10 speaker stereo upgrade pics- everything but the speakers
07-05-2007 | 12:44 PM
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Three Wheelin'
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Probably in my shop.
10 speaker stereo upgrade pics- everything but the speakers
Here is my recent stereo upgrade, including costs and descriptions of what I used. I think it adds about 10 WHP 
After using an Alpine CDA-9857 head unit for a while, I didn’t like the looks of it and got a Nakamichi CD-400. I think it matches the interior really well, and the amber display even looks like it belongs at night. The FM receiver sucks compared to the Alpine though, and it’s not nearly as tolerant to scratched CD’s. It does sound great though, and with the XM radio I don’t care about the crappy FM reception. I paid about $300 for the Nakamichi new on ebay. http://www.nakamichi.com/home.html
The XM Roady fits under the ashtray cover and plugs into the Aux input of the Nak. For power I removed the plastic case from a plug-in 12-6 volt converter, and put it under the cubby. With the magnetic antenna stuck down in the middle of the hatch area under the carpet, it even works in the garage with the door shut. You can find Roady’s on ebay for less than $20 these days.
Since I already had amps (that I bought new in the late 80’s) without built in crossovers, I got an Audiocontrol Three.1 crossover/EQ. I had never heard of Audiocontrol, but they make pretty high-end stuff, and it’s made in USA. It has a 24dB/octave crossover slope, 110dB S/N ratio, and .007% THD. To change the crossover frequency you have to buy or make an appropriate resistor network, but the 90Hz that it comes with seems to be a good choice. The 13 volt output allows the amps to be turned all the way down, so no background noise can be heard even when it’s quiet in the car. It also has green or amber illumination, but I didn’t hook it up. $250 was the cheapest I could find a new one, and ended up getting a new, open box unit on ebay for $150. It was pretty easy to mount with an adjustable angle bracket so it can be pivoted up and hidden. http://www.mobileaudiocontrol.com/pr...50&l1=5250&l2=
My original speakers are still in good shape, and still sound amazingly good for stock so they stayed for now. They are all driven by a Proton 222 amp mounted under the driver’s seat. Not many people are familiar with Proton, but they made high-end car and home stereo components in the ‘80’s and shared some technology with NAD. The amp is very conservatively rated at 22 WPC, with 100dB S/N ratio and .02% THD. That’s still pretty good by today’s standards, and it sounds much better than most of the well-known brands with ridiculous power claims.
The subwoofer is from KLA with the current Dayton 8” driver. I routed out the box to sit about an inch lower than normal, recessed the speaker, and added a grill so that cutting the foam off of the carpet flap wasn’t necessary. Driving the sub is a Proton 250 amp mounted on a piece of ¼” thick phenolic that fits in the spare tire, I just had to replace the eye-hook type bolt that holds the spare in place with a standard hex bolt. The amp is 150 watts bridged and easily drives two 8’s which is what I had planned on, but now decided that one 8” is enough. With just the one I worry about my hatch seal as it is because it can hit pretty hard. If you’re into Rap and need bass that rattles the car next to you, one 8” probably won’t make you happy. If that’s the case, please sell your car and don’t embarrass the rest of us. So the driver side KLA box w/driver that I paid over $200 for with shipping is now for sale. I’ll take $150 shipped to the US.
Overall everything sounds very nice and clean, and the EQ gives just enough control to make it sound right, without so many bands that you are tempted to fiddle with it constantly. The low distortion and high S/N ratio of the components pays off in the end. With the Proton amps I can turn the volume up a lot louder than I want to listen to it with no detectable distortion, and the bass is very accurate for an 8” woofer. The “Para-Bass” variable bass boost on the EQ really helps with the lower frequencies.
After using an Alpine CDA-9857 head unit for a while, I didn’t like the looks of it and got a Nakamichi CD-400. I think it matches the interior really well, and the amber display even looks like it belongs at night. The FM receiver sucks compared to the Alpine though, and it’s not nearly as tolerant to scratched CD’s. It does sound great though, and with the XM radio I don’t care about the crappy FM reception. I paid about $300 for the Nakamichi new on ebay. http://www.nakamichi.com/home.html
The XM Roady fits under the ashtray cover and plugs into the Aux input of the Nak. For power I removed the plastic case from a plug-in 12-6 volt converter, and put it under the cubby. With the magnetic antenna stuck down in the middle of the hatch area under the carpet, it even works in the garage with the door shut. You can find Roady’s on ebay for less than $20 these days.
Since I already had amps (that I bought new in the late 80’s) without built in crossovers, I got an Audiocontrol Three.1 crossover/EQ. I had never heard of Audiocontrol, but they make pretty high-end stuff, and it’s made in USA. It has a 24dB/octave crossover slope, 110dB S/N ratio, and .007% THD. To change the crossover frequency you have to buy or make an appropriate resistor network, but the 90Hz that it comes with seems to be a good choice. The 13 volt output allows the amps to be turned all the way down, so no background noise can be heard even when it’s quiet in the car. It also has green or amber illumination, but I didn’t hook it up. $250 was the cheapest I could find a new one, and ended up getting a new, open box unit on ebay for $150. It was pretty easy to mount with an adjustable angle bracket so it can be pivoted up and hidden. http://www.mobileaudiocontrol.com/pr...50&l1=5250&l2=
My original speakers are still in good shape, and still sound amazingly good for stock so they stayed for now. They are all driven by a Proton 222 amp mounted under the driver’s seat. Not many people are familiar with Proton, but they made high-end car and home stereo components in the ‘80’s and shared some technology with NAD. The amp is very conservatively rated at 22 WPC, with 100dB S/N ratio and .02% THD. That’s still pretty good by today’s standards, and it sounds much better than most of the well-known brands with ridiculous power claims.
The subwoofer is from KLA with the current Dayton 8” driver. I routed out the box to sit about an inch lower than normal, recessed the speaker, and added a grill so that cutting the foam off of the carpet flap wasn’t necessary. Driving the sub is a Proton 250 amp mounted on a piece of ¼” thick phenolic that fits in the spare tire, I just had to replace the eye-hook type bolt that holds the spare in place with a standard hex bolt. The amp is 150 watts bridged and easily drives two 8’s which is what I had planned on, but now decided that one 8” is enough. With just the one I worry about my hatch seal as it is because it can hit pretty hard. If you’re into Rap and need bass that rattles the car next to you, one 8” probably won’t make you happy. If that’s the case, please sell your car and don’t embarrass the rest of us. So the driver side KLA box w/driver that I paid over $200 for with shipping is now for sale. I’ll take $150 shipped to the US.
Overall everything sounds very nice and clean, and the EQ gives just enough control to make it sound right, without so many bands that you are tempted to fiddle with it constantly. The low distortion and high S/N ratio of the components pays off in the end. With the Proton amps I can turn the volume up a lot louder than I want to listen to it with no detectable distortion, and the bass is very accurate for an 8” woofer. The “Para-Bass” variable bass boost on the EQ really helps with the lower frequencies.
Last edited by kevincnc; 07-05-2007 at 03:15 PM.
