so after getting fed up with using an FM transmitter for listening to my mp3 player in the car, i decided to make a line-in jack into my car stereo. it would hook up through the head unit's auxiliary port (where you are supposed to hook up a cd changer, which i dont have). so anyway, onto the installation.

parts needed:
auxiliary port converter (the most expensive part)
ground loop isolator (to reduce electrical noise from interference)
RCA to 1/8" converter
female to female 1/8" coupler
short 1/8" extension cord

the whole thing came out to $106, the most expensive part being the auxiliary port converter, which cost $80


first, i removed the head unit


then, i drilled a hole where i wanted the jack to be


here are all the parts i needed, mostly assembled


the line-in jack hooked up:


i shoved everything in the back, and secured it with electrical tape


my car in shambles



its back in!

 

another pic of the final product


it works!!


some miscellaneous pics:



everything tucked away:

 

Slick man. That's awesome

 

Wow! Nice work!

 

so i assume the sound quality is great? how long did it take u to do?

 

sound quality is perfect. sound comes through exactly as it should, sounds like a CD. In terms of time, well, you have to take the radio out, which takes 15 minutes tops (damn plugs are hard to get out sometimes). Then, i took a long time drilling because i didnt want to fuck anything up. i started with an extremely small drill bit, and once i made it through, i would switch to a larger one. i did that about 6 times, slowly widening the hole with the larger diameter bits (probably unnecessary to do it so gradually, but i wasnt going to risk it). that took about 10 minutes. After that, i hot glued the female/female coupler into place. once that dried, i hooked up all the cables and taped it in there. after that, i just had to put it back in, so it didnt take very long, nor was it very difficult.

quick question for you guys. say i went to an audio shop (assuming i didnt do any of this myself) and asked them to hook up a line-in jack to my stereo. how much would they have charged me (for parts + labor)?

 

$30 at best buy (+ tax). $15 to take out stereo, $15 to put it back in. Rest of work (hooking up crap) is free.

 

what about parts? what i meant, is how much the whole project would have cost if i went to best buy (having purchased no parts yet), and asked them to do everything i did (buy parts and labor)? also, does anyone know where i can find a retractable 1/8" stereo audio cable?

 

If you took it to best buy, they wouldn't even know how to do it.

 

Very nice project, I have a similar setup into my pioneer headunit(aux), for my laptop (mega mp3 player) but I just didn't understand paying over $100 on a stock hu, but I bet it sounds good. Nice project

 

Do you neccesarily need the "ground loop isolator" for perfect sound quality even on your stock CL stereo unit, no aftermarket amp install??

 

Holy Sh*t.. u'r the man!!! u saved me.. almost went and got one of those Aiwa head units with a line in jack. would ove been another $100