New 350z

[Bear1985]

Hi there,

 

Im new to this board as I have just treated myself to a 2004 350ZGT last week and I feckin' love it. I was initially impressed with the Bose soundsystem but now the "new car novelty" is wearing off a little I want to modify it.

 

After speaking to a friend of mine, an ICE expert, he advised me of putting in a PC in the rear glove box and to put a touchscreen monitor in the dash to run off the PC. Then all subsquent wiring for the sound system would run from the PC ---> AMP ---> to the speakers/sub.

 

Already decided on a competition subwoofer from JBL but not any of the components or AMP.

 

However what I needed help with, and I apologise if this has previously been covered, will a normal double dinn stereo fit into the slot or are there some modifications to be done first?

 

I have been made aware of some facias to buy and other possible solutions but I am a little lost with all the different solutions.

 

In short I'd like a touchscreen VGA monitor mounted in dash where the existing headunit is without it looking Bodged! Haha Fat Chance

 

Any ideas please tell or if this has been covered I apologise and just boot me in the right direction.

 

Hello to all and I hope to get my pics up soon enough! Laters

[AndySpak]

 

Got no idea about you ICE questions

 

Sure someone knowledgable will be along soon

[martinmac]

Sounds like a job for H5 bud. Welcome to the forum

[Bear1985]

Sounds like a job for H5 bud. Welcome to the forum

 

Yeah - after zipping through the previous forums this seems to be the case but Im a newbie so feel a bit cheeky to ask these questions out the blue!

 

 

Hoping to get it all sorted this week - although I dont mind driving about with the window down listening to the sweet sound of that v6 - yum

[GIXXERUK]

http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13074

 

[3FIDDYZ]

Sounds like a H5 for the Sub and a ChrisI for the CarPC as hes running one..

 

Still dont think the Car PC's are upto scratch yet, Kenwood DNX7200 for me, connected to an IPOD. The only thing it hasnt got is the WiFi but do you need it?

 

Also, if your going to go for a touch screen, a 7" will fit in the upper cubby... easier to view the sat nav with...

 

Also, where did he suggest putting the Sub?

[Beavis]

to the forum

[Chris`I]

 

MP3car.com is the place to start for CarPCs. Do a search for LeeMiks (he's also on here but one of our American cousins). There are full details of his build, of which I got a lot of inspiration. 7" touchscreen is easily mounted into the front cubby and plenty of space behind the AC control to hide things. I would suggest (if you have the money) to get a transflexive display as they greatly reduce glare from sun. Also an old laptop makes for a perfect CarPC in the Zed, nice and flat and easy to install. For a software front end I suggest Centrafuse (google it). Get the bog basic version for now as they are making changes to it, and I can get Nav working for it if you PM me I'll explain

 

If you can get to the Wales run I can fully explain what I've done. Having recently moved to a new laptop though, the install is a little rough around the edges in the glovebox, but the software side of it is now very stable and pretty darn good.

[Digsy]

Hi and welcome!

[Bear1985]

 

MP3car.com is the place to start for CarPCs. Do a search for LeeMiks (he's also on here but one of our American cousins). There are full details of his build, of which I got a lot of inspiration. 7" touchscreen is easily mounted into the front cubby and plenty of space behind the AC control to hide things. I would suggest (if you have the money) to get a transflexive display as they greatly reduce glare from sun. Also an old laptop makes for a perfect CarPC in the Zed, nice and flat and easy to install. For a software front end I suggest Centrafuse (google it). Get the bog basic version for now as they are making changes to it, and I can get Nav working for it if you PM me I'll explain

 

If you can get to the Wales run I can fully explain what I've done. Having recently moved to a new laptop though, the install is a little rough around the edges in the glovebox, but the software side of it is now very stable and pretty darn good.

 

Well I was actually going to build my own PC from scratch so therefore I can have as many or as little components that I want from it. I could build one that would be uptodate, 500GB for storage, bluetooth (for the mobile), Wifi, and anything else. But thanks very much for the advice.

 

Also I would want to replace the Bose stereo because it would be useless after the modifications. But the upper cubby slot sounds like a good idea. I hope to get on a 350Z run soon once all my mods are done! lol

 

Cheers boys! Keep coming with your invaluable advice!

[H5]

If you are going PC, you don't have to go as full bore on the rest of the equipment - the sound quality of compressed files will mean the ability of the speakers and amps will be so much above the signal you won't be getting the best out of them.

 

If you are building your own PC, you could use something like an Alpine touchscreen unit on it's own in the standard location. Given the slightly different size screens you won't find a 'vanilla' fascia for a screen, you would need a custom mount made up.

 

Double DIN stereos will fit in. However, some won't where they are so deep and cuboid that they catch in the top edge. A touch screen on it's own to control the PC would fit as it's mounting depth would be much less.

