What amp do i need?

[swingdjted]

Many good car amps have what they call "line level inputs". This means that instead of requiring RCA outs, you can simply plug your speaker wire directly into the line level inputs of the amp, and that will do just fine in terms of getting the correct information to your amp.

Because I don't know much about the specefics of the rear end of Ford radios, I can't tell you for sure what kind of outs you have available to you.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember a lot of Sable/Taurus models coming with a 'pod' shaped radio on the console of the dashboard - in other words an oval shaped face instead of the common rectangle. Perhaps the '04 may be too new for that; I don't know. However, if this is the case, this causes new concerns and difficulties in terms of finding gear that will fit if you were ever considering replacing the main unit. Hopefully you don't have to. Even if you do, there are relatively affordable conversion kits that work just fine, but I digress.

Now, despite my not knowing whether the stereo has the right outs in the back or not, I can still give you some helpful hints that will prevent you from ripping apart your whole console just to find out. I used to do all my car audio work with Crutchfield (over the phone in my day but now in the new millenium, the wonderful internet has brought us crutchfield.com too), and they are good at telling you everythign you need to know, no matter what you are driving (I still think over the phone is faster and more direct though, and they still do it). They even knew exactly what I could and couldn't do with my first car (a Volvo of all things), and helped me do it myself. Crutchfield is not by any means the only company that can help you with this. Most big retailers of car audio have all that info available to them too (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.), so they can look up your '04 Sable and tell you what's back there. They usually are helpful right away, but some are only helpful if you buy something from them. If you don't want to, just buy some cheap speaker wire and use the receipt from that to get their support.

So to sum it all up:

1.) Pansy ass = pay a dealer a shitload of money to install everything for you and then claim you did it yourself.

or

2.) Easy = pay for an amp with line-level inputs and plug speaker wires into them

or

3.) Medium = contact a car audio retailer and have them look your car up. They will tell you what you have, how to get to it, how to hide wires, and how to make it all work. This is my recommended option.

or

4.) Hard = Take apart your dashboard by randomly looking for whatever holds it together. Get your fingers and or wrist stuck to the point where only yanking and yelling obscenities gets it free. Position your body so that it looks like you were in a fatal auto accident, and mention that you wish you had 6 more elbows per arm to get to where you want to go. Continue until you have a yard full of dashboard parts, one being the car radio. Check the radio to see if there are red and white RCA plugs dangling from the back of it. Buy the amp, try hooking it up and putting everything back together yourself without help but with plenty of sparks, broken interior fasteners, blown fuses, and even more colorful language. Call friends that will help you become more confused and pissed off. After a week of this, go back to #1, 2, or 3. This option is not recommended by me, but it's one I've taken a couple times.