mStation In-car MP3 and power to the boot...

[PhilM]

any1 used/played with the mStation in car MP3 player? Ive seen a few good reviews but just wondered if any1 on here had any experiances with it they wanted to share...

Also, kind related... Is it better to run a thicker power cable to the boot now (even though ive only got a small active sub in there - at the moment) rather than install the amps small (less than 10A) power feed now and have to rip it out to put another one in at a later date?

Thanx

Phil M

[PaulB]

Bigger cables are always better in electrical terms.

Only seen the item you mention in Halfords. If i went the MP3 route id probably get the in dash Kenwood.

you may find the following link useful.

Its where i have bought all my ICE in the past.

CAR AUDIO DIRECT - MP3

[PhilM]

bigger cable? well, depends on current and volt drop (im a sparkie!) what i mean is, is it better to put a big one on now, even though i wont be needing shed-loads of current...

Caraudiodirect - yup, been there - thats where i found it!

[Noz]

I have found one disadvantage with the Kenwood player. It can only handle up to 128Kbit/s, which in a good setup can sound quite rough. I'm holding out for something that can cover up to 192 Kbit/s or more.

What is this Mstation stuff, is it any good?

[PaulB]

im a sparkie by trade too. Although im in maintenance now

I would rather take a car apart once, when wiring, rather than having to re-wire it all again, if i decided to bung another amp in.

When I did my Calibra, I had the capability of a 60A feed, yet I only required 40A

It was also handy, cos I could alway jump start my car from the boot if required!, though I never had to.

[PhilM]

i'll go for it then! what am i gonna need....

Im guessing...

Battery terminal
inline fuse holder near battery
enough cable to reach the boot
and some sort of fused distribution in the boot itself

Anythin else???

Phil M

[PaulB]

you can buy a kit. But a 5m kit wasnt long enough for where i wanted to put my amp and run my cables.

Fuse, fuse holder(within 18inches of battery) (live) cable, and identicel size short ground cable, to ground locally, in boot.
crimps etc.

you might need a different battery terminal post? If its not easy to connect to the current one.

I didnt use a distribution block in the boot. I only ever fitted the one Pheonix Gold amp, and it was already fused.

your also require a small ignition switch feed.

I made mine up with rockford components and gold plated crimps for a final touch. I even run the ignition switch in rockford cable so it all matched.

[PhilM]

okies...

what size cable then (as in current capacity)? Im not into loud music and thumping bass, just quality stuff, so i probably wont need huge amounts of power.

[PaulB]

check the spec of the item your connecting.

Im not ofay with the current capacity and sizing of automotive cable.
It is measured in guage, not in mm squared like im used to


I bought all my stuff from the lads @ Oxford Car Audio. Car Audio Direct is their sister company. I'd spend hours over there!

[Noz]

There is one thing you should consider. Even if you don't like it loud, its still a good idea to go for as thick as possible. I had a 4x35w RMS amp, and still gave it a power supply across a 10 mm wide cable. Probably way too much, but I didn't have any problems with it.

[Astranut]

The Mstatiosn is cool got one in me audio board at work (i work for Halfords)

i got the Keny mp3 player in my car, its not a bad unit for the price.

The Alpine mp3 player is £799.99 and handles 192kbit encoding

Went to a meeting with the area Pionneer rep last week, got to see the show car, thats cool

i was talking to him about what pioneer are doing with mp3 next year and he said they are releasing a new head unit that is cd AND uses a memory stick, the memory stick will hold about 2gb of data. It will also have the programable OEL display

Which basicly means u can make a video of ya bird/car and then download it on to you face plate of the pioneer and u will be able to see it on the oel display. The retail on that is gonna be about £850

Oh yeh and u will be happy to hear that due to popular demand "Dolphins" are back