MG-Cars.com
MG Midget and Sprite Technical Midget radio BBS discussion at MG-Cars.net
MG-Cars.net
Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.
Recommendations
Parts
MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.
|
|
MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Midget radio
| Has anyone found a really, really small radio (smaller than the standard DIN fitting) and equally small speakers to fit our wonderful small cars? I'm looking for something pretty tiny so it doesn't take up too much space. Not bothered about tapes, CDs etc. Any ideas or am I pipe dreaming? Tahnks Jeremy |
| Jeremy 3 |
| I ahve a very small amp that a MP3 player plugs into, however, a portable radio would also fit nicely. If you want the link for the item give me a yell, it was only £14 and with a little black spray fits in with the interior very nicely!! its only about 2.5 x 5 inchess so much smaller than DIN!! BC |
| B Cavagan |
| you can fit a small amp in the boot or against the top of the passengers footwel and just plug in your ipod if you fit it neatly there will just be a smal jack plug some where near the dash |
| o Könemann |
| Buy one with a headphone socket, otherwise you'd never hear it apart from at junctions. Brad |
| B Richards |
| Years ago I bought a Radio Shack Optimus radio&tape player that fits nicely in the console with enough clearance for shifting. I had measured what clearance there was and went store to store measuring units. I did have to fudge the power connector on the back. For speakers I found two small (2 1/2"???) dual cone speakers and also mounted them in the console. Works fine |
| c c |
| I can't advise on the radio, (my car has a custom housing for the radio and the unit I use might not fit a standard housing) but I found a pair of 6" X 4" oval speakers would fit nice under the dash. Screwed them to the flange between the upper and middle firewall panels. Brad is right about the headphones though, too much noise in my car to hear the radio except when moving slowly in traffic or stopped. I really need headphones if I want to listen. Because of the security issue I'd advise some type of portable device which you can just plug into a power jack in the car. That way you can store it in the boot under lock and not worry about some idiot cutting your hood to steal the radio. |
| Bill Young |
| Just change your cam instead of your CD, much better :-) In my car there is no way you'd hear a stereo or conversation really, then again if you were single.... Brad |
| B Richards |
| Thanks for the ideas. A removeable device with a separate amp in the boot seems the way to go. BC be grateful for the link you mention? Thansk again Jeremy |
| Jeremy 3 |
| Id wait a couple years....car radios are going to get really small now that the whole world has gone to MP3, and no one uses CD's anymore or go to ebay, there are always good used lucas AM/FM factory radios made just for the midget... or the simplist way ...a really cool boom box with a cig lighter plug in power cord, just throw it behind you, in back of the seats or talk to david lieb, he has a ""really cool"" radio set-up prop |
| Pro P |
| My kids got me the 'VR3' unit from the local Schucks auto part store. It's a nice enough unit, about 240 watts out divided by 4 channels. Has CD, AM/FM. Aux in and what I use all the time - SD memory card slot. I put several hundred mp3's on a memory card, plug & play. I've got Sony Xplod 6x9 speakers in back and Alpine 6 inch round up front. It's loud enough to hear, and fine enough to sound good when cranked up. What do I listen to? Lots really, one of my favorites while driving my Midget is: "My My, Hey Hey, Rock & Roll is here to stay. It's better to burn out, than it is to rust" Rust Never Sleeps (Out of the blue) - Neil Young 1979 |
| Rick Bastedo |
| How about a pair of MX-5 seats which have the speakers in the headrests? |
| Shaun |
| My son has an MX5 .... wonder if he qould noice the lovely vinyl seats from the midget? |
| Jeremy 3 |
| Jeremy, Dont underestimate these, they look awful, bit they gove a good punch per £!! I have mine mounted just beneath the dash, removed the front of the amp and sprayed crackle black, against the chrome knobs, looks really nice. linky:: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100-Watt-Blue-Mini-Stereo-Amplifier-for-MP3-iPOD_W0QQitemZ380057399111QQihZ025QQcategoryZ3280QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262 sorry I dont know how to do that tiny thingymebob!! BC |
