which goes to the amps to signal them to turn on... however with a little ingenuity you can figure that out.

Simply run a 12v lead to a switch on the dash with a diode (or series of diodes) to get the proper signal voltage to the remote in on the amp(s). Flip the dash switch and your amps turn on, flip the switch and the amps turn off.

Also ipods do have a 'tone control' in their menu so you can adjust treble, bass or set to things like rock, studio, jazz, etc.

My amps have all been a 12v remote wire, you can just run a wire from the acc and they will come on when you turn the ignition on.

If the amp I get does need 5 Volts, I would just use a 3-pin 7805 5-Volt voltage regulator chip. Radio shack's gotta to have them and maybe it would cost $3. It would work easily for that little amount of current.

i have seen this done before and it was interesting but the guy said it was a pain to maintain a good sound balance, he did it because he was sick of his radio getting stolen so he did a stealth deal where he left a factory unit in the dash and ran his speakers off of amps straight to the ipod. his complaint was how he hard it was to tune the 4ch up so that it would sound nice because while the ipods sound output arent exactly at high voltage they arent low. He also had to use GLI because the ipod runs off of a completely diff electrical sys as the amps so there was some whine, i dont know if keeping the ipod charging would solve that, i would love to hear if you had better luck than what i have heard

and i have never heard of an after market needing anything other than bat voltage for the rem turn on. those damn new mustangs with the shaker subs in the door needs some goofy voltage and in those cases u just play with resistors, when an amp does require an odd voltage to turn on and you are over powering it (say ur feeding 12v to a turn on that only needs 5v) you will typicaly get a pop from the speakers that the amp is powering, the closer u get to the right voltage the less violent the pop gets until its gone all together.

you could use a Zune it's like a ipod but bigger screan and you can have a radio and a different set up

they make ipod cables specifically for custom car installs, they have the dock connector on one end and RCA jacks on the other, and wires to hook to 12V to charge (some need an external 5V regulator, some come with it)

I thought about going for a similar setup (ipod directly to the amps, I never really listen to the radio, radio music sucks), but my friend gave me a broken sony headunit (cdx-m650) for free and I fixed it with a ribbon cable from an old cd-rom drive

y not just buy a cheap deck that has a ipod connection and use a remote..
Hide the Head unit under the seats and your good to go. cost you probably 100 bucks... maybe less if you go really cheap. easier install probably too.
Seems like a lot of work just to save a few bucks =/

As far as sound quality goes you could use an external EQ. They can be pricey, but if you aren't buying a head unit...
Ext.EQ, Simple amp, Crossovers, Capcitor, Sub, ipod and remote. Sounds like a pretty cool idea.

sorry for the necro, has anyone done this yet? i have been thinking about it lately, as i now hate ipods alot less, and am hating my after market head unit more and more... i have been driving around with my cousin who uses an ipod for his music in the car, i like it (he uses a Walkman tape adapter.. remember those?)

as for this special cable with RCAs... you can get a stereo headphone to RCA cable at radio shack. cheaper of course at www.PCHcables.com. in factr. $5.15. 12' 3.5mm (1/8") Male Plug to 2 RCA Male Plugs

i was thinking alot about using an EQ too. but if an ipod has adjustments for that stuff, and most good amps have adjustable crossovers and filters, might not need one.

one of my friends did this in his saturn, he had his ipod hooked up to an input on a equalizer that controlled the amps. he had it hidden so all you saw was the ipod, but any portable device could be used. it sounded really good. it had components in all 4 corners and 2 12' infinity subs with infinity amps.

Most all new head units will accept an iPod hooked to it, the Kenwood head units now have a cable that allows you to control the ipod with the rotary knob on the deck itself. I'de go with this setup, I've already done away with cd media via the use of flash drives and a 40gb external hard drive.

sounds like a pretty good idea. The only complaint, and the main issue why I hate using portable music sources, is that you have to manually turn off the component. I like turning my car off, getting out and locking it. Not turning off car, holding off button for a few seconds, getting out. Its a small task, but on a dd, it does become tedious. Is there a way to remotely turn off ipod, zune, psp? That would be great...

I don't know about Ipod but I just got the Motorola ROKR phone and have it go directly to my RCA's

Phone also works over stereo.
and gets fm reception
As far as power goes I recharge at home.

I don't know about a docking type station that has car power and audio out.

I still have my head unit in and use that for power to amps. Will change over to a switch/relay at some point.

Your Ipod should work

Besides the a few issue, turning on amps remotely, no fader, & I prefer to hear most of the sound from the front, you could adjust the amps gains if running 4 channels, otherwise, you can't... Buying a charger / remote for the ipod...

A friend of mine went to the local car stereo shop and for $150 out the door got a pioneer cd deck with plug for mp3 and ipod (1/8th inch for mp3 and standard Ipod cable which charges it too) It controls the ipod via remote, displays on screen, has 4v pre outs, adjustable fader, etc...

You can get 1/8th to RCA cables + y if going to a 4 channel amp... It an be done.. a little cheaper than having a deck to control which would give more options and control and a little less hassel...

I have a deck (with Ipod input) and Aux too, I plan to run my Car PC on it

Raf

Don't want to hijack but if you want pc look into http://www.freeboxjukebox.com/
you can build a touchscren car pc that works like a jukebox.

I use a TOMTOM navigation system to play music, as it has 8 GB's of memory, and you get touchscreen, and music listed by name, genre or whatever. I nitially I only bought it for the navigation itself, but I'v found it really excells as a combo unit, especially music.

Also, whenever you come near a stationary speedcamera, it fades the music, and lets you know you need to break. Also, it has bluetooth so you get handsfree for phone. It comes with a jack to conect to an amp, or you can just send via a builtin FM transmitter to your old headunit. Works great!