Audio Help

[wtblake]

I have a 1992 Camry with the premium sound system. Some time ago the started working intermittently, occasionally making "thumping" noises from all the speakers. It eventually stopped working on all channels except the front left one. I am thinking the amplifier under the passenger seat is blown, as it has that bad electronic burned smell. Is there an inexpensive replacement and if so, where can you get one, or am I better off trashing it and buying a whole new unit? Thanks for any help.

[bigbird]

you could either find one on ebay or out of a junked car, or jsut get an aftermarket one and wire it up.

[Curry]

Easiest thing to do is what bird said. Hit up a junkyard or ebay.

If you think you're gonna go with aftermarket sound stuff later you might as well install an aftermarket amp.

[Heat]

For $140 or $150 you can buy a very nice replacement radio, including harness and kit if you need one, and I'm talking name brand (Kenwood, Sony, Panasonic, lower-end Alpine). If your radio is single din (180 mm x 50 mm, the “normal” size) you don’t need a kit, if your radio is double-din (180 mm x 100 mm) you need a kit.

CDs & .mp3s / .wmas / .aac’s (non-DRM) will be in all radios in that price range, you can also get iPod adapters / USB ports (very handy, just load up a flash drive and plug it in) and auxiliary audio so that you can plug in other .mp3 players. Just spend the money and keep in mind that whenever you sell the car you can put the bad radio back in and put your new radio into your new vehicle. Take a look at www.crutchfield.com .

I got my ’95 LE last May, a few weeks after that I put in a new head unit (Sony GT410U) and four Sony speakers for $205 total.

Go ahead and look on ebay and the junkyard if you must, but just remember that a new head unit is not expensive.

[Black95Cam]

but remember, if it is brand new, you get what you pay for. you may be able to get one product cheaper then another but dont expect it to work or function at or near the same level at the one with the higher price tag. but as long your happy with it, then thats all it matters.

[eddie926]

I would only look for an OEM replacement amp if...

1) You were really happy with that system before it started going bad and you had no intention of upgrading before this happened.

or

2) You're not planning on keeping the car long and you don't want to put any more into it than you have to.

or

3) You just flat can't afford more than $50-$75 to fix the problem.

If you had any intentions of upgrading, I'd just take this as the opportunity to do so. Then, if you're on a tight budget and you only want to replace one thing, I'd replace the head unit first rather than replacing that amp with an aftermarket amp.

IMO, replacing the factory HU with a good aftermarket HU is the biggest bang for the buck with those systems. The internal amp in an aftermarket HU will have plenty of power to push the factory speakers. I had the premium system too, and when I replaced my HU, I was amazed at how good the factory speakers sounded with the new HU. I've since replaced all my speakers as well, but as I said, the factory speakers sounded surprisingly good.

You can pick up a decent HU pretty inexpensively. If you buy it from Crutchfield.com, they include the wiring harness you need for free. If you buy one that's more than $129, the shipping is free too.

There are alternate connectors behind the dash that allow you to hook up an aftermarket HU with it's own internal amp and bypass the factory amp, so it's an easy install.