playing mp3 player through car speakers...

[kouki_monstor]

im wondering how i could play music from my mp3 player through the car speakers. trust me, i would search but i don't know if this is a common thing to do. anyways, my car got broken into a few months ago, luckily nothing was missing, well, not luckily, because the sunofvabitch brokw my window and jacked my whole cd player including the assembly bracket. so i've been driving around with no music for a while, and just got a new mp3 player so decided maybe ill try to get it to play through the car speakers. I would be able to do this if I still had my cd player which had an aux input, but that's out of the question now. I was looking at the wiring diagrams for the audio harness for my 89 240, and it seems that it might be possible to connect the speakers to the battery for some sort of power source that would power up the speakers, and then connect the wires from the speakers to a quarter inch jack that would go into my mp3 player. sounds simple enough right? i would just have to separate these wires from the harness connector that they're originally in, and just connect some wires here and there. so any comments? do u think it's possible and could be done? if so, please give me a few tips as to how i could do do. thanks!

[Looneybomber]

It could easily be done. What you would need is your MP3 player, an amp and a 1/4" to dual RCA cable. The key here is you need an amp(lifier) to amplify the signal coming from the MP3 player.

There is no way possible to hook the speakers up to a battery for power. What will happen is you will connect your cars power directly to your speaker. Imediately you will hear a thunk sound of the speaker bottoming out and tearing your surround followed by smoke coming from the magnet area. That would be your voicecoil melting and burning the insulation off the wires.

If you really want to cheap out and not buy another headunit, you could find some old powered computer speakers at a garage sale that requires an adapter to power them. As long as it's a 12v output (from the adapter), you could then use that amp to power your car speakers. Don't expect much though...

[ishkabibble]

Easiest way is to buy a used cassette headunit and cassette adapter.

[kouki_monstor]

looneybomber thanks for the detailed reply! what kind of amp do you think would work best for this job in terms of how much watt and type of amp? after looking around, it looks like most basic amps only have outputs for two speakers, so does that mean i could get sound from only two speakers?

[Defiant]

Cassette? Cassette? Criminy. Check the Wal*Mart site, grab the $80 Roadmaster that has MP3, front aux socket, USB port, and SD memory card slot.

Cassette adapter. I think not.

[ishkabibble]

Cassette? Cassette? Criminy. Check the Wal*Mart site, grab the $80 Roadmaster that has MP3, front aux socket, USB port, and SD memory card slot.

Cassette adapter. I think not.

I'd love to hear that Roadmaster compared to a used $20 Pioneer unit with cassette adapter.
Modified by ishkabibble at 9:58 AM 4/1/2007

[Looneybomber]

I'd love to hear that Roadmaster compared to a used $20 Pioneer unit with cassette adapter.

It will sound much better! Having gone through the days of bringing your portable CD player with you and those ghetto tape player adapters, I can attest to just how bad it sounded!

[redtop91]

Just buy a damn deck that has iPod connectivity. And if it is not an iPod.... You fail.

[ishkabibble]

It will sound much better! Having gone through the days of bringing your portable CD player with you and those ghetto tape player adapters, I can attest to just how bad it sounded!

Thanks for your anecdotal input. Try using a decent deck, decent adapter, and iPod shuffle.

[ishkabibble]

Just buy a damn deck that has iPod connectivity. And if it is not an iPod.... You fail.

The problem with putting in a new deck is his stuff will get jacked again.

[Looneybomber]

Thanks for your anecdotal input.

And yours isn't?

Try using a decent deck, decent adapter, and iPod shuffle.

First you say to use a 20 dollar pioneer tape deck, then say use quality stuff? The cassette adapter alone will be atleast 20. Either way, you will be introducing more noise and distortion through the use of multiple analog connections, especially using a magnetic interface as your connection.

It's like playing music from your stereo, then recording that sound with a mic onto some recording device. No matter how good the speakers are or the mic, it will always be more distorted with more noise than using the outputs (RCA, XLR, optical, ect...) from your stereo and plugging them directly into the recording device.

[joe603]

Listen to Looney...He knows what he's talking about!

If you weren't using amps before, just replace your deck. It would probably be cheaper and easier to manage on a day-to-day basis vs. using an amp hooked up to your MP3 player.

Head deck prices are really very low now-a-days, and come with many cool features, even on the cheaper models. It would actually be harder to find a tape unit vs. a cd/mp3 one!

[ishkabibble]

And yours isn't?

Do you know what an anecdote is?

First you say to use a 20 dollar pioneer tape deck, then say use quality stuff?

Pioneer car equipment isn't quality? They typically have decent amps and tuners. That $20 Pioneer deck was probably $150+ when it was new.

The cassette adapter alone will be atleast 20.

My Philips adapter was $6. <- anecdote

Either way, you will be introducing more noise and distortion through the use of multiple analog connections, especially using a magnetic interface as your connection.

Sure, but it's car audio we're discussing, so you are blowing the loss of sound quality out of proportion. This guy wanted to hook his MP3 player into his car stereo and not have his stuff get jacked. I offered a cheap, simple solution.

It's not like playing something on your stereo, capturing it with a mic, recording it, and playing it back. It's more like a guitar pickup.

[joe603]

Who's to say the tape deck wouldn't get jacked too? A cheap in-dash CD player with aux inputs or a USB input are better options.

The tape adapter is a solution for a cheap add-on to a stock stereo, but the cost to have a tape deck installed, would be similar to having a CD deck installed.

[Looneybomber]

Do you know what an anecdote is?

Anecdotal = BS people "saw once" to try and throw off scientific studies.Anecdote = An ironic comment that is typically humorous.Good enough or should I look up the actual definitions?

Pioneer car equipment isn't quality? They typically have decent amps and tuners. That $20 Pioneer deck was probably $150+ when it was new.

Yeah, they have some nice stuff that is typically in the higher dollar range. To me I consider most base model equipment that will get you by 250.00 and under, unless it's on sale.

Sure, but it's car audio we're discussing, so you are blowing the loss of sound quality out of proportion. This guy wanted to hook his MP3 player into his car stereo and not have his stuff get jacked. I offered a cheap, simple solution.

I wouldn't simply say I am blowing the loss of quality out of proportion because any loss in quality is a big deal to me. I am very critical of my music and can only tolorate so much.

You offered a cheap and simple solution yes, but it is one I would not be willing to accept due to the loss in quality.

It's not like playing something on your stereo, capturing it with a mic, recording it, and playing it back. It's more like a guitar pickup.

It's completely unnecessary. You're taking an electrical signal, converting it into a magnetic signal, then reverting it back to electrical.

We will just have to agree to disagree.