IcemanG17

I finally got sick and tired of my factory Reno with its annoying, random cut out (I think it would overheat and "protect" itself) plus I wanted a CD player...after a little shopping I picked a nice Sony with a large screen and remote (not needed in a 928)...it has a nice matte black finish (not the shiny silver on most of the new decks) and there is a short video of a race car driving by....too bad its not a 928 :>( Next will be a complete set of new speakers...since the stock ones have ZERO bass at all! I'm thinking MB Quarts or Boston Acoustic? Heres some pics!

bcdavis

Nice! I like seeing that some manufacturers still have black head units...

michaelathome

Brian,

Carefull when you go with the quarts. Some of them are componant sets and crossovers can eliminate ALL lows in favor of mids. I did this and it sounded like I was in a tin can. You will have to add a sub if you head down that direction. You may also look at the Alpine SPX line as they have nice clean grills and have the sizes to replace the factory speakers with little or no mods. Research, research and more research.

Michael

Ed Hughes

Very nice. Did you do anything with regard to an amp? Also, did it "plug in" with a harness adapter?

aircooler

Hi BC,

Man you hit the nail on the head with the black face comment.

When I went radio shopping early last year, it seemed like all the decent units were silver. It was very annoying as I think that the silver units look too rice, and have no place in a factory look. I did not like any of the black units I found.

I ended up giving, in and got a silver Alpine that I love, but it is silver.

Well wouldn’t ya know it. Alpine is back to black faces this year, and now I want to swap my new deck.


Michael,

I have the MBQ’s and I love them. 210’s in front, and 316’s in the rear. Both component systems.

The mids and highs are just great! You are totally correct though, their focus on the high’s makes them sound a bit tiny. A dedicated sub is required. This added sub fills out the sound just perfect.


With the added sub woofer in the rear they make one of the nicest, fullest sounding systems I have ever heard.

Also MBQ is one of the best replacement systems for the 928 due to size constraints. They also look very stock.

Front MBQ's


Rear audio shelf + sub/amp cover (sorry about the poor pic)


Amps (4 channel amp for MBQ's, and sub woofer amp)



Cheers,
Michael

IcemanG17

Ed
I removed the factory amp, ran wires from the back of the deck to the original amp location and spliced it in there. No sense in keeping a stock 80watt amp when most decks today have more power...this deck is "rated" at 52wx 4 channels or 208 watts...but in reality it is 17watts a channel at RMS power (68watts)

MB Quart makes a "slim mount" 4" component set RUA 210, 4" woofer with a 1" tweeter....pricey (about $250), only 1.65" mounting depth vs about 2-2.5" on the others....I figure an MB 6.5" without the crossover in the rear location should provide some bass until I decide on a subwoofer option?

Other options are a custom enclosure in the stock location with a JL Audio 6.5" subwoofer on each side (gotta redo the 1/4 panels anyway)...but I still would have to find a place to fit the amp? The custom panel on the back seat looks possible...I just don't want to loose any cargo space or the spare tire.

Bill Ball

The problem with the rear speakers is the large unsealed chamber. The speakers just kind of rattle in that kind of open environment. The 6.5 MB Quarts will gain substantial bass output if you stuff polyester into the cavity to dampen the airflow.

aircooler

Brian,

Honestly, would you use that 10-20 yrs old spare Tire?

Don't forget that when you inflate it, it will be very tough/ impossible to get it collapsed again, and fit back in the hole.

I did not what to dump the anchor it at first, but I eventually realized the cell phone was the cheapest, and "safest" way out of a flat tire.

Cheers,
Michael

Bill Ball

Michael:

How does this work when your tire blows? Do you call someone and have them bring you a spare? Do you have them tow you to a tire store? Sounds far less workable than carrying a spare. I've looked at my factory spare and it looks good as new, ready to go if I need it. And the spare can be collapsed with a ratcheting furniture strap (Home Depot or U-Haul) in a few minutes.

I do carry a tubeless tire repair kit for nail pick ups, especially on my motorcycles where a spare is not an option. That's fine for nails and screws but not for blowouts like the one I had in my car when I hit some debris on the freeway. Hence, I think the spare is a good idea.

michaelathome

Bill and Brian,

To date Alan has the best setup that I have seen, mounting the amp to the back of the rear seat w/a cover. Check it out on the interior mods post. I have built a new rear deck and will likely leave my spare in there but remove the cover and mount the sub to the new deck dropping it into the middle of the spare, haven't decided for sure. May also pull the spare and use AAA as my resource for flat repair as I don't drive far from home and get one of the customs from a sponser . A can of Fix-A-Flat works pretty good too.

Michael

aircooler

Bill,

I guess it is a personal call, like so many things are, but my "never used" spare had traces of tire rot in the rubber seams. I also find that most of the 12v air comps either don't work, or take so long to get a workable PSI in a tire that you could have used a foot pump.

I put 3k a year on my car. If I get a flat, (I've had 2 flats "while driving" in 15 years), I will defiantly call a flat-bed tow truck on my mobile before chancing an inflatable spare that is was installed in my car before I graduated high school. As for the tow, it is pretty much a flat in-town rate wherever I have lived, so it is straight to my driveway.

IMHO, the most important emergency equipment in the car is a Mobile, fire extinguisher, and toe hook. Problem is, there is a lot of 928's out there with their front tow hook receptor jammed with that filler plug. Now that's a bitch to get out!

IcemanG17

Bill
On my old car I used a flexible styrofoam "enclosure" behind the 6.5" Mb Quarts I had in the doors....It really improved the bass over the open door panel & reduced rattles!

Sure my spare doesn't look all that great (thats why its getting painted as we speak)....but its nice to know it is there for an emergency... Sure I have thought about ditching it with a amp rack-sub-built in spot for fix-a-flat...but I just don't know.....I don't really want to build up the exsisting floor with a sub-large amp rack, since the trunk isn't that deep to start with...

Another idea I came up while discussing it with the stereo shop guys is mounting the amp or amps inside the 1/4 panels....custom 1/4 panels of course...similar to the old phone mount of CD changer mount, but built in with only a slighy bulge....again its custom work and pricey...but that plus the 6.5 subs might be the stealth instatll ticket?

Bill Ball

watercooler: Understood. I've only had one serious blow out during which the spare was handy. If you can repair the more common nail/screw pickup on the road, great. I don't like Fix-a-flat (messes up rims). So, I use one of the tubeless repair kits that involves inserting a plug. More work, but effective. Temporarily, of course.

Brian: I have some of those baffles. I think they are a bit too small to get the right effect, but I actually haven't tried them yet.

Peter F

Nice looking head unit Brian, and I bet it sounds so much better than the old factory unit....
What is the red LED for?

Cheers/Peter

jeff jackson

thats for an aftermarket alarm/remote start setup...it flashes when "armed" to warn bad guys...NOT to tamper...(mine's got a blue one"...