| B Cavagan |
| BC, Many thanks for this - it looks exactly the type of amp I'm looking for. And very reaonably priced as well! Jeremy |
| Jeremy 3 |
| The PO in my '72 installed some spaceage, remote controlled AM/FM/CD monstrosity in the existing console. In order to get it in, he added spacers which pushed the console out about one inch. You couldn't get the CD in... He added large speakers in particle board boxes behind the seats. The top doesn't fold down into the well properly, so when you get to the right speed, air gets under the top and lift it up and out. Guess how I found out... It's all coming out. I've been to a number of local electronics places here in TX, but none sell small AM/FM radios that don't require some modifications somewhere. Most are simply too large for the available space. Since I'm trying to keep the price down, I'm trying to stay away from amps, ipods, etc., and just use a small AM/FM radio and single console speaker. Moss now has one for about $260 or so. Glen |
| G. D. Phillips |
| I dont understand why someone doesnt make an inexpensive am/fm/aux in car stereo- it would only have to be about an inch deep. i saw something similar from moss, but over 250.00. |
| don g |
| why old school,,,if your going to spend that kind of money, do this instead, so much cooler...besides, do you REALLY want to be one of the few people driving in heavy traffic at high speeds NOT using this....that would be just so old fashioned. wheres your scence of adventure??? prop http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8887519&type=product&id=1211455017758 |
| Pro P |
| Absolutely Prop - such a shame they're not yet available here in the UK! I think I'll go for a small amp, thanks BC and see if it can be linked up to an MP3/radio combo. Still need to work out how to link the car aerial to the MP3 and find some very small but powerful speakers. Want to keep any mods to a minimm so no cutting holes in the lovely heat moulded vinyl or bodywork. Not sure if it's doable but I'll soon find out! Thanks for everybody's contributions and for youe help and advice. Jeremy |
| Jeremy 3 |
| Jermemy I had this setup for a while, my MP3 player had an FM radio and the aerial used the headphone socket... So I plugged the aerial into the headphone socket, and used the lineout to the amp. I fabricated a box from MDF to fit behind the seats. It had curved sides so it fits snuggly and had room for the amp inbetween the speakers. I made it in 2 pieces the top section for the speakers was removeable to gain access to the amp which sits below. I also covered the top section with speaker cloth and painted the rest black.  |
| Ed Brown |
| Since someone mentioned it, I will re-post the link to the way I installed my radio and speakers. http://home.comcast.net/~rmidget/radio/ Admittedly, it is not very good for listening to the radio, since it is hard to see the display. Since I swapped the am/fm/cassette for a Pioneer am/fm/cd/mp3, however, it works great for inserting a cd full of mp3 files and listening to songs I want to hear for hours at a time with no interference. I inserted two small speakers behind the grille of the console to add some dimension to the sound and I can hear it just fine with the top down at 80mph. No additional amps, either. The Pioneer has a removable faceplate to discourage the unrighteous and the old am/fm is still in the console to keep them from looking for a stereo worth stealing. The whole thing slides out quite easily, too. If I were to re-think the whole thing today, I would probably find a simple amp to which I could connect the headphone jack of an MP3 player and leave it at that. David "sounding off" Lieb |
| David Lieb |
| I've also thought about getting the in-dash dvd player. You can burn a lot of MP3's on a dvd. A coworker has one and love it. |
| Rick Bastedo |
| Rick, I have found that a CD of MP3 files will typically last me 8 hours. A DVD of MP3 files would probably last too long. I take the radio out of my car for autocrossing and I have not yet rigged up a battery to retain the memory settings, so I get to start the disk over when I put it in. With a DVD it would take far too long to get back to where I was. I think an external MP3 player would be more convenient. David "too much of a good thing" Lieb |
