What drives your music?

This just hit me with another thread that was posted earlier:

To some of us music is just a pastime that we can use to kill time at work while we whittle away at the arrowheads that the tribal chiefs will use to pierce the white man's heart. To some us it's actually worth all the trouble we go through to acquire it and listen to it. If you're anything like me, the only time you're really alone with your music is in your shitty Infiniti G20*, and sometimes it just feels right to spend a few extra bucks to upgrade your stock audio system and goddamnit, it fucking feels good doing it. I think someone else had a thread like this before the crash but I honestly can't remember who it was; sorry. As per usual, if you mods don't think it belongs here: move it. If it sucks: close it. Simple enough.

So... What audio equipment do you use in your rides? This thread can also be used as discussion and recommendation deposit. Please guys... Let's keep the condescendence down to a minimum. Let's say yours truly only has shitty replacement speakers; nothing makes you seem like a bigger ass than saying, "FUCK YO SETUP NIGGA. GET SOME KICKER 18"s MIKE JONES HAS EM WHY YOU AIN UP ON THIS!?" Also, if you electrical gurus have some pointers for us, by all means, feel free.

NOW... After a few months of driving around with blown out paper cones, I went to a friend's shop and installed some new Infinity 4012i's for my doors and some Infinity 9612i's for the rear deck in the G(20)-Ride. I'm not a total bass whore, so I didn't really want to buy anything else for it, I just wanted to make the car sound better and this did the trick just fine. For less than $120 for the whole setup, this was totally worth the money and I wish there was some way I could imply an orgasm without sounding like a pervert. >__>

I'll post photos of my new Infinity speakers later on.

*Your vehicle may vary from specified model. Thread maker has no taste in actual vehicles and thus drives what is widely considered to be the bottom rung of vehicular prowess. Just ignore him, after all he's here illegally.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I have a pair of JBL GTO626 2-way midrange speakers, replacing the stock Audi speakers for clearer notes. These are installed in the back so I adjusted the gain to allow front speakers (on door frame near side mirrors) to surround.

These midrange speakers are bridged from 2 of my 4 channel amplifier (JBL 75.4) set on HPF with a Pioneer 12" on LPF on 0 dB bass.

Head unit used to me a Pioneer KDC-MP4028 with iPod adapter, but have changed to Sony CDX-7710. I like the brushed silver metalwork and DSO for enhanced vocal. You can probably tell I'm a SQL freak with average equipments.

Last month I reworked the wiring to separate the power cable from the sound cables to remove whines, that worked pretty well and I'm enjoying my OSTs more than ever with this setup!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Factory-installed and motherfucking proud of it. The only modification I've made to my car's audio-playback capacity is the integration of an MP3CD player, acquired because commercials suck and I was shit-tired of hearing YAK YAK YAK YAK on the radio.

Represent.

Or something.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Encephalon

*Your vehicle may vary from specified model. Thread maker has no taste in actual vehicles and thus drives what is widely considered to be the bottom rung of vehicular prowess. Just ignore him, after all he's here illegally.

You know the G20 is the American version of the Skyline for those years, right? Shit I would slam that bitch on some old school Work Equips and turbo it if I were tou =P

On to the music, though.

Sol #1:
I bought my car and it had some shitty Kenwood deck that liked to eat CDs that was hooked up to the factory speakers. The speakers themselves were fine, that is until I discovered the guitar solo in Hysteria by Muse which is when they finally bit the dust. Around that time the head unit bit the dust too, so I went down to a local shop and bought me a Pioneer Premiere DEH-D475MP (or something like that) head unit. It's an MP3/CD deck that also comes satellite radio ready, not like I will ever use that. I then got the cheapest Pioneer Premiere component speakers for the doors and rear. Not only are these speakers absolutely amazing with the factory preset equalizers on the head unit, but if you spend the few minutes to adjust it to the music you are listening to they sound fan-fucking-tabulous even without subs for the lows.

I recently was given a Sony Xplod 1000w amplifier, so I may be building me a sub-enclosure in the daily ride here pretty soon

Sol #2: There is absolutely no stereo equipment whatsoever in this car...hell I don't even run it with a spare tire! Call it a weird way of saving weight and shaving precious seconds off my lap times =P

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Headphones and an MP3 player, baby.

I ride a motorcycle.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Immortal

You know the G20 is the American version of the Skyline for those years, right? Shit I would slam that bitch on some old school Work Equips and turbo it if I were tou =P

Ummm....no. Do your homework before you praise a car. They're like a scaled down Town Car.

Chaser has you all beat. It's a shame, though, that there's no place to strap a sub on a motorcycle....oh wait, no it's not.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by chaser

Headphones and an MP3 player, baby.

I ride a motorcycle.

Isn't it illegal to use headphones when driving a motorcycle? Or does that only apply to cars?

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Zephyrin

Ummm....no. Do your homework before you praise a car. They're like a scaled down Town Car.

