Acer Iconia a100 in 2006 F-150 ideas

I plan on using this thread to gather my ideas, and plan out this project.

I'm going to be removing my head unit, and replacing it with the Iconia A100 tablet... simple enough, I guess.

I know a bit about car audio, and a bit about electronics, but not enough. I'm going to outline my plans, however fuzzy they may be, and I would really appreciate any insight you (smarter) people have for me.

POWER

I would like to use this in order to provide power to the tablet, and also to have a usb-port for charging wireless hot spot (For wifi for the tablet). I was planning on tapping the lighter to add a USB, but this looks like a better solution.

EDIT:I found this on Amazon, and it seems like this with an add-a-fuse and the adapter should work out pretty well. I think i have my power all figured out.

AUDIO

So I have a headphones out on the tablet. There is also a 40-pin proprietary connector. For now I'll use the headphones out, someday when the connector is better understood (This tablet is fairly new, and hasn't been hacked/modded too much-though the wires for audio and power have been documented..something to look into)

For now I am going to use my factory speakers. I have no factory amp. (Later I'll swap out the speakers, and maybe add a sub if I can find one small enough)

[warning; getting fuzzy]

So headphone out has to go to some kind of amp (Since my head unit used to control this function), yes?
-- I really need help choosing an amp. I don't need the best of the best. I'll be playing a lot of MP3s, and I am not terribly concerned with quality. Ideally I want something small and inexpensive.

-any suggestions?

And I want physical controls for volume, fade, bal.
-- I have seen some equalizers that cover most of these functions, and they're fairly cheap. Having the option to equalize sounds good to me. Any suggestions for inexpensive ones? I think I have 2 inches of free space above or below the tablet, I'll get hard numbers sometime. I would prefer to mount the EQ there, but it can go somewhere else if it's too big.

EDIT: The following idea would have cost more money, and been more work than buying this. Might have to get in there and change the LED colors though.
Another thought is to make my own equalizer... This chip (TEA6320) looks really promising. Not sure yet how i'll power this. I also know nothing about using a bus, so there will be some research involved.

This schematic is also interesting, and I actually understand it! I would probably put a (nice expensive) dual gang pot before the circuit starts, and leave the first IC in balance mode, 'cause it just seems goofy to have volume and balance controlled by the same buttons.

-any suggestions?

--placeholder for finished project--

So I like this equalizer. It's cheap, and it has good reviews, but it got me thinking. My audio source right now is stereo. I have HDMI out

If I want to watch a movie on my tablet, and get surround sound, I should be able to do that through the hdmi out, yeah? I can't find any car equalizers that take hdmi... i'll keep looking, but I was wondering if anyone knew about one. Would need an amp that did hdmi too. I'd assume this would add a lot to the cost, so I probably won't bother. If it's more than $50 extra to use hdmi, i'm not gonna bother. It's just a car.

Just a thought.

Still need to figure out a good amp. I think i'm leaning more towards a 5 channel now, as it will make my life easier when I do add a sub.
Or do I only need a 3 channel? Or a 2 channel and a mono?

Oh no.. please help! :)

technically it would be a 4 channel stereo amp you'd be looking for to power your door speakers, otherwise a single channel would do you just fine for a sub, you can even find some with built in amps.

as with my build i didn't want to sacrifice alot of storage space so i used a aftermarket single din head unit for an amp and mounted it right behind my tablet in my dash, that way i saved space and had some equilizer and crossover functionality built in. then i added a 8" pyle sub with a built in amp underneath the seat. i don't know of any amps or EQ's that accept HDMI although some higher end ones accept optical. otherwise you can either stick with the 1/8 in. headset output or find a digital to analog converter for your HDMI output

as for the hard volume controls i dont know of any way other than an EQ right now...would be awesome if you could use the USB volume knob though for the carpc setups

Well I could use the second greyed out circuit I posted above to build a physical vol/fade/bal... but with $30 EQs out there, there's just no point. EDIT: If anyone is interested, a high quality dual gang pot, or stepped attenuator put in line right after your stereo source should make an excellent volume knob.

