Recycled HU for home use

[Mguy]

Guys, I replaced the HU of my Honda City with a touch screen one. So I still have the original HU. I plan to enclose it in a frame, put some speakers and use it as a home radio/stereo. Question is, what good cheap speakers can I put in there that would give a nice robust sound (with the highs and lows)?

Also, what is an ideal way to plug this? Is there an off the shelf 220v to 12v DC converter than can handle the load of the stereo? Thanks!

[yapoy86]

targa? use a switching power supply for your HU.. using regular 220V to 12 V converter (transformer) will result in humming sound..

a computer power supply can also be used to power your HU.

[oj88]

Got two answers:

1. If you don't need a subwoofer, any 2-3-way passive speaker systems such as bookshelf-type or free-standing ones should work. OLX has dozens of used speakers for sale. For the power supply, an old computer PSU in the neighborhood of 300W should be able to supply enough juice to the HU. Though, you may need to put some RFI/EMI suppression circuit after the PSU as the switching circuit might produce an audible whine from the speakers.

2. Don't even bother. If you factor in the additional cost to customize a case, buy the speakers and the power supply, you're just better off getting a proper component stereo. A quick check on the Abenson website reveals an LG component stereo for under P9k. It'll probably have a lot more audio control and features compared to the Honda stock HU. For one, these HU's have been factory-tweaked to a certain EQ setting. The purpose is the match the HU with the crappy stock car speakers so they don't blow up when you pump up the volume.

[Mguy]

targa? use a switching power supply for your HU.. using regular 220V to 12 V converter (transformer) will result in humming sound..

a computer power supply can also be used to power your HU.

6x9s pwede na ba? I don't want to buy the tweeter, mid-range and subwoofers separately pa.

I like the idea of the PC power supply. Should I tap it from the HDD power plug?

[yapoy86]

pwede naman 6x9 speakers.. make sure na mataas wattage nung power supply mo kasi mamatay yung HU pag kinapos ng power..

sa CDROM power plug mo ilagay or kung ma trace mo yung 12V sa pang motherboard mismo

[lowslowbenz]

6x9 should be enough to produce decent sound. You can run thru the local internet classifieds for used 6x9 boxes.

I think they'd come cheap.

Ok yan set-up for garage background tunes, while fixing or cleaning your cars.

[Mguy]

Got two answers:

1. If you don't need a subwoofer, any 2-3-way passive speaker systems such as bookshelf-type or free-standing ones should work. OLX has dozens of used speakers for sale. For the power supply, an old computer PSU in the neighborhood of 300W should be able to supply enough juice to the HU. Though, you may need to put some RFI/EMI suppression circuit after the PSU as the switching circuit might produce an audible whine from the speakers.

2. Don't even bother. If you factor in the additional cost to customize a case, buy the speakers and the power supply, you're just better off getting a proper component stereo. A quick check on the Abenson website reveals an LG component stereo for under P9k. It'll probably have a lot more audio control and features compared to the Honda stock HU. For one, these HU's have been factory-tweaked to a certain EQ setting. The purpose is the match the HU with the crappy stock car speakers so they don't blow up when you pump up the volume.

Thanks Oj. Your second suggestion has its merits. I do plan to keep the build under P1,500.00 and see where it goes.

[ParticleX]

I use a generic computer power supply, kaya naman yung load ng CDRKING stereo plus a pair of coax. Ang maganda rito eh pwede mo gamitin pag brownout (if you have a spare car battery + charger) para di boring.

Pwede mo tap sa kahit anong 12V source sa PSU. You need to connect the green pin on the 20/24 motherboard plug (PS_ON) to an adjacent ground pin to trick the PSU to turn on, use a paper clip or similar.

[jhnkvn]

My take: Sell it.

Use the proceeds to do a proper home audio setup. Even a lowly DVD player from Panasonic or Samsung can double as your "head unit". Now you just need to find an amplifier, bookshelf speakers, and some wires.