System with stock deck

Hey i wanna hook up my system to my stock deck in my 01 maxima but there are no rca cable inputs on the deck. what should i buy so i can hook this up

This is just me, but if you want a clear sound, get a new HU. Usually stock radios tend to be cheap since the manufacturer just puts in a crappy radio that will "get you through the day", except if you have like lets say a bose sysytem. Even if you do find a way to hook it up, sound will not exceptionally be good.IMO, Instead get another headunit for like 150 and hook up your system to that. You will get much better results.

i ran a stock HU for over a year and a half. It put out an okay signal, but im now planning on replacing it.

To hook in up get a Line output Converter LOC and tap into the speakerwires somewhere

powerefx .... you are confusing bling bling features with sound quality. Unless you gonna pay $400-500 (retail) for a CD player, the sound quality won't be any better than the stock one. Ever heard a factory CD player skip ? And Bose does not make CD players, they have someone make the mechanisms for them.

I kept my stock CD player cuz it looks factory, I have competed and won with it. The only thing is, you don't get much points for it. I used an Audio Control EQL for my EQ, since it has a line level convertor built in.

Srry to question you PaulD, but wut your trying to tell me is that a stock radio, which the company could really care less about as it is one of the last things thier worried about, has the same quality as like lets say a 150-250 dollar pioneer, kenwood, or alpine etc.. HU? Ive been in car audio for about a year now, and i might not know ass much as you, but wut your saying is not true, at least i know to recognize this. Now if this dude here does not have enough money for a new HU, and will settle for wut hes got, thats a completely different story. When they say you get what you pay for, they really mean it!

my "inside info" comes from a guy with ties to OEM stuff for like 30 years ..... you can believe what you want. In importance, I think car audio is now like 5 or 6 for car makers. When it becomes like 2 or 3, you will see factory sound systems have speaker locations designed in optimal postions - that's the biggest problem with factory systems - door mount mid/tweets have relatively poor imaging.

powerefx .... you are confusing bling bling features with sound quality. Unless you gonna pay $400-500 (retail) for a CD player, the sound quality won't be any better than the stock one. Ever heard a factory CD player skip ? And Bose does not make CD players, they have someone make the mechanisms for them.

I kept my stock CD player cuz it looks factory, I have competed and won with it. The only thing is, you don't get much points for it. I used an Audio Control EQL for my EQ, since it has a line level convertor built in.
What???? Granted, most OEM CD players play OK but most of the higher end aftermarket counter parts do have better signal to noise ratio. Yes, I have heard and seen many OEM cd players skip and plan not play any cd. Duh, we all know BOSE doesn't make any of their main cd parts. They are more into the cabinet structure of the speakers. That way, they can use some of the cheapest speakers and get away with it. In car audio, ALL Bose headunits and their standard OEM units are all the same. The only difference is the BOSE lable on the face of it and the speakers. That's why you can swap out a BOSE head unit for a regular one and notice no difference.

Not sure what you mean by competing using line level converters and winning. The biggest problem is the way OEM stereos are set up. By nature because of inferior parts, they are designed to turn the bass responce down to keep the system from clipping. This is alright when you leave it alone but trying to add a sub to it makes it a real pain. At low volume, bass will be too heavy and at high volume, it's just about all gone. Can't emagine winning anything with a system like that.


ANYHOO, to answer the question... You just need to get a line level converter to change high speaker outputs to low level RCA. Remember that any distortion you may have now will be amplified.

what part of winning a car stereo competition has you stumped ?

Audio competitons aren't all that hard to win unless you goto a MAJOR one and face up against people who have too much money spent into their setup. I can goto any local one here and the best sub there would possibly be a small small handful of vehicles with Kove or Treo (I only know of two people on the coast here in Mississippi that even own this brand) and the rest would be RF, Sony, Pioneer, Kicker, Audiobahn and others on that level of quality. I promise you also they didn't optimally setup their box, components or anything else for that matter, and if they did I'd be surprised. People aren't that well informed about boxes, they just throw together a fancy looking fiberglass box or some cool custom shaped box and throw in some lights or something.

IM planing on keeping stock CD player in my soon to be set up. either 1 brahma 15 or 2 Shiva's. im not sure which. ive almost completely settled on a Hifonics BX1500D to power either one. Still thinking of which crystal audio componet set and which front stage amp to go with (i figure 150-200w should do fine at the levels i listen at, loud, but not ear shaddering). still deciding on an EQ and enclosure (i have to decide how much space i am willing to give up). but OEM head units are just as good THD ratings as many main stream (such as sony and pioneer) head units. like PaulD said, real world THD ratings dont drop untill you begin paying 400-500 retail for a CD player with 1/2 the features as one of sony's 200-300 retail head units.

As for addresing the original posters question. you will need one of thoes doohickey's (line level RCA device) that steps down head unit output to RCA voltages. the problem i have with thoes is that the signal iwll be distorted by the factory internal amp (which is crap). if you have an external amp then you should be able to grab thoes wires (to your external amp) and make sure they are no greater than 9v and slap some RCA ends on there. 9v is a maximum. with 9v when settting your gains your gains should be a good part of the way down to keep from clipping.

if you know what level you're factory deck starts clipping (distorting) you can tune your sytem so the max level occurs at or just below that level. Most factory units start clipping at like the 1 o'clock position or about 3/4 volume ....... if you don't take this into acount, your system will suck at higher volumes.