DIY Car Audio

[E.T.]

Hey all!

I am only 16 and have just purchased my first car (a red 1986 Barina) which has a rather... shall we say... "sad" speaker system and radio. It doesnt work at all in other words. This posses a problem for an Audiophile such as myself.

I was just wondering if anyone has any tips / tricks / ideas / references for someone like me to set up my own car audio environment in which i can enjoy listening to music, rather than static.

I would like to keep the budget ~$400 - $700 with as much quality and volume as possible.

Also, I own an iPod 60gb so i am thinking something which i can play that through.

Any ideas greatly appreciated! :)
E.T.

[fury]

Hey mate, check out Planet Audio's sister site - Car Audio Australia.

www.caraudioaustralia.com (http://www.caraudioaustralia.com)

good luck with it :)

[coemaudio]

i've always had an idea of using a sonic t-amp in a car setup, i've heard a t-amp in a hi-fi and it doesn't sound bad and it sure sounds good for $50.

since your asking about diy, maybe some sort of class-t amp may work for you.

do car speakers have good sensitivity ratings? i dont know much about car audio :p

[Marc]

Generally around the 85 - 93 db range Coem. However my HLCD's are 113 dB! :) LOL

[fury]

Coem, in the car audio environment you need a little more power to overcome things like road noise. You have a much higher noise floor in car compared to in the comfort of your own home. That said, there are a few nice sounding tripath based amps out on the market specifically designed for car use too.