Any Car Stereo Gurus Here?

[David Root]

Need a little advice here. I have a '98 Trans-Am with the trunk mounted 12 CD changer. It died recently, and after talking with a GM dealer (they were zero help). So I bought a used one out of a '96 Trans Am on Ebay, it ran for about a week then it croaked too. I think the lasers burned out, took 'em both apart, tried to clean the lens, nada.

So my wife is getting antsy to have her stereo back, and so am I.

What to do? These old Pioneer changers seem to be impossible to fix.

How can I get a new stereo with a CD changer without changing the main panel out in the car and ruining its original looks?

[selloutrr]

I managed a car audio store out of high school I helped pioneer the video screens in head rests and in dash. I was sponsered by Eclipse and Phoenix gold and held the world record of about 4 months in '99 for loudest SPL (173) distroyed my car's seals but I was young and dumb.

Anyway on to your question. They make wiring harness that allow the user to interface with existing OEM decks and run aux CD changers.

Contact your local car audio shop and ask about the interface. Companies such as Pioneer, Alpine, Eclipse, Blaupunk, Rockford Fosgate, and sony. all offered this adaptor. The manufactures adaptor only works with the product they sell so if you buy a sony adaptor you need a sony CD changer.

If the audio shop doesn't carry an adaptor ask them to call the rep and locate the correct model number and do a google / ebay search.

Your other option is to get a new radio with the old school look. a few companies make a new vintage face stereo just for people like you.
Keeps the look but up grades the technology.

Most car audio from the 80's was hit and miss at best and can't be repaired. Parts have been upgraded to be smaller and better so it's almost impossible to get a replacement part that is not going to die or is already dead.

hope this helps. Our store closed in '05 after OEM cars started coming stock with the tricked out features we used to get paid big $$$ to install and design.

[jon]

I managed a car audio store out of high school I helped pioneer the video screens in head rests and in dash. I was sponsered by Eclipse and Phoenix gold and held the world record of about 4 months in '99 for loudest SPL (173) distroyed my car's seals but I was young and dumb.

Anyway on to your question. They make wiring harness that allow the user to interface with existing OEM decks and run aux CD changers.

Contact your local car audio shop and ask about the interface. Companies such as Pioneer, Alpine, Eclipse, Blaupunk, Rockford Fosgate, and sony. all offered this adaptor. The manufactures adaptor only works with the product they sell so if you buy a sony adaptor you need a sony CD changer.

If the audio shop doesn't carry an adaptor ask them to call the rep and locate the correct model number and do a google / ebay search.

Your other option is to get a new radio with the old school look. a few companies make a new vintage face stereo just for people like you.
Keeps the look but up grades the technology.

Most car audio from the 80's was hit and miss at best and can't be repaired. Parts have been upgraded to be smaller and better so it's almost impossible to get a replacement part that is not going to die or is already dead.

hope this helps. Our store closed in '05 after OEM cars started coming stock with the tricked out features we used to get paid big $$$ to install and design.

Ahhh the good old days of car audio. I was a Precision Power person my Mustang had two 4200AM's running the front wave guides and drivers and a 4100AM running the rear mids and tweets. The drivers were all MB Quart and the subs (two ten inch OZ drivers were in a slot loaded vented enclosure being driven by a 2150AM. The head unit was a 7618 Alpine. I had a PPI crossover and EQ. Not too loud but really crisp and clear.

[dartanion]

Get an iPod/iPhone adapter and be done with it. CD changers are defunct for the most part. If you go the CD route for an in dash solution, you can get a single CD deck that has full iPod controls, usb, and plays all sorts of formats for around $100.

[M Fowler]

Very few car radios and equipment is actually repaired most is recycled.

Radios are pulled from the vehicles before crushing and when one is needed presto. Sometimes you have no choice but to try rebuild some.

Mark

[David Root]

Thanx guys for all your advice. Mark I tried to fix the CD changer but I couldn't.

Somehow I don't see a single in-dash CD player as an improvement over a 12-CD trunk mounted changer. My wife certainly wouldn't. Might be more reliable but certainly not program friendly. Or more importantly, wife-friendly.

I'll try the new harness w/matching new changer route and see what happens.

BTW, I put our only remaining cassette tape in it (remember those?), for something to listen to. The bandwidth and smooth analog high end was far superior to any CD except the ones I have that are remastered and have gold plated signal sides. Plus it was an almost 50 year old recording, Green Onions by Booker T. and the MGs. The Hammond B3 tone in particular is awesome.
MP3 sounds like total and utter s**t by comparison.

[dartanion]

David,

Does your wife have an iPod or iPhone? Or even a basic MP3 player? Most all new decks have iPod/iPhone integration and an aux input. This is what most folks do these days is to plug in their media device that holds thousands of songs and use it as a jukebox in the car. As well, most of the new CD decks will play MP3, AAC, etc encoded CDs. This means you can rip CDs with hundreds of songs and they will play. You can still get CD changers, but why bother if you already have an iPod or other media player?

[M Fowler]

David did you call my sister-in-law about this?

Mark

[Colossal]

iPod is the only way to go. We use it all the time and have a jack in the car. I ripped all my CDs to a hard-drive and sold them all. Did the same for DVDs. No more physical media. This weekend, we're having speakers installed in every room and setting up all household electronics in a dedicated closet. We still have some vinyl but just keep that for the nostalgia and the day I get a turntable and build a stereo tube amp

[M Fowler]

I have a complete library loaded on my Ipod but when I try to load up new songs it wants to delete my entire library. Do I need to read more and figure this out or do have any secrets.

I'm not that good with devices I guess.

Mark

[selloutrr]

You have to be on the same profile, same computer you originally used to load the music on to the ipod.

You can buy 3rd party software to get around it but it's not 100% debugged.

[ChrisM]

I have a complete library loaded on my Ipod but when I try to load up new songs it wants to delete my entire library. Do I need to read more and figure this out or do have any secrets.

I'm not that good with devices I guess.

Mark

Make sure you don't have Manually Manage my Music selected.

[M Fowler]

The old CPU is long gone so I had emailed the company for assistance but they never responsed about how to get around the original library issue. I don't want to loose all that music.

I have converted some of my vinyl to CD using a new LP spinner (turn table) with USB connection and software. Time consuming though.

[paulster]

I have a complete library loaded on my Ipod but when I try to load up new songs it wants to delete my entire library. Do I need to read more and figure this out or do have any secrets.

I'm not that good with devices I guess.

Mark

Download something like YamiPod and use it to pull the music off the iPod. Then you can load it back into iTunes so, even though it'll insist on wiping the iPod, you'll have the music ready to load back.

It's a PITA but then so is the whole, tight iPod/iTunes integration thing.

But at least when it's working properly it works well.

[David Root]

Mark, I did not call your sister-in-law yet. Mea culpa, I'll do it tomorrow.


Sorry, we don't own iAnything. I have a Blackberry and my wife has a regular cell fone. If music sounds on iEquipment like it does in the MP3 format, I'm not interested either. MP3 sound quality is totally inferior to a wide bandwidth analog signal.

And don't even get me started on CDs vs. Vinyl.......!