N00b here, looking to take my ride to a shop in Los Angeles for this stuff.

isamu · 09-28-2005, 06:49 AM

Hi everyone. Great forum you guys got here

I would like to know if there any reputable or good shops in the Los Angeles area that will install these PCs into my car? I don't know **** about installing car stereos, let ALONE PC>car installations, so I'm looking basically to get a pretty average Windows based PC/notebook/whatever put into my car so I can play my Mp3's using Winamp.

The reason I want to use WinAmp is because WinAmp is the only software program that is compatible with DFX. DFX is a neat little app that when used via WinAmp, transforms your music and gives a very rich and "New" sound. To my knowledge there are no casual car stereos that does this. It's simply incredible and must be heard to be believed. You can see more about *Here*

Oh by the way this for a new car I'm getting this week, a 2002 Benz E430. Already has a pretty good stock bose system so I don't think I'm gonna **** with the speakers for the time being.

Anyway if anyone knows any shops in Los Angeles I can take my ride to that specializes in PC>car installations please let me know

Al&Ed's?....

neon_eddy · 09-28-2005, 07:20 AM

there might be .. we deal in the hobby side of it.. however many of us are shop owners.

there are a few Front ends that use Winamp for the backend player, I'm not sure on which ones.. but you'll like those more than straight winamp...

MatrixPC · 09-28-2005, 04:39 PM

Don't take it to Al&Ed unless you want your new Benz **** up (well not all Al&Ed).
PM the guys in this forum 12Vsystems. He is in OC and doing it for a living.

Rafster · 09-28-2005, 11:55 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by MatrixPC

Don't take it to Al&Ed unless you want your new Benz **** up (well not all Al&Ed).
PM the guys in this forum 12Vsystems. He is in OC and doing it for a living.

Hehe, Al&Ed's are owned seperatly. It is no longer just one company. The one by my house used to do really great work. They now suck. But the one in North San Diego county is till good.

Peace,

Rafster

Don 944 LA · 09-29-2005, 01:08 AM

theres that DICE guy guy too.

susuking · 09-29-2005, 01:24 AM

why would u want some one to install it? that's why we have this forum here, btw, if u want ppl to install for you, if there is prob,which is bound to be, how r u gona solve it?
just my $0.02

PURDooM · 09-29-2005, 01:25 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by neon_eddy

there are a few Front ends that use Winamp for the backend player, I'm not sure on which ones.. but you'll like those more than straight winamp...

Roadrunner.

isamu · 09-29-2005, 04:01 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by MatrixPC

PM the guys in this forum 12Vsystems. He is in OC and doing it for a living.

Cool. So his name is username 12Vsystems? Link?

Quote: Originally Posted by Don 944 LA

theres that DICE guy guy too.

DICE guy? Link?

Quote: Originally Posted by susuking

why would u want some one to install it? that's why we have this forum here, btw, if u want ppl to install for you, if there is prob,which is bound to be, how r u gona solve it?
just my $0.02

Nah man, I'm a complete n00b. I'll **** it up...trust me.

12Vsystems · 09-30-2005, 04:09 PM

Thanks for the shout out.

We specialize in doing complete carputer installations. We are based in Orange County, CA. We work with local installation shops that can custom mold and color match almost anything.

Hope the admins don't mind me posting a link.

http://www.12vsystems.com

scott_fx · 03-30-2007, 06:45 PM

Phantom Electronics
2618 E. Thousand Oaks blvd.
Thousand Oaks, Ca 91362
Ph 805-496-0160

they did a fellow corvette owner's car a while ago. they had me as a contact if anything went wrong, they only called me once
check them out..they are killer

they did this car:
http://www.nsa.org/~chris/pics-of-objects/db9.jpg

DarquePervert · 03-30-2007, 07:21 PM

Wow. Nice two-year old resurrection, Scott!

isamu · 03-30-2007, 07:58 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by scott_fx

Phantom Electronics
2618 E. Thousand Oaks blvd.
Thousand Oaks, Ca 91362
Ph 805-496-0160

they did a fellow corvette owner's car a while ago. they had me as a contact if anything went wrong, they only called me once
check them out..they are killer

they did this car:
http://www.nsa.org/~chris/pics-of-objects/db9.jpg

Thanks! I'll cheggem out. Do you by any chance know if they supply the carPC too, or just do the installation?

I found a place in Santa Ana, CA called XenarcDirect.com that sells the car PC. Have you heard anything about them?

I also discovered a place in Rodondo Beach that claim to specialize in German car installation. They're called *European Car Stereo Service*. Heard anything about them? I spoke to them yesterday and the head guy there kinda discouraged me from putting in a pc. Says there'd be problems such as "noise" and distortion, as well as drain on the battery. Says a pc doesn't belong in an automobile environment and that I'd get better sound out of a dedicated high end car stereo like an Alpine/Pioneer.

How do you respond to these comments?

scott_fx · 03-30-2007, 08:12 PM

i think he's an idiot and ignorant and he's trying to make a bigger profit and sell you a high end head unit that he makes money off of (rahter then you bringing in a car pc you purchased elsewhere) i'd stay clear away from these guys.

phantom will install the pc you provide, but just do your homework here or copy some of the more comon systems (namely the m2-atx/via epia combo) and you'll be fine. don't worry abou thte noise just dong cheap out on the soundcard. usb dac's are an option and more common dac's also give great sound.

do some research (read: don't just ask a question) in the car audio section and learn about which route you want to take for great sound. i went the dac route, some are going with high end cards, some are going wiht modded usb dacs, some are going with the alpine pxa-h701...plenty of options

isamu · 03-30-2007, 08:23 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by scott_fx

i think he's an idiot and ignorant and he's trying to make a bigger profit and sell you a high end head unit that he makes money off of (rahter then you bringing in a car pc you purchased elsewhere) i'd stay clear away from these guys.

phantom will install the pc you provide, but just do your homework here or copy some of the more comon systems (namely the m2-atx/via epia combo) and you'll be fine. don't worry abou thte noise just dong cheap out on the soundcard. usb dac's are an option and more common dac's also give great sound.

do some research (read: don't just ask a question) in the car audio section and learn about which route you want to take for great sound. i went the dac route, some are going with high end cards, some are going wiht modded usb dacs, some are going with the alpine pxa-h701...plenty of options

Thanks bro!

You mentioned high end cards. I couldn't agree with you more on that. That is the obvious important ingredient.

It's funny though....although Sound Blaster cards are the most popular, I've just discovered another brand called M-Audio. A guys on another forum claims they wipe the floor with SB if you're into sound quality alone. What do you think? I checked around and came up on some M-audio PCI cards that seem pretty cool. *here's one*

scott_fx · 03-30-2007, 08:57 PM

i was going to install an m-audio audiophile 192 card that i had purchased in my current project, then i purchased an echo gina 3g card, then found that a dac was the way to go for me. My choices may not be the best for you though, i have a different setup then ~97% of the people on here and all i need is a good stereo output. Your application may be different.

m-audio make sa great card but don't rule out soundblaster's e-mu line. they are very hard to beat for the money.

check out this thread:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/work...ne-tuning.html