For reasons I wont go into due to the flaming I will receive, I want to hook up a 3.5mm input into my stereo, but to do so as cheap as possible.

I have a Kenwood stereo atm which accepts 3.5mm inputs, but it cost £30 and i'm sure there must be a cheaper way to hook my device up. I was toying with either replacing my current stereo with an abused, smashed and semi broken stereo which has a 3.5mm imput, but i thought something that shit might just ruin the sound quality.

I also thought about an amp, but frankly I really have no idea. It has to be cheap, though.

Speaker wise it needs to hook up my current speakers - which are Kenwood KFC-1761S' (advertised at 200w peak input power) at the front and JBL GTO626's (peak 180w, RMS of 60w) at the rear.

My current stereo has an output of 4x50w and is more than loud enough at 2/3rd's volume, and mega noise isn't really what I want anyway.

So - ideas?

Cheap, nasty, small amplifier...

http://www.ioffer.com/i/Mini-H ... -Motorcycle-Boat-67528251

Will it rape my sound quality, though?

Use an FM transmitter? In some cars they have awful feedback, but mine sounds better than the radio. I got mine for ~€4 a year ago, worked fine ever since. I also have a cassette adaptor which works even better, but I presume I'm the only one still stuck with a tape deck in the car

Quote from dougie-lampkin :

Use an FM transmitter? In some cars they have awful feedback, but mine sounds better than the radio. I got mine for ~€4 a year ago, worked fine ever since. I also have a cassette adaptor which works even better, but I presume I'm the only one still stuck with a tape deck in the car

I already have a stereo with aux-in, I just want something better quality or cheaper.

FM transmitter = fail.

It is cheaper

Most head units have a pre output for amps and stuff, plus some have a cd changer input as well, although these are quite often a multi pin plug affair as opposed to a regular 3.5mm jack.

It also depends what you want to run into the stereo as well to a point.

Think about a PC...

Going for a carPC too?

I'm using mine as a mixer, as in, the stereo is fed as a line in into the PC. Then I use an amp from the PC to the speakers. Effectively, this gives me unlimited inputs into the PC, which feeds the speakers in turn. Mine's going in the Mini as soon as I find a decent way of powering it, it's all ready to go though

What exactly are you trying to do? Plug an mp3 player into ur car stereo?

EDIT:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module ... 94&C=SO&U=strat15

You will get something like this for under £10 at Halfords or Comet/Currys...

Quote from Foilpact :

What exactly are you trying to do? Plug an mp3 player into ur car stereo?

EDIT:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module ... 94&C=SO&U=strat15

You will get something like this for under £10 at Halfords or Comet/Currys...

wth - I already have a stereo with a 3.5mm input and the cables (which I can get for a hell of a lot less than £10!), I want something with the same quality or better than costs less than my stereo...

It seems like a huge waste to but a nice working stereo deep in my dash and never see it again.

So u want a stereo thats cheaper and better than th one u have altho the one u have does what u need anyway?.... U wont get much more than 4x50W in a headunit so if u want clear and loud u need an amp.....

My Kenwood stereo was £50 from Halfords... It has 3.5mm input, 2 amp outs, 55Wx4 and can play upto 10 hours of mp3s off normal cd's....

I dont neccesarily want a stereo - i want something i can plug a 3.5mm input into.

If an amp works out cheaper - i'll do that.

Quote from Jakg :

I already have a stereo with aux-in, I just want something better quality or cheaper.

.

please excuse, i'm tired.

The stereo you have now(in the car)has a AUX-in and you have an ipod and want it to go through the stereo and out speakers for cheap as possible?

I dont have an iPod, I have a PC...

It just seems like a waste to have a £30 stereo doing nothing but being a pass-through - so i wondered if something else could do it.

Plugging the pc into th stereo is probably th best option really....

Even if u fitted an amp, it is still better to use the stereo as a passthru, It will convert 2 channel audio upto 4 channel and you would keep all the sound options n cd/radio features of the stereo working....

If u just wanted to use an amp on its own you would have to rewire all the speakers and basically have the stereo disconnected sitting in the dash taking up space.....

The stereo wont be used for CD playing radio, anything, it's just going to be used for the input.

The stereo will be mounted inside the dash with something else in it's place.