Thread: FM-Modulator

Well I put in a generic no name FM modulator in my car about 3 months ago. I have been using it for a portable CD player and it sounds great (compared to a tape deck adapter)! It took me about 15-20 minutes to get it in my 95 Dodge Intrepid. It is not hard at all to install.
You should have three wires (12v - Ground -Acc) and an antenna input and output. You can hook the 12v to the car battery or if you are lazy you could hook it up to your cig lighter. I hooked the ground to the ground in the back of the stereo receiver.
Now you will need a switch to turn it on and off, as you can't really leave it on all the time cause it messes with the rest of the radio stations. Just attach the acc wire to a switch and a 12v current. Now unplug the antenna wire from the stereo and plug it into the modulator. then plug the modulator into the stereo.
As to where to put it. That is up to you. I just left it sitting behind the radio. There was plenty of room there. I just put a switch by my gear shift and ran an RCA cord to the floor of the passenger side for the input. I don't think the side of reciver matters (I an guessing you mean DIN size), mine is a double DIN.

Hope this helps,
Maveric

I don't know what all the fuss is about on the boards about FM Modulators. They really arn't bad at all. I think some people may have had bad exsperiances, or maybe are just biased to their own setup. What I'm saying is don't woory much about the "quality", it really is just as good or better then Tape deck options. (From my own exsperiance of course with 7 friends that use modulators and 3 with tape decks)

Alot of the problem is the quality of the tape adapter and the headunit that you are using. A stock tape player has very limited frequency response compared to a good aftermarket tape player. I accually use both, the FM mod. for my CD changer and the tape adapter for the MP3 box. Each has its advantages the tape adapter has a better sound quality @ higher volume levels then the FM mod. But the FM mod does make for a cleaner install. Its all about the quality that you want, and the best that your system can handel.

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Monger
ICQ-7207702

Just to throw my .02 in -

I think fm mods are fine for cd players.
maybe even dc-dc powered pc's.
But when you use an fm mod w/ inverter it just plain sucks ***.


Been there. done that. bought a new head unit. I have an fm mod, it was used once for about 30 seconds before I riped it out and was told I couldnt return it. I think I paid 60 for it, I will hapily sell it for 50 or best offer.

My (wife's) Mazda has the FM modulator to run the CD changer...the speakers are average, the radio is stock. It sounds great.

My previous truck I had a aftermarket tape deck with cassette adapter and portable cd player (and a lot of speakers and amps). Playing a CD sounded WAY better than a tape (Metal-Dolby C) and the tape sounded better than off the air FM.

The current rig is RCA input...the only limiting factor is the computer sound card and the quality of the MP3s. (tried an FM modulator...sounded like crap)

The moral of the story is, the better your system sounds, the easier it is to hear problems like hiss and crosstalk and hum.

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http://www.geocities.com/mr_bubba_zanetti/

This is my response about Tape vs FM.

Tape was great for me.. I had a problem however since my Discman was pumping out too much power through the line-out jack and the headphone jack had too much noise (plus the volume would change if I shoved the player between seats or in the second din slot). So I could only pump my HU about halfway before it distorted BAD from overdriving. Also, apparently the heads were misaligned cuz the left output was lower than the right but my radio was perfectly balanced.

FM Mod I had that cheezy mod from Radio Shack that ran off of 2 AAA batteries and it sounded great. The only prob was that I killed the batteries half the time cuz I left it on (by mistake) while it was parked. Also, since it was radio waves, it wouldn't distort due to a huge voltage in the signal or anything like that. The FM Module could actually handle it.

If I had more money, I'd definitely go for a fm mod that was powered off of the car battery.

Testing my sig...