Need a car audio/video recommendation

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
I have two LCD TVs and a DVD player in my Yukon XL, they are not factory and were installed by a PO. Right now the only way to listen to a DVD is to use headphones. My daughter is too young/small for the headphones so I am wondering if there is a way to run the sound thorugh the factory speakers. Anyone know if this is possible? Any recommendation for someone to do this in the Winston-Salem area?
 
Sounds Good in Kernersville can do it for you. Ask for Jimmy. What you need is an rf transmitter. Pretty common item, they have them hanging on the shelf.
 
Does your head unit have an aux (headphone jack) input? If so just get a 1/8" stereo cable and connect the headphone jack from the DVD player to the input on the head unit.
 
FM Transmitter is the easiest way. Get a good one and the sound will be better. It takes the audio from the dvd by RCA to the transmitter and turns it into a "radio station" you can tune radio to.
 
The headunit is factory and has no headphone jack.
 
Yeah the easiest solution here is to go to target, walmart, anywhere and get an rf transmitter. Plug it into thr dvd player headphone jack. Tune in w hradunit. Done.
Of course this mrans you have to listen to your daughters movies....
 
Those RF transmitters don't work for shit. They don't put out enough power and get overridden by stations on adjacent frequencies. The only one I've ever had that worked at all came with a Sirius receiver. It had a massive metal heat sink attached to the back of it, and it got good and hot when it was working. Even still, when you were on the road, you'd have to change the frequency every hour or so to avoid a nearby station that was interfering.

Look around and see if there's an aftermarket line-in adapter for your OEM head unit. I got one for my Dodge that plugs into the factory expansion port for a Sirius receiver or CD changer (depending on the year/model/etc). Works like a charm.
 
shawn said:
Those RF transmitters don't work for shit. They don't put out enough power and get overridden by stations on adjacent frequencies.
Look around and see if there's an aftermarket line-in adapter for your OEM head unit. I got one for my Dodge that plugs into the factory expansion port for a Sirius receiver or CD changer (depending on the year/model/etc). Works like a charm.
Click to expand...

Thank you for putting that out there. Every time I see someone buying those, I have to give them the above words before they hit the register.

PAC makes some pretty cool stuff that allows you to use your factory radio controls. Any reputable car audio store can install for you.
 
The rf mod I was talking about goes inline on the factory ant. The box goes inline and disconnects the ant from the radio and works WAY better than the cheap over the air rf mods....
 
I've never messed with the inline ones. They should work a lot better, since they can block all regular incoming broadcasts. I stayed away because I read reviews saying they reduced the signal strength from the antenna *all* the time. 103.5 barely comes in as it is... :lol:
 
what brand dvd units are they? Alot of the units have wireless fm transmitters that work fairly well. The xm and sirius wireless transmitters are shit after the fcc made them cut them back, used to be able to ride beside someone with an old xm delphi radio and pickup their tunes.

If you want pm me, i install for a living and could swing by and take a look sometime. I do work for dealerships all over the triad
 
As mentioned a RF transmitter is the easiest, but they are horrible, I've even had the inline type pick up other radio stations, and even the kid in the car next to me's Ipod if his wireless RF transmitter was strong enough (that happened ALL the time when I was in school in Raleigh, even with my $75 inline setup that was supposed to prevent this)

I ripped it out and soldered in a headphone jack to the board of my stock radio, it was actually easier than it sounds, took about an hour, and cost less than $3 for the parts from radioshack. I have done that on the 95-02 style radios and the 03-06 style radios. You simply tap into the signal coming from the cassette or CD to the amplifier in the radio. When something is plugged in it cuts the signal and goes to the aux input, when you unplug it normal cassette/CD audio flows through. You just keep a CD/cassette in there to "trick" it into thinking it is working normally. If your Yukon is a 00-02 with the cassette player in the console it is even easier, no soldering, just tap into the wires leading from the cassette player to the radio. (this is the same connection the $100 aftermarket adapter units use)

I have also installed a few of those PAC adapters for others that do the same thing as I did, except plug and go, and they work great, but if you have any wiring knowledge you can do the same for much less.
 
Thanks for all the info guys.

It is a 2004 Yukon XL and it is a Denali if that makes a difference.
 
Being a Denali, you will need to double check that the Bose vs. BoseLUX doesn't make a difference with one of those adapters, I seem to remember there being a different one needed for the BoseLUX vs the standard Bose.
 
I'd just spend $150 on a new head unit that has Aux inputs. My experience with FM transmitters has been that they are junk and if you're going to spend money on something you might as well do it right the first time.

You get a port to plug your iPod, Smartphone (w/Pandora or Spotify), etc. into. Your daughter's DVD player can be plugged in as needed. And you can probably sell the factory head unit on eBay for $100 give or take $20. I've done this on my last two trucks and my only regret is that in my current ride I went with the $100 JVC instead of springing for something a little nicer.

I buy from Crutchfield. They throw in the wiring harness and fitment kit as well as a very nice set of instructions with pictures. You might find it for $30 cheaper elsewhere, but when you consider the value adds from Crutchfield it's a nominal savings.

Being a nicer truck, you probably have some sort of factory amp. My 4Runner Limited had one, but it was right below the head unit. In my case the new wiring harness bypassed the amp, so that was another piece I was able to sell. The techs at Crutchfield can advise you on how this will work for your particular vehicle.
 
Fart said:
Being a nicer truck, you probably have some sort of factory amp. My 4Runner Limited had one, but it was right below the head unit. In my case the new wiring harness bypassed the amp, so that was another piece I was able to sell. The techs at Crutchfield can advise you on how this will work for your particular vehicle.
Click to expand...

His Denali will have an amp, under the console. depending on which amp he has, Bose or BoseLUX, a nice aftermarket radio will be about equal to the Bose amp in output so it can be bypassed or not, the BoseLUX will be above pretty much any aftermarket radio's built in amp though. The adapter for the BOSE, the chime adapter, and the data bus harnesses are pretty expensive for these trucks though, crutchfield does not include those adapters, and they are nearly as expensive as the new radio.
 
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