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Chust in case it could be of interest to peeps thinking of ways of tackling their ICE, I've decided to go for the following method as part of my interior refurb:
I have installed a 100W MOSFET power amp under the dash sitting on the transmission tunnel where it will ultimately be completely hidden from sight. My speaker pods are fitted under the rear seat overhangs where they, too, cannot be seen.
All that's visible is the power switch - to be mounted on the dash - and a fly lead which terminates in a 3mm jack plug.
I was initially intending to use this along with a portable CD/Radio player which I'd bought for the job (& which has 60 second anti-shock memory!), but have just been trialling the set-up with a radio/MP3 player which I bought - new - from Ebay for the princely sum of 99p + £3 postage...
Apart from the security advantage of having an apparently 'non-existent' system, you can also locate the tiny player up on the dash - or even windscreen - where it is easy to reach & control. If you want to be completely future-proof, you can even pick up a DAB radio with MP3 player for less than £30 on the same virtual marketplace mentioned before. These units - even my cheapo - will even allow recording from the radio and voice recording too, if that rocks your particular boat.
There are some potential 'issues' however; radio reception isn't as strong as a conventional car radio with external aerial, and I'm going to experiment with ways of improving this (it DOES work, but you can experience lots of 'drop-outs' depending on location) and, unless you get a system with a reasonably-sized display, it can be tricky to use on the move - but you can actually get used to the controls very quickly and should be able to operate it by touch after a short while! One of the DAB systems mentioned above has a very simple single mini-'joystick' on its front to control virtually everything - should be ideal!
Food for thought?!
(Oh, the amp cost me £10 2nd-hand...)
I have installed a 100W MOSFET power amp under the dash sitting on the transmission tunnel where it will ultimately be completely hidden from sight. My speaker pods are fitted under the rear seat overhangs where they, too, cannot be seen.
All that's visible is the power switch - to be mounted on the dash - and a fly lead which terminates in a 3mm jack plug.
I was initially intending to use this along with a portable CD/Radio player which I'd bought for the job (& which has 60 second anti-shock memory!), but have just been trialling the set-up with a radio/MP3 player which I bought - new - from Ebay for the princely sum of 99p + £3 postage...
Apart from the security advantage of having an apparently 'non-existent' system, you can also locate the tiny player up on the dash - or even windscreen - where it is easy to reach & control. If you want to be completely future-proof, you can even pick up a DAB radio with MP3 player for less than £30 on the same virtual marketplace mentioned before. These units - even my cheapo - will even allow recording from the radio and voice recording too, if that rocks your particular boat.
There are some potential 'issues' however; radio reception isn't as strong as a conventional car radio with external aerial, and I'm going to experiment with ways of improving this (it DOES work, but you can experience lots of 'drop-outs' depending on location) and, unless you get a system with a reasonably-sized display, it can be tricky to use on the move - but you can actually get used to the controls very quickly and should be able to operate it by touch after a short while! One of the DAB systems mentioned above has a very simple single mini-'joystick' on its front to control virtually everything - should be ideal!
Food for thought?!
(Oh, the amp cost me £10 2nd-hand...)
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