Three Stereos and a GPS

[PhyrraM]

My work has a safety incentive program that rewards employes with prizes every 6 months, Lottery style. Short story, I am now the proud owner of a Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS.

It has an MP3 player which is something I've been considering anyways. I've been burning CDs up until now. It also has an internal speaker (crap), an FM transmitter (crap with a rear mounted antenna like a SS), and a lineout/headphone jack. Seems perfect for a line-in capable pre-facelift stereo.

I've got a post-facelift Legacy, so I do not have the line-in jack on my stereo. No worries, I tell myself, I picked up a pre-facelift radio out of the junkyard a while back. I also have a second post-facelift SS out back waiting for a trans swap. Both the SSs also have the factory option CD players.

Turns out there are at least 3 versions of the 1.5 DIN Legacy stereo.
A> pre-facelift Clarion w/line-in jack
B> post-facelift Clarion w/o line-in jack
C> post-facelift Panasonic w/o line-in jack



Now, here is where it get's interesting. Both post-facelift radios (one of which is a Clarion) will work with the optional CD player. The pre-facelift (seemingly identical) Clarion will not.

A few more pics.

The Panasonic is clearly different.


Upon closer inspection there are a few differences in the pre- and post-facelift Clarions.


I repeat, a pre-facelift line-in stereo will not work with a post-facelift CD player. I have no idea why. So......is there a CD player that will work with the pre-facelift line-in stereo?

[evolutionmovement]

I run an FM transmitter called the Transpod and have had no problems in 3 years (unlike the ipods I've put in it). Unless you listen to the radio (I don't), the car antenna is actually a hindrance. I was getting static in the tunnels, but removing my external antenna on the Mazda (also rear mounted, but on the roof) fixed that and it's a very rare occasion that I have to try a different radio station. I can still pick up AM within 20 miles of Boston, which is the only time I bother with the radio (traffic reports). The thing that sucks is having the unit hanging out there and eating the single power outlet (only one is understandable in the 1990, but on a 2006 car?!), but I just carry an extra battery for my cell or switch to CD if I need to charge.

But figuring you don't want to use one of those things, the cd player is a separate unit, right? Can you wire it up independently?

[PhyrraM]

I do listen to the radio. This particular GPS also has BlueTooth handsfree calling. I didn't think of it right away, but using the FM transmitter would essentially be broadcasting 1/2 of my conversations.

I actually have 1/2 of a really high end system (on a closet shelf), but I would likely spend way more then I want 'finishing' it.

So utilizing the line in for the GPS seems the best choice ATM. I may not even find a need for the CD player after a few weeks with the MP3s, who knows. It takes at least a 2gig SD card, maybe bigger. Gotta check, 2 gig is the largest I have on-hand to check with. That's alot of tunes.

I think my WRX only has one power point also. We used to call it a cigarette lighter.