Time for an audio upgrade

ryanhorton1973 · Post by **ryanhorton1973** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 1:47 pm

Been shopping and picked up this little lot to fit in the evenings / weekends to replace my blown original speakers and cassette deck.[/img]

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:01 pm

very nice! you will love the change in audio quality!

to quote myself from a old post in the audio section:

egotistical me wrote:a few days ago I replaced the blown stock headrest speakers with JVC 4" speakers and I have to say, for a job that took 30 mins from start to finish it really was worth the investment.

I just followed this walkthrough: http://www.mazda-madness.co.uk/2010/11/ ... -speakers/

If your MX5 doesn't have headrest speakers then you are really missing out

the lowend bass is kind of missing at the moment tho' so I have ordered a fusion 8" underseat sub and will see how it goes next week once it arrives and is installed/tuned.

unsure whether to have it mounted behind or under the drivers seat or to possibly put it in the end of the passenger footwell. Most probably going with mounting it behind the drivers seat.

if you want a decent underseat sub, many of the reviews i have read rate "BOSS" pretty highly but sadly money is not unlimited so I settled on the fusion which at just over $200 is pretty good bang for your buck. The Jaycar 8" retails for $159 and is good but not amazing.

don't go for the jaycar subs if you do go that route, definitely go for the fusion underseat sub as it will out perform (on its own) 2 cheap jaycar underseat subs (if I recall correctly, my fusion cost $220 on trademe)

one final note, while you have everything open, check the quality/degradation of any wires and replace them if need be.

good luck and have fun ..... its worth it

Kieran · Post by **Kieran** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:43 pm

And Grounds!

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:48 pm

indeed! that's possibly one of the most important things!

if you get engine noise then you may need a suppressor/line filter installed as well.

ryanhorton1973 · Post by **ryanhorton1973** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:44 pm

I have managed to remove the old head unit this evening and put the old mounting brackets from it on to the new head unit but now have a gap underneath (it was filled in by a small tray with the old cassette deck). Can you buy a panel to fill this gap? The old head unit looks like it is about a DIN and a half in size so a rough guess would be I need a quarter DIN tray or infill panel. Any help or someone who has done this before and can point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:54 pm

my first thought would be a pick-a-part wreckers with late model car wrecks as the cavity is a generic size. Once I had once of a suitable size I would wash it then use some boot polish on it and it will look just like new.

Or, you could get creative and make one... you simply have to work out the mounting method.

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:12 pm

I have that exact same headunit, couldn't work out how I was going to fill the small gap it leaves so just left it.
Let me know if you find something that works.
Also how did you mount it? Mines just sitting loosly in the dash

authentic · Post by **authentic** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:28 pm

siren676 wrote:I have that exact same headunit, couldn't work out how I was going to fill the small gap it leaves so just left it.

It's all about the block of wood painted black.

(Click to enlarge)

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:32 pm

my gap above my headunit was approximately 20mm so I got some vent sealing strip (sold at bunnings for about $5 a meter) then cut three strips the width of the gap and stuck them one on top of another to make a rubber block with a sticky underside. this I stuck in the cavity and set it about 5mm behind where I wanted my flat face to be.
I then another piece to size for the hole and stuck it to the 3 layered block I had just put in.

it was a little fiddly, but took all of 10 minutes to do.
please excuse the crappy pics but I hope this helps

(the actual smooth finish looks nicer than my grainy cellphone camera can handle)

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:46 pm

I did what MrGrey did in one of my many variations to the car. It was tidy and simple to do.

chris · Post by **chris** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:56 am

I DID THIS

ryanhorton1973 · Post by **ryanhorton1973** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 1:26 pm

Got the head unit in and working this morning. Nice and simple to do as I just removed the mounting brackets from the old cassette player, screwed them in to the new one and used the wiring harness adapters from Repco to wire it in. Found solution to the small hole at the bottom of the new stero at work on a shelf (black Kappa board). Trimmed a bit to size and fixed it to the rear of the trim panel. Fairly happy with the result. Speakers next!

ryanhorton1973 · Post by **ryanhorton1973** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:00 pm

Everything now fitted and working after a fairly intensive day and a half of labour over the weekend. I clicked on a buy it now for $199 for a Fusion underseat sub as recommended by others and went to collect it to be be told that the store selling it did not have any left. They did however give me the option of either waiting for it to come in stock (I did not want to do this having stripped the car and filled up any spare space left in my small garage and within reach of our dog which likes to chew black plastic ! ) or to have a $449 Soundstream equivalent so I took that. Pictures attached of the strip (including the filthy carpets that were all vacuumed when the job was finished before the seats went back in). Happy with the result and I just need to go through the numerous settings on the head unit and tweak the settings on the sub to suit all types of music.

ryanhorton1973 · Post by **ryanhorton1973** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:28 pm

The finished article. Carpets cleaned and the car back in almost one piece !

