I'm planning on putting together another car PC now that I have the
Celica that has a double din slot.

The plan is to do away with the factory headunit altogether and build
the PC into a double din box behind the screen which will be permanently
mounted into the lower console like a factory navigation system.

Obviously the audio will be at line level rather than amped by an
headunit, so I need a small 4 channel amp to replace the headunit AMP.

Small in size would be useful too as I also hope to mount that behind
the dash, and wire it into the toyota factory stereo plug through a
modified ISO adaptor.

I'm happy with the sound of standard speakers, so something like a 25-40
watt per channel RMS 4 channel (or maybe even less) would be ideal.

Am I barking up the wrong tree and likely to need to replace everything
speaker wise and get a more powerful amp?

Any small product recommendations gratefully accepted.

A sub isn't essential at this point as later if I feel the need, I add a
second amp, sub and centre speaker and convert the PC to output 5.1
sound.

--
Carl Robson
(The poster formerly known as Skodapilot)
http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

First of all, getting an amplifier behind the dash may not be wise. You
need good ventilation, and that may be difficult to find. Second, head
units don't produce 25-40 watts per channel, even though their ratings say
they do. Every independent test I've seen tends to show an output of about
15 watts per channel. So your demands may require less power than you
initially thought. But you may want more power from a sound quality
perspective.

I think what you need to do first is determine WHERE you're going to mount
the amp and then you'll know the size to look for. It's common to find flat
amps, but amps with a small footprint are often harder to find. If you plan
on adding a sub later, it may just be worth doing a trunk installation now
and saving yourself the trouble later on.

--
Mark
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"MeatballTurbo" wrote in message
...
I'm planning on putting together another car PC now that I have the
Celica that has a double din slot.

The plan is to do away with the factory headunit altogether and build
the PC into a double din box behind the screen which will be permanently
mounted into the lower console like a factory navigation system.

Obviously the audio will be at line level rather than amped by an
headunit, so I need a small 4 channel amp to replace the headunit AMP.

Small in size would be useful too as I also hope to mount that behind
the dash, and wire it into the toyota factory stereo plug through a
modified ISO adaptor.

I'm happy with the sound of standard speakers, so something like a 25-40
watt per channel RMS 4 channel (or maybe even less) would be ideal.

Am I barking up the wrong tree and likely to need to replace everything
speaker wise and get a more powerful amp?

Any small product recommendations gratefully accepted.

A sub isn't essential at this point as later if I feel the need, I add a
second amp, sub and centre speaker and convert the PC to output 5.1
sound.

--
Carl Robson
(The poster formerly known as Skodapilot)
http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

In article ,
pam spouted forth into rec.audio.car...
I think what you need to do first is determine WHERE you're going to mount
the amp and then you'll know the size to look for. It's common to find flat
amps, but amps with a small footprint are often harder to find. If you plan
on adding a sub later, it may just be worth doing a trunk installation now
and saving yourself the trouble later on.


Thatnks for the advice on the RMS ratings.

Other choice I had was to mount it to a board under the passenger side
front seat as it is closest to the battery (UK car).

For the Sub, I would probably go with a trunk mounted option for a sub,
but that will be added later on it's own channel from the PC sound card,
so it makes sense to give it it's own amp when I do.
--
Carl Robson
(The poster formerly known as Skodapilot)
http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

Thatnks for the advice on the RMS ratings.

Other choice I had was to mount it to a board under the passenger side
front seat as it is closest to the battery (UK car).

Usually not a good idea, IMO. It'll probably see exposure to the elements.
When it's snowy out, the carpet under my seat gets a little wet. I don't
know about yours.


For the Sub, I would probably go with a trunk mounted option for a sub,
but that will be added later on it's own channel from the PC sound card,
so it makes sense to give it it's own amp when I do.

Right, but you still have to run the main power wire directly from the
battery to the amplifier and an audio line to the PC.

My PC is mounted in the trunk right next to the amplifiers. The main power
wire feeds all of the amplifiers and the computer and other things. You
have to think about how you want the remote turn-on to work. My USB output
drives a 5v relay which feeds the amplifier's 12v remote input.

In article ,
pam spouted forth into rec.audio.car...

My PC is mounted in the trunk right next to the amplifiers. The main power
wire feeds all of the amplifiers and the computer and other things. You
have to think about how you want the remote turn-on to work. My USB output
drives a 5v relay which feeds the amplifier's 12v remote input.

The PC is going to be mounted in a double din frame behind where the
stock double din radio would go, with a 7 inch screen covering it.

I was goign to use a 12v feed from the Opus PSU to operate a relay to
power the amp and antenna remotes.

The plan was to make a harness adaptor for speaker and low power
connections (ignition live, amp remote and antenna remote) to tap into
the existing Toyota wiring, as it is wired for remote turn on of the
existing antenna and the option "livesound" amp system, then hard wire
in the additional cabling for the Amp and the Opus permanent feeds.

So the system can be easily plugged in once main power has been
connected.

In the past when using a headunit as the amp on other PC systems I've
built for myself, I've used the Antenna remote line to turn on the
Inverter, but this time I'm doing away with the headunit and inverter,
and using either PC FM, or PC DAB and an Opus 12V ATX PSU, operating
everything from car level voltages and computer function.
--
Carl Robson
(The poster formerly known as Skodapilot)
http://www.bouncing-czechs.com