I was giving him a hard time you know...I always give him shit about having a G20 pimp wagon =P

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by WolfDemon

Isn't it illegal to use headphones when driving a motorcycle? Or does that only apply to cars?

Actually, I don't know. I've heard it is, but so many riders do it.
Doesn't hinder you too much. The engine and the wind are nearly louder than the music, anyway, and other motorists vehicles are easily audible.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Whatever is built into the car and that thing you put into the tapedeck to play off your CD player or Ipod. I have an Ipod so I hook it up to the tapedeck. Nothing too fancy there.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

That's how I have my nano hooked up to my system but, ideally, I want a controller deck so I can just stow the iPod away and forget all about it and be able to control it using the in-dash deck.

I don't know if they sell aftermarket ones although I know some newer cars come with iPod control as an option.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

When I drove to phoenix, they gave me a shitbox with just a casette player. I had to borrow a dude's Ipod and then buy a casette player for it.

I lost the receipt, so now I can't return it, and pretty much have no use for it. =\

Most amazing jew boots

I've got a pair of Polk Audio db 6 1/2 for my door speakers, and Polk/MOMO 5x7's in the rear sides of my car. This all run by a Pioneer Premier deck.

I haven't upgraded or done anything else because I'm planning on buying a newer car, then I'll buy a more recent Pioneer Premier deck so I can hook my iPod to it.

How ya doing, buddy?

headphones and a psp here. just plopped in a gig stick and my favorite tracks and now I don't have to listen to DJs bitch on the radio. for all who give a damn I have a ford focus, factory speakers, and mp3/cd player for when I'm braindead and forget my jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none.... thing.

How ya doing, buddy?

I just run the factory sound system for now since my neighbor recently gave me his old amp (Sony XPlod) and a wooden box which housed his old sub (it has a 10" diameter cutout).

My only problem is when he told me how he installed it I wasn't really listening since I thought I could find instructions for it online. Now I don't want to bother him by asking again (also because he works odd hours and I see rarely see him).

Could someone perhaps tell me how to set all of this up? Remember I don't have any wires to connect the two things he gave me, nor do I have a sub to put in the box.

FELIPE NO

My music rides in a Archos Jukebox Studio 20 with 20gigs of space. It's very ancient tech compared to whats in the market today. Although, it's only 4-5 years old model/production-wise.

Although, the only downsides to using this sort of MP3 player is that it's rather big for 'pocket-sized.' And it uses a cassette tape adapter to play in a car. Most newer cars do not have cassette tape players and that's got me considering in looking for a FM tuner adapter.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Synthesis

I've got a pair of Polk Audio db 6 1/2 for my door speakers...

Dude... Those are the speakers I wanted for my doors and some Polk db 6x9's for the rear deck. Unfortunately the whole setup with those speakers would have put me well over the $250 mark and I really couldn't afford that at the time. Sweet setup, even though it's basic.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Zephyrin

When I drove to phoenix, they gave me a shitbox with just a casette player. I had to borrow a dude's Ipod and then buy a casette player for it.

I lost the receipt, so now I can't return it, and pretty much have no use for it. =\

You should have bought the radio one. You plug your iPod into a transmitter and just set your radio to the listed frequency, and you can listen to your iPod through your radio.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Encephalon

Dude... Those are the speakers I wanted for my doors and some Polk db 6x9's for the rear deck. Unfortunately the whole setup with those speakers would have put me well over the $250 mark and I really couldn't afford that at the time. Sweet setup, even though it's basic.

I'm not sure but from when I've gone to Electronic Express to get my speakers, they've always had a buy one, get one 1/2 off on Polk db series.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by riceonfriday

I just run the factory sound system for now since my neighbor recently gave me his old amp (Sony XPlod) and a wooden box which housed his old sub (it has a 10" diameter cutout).

My only problem is when he told me how he installed it I wasn't really listening since I thought I could find instructions for it online. Now I don't want to bother him by asking again (also because he works odd hours and I see rarely see him).

Could someone perhaps tell me how to set all of this up? Remember I don't have any wires to connect the two things he gave me, nor do I have a sub to put in the box.

Wiring everything up is trivial, but to make it look nice (i.e. special moulds for amplifier & door speakers) requires a lot of time and effort.

Anyway, you should look online for a wiring diagram for the amplifier. First you should look for the GND terminal and tie that to the vehicle's chassis. Second is the +12V input which must run from your car battery (with fuse as close to the battery as possible - remember to choose a wire thick enough to withstand the current it delivers (I=P/V where P is the amp's output power and V=12V, say) Ask the sales assistant to choose the right cable gauge. Next connect the REM tab with the ATT REM wire of your head unit (should be blue in colour). You'll need typical audio RCA cables as well.

With this done, all you need to do is connect the amplifier's output tabs to the speakers you want. The copper tabs should be labelled to recommend what goes into them (i.e. subwoofer, components, etc).

Ensure all wires are secure and check for short circuite before powering on. Remember to keep power output to a minimal when starting out to prevent blowing out the amp components or if misconfigured.

EDIT:
Fuse requirement

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?