I just want aux-in, no headunit, no external amp, no screens, no bs!

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

What about a 3.5mm fm transmitter? Not the greatest sound quality but it's cheap and simple.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

What about a 3.5mm fm transmitter? Not the greatest sound quality but it's cheap and simple.

he doesn't want a HU, he just wants a 3.5mm input and amplified speaker outputs.

this would give him a cheap option to add a AUX to a standard HU. i prefer hard wired FM Modulators (like the Clarion FM200) over wireless due to terrible sound quality and constant interference.

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

he doesn't want a HU, he just wants a 3.5mm input and amplified speaker outputs.

oh, I assumed that was because he wanted to keep his stock deck or something...

 

[jaross 10+ year member]

an EQ boosters sounds perfect. does it have RCA jacks for input?

This will match the 80s styling of my car perfect too (its an 89 Saab 900 SPG)

Any idea of a good EQ booster that I will be able to find on the bay?

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

yes, it will have RCA input and amplified speaker outputs.

go with an Alpine and you'll be happy.

seller wants a premium for this one. check on our classifieds and DIYMA as well. maybe create a WTB thread for an 80's Alpine booster/eq

Vintage Alpine 3210 car EQ Equalizer 7 bands w/peak lights classic rare old | eBay

 

[jaross 10+ year member]

thanks for the info!

I found a Boss AVA 1404 but I am assuming Boss is complete crap.-can anyone confirm this? What should I search ebay for, as "equalizer booster" did not come up with much...

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

yes, it will have RCA input and amplified speaker outputs.
go with an Alpine and you'll be happy.

seller wants a premium for this one. check on our classifieds and DIYMA as well. maybe create a WTB thread for an 80's Alpine booster/eq

Vintage Alpine 3210 car EQ Equalizer 7 bands w/peak lights classic rare old | eBay

Awesome help here KHA! Good find.

to OP, not sure on Boss being complete crap, I know a lot of those companies were good back in the 80's, so hopefully someone can confirm this for you. If you can't find anything on eBay though, I would set-up a WTB thread as suggested, on DIYMA.

 

[Jroo 10+ year member]

You may want to look around at what some of the hotrod guys are doing. Many of them dont want to cut up their dash and want ipod or cd in their ride. I know custom autosound does some stuff for ipod. Secretaudio SST Look around because I thought I saw another company that had a ipod straight to amp solution for hotrods.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

I wouldn't buy anything by Boss Audio. they were never good.

Jensen from the 80's is also fine. older MTX is also fine, but i don't know if they did a booster eq.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Jensen 80 watt Equallizer model EQA 110 | eBay

Jensen EQA-110

I have a Jensen EQA-7P sitting in my lap. has RCA or high level inputs, 4 channel amplified outputs, 2 channel pre-outs. 7-band EQ with fader. i would sell.

listing of other older Jensen EQ's, some with amps.

 

[jaross 10+ year member]

Why do you say Boss was bad? bad audio quality, or do they die and stop functioning? I bought one for $40 shipped. I can return it though. I do like quality sound, and it looks like you may know what I mean when I say that I like Grado headphones and I have old ADS speakers as my primary setup at home. I've got a nice set of B&W loudspeakers as well. But, for this application, I am putting a cheap setup in a car with stock speakers from the '80s.. So I am not expecting anything to sound great by any measure. So with all that in account, if the Boss is not going to make my 80s stock Saab speakers sound much different then anything else, then I do not care.

Got a link to your listing? I tried searching but could not find on the forums here.

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

To the Boss question, it's probably of poor sound quality, and poor build quality.

I'm more curious towards your speakers though... Why wouldn't you want to get a simple... $100 pair of speakers to drastically improve your sound? Even if you don't plan on keeping the car long, you can always swap the speakers out.

 

[jaross 10+ year member]

I do plan on keeping the car for a while, if nothing else, as a hobby car (its a DD for now, but who knows). There are a million other things I would spend money on for the car at this point. Suspension upgrades. It could use a new clutch sooner then later. I would love to throw some nice BBS wheels on it too. I am sure it will sound much better then the battery powered portable speakers I have been playing my ipod on now. just not top priority. Plus, there is enough road noise that it really doesn't seem to matter.

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

Meh. Oh well. Just investing a little into the speakers made it a much more enjoyable ride for me, certainly a night and day difference. Being able to hear the music clearly is a huge plus to me. It just seems such a simple, affordable, constantly appreciated upgrade to me.

 

[jaross 10+ year member]

yeah, we will see how they sound. I have not been able to test them out because there is no headunit in the car right now.