Thread: Basic car stereo/iPod integration question.

Ok sound gurus, help me out here. Hope I'm posting this in the right section first off and that it hasn't been answered before. Anyway, to the point:

So I'm inheriting an old, 95? subaru forester as I'm moving from NYC to Buffalo to go to Law school. Now the car stereo system is completely OEM, sounds like crap on really high volume, and I don't have the money right now to change the whole system, though I might consider it depending on price (will explain below). Simply put I'm looking for the best way to integrate playing my ipod with the best sound quality without going crazy. I've used one of those fm transmitters and they were terrible and the one we had broke in a few weeks just from rattling around in the car. So what are my other options? I was on bestbuy's website before and I saw a cassette adapter that advertises good quality, but are they?

My dad also has a client who runs a car stereo/body shop that owes him some money and I guess my other question is, could a stereo this old even support hard-wiring an ipod adapter? Or how expensive would a basic stereo upgrade be just to integrate ipod playback. Thanks in advance guys.

Well you can either pay $99 for a basic radio with AUX in or solder in an AUX in tapping off of the FM leads on the PCB with a dual throw 3.5mm connector. Like so

I agree with Forfend. You could change the radio for about $99 - $125 and have perfect ipod control

Ok, in that case I have a simple follow up, would changing just the radio, not speakers, improve sound quality? For the most part I guess I think the reason the old radio doesn't sound so good is because of shitty equalization and limited tuning. Would the radio improve bass and overall quality by any substantial amount? Or would it be just about equal to what I have. Again I'm not looking to impress anyone, just wondering how it would sound at a reasonable volume. I hope that isn't a stupid follow up question.

Really appreciate it guys thank you.

$200 is a good base price for 2-4 speakers and a basic headunit.

Thanks Forfend, I'll be heading to my dad's client's shop on friday and I'll mention this to him and see about getting a new unit. Again thanks for the answers.

you need a boombox JK

if you pick a new HU, try to get one with some sort of anti theft. tri state is horrible for break-ins.

I'm actually moving to Buffalo NY for school, but I'll absolutely make sure of that lol, thanks bud.

Get the cheapest E-bay radio you can find. Typically already has some sort of AUX or even USB input if you spend a little more.

It is a completely capable DIY project.

With a subaru, all you need is a single wire harness to buy online at the cost of 6-15 dollars.

The dash in thoes cars will simply pry out with a wrapped up butter knife. The radio and the pocket below it are bolted to brackets which are in turn screwed into the dash.

You'll probably remove less than 10 screws to remove the factory radio. Installation is as simple as matching the wire colors on the harness adaptor you purchased an the one the new radio came with.

Feel free to post in here with any questions or through PM.