I just got a 91 Firebird convertible and it had a head unit and amp in it that was not sold with vehicle. So right now I slopped in a factory unit for now. One rear speaker does not work.

What I have:

There is a large cable with a inline fuse going to the trunk for an amp. There are some wires run for speakers but I have plenty of speaker wire. Two brand new alpine 6x9s type s from junkyard in box.

My Goal:

I want an amp but no sub. I don't have the trunk room and if I leave the top down I want to keep some things out of sight.

My setup doesn't have to blow me out just sound good and a little louder than factory since with the top down it does need to be a little louder.

My goal is detachable face head unit, maybe equalizer in dash (some type of equalizer). A 5 or 10 pack cd player (old school) and amp in trunk. Hopefully a 3.5mm hookup on dash for mp3 player.

My Question:

For the more knowledgeable than myself. Plus this could be a dumb question.

Are there headunits that allow for an aux input or two aux inputs?

If they only have one aux input could I put both the cd player and mp3 inputs into the same input since only one is going to be used at a time.

Any help or even stuff for sale appreciated.


I know alot of you have gone to subs. I'm guessing there are plenty of less powerful amps and junk around. The nephew at the yard has some for about $20 with alot of inputs and settings but it is older style. Sorry no knowledge of this stuff. Just starting.

 

the newer head units like the one i have from kenwood has an aux input on the front and a kenwood cd changer input in the back

 

I know newer stuff has it but I know there has to be some floating around that have an aux input. Plus being in a convertible I would like it not to be seen as much as possible. I was going to put a label on it bought at junkyard for $20 so it doesn't disappear.

I found this stuff on craigslist. Both possibilities.

http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/ele/1783292443.html
SONY ES TUNER,ES CHANGER,ECLIPSE EQ - $50 (WADSWORTH)
Date: 2010-06-09, 1:39PM EDT
Reply to: sale-uxxfr-1783292443@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
THIS SYSTEM INCLUDES A SONY ES CDX-C780 MD/CD CHANGER CONTROL TUNER WITH REMOVEABLE FACEPLATE, SONY ES CDX-805 10 DISC CHANGER, AND ECLIPSE 21010 6 BAND EQ. ALL IN PERFECT WORKING CONDITION. PLEASE NOTE THE CABLE FROM THE CHANGER TO THE HEADUNIT, AND THE EQ CABLES ARE MISSING, BUT MAY BE AVAILABLE AT CAR AUDIO INSTALL
SHOPS. PLEASE CALL 330-814-7128.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/ele/1766797529.html
alot of car audio (massillon)
Date: 2010-05-30, 12:51PM EDT
Reply to: sale-vqnfe-1766797529@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
i have a like new power acoustik padvd-740 car dvd/vcd/cd/mp3 player with digital and removiable face plate works great 50.00
also i have 3 kenwood graphic equalizer with amplifier kgc-4032 40.00 each
sony xm752x 2/1 power amp 50.00
alpine cd shuttle compact disc changer hold 6 cds 45.00
or may take offers if it is reasonable ...330-316-7191 must sell all asap
•Location: massillon
•it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests


Plus I found a site that has alot of electrical connections and car audio junk.

installer.com

I forgot about some cd changers going thru a radio station.

 

stay away from the fm adapter crap always sound horrible. look for a factory gm radio with the mp3 input and it will have a changer input also.

 

Alot of folks are skipping the cd changer all together these days. The newer head units have USB ports in the front - you can plug in your mp3, or use a flash or thumb drive. So alot of folks are using small flash drives, loading all their goodies as mp3's. My mp3 player holds 16 gigs, to give you an idea, I have 2300 songs on there and only used 9 gigs so far.

The downside - filing the mp3's in an easy to find system. The head units will control song selection on the thumb drive, but on a tiny head unit screen, scrolling through alot of songs isn't often easy. But with 4 gig thumb drives selling for $12 or less each, my thought is simply 5 or 6 different thumbs, programmed by genre or whatever you like - then swap out the thumbs - easy to scroll through 2 gigs of music titles than 8 gigs! a thumb for road tunes, one for romancing the passenger, one for blasting the beat, one for jazz, whatever - the drives are now cheaper than we ever paid for CD's.

And I've read in several different places computer and audio that CD's will go the way of vinyl records and floppy's in the next 5 years anyway. Better get those CD's copied digitally!

And we're not talking alot - Best Buy and others have these head units with USB ports starting at $99 for names like Sony, JVC, Pioneer, Kenwood.

You may even be able to use a USB hub, and have more than one USB connection at a time - that I'm unsure of - but it's a possibility!

So, that basically means for you a head unit, and any 4 channel amp (alot are small these days) that would make like 100 watts per channel - then speakers to handle the wattage, a few thumb drives, and a few nights at the computer transferring CD's to mp3's.

 

Oh - check the routing on that "huge cable" for the amp. Make sure its really well protected from shorting anywhere. I've picked up a few parts cars over the years, because some fool had run that amp wire through the pass side door, and enough times closing the door stripped the wire insulation, shorted the wire, which shorted the battery, battery overheats and explodes, car on fire ... dead car.

I ran my amp wire through the firewall at pass footwell where ECM wires run through, I cut a piece of fuel hosing 6 inches long with an inside diameter equal to the outside diameter of the amp wire with the insulation, wrapped that around the amp wire, then drilled a hole the size needed to just barely squeeze the fuel hose through, and sanded the hole smooth so it wouldn't cut - it'll never be able to short!

 

Totally agree with ditching the changer. It's way to easy to rip your entire CD collection to mp3 rather than stop and swap out cartridges 12 Discs at a time.

 

usb and aux in are definitely the easier and less expensive route to go these days. take up a lot less physical space, require less installation work, and greater range of options.

if you must go with a cd changer, most decks that allow cd changers can also get a secondary aux in in-line with the changer.

many decks these days come with at least a 3-5 band eq, so you can save more on time and install here as well. or, put the money you were planning on spending on this piece toward a higher end deck. my last pioneer had aux in, mp3, cd changer option (which i used for another aux in instead), 11 band eq (per side), time delay, pre outs, the works. and all in one well built, compact unit.