Has anyone hard-wired an Ipod to their car stereo?

[JC13545]

I have not heard good reviews on the itrip, and am considering an audio cord to the back of my Pioneer Premiere radio, anyone know if this is difficult?

 

[Bottlecap]

i hardwired mine to my suv. i had best buy install it, but could easily be done by yourself if you knew simple wiring. i had BB do it because it was a simple procedure and i was too lazy to do it myself.

All you need is an AUX input on your head unit -- i also bought a Belkin Flexneck Base that both supports the iPod (mini) and charges it at the same time. Its brilliant. I would recommend it over an FM tuner, b/c i've tried two different ones and they both sucked.

Here is a whole forum dedicated to your question: Ipodlounge.com (In-Car Solutions)

 

[Tenor]

Bottle,
I just got a (non Ipod) mp3 player last week and I agree the fm tuner **** sucks ***. Since I just need the Aux input, I'm curious as to how much they charged you to do the install. From what I've read online it didn't seem hard but I also don't want to jack anything up.

 

[Bottlecap]

i really dont remember, because i had to buy a new head unit with AUX input because my former HU was a six-disc in-dash and didnt have a AUX or CD CHANGER option (Either of those two will do for a line-out.). So, i dont remember the single charge b/c i had to buy the new HU and some additional parts (wires, converter, head unit mount)

Because i had already the ipod mount and the charger (Belkin unit) connected (which they charge extra for "specialized instalation"), i was only charged the normal instalation rate, which i think was around $20. I honestly dont remember tho' but it was reasonable enough for me to pay it.

 

[DeadHeadHorn]

The Monster FM tuner works very well. Every other one I've used sucks *** though. It's a little bit more expensive, but seriously, it's worth checking out.

 

[TTUStudent]

The Link


Did this with my Pioneer Head Unit. Can use my mp3 player or XM reciever.

 

[haddley]

The only problem with using the aux input is that the Ipod doesn't charge. Mine sounds great though. My dad really likes the monster tuner adapter. I'm going to go ahead and get that when I get a new car this week..

 

[Lat22]

Google "PIE adapter"

 

[Bottlecap]

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[Quagmire]

LOL, that charger thing looks like it makes your car an invitation for someone to break in.

Alpine makes a head unit that you can control your ipod from the stereo itself and it charges it. Thinkin about gettin one.

 

[UberHorn]

a buddy of mine flies the mh-35 sea dragon for the us navy & had his wired into the helo radio system so everybody on board can hear it when they are in the air.

he said everytime they are flying back into base from maneuvers he plays "lowrider" over the intercom system as they are coming in over the shore.

 

[Bottlecap]

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[pied2]

Anyone know if you can do this to a stock receiver? I have an '04 Acura TL and don't really want to change it out.


Thanks

 

[autohorn]

Pied2- Only if it has an auxiliary input. Most stock car radios I've seen don't have one.

I have a Blaupunkt radio/CD player in my car. It has an an RCA-type auxiliary input in the back. To hook my Ipod up to it I bought two RCA panel mount plugs from Radio Shack, drilled two holes in the plastic dashboard panel underneath the radio, mounted the RCA plugs in the holes, and soldered the auxiliary input wires to the plugs. I connect my Ipod to the plugs in the dashboard with a 1/8" to RCA wire, also purchased from Radio Shack. This setup works great for me. I wouldn't do it with an expensive car though.

 

[NickDanger]

I share a boat with 2 other guys and we specifically chose our stereo unit with capacity to hook it up to our mp3 players. It won't charge, but we never use the boat for more than 2 or 3 days at a time and we just pick a play list and put our players in the glove box and it's been great.

 

[Boozehound]

I've got mine hardwired into my car. An auxillary input was available for my car ( Mazda RX-8) earlier this year, so it plugs into my factory head unit and I have my ipod situated in my modified ash-tray. I also let it share time with my XM reciever. I dont have power to the pod yet, but it's not a hard upgrade, I'm just too lazy to take it all apart again and make sure I can run 2 power sources (XM & ipod).

If you want to know if your car is covered, check out PIE adapters and see if they make something for your car. Installations are not hard - just go find a forum for your ride and search around. You guys arent the first to do this kinda thing...

As for the 04 TL, yes there is an adapter that lets you keep your factory HU. I did a quickie search and foundThe Link
Your best bet is to search more, know what you need, order it and install it. If you have no idea what you're doing, go to a good installer and have them do it all.

 

[pied2]

That's awesome! Thanks for the info. Countless hours of surfing hornfans has paid off.

 

[SATX Horn]

If you have a aux input, no problem. If you have a unit without a aux input, it can be done, but it varies in difficulty. I don't have an aux input and it was extremely difficult, but it works great.

Here's what I did: My car stereo is a stock Mitsubishi/Infinity premium sound system. It has a single cd changer in the deck and a 10 disk changer in the rear. I opened up the unit and found where the single deck CD changer interfaces with the radio. I located the wires from which the left and right signal leave the CD changer and enter into the radio.

I took an Ipod output cord that has a minijack on one end and rca jacks on the other and cut off the rca jacks. I soldered the wires to the right and left signal wires and their grounds. Then put the whole thing back together.

When I want to play my Ipod, I insert an 80 minute CD of recorded silence into my CD changer. This fools the system into thinking the CD player is playing. The signal actually comes from the Ipod which plays over the system. It sounds incredible.

One other thing, if you are playing an Ipod over your car system, try to use the line level out, not the headphone output on the top of the Ipod. It will sound much better.

PM me if you have any questions.

 

[SATX Horn]

Almost forgot, before I did this, I used both an FM radio input and a cassette adapter. Both sucked. Why buy a digital IPod if you are going to have it sound like an analog cassette or FM radio broadcast?