hehe... we both have lots of questions.
He is basically talking about a unpowered FM modulater... they work pretty good, and sound ok. (Keep in mind I am an absolute music enthusiast, so I judge these things pretty harsh). Its basically a little black "walkman" type unit, that will run off little batteries and "attempt" to override the signal on a weak FM station, will still giving you descent quality sound. it is wireless, and an easy way to get an external source pumping through your speakers, but you really lose a lot of sound quality.
A powered FM modulater, which plugs directly into your car radio in the back, and then your original antenna plugs into that... sounds much much better, but still not good. It completely overides just about any station, as it plugs directly into ANY car stereo... it also has a direct connect power source, instead of running off of batteries.
Better yet is a cassette adapter, but your tape heads where down over time. The cassate adapter is the way most people hook up their "discmans" too their car stereo that only has a cassette input, and doesnt want to change anything in the car.
One of the cleanest ways to add equipment is either through the "proprietary" port on the back of your stereo(most aftermarket stereos have this available, and MOST OEM MFRs, like ford, toyota, chevy, volkswagen have 1 of 2 proprietary inputs(one for an EXTERNAL 10 or 6 disk changer, one for an auxilary input, and now some cars for sattelite radio).
I know its a little confusing, but bottom line FM MODS suck, once you have heard a direct input(sounds as good as a CD, instead of a Flat FM station)
Hopefully someone will have an answer soon... I plan on buying my car in the next couple weeks, and want to have my sirius sattelite radio, I just cannot live withought it. I havent heard a commercial in almost 2 years boys... The solara is XM satellite radio ready(which is a competitor of sirius) and it has commercials on 1/2 of their channels, and a rather poor rock, pop, and punk selection, but is strong in other areas.
too each their own... hopefully someone picked up some useful tidbits. With the right adapter, you can even get a record player sounding pretty good in your car!
As far as I am concerned the best set up is too rip everything out... throw in a nice headunit(stereo) some nice rear speakers, component system up front, two amps, and a sub working in perfect harmony... but this is basically impossible to do in the Solara, especially with the navigation unit. My corolla S has an amazing sound system, that I installed... but that is just about the only thing I like about the car... thats why it is getting sent back!
Ok I think i am out of breath now.
by weezer420 » Sat Sep 13, 2003 7:32 am 
