Hard Hitting Sound System with Original Tape Deck

[CutlassSupremeBrougham]

Hi guys, this is my first post. I have a 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham; all original, 200k+ miles. I'm replacing the speakers and considering a couple of subs. I will keep everything as original as possible (except the sub box obviously), and I have to ask: is anyone running an aftermarket sound system with their original tape deck?

The deck is in fantastic shape and I enjoy being able to pop in 80s-90s tapes, just like the car was meant for.

Thanks!

 

[ssn696]

You will need an amp or signal converter that works with speaker-level inputs. Check out Crutchfield.com.

 

[SoFloG]

What he said. You can use a line level converter from the speakers to convert to an rca output. You will never have great quality sound though. There are aftermarket units that look stock and have tape players that have rca outputs, yet they can be pricey. I'd suggest a new aftermarket unit with auxiliary capabilities and you can get a stand alone cassette unit to play through it. With an aftermarket unit you can also have cd, and Bluetooth capabilities. Pioneer also makes a double din unit with both cassette and cd and has rca outputs for an amplifier.

If your ideal system is a couple of 10" subs in a box on a small bass amp you'd be fine doing it the first method with the stock tape player and line level converter.

 

[el corvino]

Hard hitting and swap shop quality hard hitting? As stated above, you'll never achieve an HD quality sound with the original unit as is. I have a system in 6 of my vehicles, all JL Audio W7's and ZR series components. The Cutlass is getting the last of what's in my closet. W7 action in the trunk and 6 sets of ZR components to a Pioneer Avic Z series double din head unit (leaving out many specifics). Long story short, with an amazing amp to tune and block out certain frequencies... you could possibly achieve a hard hitting system with some mixed in interference... but if you are going to spend the money, put the stock unit in a box in the closet and just upgrade all around.

 

[CutlassSupremeBrougham]

I'll be using the LC2i to feed the subs a signal, but I'm assuming my speaker level inputs will match up to the amp with the correct gain. Does anyone know off the top of their head what the output voltage of the radio is?

 

[SoFloG]

There is no output voltage. It's a speaker level output. It's variable depending on the volume, it's a hi level ac signal you are converting to a low voltage rca signal. You will have to adjust the llc and the gain on the amp accordingly.