Anyone tried this car stereo set-up? Sounds a little tinny on the promo but if
the sound quality is good I might bite.

http://www.outofsightaudio.com/mark-3.html

 

My guess is it's probably CR@P.
I say this becuse it's slightly bigger than a 3"x5" filecard and weighs less than a pound. Can't be any appreciable power or Bass.

 

What does it do besides insert a bluetooth receiver between your existing head unit and your speakers (as well as providing new amplifiers for those speakers)? How do you control the volume of the audio streaming from your bluetooth device? There are no ***** on it.

 

Johnny's got a good point. I think I'll simply look for an Amp with a 3.5MM input from my Ipod. If there is such a thing. I can hide that under my seat.

Thanks for the comments.

 

I don't know of any amps that have a 3.5mm input.
BUT, this cable will allow you to connect an Ipod to an amp.

 

Of course. But I am surprised there are no amps w/3.5mm inputs in this day and age. I guess you'd need to buy a head unit for that option.

Thanks.

 

I recently installed a Retrosound model 2 with a 2ohm amp, 2 6x9's and a 12" sub and it ROCKS!

I think I found the best price on ebay.

 

Thanks for the input KDV. I've been pondering on that one. I like the stock look of my original radio better but obviously for sound it's crap. Since I'll only listen to my Ipod anyway I think I'm going to hide an amp under my seat and just plug in. I'm really looking forward to hearing that 455 rumble it's melody too.

 

Hey KDV, where did you mount the subwoofer assuming you put the 6/9's on the package tray. would you mind posting some picks?


i bought one of those custom audio radios that are supposed to look like the real deal and fit in the slot. its cheap looking and doesn't quite fit. i also bought one of their hidden antennae's and it provides no better reception than the stock antennae imbedded in the windshield. not happy.

 

The rear deck had already been cut for some 6x9's sometime in the late 80's - but it was a hack job. I had to smooth out the edges of the holes. Not that much work.


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IMG_20140930_110728_097_zps6ca64eed.jpg


Put my amp in the trunk on the driver's side.


IMG_20140930_110424_451_zps19b5ee11.jpg

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The sub's in the trunk. I think it sounds better inside with the sub facing toward the rear bumper. Just leave yourself plenty of speaker wire so you can experiment with the placement.








Hope this helps! OK.gif

 

you can get a headphone jack(male end) with rca's on the other end that will plug into an amp and allow you to control volume from your device. I would use a toggle switch so if you have the car on and dont plan on using the speakers if the jack plug touches metal or gets bumped it doesnt shock the speakers. I have a car amp mounted to the back of a cabnet speaker that i use to play music in the garage. i plug my ipod in before the amp so i dont shock the speakers, no toggle switch.

 

I have been looking for a good stereo for my 77 CS. I have a custom auto sound unit installed now. Biggest POS I ever heard. I am re-installing the factory cassette/radio. My wife just received a Bose sound dock for her birthday. Battery powered. Sound is incredible. I am thinking why not just put the Bose unit on the back seat and listen away. Has a remote as well. No wires, nothing to install and I can take it anywhere. One of you guys tried this type of system?

 

Thanks for all the responses. No I have not tried the portable Bose but I do have a Bose set-up in my wife's studio she uses. Very nice but not as good as my Logitech systems. I think what I'll do is mount the amp in the trunk hanging from the bottom of the package tray then run a 3.5mm coming from the driver seat to the amp. It will all be hidden and I'm hoping the 10 - 12 ft of 3.5mm jack won't be too long from the Ipod to Amp. Thanks again for all the replies.

Randy

 

Starting my stereo system this holiday season and think I'm going with an amp in the trunk, 6x9s in the package tray, and a 3.5mm jack to the front dash for my phone. A deck may come later, not sure yet.
Just wondering if you've tested the long run of 3.5mm yet and if it sounds okay. I'd rather have the amp in the trunk than under a seat.

 

Mac:


While I had my package tray out, I glued and screwed 1" plywood fitted and routered around each speaker hole and a rectangle piece in the center. This allows me to change speakers or amps from below at will without screwing up my new package tray. I ran good quality RCA jacks under the carpet coming up in front of the bench seat in the center. I then connected an RCA into 3.5mm jack to my Ipod. It seems to work fine although I have not completed the install as I will be ordering a new trunk divider and insulation shortly. Since my low budget amp had no adjustments, I downloaded an equalizer on my ipod to help adjust the sound.