| David Lieb |
| Ed, David, thanks for the ideas. Hadn't thought about having a completely separate fitting for the radio and speakers but like the concept! Especially the aerial -nice idea. You could mount the MP3 on say, the transmission tunnel and run a lead from it to the amp and aerial? More thinking/research needed I think! Jeremy |
| Jeremy 3 |
| David, that's true. With a 2 GB SD memory card full of mp3's it takes a very long time to get to the end. I also don't have it set up to remember the last song so I have to skip ahead to the last one (if I remember it). It has +-10 skipping though so I can skip up to song #275 pretty fast. It also has aux in, so I could play from my PPC which would be pretty cool. If it wasn't broken at the moment... |
| Rick Bastedo |
| apple released its new nano ipod yesterday, apperantly its like listening to God whisper in your ear!!!! I personally dont mind having God ride shot gun in the midget...But God is a little chatty anyway...so I dont really think I want him whispering in my ear with a nano ipod while driving...lol prop |
| Prop |
| Rick, Consider it as motivation for a very long road trip. OTOH, if a friend has kindly burned an audio book onto a CD as MP3 files for you (purely theoretical, of course, I would never condone such an action) and the segments effectively wind up in random order, it makes the listening a rather zen experience. David "but I wouldn't know..." Lieb |
| David Lieb |
| Or you could do this: http://www.ketcherside.net/bruce_audio.htm -:G:- |
| Gryf Ketcherside |
| But, does the 8-track do synthesized quadraphonic??? |
| David Lieb |
| If there was a reel to reel in that mess somewhere Id strongly consider doing that, But Id have to have the orange and green shag carpet kit and that wooden dash to go along with it. besides why would you want synthesized quadraphonic, when its solid state hi-fi stereo....with kodak techno color lol. prop |
| Prop |
| David, I just gave a friend a Sansui reciever that had Synthesized Quadraphonic. It was a QRX5500 that I bought in 76/77. It was a display model that they never got another one in to sell. Reciever weighs 89 lbs. It was like the first surround sound system. Rik |
| Rik Hogan |
| I once had a Craig in-dash 8-track with synthesized quadraphonic in my 1972 Chevelle. WITH a cassette adaptor so I could listen to Walter Carlos' Sonic Seasonings. . . Loved that thunderstorm ;-) David "not THAT old" Lieb |
| David Lieb |
| I had a great 8 track system in my old '65 Pontiac Lemans. What a car! Fond High School memories there! |
| Rick Bastedo |
| I've been following this thread with interest. I put a late 1970's sharp radio cassette player into my 64 midget, and then used a cassette type adapter for my ipod. It was ok, and looked acceptable. However, I liked the look of the amp as listed in an above thread and bought it off ebay. It was sold by an American, but posted from Thailand. It arrived in 3 days! I fitted it tonight to try it and its great sound, and it goes really really loud! I do have a (not very discreet) set of infiniti 6x9 speakers in the rear though that had been used in my TVR though which may make a lot of difference. I will probably spray the amp with black crackle to match the dash though now that I know it works. I'm also tempted to get one for in the garage as it can be mains powered by a phone charger.  |
| John Collins |
| Hi, I'm very interested in one of these.... But what kind of adapter is needed to connect to the cars electrics as when I saw them on Ebay it looked like a mains adapter was needed? Anyone using one of these, or similar on a non Ipod player as I bought an Alpine amp from Ebay and I'm getting no sound from it (could be a faulty amp (it all lights up?) or could it be that my MP3 player (Samsung YP-K3) isn't powerful enough to run the amp?) Car audio has never been my strong point Mark |
| Mark Whitmore |
| 'A' series engine through a nice 3 branch and single silencer system makes GREAT music for me.... Mark. |
| Mark T. Boldry |
| Mark W drop me an email if you want to have a look at this set up. It is dead easy to wire up too. John |
| John Collins |
This thread was discussed between 03/09/2008 and 20/09/2008
MG Midget and Sprite Technical index
This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.