HOW TO: ipod into hotrod without a radio

This is exactly what I have been wanting. I just wasn't at that point yet to need to figure it out yet. Looks like the wife will somehow loser her new ipod?? Thanks

 

How about tunes for the garage?

I don't have an Ipod, I use an iRiver, but it is the same idea. I take the line out from the iRiver (that's it sitting on the block of marble) and run it into a Ballantyne tube amp from the '50s. It was originally intended to run all the speakers in a drive in movie theater so needed a lot of modification and updating, but the 500 volt power supply puts out some serious power. You could call it a hot rod amp.

I run the amp into a 15" Stromberg Carlson speaker (made by General Dynamics; I figure if they can build a nuclear submarine they should be able to build a speaker) in a big ass box. I don't encode the songs in MP3 but as WAV files which are not compressed but are the same quality as the original CD. With this rig you can definitely tell the difference.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/2217265232_3f2117c39c_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2337/2274997271_60f88af886_o.jpg

 

PM - Gmc Bubba and Lindeross....they put one in a 49 Ford , plays thru the stock speaker...slick...no messing with the old radio...

 

if you use an iRiver, you won't need a charger hook up (just an amp) because they get 40 hours of play on one AA battery. They also get FM radio without needing an antennae or other accessories like the iPod... and they cost a fraction of what iPods do.

 

That SERIOUSLY gives me wood. Damn, man...

That baby can come live at MY house ANYTIME.

~Jason

 

An "I" what? That don't sound very traditional!

 

This is the best write up I have seen on the IPod hookup. I hope you don't mind but I copied and pasted. GREAT JOB !

 

most bitchin info and perfect timing, Thank you!

 

Great tech post

 

I have actually been thinking about this for the past few weeks, wondering how i can get my coupe setup with some sort of music with my iPod. Thanks for the TECH, ill be saving this one.

 

I built a docking station for my iPod nano in the ashtray of my '65 Nova and basically just used a stereo cable with 1/8th inch male on both ends, and also put a 12V charger into the docking station as well and hard wired it to a switched power source. The other end of the 1/8th inch cable went to the AUX input of an EQ I had mounted in the glove box. The volume was still controlled by the iPod and it was all in a nice tidy package. I could take out the iPod, close the ashtray, and you'd never know it was ever there. Now I switched to a Zune device, and I haven't yet built a docking station for it, since I plan on switching cars soon. Here's a pic......

 

Sweet, you can all look for the 'brand new still in the box "hidden audio" system' I bought myself for Christmas in the classifieds very soon.

 

I'm gonna do it - thanks.

 

I don't need a docking station. the only wire goes from the iRiver to the amp. When I get out of the car, I simply unplug the player and push the wire back under the seat and put the player in my pocket. No one would know it's there and I use the stock in-dash speaker location (great sound!). The iRiver is the size of a tube of lipstick. Smaller, cheaper and less delicate than the iPod, and requires less accessories. I'm not a Mac/Apple person so I guess I'll never understand why iPods are so popular.

My whole set up (iRiver, 2-channel amp, wire, and speaker) was less than $150, all brand new.

 

no problem, guys..... i wanted to do somethimng before i wasn't able to get on the board for 11 weeks or more!!

lots of other good ideas have been posted as well, choose you're own adventure!!

see ya'll soon.

 

Sweet idea and will not mess up any dash metal and such

 

Never heard of the iRiver.........fill us dummies in. My wife needs a new device.......is it PC only or will it work off a Mac?

 

looks like the iriver has had a handfull of models discontiued. even though i don't own a mac i kinda think ipod might be the way i'm going. talk about easy way to go but what a drag when you forget to grab it!

 

With the AM radio, in all its static-y, scratchy, lo-fi glory I feel sudden more traditional than thou, and i didn't have to do thing.

Seriously, I like the sound of the ball game and the farm market report on the AM. Oldies music sounds just fine on it, too.

 

I agree, I was pullin in WCCO and WLS(Chitown) tonight out here in Western South Dakota. Got 850KOA outta Denver on...........but the Ipod rocks, a thousand songs goes anywhere......my A will have a hookup for it!

 

I noticed in my latest copy of the Pontiac Oakland Club magazine that they are advertising the "RediRad" for $119.00. Made by Brew City Engineering. http://www.rediscoveradio.com/ Looks like basically the same device. I thought it was a damn good idea when I saw it advertised.

But...in re-reading the posts...it's not the same...because with the $119. one, you have to have the radio to begin with...

 

There's nothing like visiting other towns on the radio.

I especially like the sound of the ball game on the AM car radio, or the radio in the garage, when a thunderstorm is in the area. Now that Herb Carneal is gone and his southern gentility won't inform a Twins play by play ever again, there's something lost there. But one carries on.

Someday I'll get an i-pod. Seems like one can listen to the radio on an i-pod by getting podcasts of particular radio shows, or related to certain topics. But I'm a late adopter. Maybe if I drove my Merc more, I'd get tired of the current soundtrack and want some hi-fi tunes.

 

They work on a Mac or a PC. How do I know? I had a little something to do with there even being 3rd-party iPod repair even existing int he first place.

Ask me about it sometime...

~Jason

 

Yeah, the RediRad is an antenna passthrough box that connects to your iPod like so:



You tune your AM radio to a certain station, and it plays.

It's pretty awesome, really. They make these and sell 'em at every Circuit City and Best Buy for WAY cheaper than $119... but they're for FM only.

~Jason

 

I don't know about the state you live in but that is worth a fairly large ticket in this state. And easier for the staters to spot than driving w/o seatbelts.


5 Deuce Chevy that docking station is great!!!!

 

I think you misunderstood. He wasn't referring to wearing headphones, he was saying to use the headphone JACK as the audio output and connecting that output directly to an amp. And yes, that would work just fine. And thanks for the compliment!

 

Hi Guys,
In my 53 Buick, I fitted a mp3 cd player behind the dash with all the songs on 1 cd (replace this with your ipod idea, yours is better) but to give it a bit of nostalgia, I ripped the guts out of the stock radio, wired the power switch up to 3 green LED's mounted in the dial of the radio and then down to the hidden head unit.
Thus, turn the radio on, it glows green and the sounds come a playin!

so, I may just replace the old mp3 cd player now with a smaller ipod style unit and maybe replace the volume on the exsisting 50 year old radio with a working volume control!


good thread guys.

 

Keep it simple. All that is needed is an MP3 player of your choice. We use the Zune, but any will work. You will need an amplifier of some sort of which you can make your own or have someone skilled make you an amplifier *insert shameless self plug here*. Then you just need a headphone cable from your MP3 player to an input on the amplifier. We just did one on a 49 Ford that worked out great for less than $100 easy. We're still getting up to speed with prototypes, but we're looking at simple solutions for hot rods as well as a nifty portable setup.

 

Thats cool, I am definitly going to be doing this

 

Will this work also with my sirus radio unit instead of a ipod?


I have a sportster sat radio ctrl from Sirus which is portable and plugs in the aux jack on my new car if it works the same way this would be way cool.

Great tech.

Thanks Shoe