 

Components such as amps, cabling, sound proofing, sub box, speakers etc. are all dependant on budget and installation. Being how much do you want to spend and how much can you do yourself?

 

HTH

[Ardesco]

Gah, I hate you all. You have ignited the geek in me and now got me started on carputers.......

 

[Rob_Quads]

What is it you are looking for from a incar PC? THe reason I ask is its a lot of work and probably not that much cheaper than getting one of the comprehensive screen units that are available now.

[M13KYF]

someone has done it before on here, a search should help

 

http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic ... light=mini

 

http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic ... &start=135

 

by the way

[Bear1985]

If you are going PC, you don't have to go as full bore on the rest of the equipment - the sound quality of compressed files will mean the ability of the speakers and amps will be so much above the signal you won't be getting the best out of them.

 

If you are building your own PC, you could use something like an Alpine touchscreen unit on it's own in the standard location. Given the slightly different size screens you won't find a 'vanilla' fascia for a screen, you would need a custom mount made up.

 

Double DIN stereos will fit in. However, some won't where they are so deep and cuboid that they catch in the top edge. A touch screen on it's own to control the PC would fit as it's mounting depth would be much less.

 

Components such as amps, cabling, sound proofing, sub box, speakers etc. are all dependant on budget and installation. Being how much do you want to spend and how much can you do yourself?

 

HTH

 

Budget isnt much of an issue to be honest and I would spend as much as it costs to get the system I want. But in total not much more than £2k.

 

I would be doing most of the wiring and work myself except the screen if a facia had to be custom made.

 

Im struggling to find a touchscreen thats VGA that will fit inside the double din slot though - any ideas?

 

Also could you explain what you mean about the different signals of compressed files run from a PC. That bit went over my head! lol

[H5]

If you are going PC, you don't have to go as full bore on the rest of the equipment - the sound quality of compressed files will mean the ability of the speakers and amps will be so much above the signal you won't be getting the best out of them.

 

If you are building your own PC, you could use something like an Alpine touchscreen unit on it's own in the standard location. Given the slightly different size screens you won't find a 'vanilla' fascia for a screen, you would need a custom mount made up.

 

Double DIN stereos will fit in. However, some won't where they are so deep and cuboid that they catch in the top edge. A touch screen on it's own to control the PC would fit as it's mounting depth would be much less.

 

Components such as amps, cabling, sound proofing, sub box, speakers etc. are all dependant on budget and installation. Being how much do you want to spend and how much can you do yourself?

 

HTH

 

Budget isnt much of an issue to be honest and I would spend as much as it costs to get the system I want. But in total not much more than £2k.

 

I would be doing most of the wiring and work myself except the screen if a facia had to be custom made.

 

Im struggling to find a touchscreen thats VGA that will fit inside the double din slot though - any ideas?

 

Also could you explain what you mean about the different signals of compressed files run from a PC. That bit went over my head! lol

 

MP3 / iPod formats of music are compressed and as a result lose sound quality. A CD track of 5mb finds itself more like 1mb in iPod format, sometimes not so bad in other formats. This has the effect of taking some of the music quality away, and having equipment that would normally make the most of the extra detail would not be necessary. In my car, the difference between MP3 and CD is noticeable to those who sit in it for the first time.

 

That is where budget can become an issue - £2k can be swallowed in a high end amp, speakers and headunit alone, before the bits in between.

 

Alpine tend to do the best range of these sorts of things. Not the cheapest, but their quality in most source areas (CD, screen, DVD etc.) is rarely matched IMO. See what meets your needs in terms of function - http://www.alpine-electronics.co.uk/ind ... _solutions

 

Making a custom fascia isn't hard in itself - it's getting the finish to a level that not only looks good from the start, but lasts!

 

Is the main aim sound, or a one-box fits all? Is it DVD / Video you want?

[Bear1985]

I'll be honest - Im still only 22 so I am real Bass Junkie! Haha In my previous car I had 3 x 12" subs running (Bit of a boy racer - yes I know) and loved the feeling of feeling smacked about the car with the vibrations.

 

Its not necessarily because I want people to turn and look at me - I turn it down in a busy road etc.

 

Basically the car pc would be useful as I could have endless amounts of music - I have about 50BG on my pc at home, videos, Sat Nav, Blue tooth etc. So I would want to encompass all of that with quality sound.

 

As I said the dosh isnt too important - Been looking at a JBL 10" competition sub £450 and infinity components all round. Any recommendations though?

[Ardesco]

bit of poking about resulted in this:

 

http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=10949

 

no idea how good it is though. Something that is going to need some research I think

 

Also no reason you can't save your music in FLAC format. PC's are so versatile when used properly

[H5]

I'll be honest - Im still only 22 so I am real Bass Junkie! Haha In my previous car I had 3 x 12" subs running (Bit of a boy racer - yes I know) and loved the feeling of feeling smacked about the car with the vibrations.

