Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

DELETED

Well that Mitsubishi vertical mount 2-knob AM/FM Cassette that used to go for $75 is now up at $200 on EBay.

I have the Audiovox one and it works great.

You can definitely swap out the stock speakers in under the console for some modern speakers of the same size. This will improve the all around sound and allow for more wattage handling for louder speaker to about 50-100 Watts. This will only give you 2 speakers.

If the deck you choose has a fader a 2nd set of speakers in the rear would increase the sound level output to 4 speakers. The location for those 2 extra speakers is up to you.

The most used place (I don't recommend) is the door. Either in the front or rear corner. The front is better than the rear because when closing the door it is less prone to eventually give and fall out. Either location will eventaully give but the one up front is much later. Reinforcements will resove it. However this will force you to cut a hole in a prefectly good door panel. I have not had a chance to remove the door panel to see the foundation, so I am not as reliable as would like to be on this option. SO I can not say if tin snips will be required to make a hole.

Another draw back is if the speakers are up front on the door corner you will have bumping and rubbing with peoples feet and shoes. Not a good thing at all if the facia is not flush with the door.

The ideal location is in the rear side panel right behind the seat. Their is a cavity hole under the panel for about a 4-5 inch speaker. This spot is nice because it is more of a rear speaker location, and tin snips won't be required. Cuting the panel will be required. However is much easier to redo that little flat panel than the door.

I recomend speakers with AT LEAST 2-way crossover construction. You can get away with a REALY good coaxial, but your trebles and bass will not be as crisp and deep. The plus with a coaxial is that generally it has less crossover stransition for a smoother upper to lower bandwidth response. But if your not sure stick with at least a 2-Way, but 3 way is better.

I like Quark for these kind of 4-6 inch door/panel mounted speakers. If your a afecionado than kick in a few bucks for some foam speaker baffles for the rear side panels. I can't recommend anything for the stock front boxes of hand except maybe some Dynomat or Brownboard (dunno if that would help).

If you can get about 35 watts a channel out the 4 channels that should be enough. If not you will need an amplifier. Same goes if you only 60 watts per channel out of the 2 channels. Give or take 5 watts.

If by some freak chance your deck has bass output you can buy an underseat bass speaker amplifier. Many models are out there. I know the old style MR2 came stock with em.

If you really want to hear music without any problem without any kind of cutting at all. Get some Miata seats with a left and right 40 wat speaker in each headrest. You can't turn it up to impress anyone; you'll eventually go deaf in the long run.


If by some freakish chance

Hi Alvin,

I took the cheap route but it works. Mounted my speakers to the rollbar so the sound is directed towards your head. I had tried mounting them under the dash, in the door, and in the rear panels above the package shelf. All would get drowned out at highway cruising speed.

I imagine that mounting them in the headrests would be the best option. I bought a welder and am going to experiment with creating a better mount on the rollbar for speakers. Will keep you updated.

Fred "katman"

Hey Fred, etc.
just getting ready for a roolbar prime and paint, so keep me in the loop, as I figured I'd get the mounts welded in before the paint job.
Thanks Fred, Fergus O

There are some really nice marine stereos made to be remote mounted and they have a small wired remote you could mount within reach, or in the old radio hole if you make a dummy plate. Might even be able to stash it in the ashtray. Look at WestMarine.com or Boatersworld.com Overtons.com or BoatUS.com. They also have speakers made to mount on a ski tower that would work on a roll bar.

DELETED

Putting a stereo in a roadster is about half as bad as trying to stuff an A/C system in them. They have no insulating values. The enjoyment for most people is listening to the motor humm and have wind in your hair. When I had my S2000 its stereo wasn't audible with the top down on the freeway.

Alvin,
My CD player doesn't skip, even on 680, or 780, the patch jobs in the feeways are terrible. (As in they hurt when you find one), but my 4 year old Pioneer DEH P700R deck doesn't skip. I'm running it through the speakers in my Miata seats with a 8 inch POS sub on the cargo shelf. It works pretty well. The best part is that I didn't cut or drill into the sheetmetal anywhere. If you want more info, shoot me an email and I will try to take pictures.

Will

How about an ipod and headphones with the fm tuner?

Jason

DELETED

Well, I don't have much of a stereo to listen to either right now, just the AM Radio that came originally with the car, it works most of the time. If you already have a fm tuner in your car though the ipod can transmit to a pre set fm channel and receive the transmission from the ipod. My sister does this with hers in her car and her husband's so she doesn't have to move cd's and stuff.

Later

Jason

How about a big boom box sitting on the rear deck between the seats? If it's just for long rides ?

Alvin,

Don't abandon the CD idea just on the skipping issue. If your sold on the MP3 idea, cool, but it is a bit limiting. Most decent CD players these days actually scan ahead 10 seconds or so on the disc. In other words, what you hear now, was red by the CD player 10 seconds ago. If you hit a massive bump, the CD player now has 10 seconds to re-group, figure out where it was, and get back on track before that buffer runs out.

On the issue of remotes, the wireless ones have to be pointed right at the head unit. Just like your TV remote. Forget mounting the head unit in the glove box and being able to control it with a wireless remote unless you drive around with the glove box open. The suggestion of the wired marine remote is a great one. That's the route I'm going. Check out Sony. They make a really slick wired remote. It's round, about the diameter of a silver dollar. Maybe a bit larger. It's made to work with a number of Sony's head units. I'm mounting mine in the center console area, running the wire under the console and carpet, and back to the trunk. The head unit will be in the trunk.

Good luck!

Dave

If you want to pull out all the stops, look at this. the control unit is only about 1/2 inch thick, rest goes in trunk!!
It's not cheap, but really nice and no playing around.

http://www.boatus-store.com/webapp/wcs/ ... storeNum=3