Car Audio experts

#1
BenGrimm

BenGrimm

Formally known as burntorangeVOLffle
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
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#1
I've never installed a car stereo before but I consider myself fairly savvy around home A/V equipment.

However, I have an odd use/need for a car setup but it will actually be in a refurbished vintage Zenieth stereo console with a turntable. My original plan was to take out the original "reciever" and drop in a modern home theatre reciever I already had. Well that plan fell apart when I realized.the space available for the receiver is only 14" wide while home receivers tend to be 17.1" wide.

After going back to the drawing board it dawned on me that I could probably use a car stereo with an aux jack to accomplish what I wanted. A quick Google search later and I discovered a car deck could be powered by a computer power supply and voila I was in business.

So I'm leaning toward this deck...
Planet Audio P9640B Double-Din 6.2 inch Touchscreen DVD Player, Receiver, Bluetooth, Wireless Remote https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HZA6DYK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_O5eHxb26GNCP2

But now I'm questioning things like should I get an amp?

For now I plan on keeping the original speakers intact. They are 2x 12" woofers, 3.5" tweeters, and exponential horns. They are working but I've only heard them play the radio through the old reciever and analog tuner. They sound ... Okay. I may upgrade later but I'd like to keep the initial cost down at first.

Any thoughts or advice as I jump into this project?
 
#2
#2
I have no idea, but I think I need to see a picture of this piece.
 
#3
#3
burntorangeVOLffle said:
I've never installed a car stereo before but I consider myself fairly savvy around home A/V equipment.

However, I have an odd use/need for a car setup but it will actually be in a refurbished vintage Zenieth stereo console with a turntable. My original plan was to take out the original "reciever" and drop in a modern home theatre reciever I already had. Well that plan fell apart when I realized.the space available for the receiver is only 14" wide while home receivers tend to be 17.1" wide.

After going back to the drawing board it dawned on me that I could probably use a car stereo with an aux jack to accomplish what I wanted. A quick Google search later and I discovered a car deck could be powered by a computer power supply and voila I was in business.

So I'm leaning toward this deck...
Planet Audio P9640B Double-Din 6.2 inch Touchscreen DVD Player, Receiver, Bluetooth, Wireless Remote https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HZA6DYK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_O5eHxb26GNCP2

But now I'm questioning things like should I get an amp?

For now I plan on keeping the original speakers intact. They are 2x 12" woofers, 3.5" tweeters, and exponential horns. They are working but I've only heard them play the radio through the old reciever and analog tuner. They sound ... Okay. I may upgrade later but I'd like to keep the initial cost down at first.

Any thoughts or advice as I jump into this project?
Click to expand...

I've installed many car stereos and components over the years. If you decide to upgrade the speakers I would recommend getting an additional amp if you want crisp sound at higher volumes. If you are keeping the original speakers, then the built in amp int the head unit should be fine.

One note.. Never buy an amp used. Invest in a new unit. Same could be said for buying speakers also. Avoid sites like craigslist.
 
#4
#4
kiddiedoc said:
I have no idea, but I think I need to see a picture of this piece.
Click to expand...

This is the console. The arm of the turntable is busted. The radio tuner works fine but I figured if I'm going to refurbish it might as well upgrade it with more modern electronics. (If it were tube based and not transistor based I might consider more original parts). With a car stereo I can have a radio, CD player ,and Bluetooth for streaming.

Edit: whoops that's the speakers inside (x2)
 

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#9
#9
Coug said:
My question is... Why?
Click to expand...

Why what? Refurbish the stereo or why use a car deck?

I think I explained the latter pretty well. As for the former, it's a nice furniture piece that has nostalgia value to me. I've been wanting to get into vinyl (again for nostalgia value). Plus it gives me a fun project to work on.
 
#10
#10
At first I was like wuuuuuuut, then I realized your're not putting this in a car, lmao. When dealing with old audio equipment, you need to check the final ohm load at the wire. A lot of old stuff won't match the stuff we see today, especially in home audio. The amp in car receivers usually are meant to operate at 4 ohms. Some old stuff has really high resistance (even in the 1,000's ohms with some real old stuff) so what little power the deck will make won't be enough because it would be cut in half or more. My advice would be to either go vintage shopping or find something that will fit. I would replace the speakers if not using the original amp with something more modern. You can find really good prices on replacing the speakers on this site.
 
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