I have a stereo solution that I thought I’d share.
Last spring my CD changer died, but was under warranty. This spring the replacement also died. New changers aren’t that expensive, but it hardly seemed worth while adding a changer that may only last one year. I know a lot of new boats stereos have MP3/iPod inputs. I looked through my Sony CDX-CA7__ documentation and only saw the remote CD changer “Unilink” input. I was wondering if some kind of CD-changer to iPod/MP3 adapter existed for my Sony AM/FM/CD unit. Sony has an adapter but only for newer in dash units but not for mine.
I went to Best Buy to see if they had something. Best Buy suggested going to Circuit City, Circuit City suggested going to a Marine Audio place on the east side of town (my boat dealer). The Circuit City guys suggested replacing the dash unit with a newer unit, at about $150, that supported iPods and MP3s.
I searched a little longer and found this web site:
http://home.speedfactory.net/tcashin/ipodsony.htm The PAC Unilink Enabler looked like what I wanted, and only cost $30. I plugged the dongle in the back of my in dash unit and ran one channel of audio to an RCA. The unit worked and does exactly what I expected it would, it tells the in dash unit to listen to the extra CD changer RCA inputs. I’m going to wire a 3.5 mm stereo phono jack in to my glove box and play tunes from the an iPod.
The PAC dongle
The CD Changer sued to connect here
The dongle installed on the back of the in dash unit and the old Unilink connection
Linear Mode