I have also ran left and right speaker wires for a future kick panels install with speakers. I just left my stock AM radio in place running off the dash speaker.


Randy

 

Thanks Randy. Yes, I purchased an amp install kit and it came with a long run of RCA cables, look like good quality twisted pairs.
Good idea with the plywood. My current tray is in pretty bad shape with PO drilled holes and such so I may just hack into this one for now and make it all nice with a new tray this summer.
I've been looking at my firewall options. Did you run the power cable through the main center grommet or did you drill a new hole? I read that running the power cable along other power lines can introduce noise and I already have a couple power lines running through there; one is for the HEI.

 

I ran a heavy gauge (10 or 12) red fused wire from my battery positive hidden inside the fender lip over the inner fender well. It then entered the car through the circular grommet above the main harness connector behind the fuse panel. I ran the wire to the plastic cover panel below the steering column. Here I installed a lighted toggle switch so I could turn the amp off and on. I then ran the power wire to the kick panel and proceeded back to the trunk area under the door plates. The pics I've uploaded here show the wooden mounting plates (painted black) for the speakers and amp. From above it looks like a clean install and I can change amps or speakers from inside the trunk should my cheapo amp not suit the job. Hope this helps.


Randy

 

That looks good Randy.

 

Yeah man, that looks great! I like the lighted toggle switch too. Is the grommet above the fuse box visible? Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.
My amp calls for at least 8 gauge power wire. I couldn't find any that large without buying a kit. And the kit's wire is only 16 foot so it's going to be close. I won't make it if I have to go all the way to the main grommet and back to the kick panel.
I'll let you know how it works out.
Thanks for the pics.

 

I got it all hooked up and it sounds great. That was a bigger job than I counted on since my CS only had one stock speaker in the rear. I had to pull the seats, side panels, and package tray. The only problem is I'm getting a high pitched whine that changes with engine speed but ONLY when the head-lights are on. I'm assuming it's alternator noise. What did you fellas use for a ground for the amp? I used the back wall of the trunk (towards the rear seats), drilled two holes for the double screw ground terminal, and sanded to bare metal.

 

You may have a bad filter cap on the voltage regulator.

 

Well that would be the original cap. Can I replace just the cap?

 

Yes, an inexpensive repair. There are also filters that can be purchased to solve this if all else fails.

 

Yes, they are independent of the regulator. Just for grins you might try a jumper to a ground on the frame and see if that gets rid of the whine.

 

I'll look for a replacement. Thank Eric.

Not a bad idea. Although if it works I won't know how to get from inside the trunk to the frame. Documentation says the ground shouldn't be any longer than 18 inches.

 

The length of the run depends on the gauge of the wire you use. Heavier gauge = longer run. There are a couple of ways you could insure a solid ground. You could drill a small hole at one end of the trunk shelf, the frame rail is right below it. Run a ground wire from the seat bracing near your current connection to the frame

 

Certain wires can't be sitting next to each other or you will get interference / unwanted noises .

 

Try attaching your positive directly to the battery before the headlight wire. It could be your pulling power through the headlight connection on the battery post. Failing that they used to sell noise suppressors (filters) that ran between the ignition coil and the distributor on the coil wire. Hope this helps.

 

Drill a hole in my frame? Really?

I did run the braided RCA jacks on the right side of the car and the power and remote wires on the left. But when I tested the system, the wires behind the amp (in the trunk) were still a jumbled mess. I cleaned it up but haven't tested it yet.

Is the headlight wire the smallish, maybe 10 or 12 gauge wire that hooks directly to the battery? I have them all side-by-side under the post clamp cap.
I'll report back after testing.

 

You might consider running an Internet search on auto audio "ground loop problems". This will give you an extended list of what you can do to reduce or eliminate this extremely common problem (many of these 'fixes' are mentioned above). Good luck, happy New Year, and keep us updated!

 

Does anyone know of any bluetooth equipped stereos that would work to stream music without the aux cable?