CordedBowl · Post by **CordedBowl** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:32 pm

Great photos Ryan, nice and detailed!

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:56 pm

grats on the soundstream, they are nice

once you tune the amp you will be good to go.... but bear in mind, mine took a lot of micro tweaking over 2 weeks to fine tune it to something I liked.

one other thing, that little gain dial is kind of pointless (it would have been better if it was a volume rather than gain) so once its set, it will quite happily sit there and gather dust, so you did a good call by hiding it away.

I look forward to hearing your feedback once you have had some time to get it tuned and enjoy it

REDBEN · Post by **REDBEN** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:04 pm

Top Notch Ryan, great photos too!

Stevo · Post by **Stevo** » Wed May 01, 2013 5:58 am

Well done. The Soundstream is a better amp than the Fusion anyway.

fooesboy · Post by **fooesboy** » Wed May 01, 2013 10:33 pm

Very informative post.

Do you have any details of how you have done the rear speakers? I'm looking for options.

Chris

dynofiend · Post by **dynofiend** » Fri May 03, 2013 6:58 pm

Lookin good!

My only slight concern is that it looks like you may have the fuse mounted some distance from the battery terminal. Even as far away as on the other side of a bulkhead? Given the gauge of the wire, as close to the terminal as possible might have been preferable.

ryanhorton1973 · Post by **ryanhorton1973** » Sat May 04, 2013 5:42 pm

The fuse is mounted inside the boot. It is behind where the spare wheel sits. I did not mount it closer to the battery as it may have got knocked / broken when my golf clubs are wedged into the boot. I did resistance checks on both locations and the difference was negligible.

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Sat May 04, 2013 6:21 pm

how have you been enjoying it so far?

worth it? hate it? anything you would do differently?

ryanhorton1973 · Post by **ryanhorton1973** » Sat May 04, 2013 8:35 pm

So far so good. I have for the levels about right now by setting the bass, mid and high frequency cut off frequencies. Have got the gain on the amp at about 3/4 of max and the same for the bass boost. I will try to get some pictures of what I have done with the headrest speakers tomorrow.

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Sun May 05, 2013 3:32 am

I'm glad you are liking the upgrade sofar, bear in mind tho' that it will take a while for all your speakers to run themselves in, so you get to look forward to your speakers getting smoother sound as they lose a little of that "just made in a factory" rigidity.

If you are a real audiophile you can replace all the capacitors on your speakers with good quality ones for a smoother mid range and treble. When I did my speaker upgrade (I went with 4x 4" & 2x 6.5" JVC speakers) I replaced all the caps and I feel it was worth it. The cost was $4-5 per cap and took me about 10minutes per speaker. I can get the capacitor identification code if you are interested.

Another thing you could consider is putting a filter on your speakers to filter out the low frequencies on your main speakers so that only your sub is pushing out the bass which should increase the lifespan of your speakers. I didn't do this myself as I couldn't be arsed at the time, but its something to consider.

I guess you could call me an audiophile or a sonic purist, but I really do love having good quality sounds in my car.

GRUVBB · Post by **GRUVBB** » Sun May 05, 2013 9:41 am

I have been enjoying this site since purchasing Na6 for my daughter in Feb.Just became a member yesterday so I can contribute and learn further. It's great to see common desires and knowledge being shared. I am looking at improving audio quality also. I have noticed that a common thread is a lack of bass response when replacing/upgrading headrest speakers. I do not wish to bag any persons choice of speaker as we all have different hearing ranges. What sounds sweet to one person may not be so good for others
I am contemplating installing the Fusion CS-FR4020. These have a lower range than other speakers which have been documented here already. Their range is 44Hz-24KHz. Their high frequency response is clipped less than others but price wise it may be the law of diminishing effect.
I have had Fusion in my boats for some time and have been happy with their performance. The pricing is sharp which leaves more money to throw elsewhere.
Would welcome any feedback regarding this.

Luckily my daughter does not have a licence yet so I have to keep the car in CONSTANT use. The company vehicle and fuel card sit idle.
Gotta love this great weather of 2013.

Does any Audio Trainspotter have constructive advice regarding this option

Time for an audio upgrade

Time for an audio upgrade

A bit of help needed please !

Head unit in and working.

All finished and just some minor tweaking to do

Audio Upgrade

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