 

Its not necessarily because I want people to turn and look at me - I turn it down in a busy road etc.

 

Basically the car pc would be useful as I could have endless amounts of music - I have about 50BG on my pc at home, videos, Sat Nav, Blue tooth etc. So I would want to encompass all of that with quality sound.

 

As I said the dosh isnt too important - Been looking at a JBL 10" competition sub £450 and infinity components all round. Any recommendations though?

 

So am I mate, I'm 27!

 

If you want decent bass, you really don't want MP3's. It is the first frequency to get cut off and the difference is massive. I can see the attraction of mass storage, but there is a quality trade off.

 

I have a JL Audio 10W7 - I have yet to have anyone in the car that thinks there is less than 2 x12"s in the car, but the quality is also there (one or two others on here have heard it).

 

But it has to be driven by the right signal. If the frequency isn't there, the pre-out can't send it, the amplifier can't amplify it, the speaker cable can't carry it, the speaker won't produce it and you won't hear it. If anything in that chain isn't doing it's job, it won't work. I am running a JL Audio 500/1 that puts out 500w RMS - regardless. If you are talking the usual JBL / Kenwood amp power output claims it is about 2kw.

 

One of those Alpine screens will allow mass storage connectivity, Bluetooth for the phone, full iPod control, DVD / CD changer control and Bluetooth audio too.

 

I would say something like a decent screen / controller like the Alpine, a set of 6.5" components (JL, Rainbow, DLS, Focal, Hertz etc.), a Genesis / JL / Audison monoblock amp for a sub and one for the front end, and a JL sub (not many others cut it IMO - maybe the Focal) then you will have a fine high end system. But you'd be looking at about £3k for kit alone.

[Bear1985]

That screen is 130mm high and the space in the zed is 113mm high.....

 

[H5]

There are others, if you click on the different models on the left.

 

http://www.alpine-electronics.co.uk/ind ... atalog_pi1[show]=features#ridercontent

[Ardesco]

Depending on how adventurous you are feeling you could shave 8mm off each side. Must admit I just looked at the width of the screen, not the height.

 

Maybe a 6.4" screen would be more realistic?

[Rob_Quads]

If you are building a incar PC you might want to look at some of the touchscreens from the likes of lilliput etc - not the quality of Alpine minotors but they are touchscreens making them much more user friendly.

 

I looked at doing this a while back and there are a few 800x480 screens that will fit perfectly into the Nav cubby home

 

Even if you go for the incar PC you can still get High quality out from it - get a half decent soundcard from the likes of MAudio and then store the music in a less lossy format such as flac etc and you will have some awesome sounds.

 

I agree 100% with H5 in terms of get decent equiptment and it will sound very loud. A decent amp and sub setup properly can blow people away at how loud they can be.

[H5]

If you are building a incar PC you might want to look at some of the touchscreens from the likes of lilliput etc - not the quality of Alpine minotors but they are touchscreens making them much more user friendly.

 

I looked at doing this a while back and there are a few 800x480 screens that will fit perfectly into the Nav cubby home

 

Even if you go for the incar PC you can still get High quality out from it - get a half decent soundcard from the likes of MAudio and then store the music in a less lossy format such as flac etc and you will have some awesome sounds.

 

I agree 100% with H5 in terms of get decent equiptment and it will sound very loud. A decent amp and sub setup properly can blow people away at how loud they can be.

 

Agreed, there are cheaper options. Alpine do some touchscreens too, but are pricey. FLAC can help, then you're into storage, cooling and fan noise to deal with. Something I couldn't be doing with!

[Ardesco]

If you are building a incar PC you might want to look at some of the touchscreens from the likes of lilliput etc - not the quality of Alpine minotors but they are touchscreens making them much more user friendly.

 

I looked at doing this a while back and there are a few 800x480 screens that will fit perfectly into the Nav cubby home

 

Even if you go for the incar PC you can still get High quality out from it - get a half decent soundcard from the likes of MAudio and then store the music in a less lossy format such as flac etc and you will have some awesome sounds.

 

I agree 100% with H5 in terms of get decent equiptment and it will sound very loud. A decent amp and sub setup properly can blow people away at how loud they can be.

 

Agreed, there are cheaper options. Alpine do some touchscreens too, but are pricey. FLAC can help, then you're into storage, cooling and fan noise to deal with. Something I couldn't be doing with!

 

I don't see storage as a big issue really, all depends on what you are going to put in there. You can easily get a couple of TB worth of hard drive space for not too much money nowadays, that should hold a loads of music even if it isn't compressed.

 

Separate the hard drives from the rest of the system and one of the major causes of heat is gone, and buy a couple of slimline DVD players so you can slot in CD's or DVD's as and when required and it all sounds good.

 

I'm actually quite getting into the idea of this now