Is This a BAD idea?

[rainsong86]

ok so I have an MG series half-stack lying around which really yields no utility to me (I was a penny pincher when I bought the POS).. I decided to wire the output of my car stereo (stock F-150 CD player stereo/radio) to the input of the 100 watt solid state head.. and throw the 120 watt 4x12 in the truck bed.. it was LOUD and I didn't break anything.. but was this a really stupid effing idea?.. I really have no concept of the difference between pro audio gear and guitar gear

 

[B2D]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

I really have no concept of the difference between pro audio gear and guitar gear

Forgive me for sounding rude, but if you recognize the above to be true, what were you doing messing around with a section of electronics inside a peice of machinery that operates off of carefully distributed, potentially lethal voltages and controlled explosions?

Chops knows his stuff on cars. He's right, that was a dumb idea.

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Yes that was dumb. Noise pollution ticket for one thing. And those trucks do not have a line out that could be changed to a 1/4 inch. In fact they don't have a line out. You easily mess up your stereo, or if say a shock came from the amp to the car, you could fry the ECM (computer). Expensive to say the least.

k.. for one thing please correct me if I'm wrong but can't ANY positive and negative lead wires be connected to a 1/4 inch female jack?.. anyways I'm sorry I wasn't more specific.. I try to keep my posts short because everyone hates a paragraph

I actually wired the head to a line out for subs (I bought this truck used and the previous owner apparently "pimped his ride").. the sub line out had two female RCA plugs.. I plugged a male RCA to 1/4 inch Y-adapter to plug into the head's guitar input (I wanted to use the head's pre-amp because it gave more options than the bass/treble equalizer on the car stereo)

I don't see how this could've hurt my truck.. I used an expensive 140-Watt DC-to-AC power inverter to plug the head in the cigarette lighter... and the head was doing all the work amplifying the low signal from the sub RCA output.. I was asking this question as to whether it would hurt my AMP or SPEAKER CAB by playing something like Tool's Aenima CD at loud volumes (along the logic that you don't play bass guitar through a guitar amp combo)

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Take it out of your truck and keep it out of your truck.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Guitar speakers don't work that good for your stereo anyway... just because of the frequency pattern...

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Take it out of your truck and keep it out of your truck.

for what reasons exactly?.. yea anyways it's out of my truck.. I jus did it as a one time thing jus for kicks and to stave off boredom

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

I don't want you to ruin yer truck, man. Not only could you damage something in your vehicle, it's potentially dangerous...

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Guitar speakers don't work that good for your stereo anyway... just because of the frequency pattern...

exactly.. which is why I at least had the 3-band EQ on the clean channel of the head to make it sound decent.. obviously stereo systems have to accomodate for a much broader frequency spectrum.. btw I don't see why people put so much money into their car stereos anyways.. the acoustics of mounting a bunch of speakers in car doors and blasting the sound waves right at each other in a very confined space is just a formula for noise

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

I don't want you to ruin yer truck, man. Not only could you damage something in your vehicle, it's potentially dangerous...

yeah.. that's what this thread is for.. please tell me HOW it was dangerous and HOW I could've damaged something in my vehicle.. I'm asking this because by the limits of my knowledge of pro audio I thought this was a safe idea.. I'm jus looking for more info because I'm curious to see how much of an idiot I was when I did this

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Here

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Here

ok I know it'd be impossible for you to find a link that pertains to my question.. but the thread in that link was almost completely unrelated.. the main difference is that I'm using a guitar amp with my guitar cab (not a sub amp into an enclosure that was basically a 2 by 12 guitar cab).. since the impedances of the guitar head and the cab match there is no problem there.. remember, all I did was take a near-quiet audio lead from the car stereo (it wasn't "hot" at all) and amplify the signal via my guitar half-stack).. it's basically like the "CD In" function a lot of cheaper SS amps have except A LOT louder

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

Sorry totally didn't understand. I have nooooo idea.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

haha. I'm going to refrain from commenting on this, all I'm gonna say is:

What in the hell were you thinking?

 

[rainsong86]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

good answer Chops.. I made sure to keep the volume lower than the volume levels I played gigs with it at (so basically the speakers weren't pushing any more air than normal, they just had to deal with a broader frequency spectrum).. and I don't believe I was using the car stereo's power amp.. the RCA output I connected the head to would normally be connected to a powerful amplifier (around 600 watts) which would power the subs.. the RCA output was not an amplified signal to begin with... if I did happen to play too loud and blow a speaker on the MG412 cab I believe the disaster would stop at me losing a cheap, foreign made "celestion" speaker... it's not a tube amp, so the MG100hdfx head is not gonna blow up if it isn't connected to an adequate load

 

[HolyDirt]

Re: Is This a BAD idea?

For future reference, line out does NOT equal preamp in. Your truck was pretty much safe, but the amp wasn't.