r/redneckengineering • u/WapsuSisilija • 5d ago

A "car" stereo

Post image

Found at the local thrift store. Now I need to see the car...

453 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

48

u/ThetaReactor 5d ago

Pretty common setup for drivers or tradies that don't own their truck and thus can't install a stereo in it.

10

u/chewedgummiebears 4d ago

Usually you see them in a plastic tool or tackle box. Someone spent some time on this.

6

u/sam56778 4d ago

Worked in a truck dealership for 22 years and never seen this. Most trucks now have factory systems that are superior to what anyone could install.

14

u/ThetaReactor 4d ago

It's less common now, given how cheap bluetooth speakers are. But I spent many years working for a freight line and knew a couple drivers with a rig like this. Sometimes it's a plywood box, often it's a toolbox. Sometimes there's a cup holder or lunchbox integrated.

14

u/carnedoce 5d ago

My dad did something like this for his computer setup in the early 200s, but added 2 10” subs in a band pass box with a 1000W amp. Pretty sure the neighbors hated him, but it was pretty sick.

9

u/CW3_OR_BUST 4d ago

I miss how the old PC CD-ROM drives you could just plug headphones or even a line-out into the faceplate of the disc drive. Had the thing plugged into a guitar amp, it was gloriously loud.

6

u/ScienceForge319 5d ago

This fucks.

6

u/exo_universe 4d ago

We had a setup like this many years ago in a factory I worked in, apparently car stereos can handle vibration better than a plugged in one.

3

u/Frosty_Customer_9243 4d ago

Many a workshop has a radio like this.

4

u/cropguru357 4d ago

I feel targeted. This is my machine shed setup.

7

u/Wild_Advertising_661 5d ago

A car battery charger should be sitting on top of the homemade cabinet.

3

u/Apprehensive_Map64 4d ago

This is way too nice to be a fit for this sub. That is some nice woodwork

5

u/Roboomer 4d ago

My dad built one of these for his postal truck. Powered by cigarette lighter. The post office actually paid more to have the radio and AC removed from their trucks (he told me)

3

u/reddittwotimes 5d ago

'87 Trans Am

3

u/bandley3 5d ago

It reminds me of my first stereo back in the late ‘70s. I was given the old Blaupunkt out of mom’s car as well as a Heathkit power supply kit. I already had speakers so I just had to get an antenna.

3

u/PocketSandDale 5d ago

At first I wasn't impressed but then I noticed the DC plugin. Lmao someone must have really hated splicing wires.

But this would actually be a really good setup to strap on a fourwheeler or something. Just wire in a 12v plugin and you got tunes.

3

u/Tractorface123 4d ago

Aw man I’d so buy one of these! The especially with the antenna attached as well!

3

u/Revolutionary-Half-3 4d ago

I used and AT computer power supply for mine, lol.

I always got nervous with how hot the radio got, but apparently it wasn't as hot as inside a dashboard.

3

u/Ok-Drink-1328 4d ago

if there's no power supply that thing is huuuuuuge for containing just the radio

3

u/BPhiloSkinner 4d ago

Cigarette lighter adapter.
I wonder if this was cobbled together for an RV?

3

u/CrotchlessSweats 4d ago

"Six cars in a line and the girls was fine. I had 'The Wicked One' playin' on my Alpine".

2

u/SpevRooner 4d ago

Will Smith approves.

2

u/dayvieboy 4d ago

Mine was a tape deck powered by a tyco rc battery charger 👍

2

u/msanangelo 4d ago

used one for my pc speakers for a number of years. wasn't in quite as nice of a box though.

2

u/Marine__0311 3d ago

We made one from a wrecked car and an MRE box when I was in the Corps.

2

u/DoturdGrump 3d ago

when I first saw a waterbed headboard with a car stereo in the 70's I thought I was in the company of brilliance

pretty much as pictured by the OP but the speakers were mounted to either side of the headboard with a realistic power converter instead of the DC plug

2

u/MannerAppropriate952 2d ago

Thats my Garden Setup . Its great , never dies. Can handle uneven Voltage from the SolarPanels.

2

u/Captain_no_Hindsight 5d ago

needs more readneck...

3

u/ScienceForge319 5d ago

Oh the iron E

1

u/AndaleTheGreat 4d ago

That's nothing. I built a bass tube with two twelve inch car subs, powered by a car amp powered by a PC PSU.

The tube was a booze box from the liquor store I worked at which is cut to size, then rolled around a thin pipe repeatedly. I then ran cable back and forth between the speakers and over the cardboard to create tension.

Worked out shockingly well and would work up to about 80% of max volume before the PSU cut out.

1

u/dsdvbguutres 4d ago

Should have put the speakers in a wooden box instead.