I didn't even think about a cheap HU for an amp, something to think about.
I also didn't know they had subs with built in amps. If you're not familiar with F-150s, then you wouldn't know, but there is absolutely nowhere to put a sub. People have taken out the middle front seat to put a custom center console with a sub (No soda in the cup holders... unless you like flat soda.) The only spot is really under the back seat, and there's barely enough room to put a box with enough airspace in it. I think i'll be forced to mount the sub amp behind the seat, and the box underneath.

So I guess for now all I need to do is find an amp or HU that I feel like paying for. Either way it's going to be mounted behind the tablet. I can do the sub with a dedicated amp later. -cool

Thanks a lot for the reply, I feel like I have much better direction now.

AMPLIFIER

I think that I'll just go on ebay when my Christmas bonus comes, and buy an amp for ~150.

That sound like a good bang-for-your-buck plan?

No response, bought this

SPEAKERS - At some point I will be getting new speakers. I'm just gonna use this post to organize my thoughts on the speakers.

Crutchfield seems to be recommending; (5.25x5.25),(5x7),(6.5x6.5),(6.75x6.75),(6x8), all of which fit both front and rear doors. Does this mean that my speakers are 6x8, but I can fit any of the smaller ones into the holes? And if so, should I just look at 6x8.. is bigger better for the same price?

It's a truck with a tiny little back seat. All my friends are 6'2+ (Except for one hobbit) So we never really take my truck... in any case... I was thinking of leaving the speakers in the back stock for now, just for some fill-in, and getting some 3-ways for the front. Is this gonna work(no), or am i gonna blow out my crappy stock speakers?(yes) I'm guessing I can just turn them down with the amp.

So, I'm going with 2 pairs of these: Infinity 6829CF 300W (Peak) 6 x 8 / 5 x 7 -Inch 2-Way Speakers (Pair)

Hey, I'm in the Binghamton area too! It's a small world.

I've been looking a bit into what to do with a similar project. I've got a Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon Wireless that I got for cheap, that I plan on mounting into a 2002 GMC Envoy. It's great for these kind of things since it's got the bluetooth, GPS, and Wifi all in one package. Also I can activate it with Verizon if I ever feel the need to, but I probably won't since I can just tether it with my smartphone.

I'm mostly on the computer end with these things, so I'm a bit more clueless about the car part of the project. I've got some good ideas when it comes to the Android side of it though.

As far as amps go, I'm sort of in your boat as well. I really don't need anything other than the tablet to control all my music, so I essentially want to be able to wire my tablet into the speakers. It's looking like one of the less costly and less complicated ways of doing this would be to get one of the cheap mini-amps like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Hi-Fi-S...item4157bab7c4 - It provides all the uplink you need to get your tablet pumping into the car's setup, but is small and simple. I haven't purchased one yet, but plan on doing so shortly.

With that power plug that you've chosen, do you know if the USB cable portion of it provides enough power to fully charge over USB? If so, then that might be ideal way to go, as the power plug portion of it can be used for the amplifier.

I'll definitely be interested in seeing how your install goes.

a word of warning with those chinese micro amplifiers is that they will not have good noise isolation and you will more than likely get a lot of static sound due to their cheap design. i tried one as well for the hell of it since they are cheap and small

Thanks for the interest. I have a friend named pat, but I don't know if he has a car, so probably not you =P. Hopefully I'll at least have some stuff up soon.

Okay, I've been slacking, but I bought a bunch of crap today.

SPEAKERS: Infinity 6829CF 300W (Peak) 6 x 8 / 5 x 7 -Inch 2-Way Speakers (Pair)
AMP: Hifonics HFi100.4 HFi Series A/B Stereo Amplifier
EQ: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...01_i00_details
Various Stuff: 4-Way 12V Automotive Socket Extender, 2,000mA Universal DC Adapter, Add-A-Circuit Kit

I'm gonna start installing this weekend, and what I get done will depend on how long it takes.
Speakers, Mount amp, Mount EQ, hookup EQ & amp, plug in tablet, mount tablet.

Wish me luck!