Get audio without a headunit in car?

SBZRO · 06-29-2007, 09:48 PM

I havent been on the site for a while and I am kinda in the dark with this situation

I am building a carputer for my RX-8 but I am taking a different approach than the other people. I have made a double din sized space for a screen to sit where the factory radio would be.

My question is what components do I need so that I will have audio without the factory headunit in the car. I already have a 5 channel amp and I know that there was a Mac Mazda 3 that did it but I can't find his information anywhere.

I would want everything to be controlled from the CarPC.

Any help/links and other info would be great.

Thanks,

Kevin

ironfinger · 06-29-2007, 10:01 PM

I don't know why you think you're taking a different approach. A whole lot of people here do not use a head unit either. I would check out the wiki. The link to it can be found on the main page. Good luck!

SBZRO · 06-30-2007, 11:01 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by ironfinger

I don't know why you think you're taking a different approach. A whole lot of people here do not use a head unit either. I would check out the wiki. The link to it can be found on the main page. Good luck!

I was referring more towards the RX-8 community. There hasn't been a dash kit for this car until recently for aftermarket headunits because the factory radio ties into the AC and heat in the car. What happens to most people who try to take out the factory radio is the lose of AC, heat and their LCD units.

ironfinger · 06-30-2007, 02:57 PM

wow, that sucks man. I just checked out pics of the rx8 console and it looks pretty damned integrated.. It looks good though, I would hate to ruin the circular design by swapping it out for an lcd.. but you gotta do what ya gotta do.

SBZRO · 06-30-2007, 05:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ironfinger

wow, that sucks man. I just checked out pics of the rx8 console and it looks pretty damned integrated.. It looks good though, I would hate to ruin the circular design by swapping it out for an lcd.. but you gotta do what ya gotta do.

Its pretty intergrated but I've already done all the necessary rewiring/cutting/screwing up. I was originally going to put a double DIN Pioneer D3 in there but I'm leaning towards a carpc again. I had one in my Sentra and it worked out pretty well.

For a while nobody made a dash kit, thats why I took the time to do it and when I finally did nobody believed me that I got it working. I posted a video on YouTube of the install. Just type in RX-8 Double DIN or search my for wattskm. I had to post that in my forum for people to believe that I actually had everything working.

RedGTiVR6 · 06-30-2007, 07:57 PM

have you searched the work-logs?

SBZRO · 07-01-2007, 12:36 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by RedGTiVR6

have you searched the work-logs?

I did a search for anything RX-8 related and it was kinda scarce. I did another search on using the keywords/phrases "audio without headunit", "no radio" and other variations.

I checked out the Wiki like it was suggested earlier and kinda found some information on the subject but I'm still kinda hazy on it, mainly how it actually hooks up. I assume that my RCA's from my amps would hook up to this sound card but I've never seen a sound card with RCA preouts on them.

So the search for a clear answer continues.

I will take your advice and check out the work logs.

ironfinger · 07-01-2007, 12:54 AM

you can use an RCA to 1/8" y-adapters to connect the usual sound card outs to the amp. You can find those at radioshack.

So a basic connection will go like this.. computer->soundcard->amps->speakers

since you have a 5 channel amp you have connections for front speakers, rear speakers, and subwoofer. So it would be cool if you got a sound card that had front, rear, and sub outputs.. if your soundcard only has one output, you will have to split the signals using more y-adapter.

edit to add: Also some amps can sum one set of channels and send the signals to another set of channels. That means that even if you only have one pair of signals coming from the soundcard(fronts), the amp can send those signals to both the front and rear channels/speakers. This means you may not have to use so many y adapters to split your signals..

RedGTiVR6 · 07-01-2007, 09:33 AM

This link would probably be helpful as well:

How Do I Connect My CarPC to My Audio System

You can find it and many other FAQs (still adding them) to the FAQ button in the NavBar at the top.

SBZRO · 07-01-2007, 12:55 PM

ironfinger: Thanks for that info.

Red: Thanks for the link. That FAQ is awesome. It will surely help out a lot of people.

Now I just need to do some shopping and figure out exactly what I need. Anybody want to be my shopping assistant??

2k1Toaster · 07-01-2007, 01:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by SBZRO

ironfinger: Thanks for that info.

Red: Thanks for the link. That FAQ is awesome. It will surely help out a lot of people.

Now I just need to do some shopping and figure out exactly what I need. Anybody want to be my shopping assistant??

what's the pay for the job?

It is not hard to piece everything together. And it is all up to what you want to do.

RedGTiVR6 · 07-01-2007, 01:13 PM

SBZRO - be sure to check out the other FAQs up there. You can use the search feature as well to help you find info.

I'm constantly adding new information up there, it just takes time to read through all of the various FAQs on here and reword them for this use.