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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Car Audio / July 2004Audio inputs on rear of car stereo?
Sorry if I sound like a "dummy", but I don't know much about car audio. I believe I have heard somewhere that car stereos that have changer connections (as most or all car radios made in the last few years do, I think) have RCA audio inputs in the back. Is that true? If so, is there an easy way (for someone who is not a car radio installation expert) to get to those jacks, in order to attach a Y cable (dual RCA plugs on one end to stereo mini plug on the other) to them, in order to be able to plug in a portable audio (mp3, etc.) player directly to the car stereo using that input, rather than using inferior methods such as cassette adapter or FM transmitter? How does one get to the back of a car radio? (In my case, it's the factory radio cassette player on a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3. I'm pretty sure it has changer control capability.) there are NO factory stereos with RCA inputs.... There are some adapters made for some cars (not all) that adapt the cd changer ports to RCA inputs.... To get to the back of your radio pull your radio out, I think for the Ford Focus you need to get some Ford radio removal tools. Eddie > Sorry if I sound like a "dummy", but I don't know much about car audio. > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > radio cassette player on a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3. I'm pretty sure it has > changer control capability.) > there are NO factory stereos with RCA inputs.... There are some > adapters made for some cars (not all) that adapt the cd changer > ports to RCA inputs.... > > To get to the back of your radio pull your radio out, I think for the > Ford Focus you need to get some Ford radio removal tools. So, the changer controls do not generally include RCA inputs? Where do you get such an adapter, to adapt the changer inputs to auxiliary inputs? Are you being sarcastic about "Ford radio removal tools"? Are there special tools only for removing Ford radios, that have no other purpose? Or do you think that's funny, that you are "putting down a newbie" (and thereby feeling superior yourself) by making such a comment? > Eddie > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > radio cassette player on a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3. I'm pretty sure it has > > changer control capability.) > > there are NO factory stereos with RCA inputs.... There are some > > adapters made for some cars (not all) that adapt the cd changer [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > think that's funny, that you are "putting down a newbie" (and thereby > feeling superior yourself) by making such a comment? Actually, if you put the paranoid shield down.. there are actually removal tools for certain vehicles, in fords case its 2 fork-like tools that have small pins that slide into the four holes around the radio, popping a release. The same tool works with most lincoln, mazdas, mercury's, etc.. becuase they are all essentially the same company. Back to the topic at hand, like eddie said, no stock radio has RCA inputs, and only a FEW (NOT ALL) radios have adapters available to put in place of the changers din plug. DJ TecThreat The Real Threat > > there are NO factory stereos with RCA inputs.... There are some > > adapters made for some cars (not all) that adapt the cd changer [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > So, the changer controls do not generally include RCA inputs? I have never seen any, so if they are they are in the minority. Where do you > get such an adapter, to adapt the changer inputs to auxiliary inputs? IF there is one made you would likely aquire it at your local car audio shop. Or you could search around the internet, google can work wonders. > Are you being sarcastic about "Ford radio removal tools"? Are there special > tools only for removing Ford radios, that have no other purpose? Or do you > think that's funny, that you are "putting down a newbie" (and thereby > feeling superior yourself) by making such a comment? Do you read into every comment made? There are actually tools designed to remove factory Ford radios. Les > Do you read into every comment made? There are actually tools designed to > remove factory Ford radios. > > Les Sorry about that. It just sounded unusual to me, that there are different tools for removing each brand of radio. It sounds like that's the case though. (Is that to discourage consumers from doing their own installation, due to not having the necessary tools?) Where could one get tools to remove a Ford factory radio? Are they expensive? After one has the tools, is it a fairly simple procedure, to take out the radio to look in the back of it? Or difficult and time-consuming? If not all factory radios that can control a changer have RCA jacks that one could use for auxiliary input, where could one look that up, to find out if a particular radio model that came on a particular model and year of car has the input jacks or not? If not, and if one can use an adapter (as someone mentioned) to convert the disc changer input into a standard audio input, where could one get such an adapter. Thank you (all) for your input. Sorry about my surprise (wondering if it was sarcasm) about the "Ford factory radio removal tools". > > Do you read into every comment made? There are actually tools designed to > > remove factory Ford radios. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Sorry about that. It just sounded unusual to me, that there are different > tools for removing each brand of radio. Well, not different for every brand, but there are some speciality tools for some radios. It sounds like that's the case > though. (Is that to discourage consumers from doing their own installation, > due to not having the necessary tools?) With how cheap the tools are I doubt it. It likely looked good on paper. Besides I would think that most people just keep the factory radio. > Where could one get tools to remove a Ford factory radio? Are they > expensive? Virtually any car audio place would have them. I think even Wal-mart has/had them. IIRC they are around $8, but it has been sometime since I bought any. > After one has the tools, is it a fairly simple procedure, to take out the > radio to look in the back of it? Or difficult and time-consuming? Usually very simple. There are guides online that can help you with the process. > If not all factory radios that can control a changer have RCA jacks that one > could use for auxiliary input, where could one look that up, to find out if > a particular radio model that came on a particular model and year of car has > the input jacks or not? I don't know, but I would suspect that you could get an answer here, or call up Crutchfield and see if they have it written down. > If not, and if one can use an adapter (as someone mentioned) to convert the > disc changer input into a standard audio input, where could one get such an > adapter. Online or your local car audio store. (Note: not a best buy or CC type place, if they have them it has been my experience they are only "sold" if they are installing it) Les <snip> > Virtually any car audio place would have them. I think even Wal-mart has/had > them. IIRC they are around $8, but it has been sometime since I bought any. I paid less than $3 at Wal-Mart less than a year ago. > <snip> > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > I paid less than $3 at Wal-Mart less than a year ago. They have them online for about $4 (+ s/h) http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?cat=3947&dept=3944&product_id=870835& path=0%3A3944%3A3947%3A4429 > <snip> > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > I paid less than $3 at Wal-Mart less than a year ago. Wow, cheaper than I thought. I never can remember the little stuff and how much it costs. Good to know. >If not all factory radios that can control a changer have RCA jacks that one >could use for auxiliary input, where could one look that up, to find out if >a particular radio model that came on a particular model and year of car has >the input jacks or not? No factory radio has RCA input jacks on the back of it. Non. You're wasting your time with trying to look for them and are better off trying to find another solution. You can, either upgrade your radio to one with the abilitied you are trying to add to yours, you can get a FM modulator that can connect between your radio and antenna and modulate over a certain radio frequency with your input device. Or you can get one that just sends the signal out into the air and your radio will pick it up. DJ TecThreat The Real Threat Ok well, the answer was maybe until the end. Stock radio's have no such capability. Alpine and Pioneer both have adapters for their changers that would work. I'd buy the adapter and have the shop install it when I had the deck installed. This is not a very cheap option, so you could have an FM modulator installed, I guess, a hard wired one though. I had one that worked well, and sounded a lot better than wireless but a lot of bass became muddy and I got a lot of alternator whine, but that could be my own losey install, but I don't think so, my ground was quite good. I have an Alpine CDA-9823 and aux RCA that I "custom" (read:crappily drilled holes then epoxyed in) mounted in the console for it. I wouldn't recommend that, I'd do like a 1/4 inch or 1/8th inch headphone/phono jack, however have the shop install it. > Sorry if I sound like a "dummy", but I don't know much about car audio. > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > radio cassette player on a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3. I'm pretty sure it has > changer control capability.) |
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