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Hey Scuba,

Which Nak unit did you get? Good luck with this and please let us know how this turns out (a writeup would be nice since I may get a Nak in the future )

Scuba Steve

It's an older model - a TD-700. The wiring of the head unit itself is very straightforward (one wire for power, one for lighting, one for constant power, and a ground). Output via RCA cables. The problem now is that I'm not sure how to wire in the power antenna. Stock radio wires are damaged somewhere between the fuse box and radio.

People with aftermarket head units: how do you wire up the power antenna? I'm sure it needs at least one wire going to the radio, but it gets power from somewhere else?

83na944

There is suppsed to be a wire from the radio that switches the antenna. If the Nak head unit lacks that wire, you'll need to wire the antenna to a switch. The up side of that is that you can lower the antenna when you're play a CD, which will decrease wind noise.

The pioneer HU properly controlled the replacement hirschman antenna in my 83, but the antenna was up any time the HU was on. I wired a switch into the circuit so I could lower the antenna. I found that I did not need to raise the antenna for many stations.

Good Luck.

Scuba Steve

The switch is a single wire pushbutton, or a toggle switch with multiple wires? Does the antenna motor ground to the frame or a seperate wire? Sorry to be throwing out so many questions; I'm trying to get it all straightened out.

Scuba Steve

Ok, I have power to the radio and no fuses are blowing. That's good. The problem is that the output is really low. Like I have to turn it up all the way to hear anything. Is this because the head unit needs an amplifier? I don't know much about car radios aside from what they were putting in 25+ years ago.

mideastmafia

I recommend pulling the grommet from the firewall and just running a positive lead from the battery. It is pretty simple and straight-forward. And in the event you ever want to run an amplifier wire, you can just tie it to the existing wire and pull it thru into the car hassle free.


SHAUN

Scuba Steve

Good idea. What gauge wire does an amp normally pull power from? It's looking more and more like I'll need one. I've done some searching and it someone said in a review about the radio "Remember, you'll need amp power as well." Just to be safe, not being able to get much sound out of a radio (with ok voltage going in) is a sign you need an amp?

Got Me a Porsha

Were the speaker wires also cut? It sounds like you dont have them wired correctly, making the audio very faint. This has nothing to do with the input current, 8A vs. 10A.

The 8A fuse should be fine.

Scuba Steve

The speaker wires were cut also - all wires going into the radio were, along with some others around the console. It was a mess the 1st time I looked in there.

The speakers - I've tried swapping the wires but nothing changed The speakers themselves are fine, and a new set of wires going to a test speaker made no diffference. I've also tried different sets of wires. This is a mystery to me.

The power wires - it turns out the cut wires I had labeled for the rear wiper I'm pretty sure are actually for the radio. Guess we all do dumb things sometimes. Now I'm wondering where the missing wires for the rear wiper went.

FletchDM

The Nakamichi TD-700 only has pre-amp outputs (RCA). It has no internal amplifier to drive speakers. This is why the volume is so faint. You will need an external amplifier with 2-4 channels.

-David

mideastmafia

Sounds to me like the two of your speaker wires are exposed and touching each other. Check to see how well taped off your connections are.


SHAUN

Scuba Steve

No difference between the test speaker on any channel vs. speakers in the car. Looks like things are good to go... soon as I get an amp.

Any recommendations for an amp that's a good value? I'm not going to be shaking everyone's windows when I drive by but would like a decent 4-channel amp. I looked at a Pioneer at Best Buy today that was around $250.