280Z Stereo Setup

[Guest PBooty]

I ripped out the my head unit and the stock speakers, and now I'm left with 2 really small holes for speakers in the front and rear and a rather strange looking area where my stock unit once was.

 

No matter how I approach this it looks like there needs to be some modding done. I don't want mind numbing bass and what not, just maybe component speakers in the front and whatevers in the rear.

 

Could you guys post some pics of ur setup?

 

Suggestions will be appreciated as well.

[EvilRufusKay]

This is what I plan to use in my 280

 

http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=SP

[TomoHawk]

You have 4 speaker holes? Mine only has the 2 speakers by the quarter windows. there's no rilles or speakers in the back, either. On top of that, the wiring diagram from Mitchel's doesn't show any wiring for the radio. :~(

 

All I need is just a plain, AM/FM cassette receiver. No DVD, no playstation, no GPS. I leave that stuff inside the house.

[Guest PBooty]

This is what I plan to use in my 280

 

http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=SP

 

I thought about getting this, since it seems like the only option out there...but i really dont like how it looks. It also seems like it would make it rather hard getting under the deck (since I use my spare tire a lot haha).

 

As for the extra holes, I forgot to mention that I had previous cut 2 3" holes on the doors and shoved some ghetto speakers in there to hold me over. Finally, its time for a change....

 

Thanks for your input guys...

 

COME ON...there has to be more of u guys out there with some sort of sound system install..right?

 

By the way, the playstation and dvd never entered my mind...call me crazy, but I'm one of those people who like to watch the road while im driving

[baddriver]

I have 2 6x9's in boxes, held down with the factory luggage straps, but...

The setup I currently think is the best move for the Z is to replace the original seats with the Miata seats with speakers in the headrest. If you're serious about your sound, upgrade the miata speakers while you're at it. I'm planning on doing this, while keeping my 6x9s. I was also planning on putting the 6x9's into a panel like the one above from Motorsport auto, but I think I can build one myself for less.

 

I was also planning on getting a compact spare from a hyundai excell to replace the full-size spare, and I think this will make getting to the spare a bit simpler.

 

These are just my ideas, let us know what you come up with.

[ZR8ED]

Luckily for 280z owners, we have a sub floor in the back of our cars... just behind the seats, I installed a pair of 6x9's and mounted them flush to the wood sub floor.. You have to cut the carpet to allow for the sound to pass through, but is used the speaker covers overtop, and allows for a clean look. I never did replace the speakers under the 1/4 windows.

 

I ran surface mounted tweeters on the dash (I didn't want to cut the dash in any way). For base, a build a custom box that angled with the hatch glass and was at the very back of the car. head unit plus 2 amps, (one for the sub and one for the 6x9's) 800watts max power... more than enough for a little car..

 

That was quite a few years ago now.. my system is much more mild.

[Phantom]

Click on the links below and look at the pics. Speakers in back, in the deck, under the 1/4 window & in the doors.

[Kevin Shasteen]

I wish I knew how to cut/paste as I would show you my set up. BTW: my car is a 2+2.

 

I used a 240watt 4channel Head Unit in the factory location, 2 6" rounds Infinity in the 2 Factory Speaker locations under the 1/4 windows, and a CD Deck: purchase a generic Amp System from Walmart. Dont bother purchasing any Custom Head Adaptor Brackets as you will want to use metal strapping w/enough tensil strengh that keeps its shape when you bend it.

 

For my source of power to the amp I ran the wiring straight from the battery thru the hole at the firewall where your wiring harness on the battery side enters the passenger hull just in front of the fuse panel. You can run this wiring down the side of passenger floor up to the amp. The wiring harness plug in the engine compartment is just below the area where your HVAC vacuum line enters the passenger compartment.

 

This metal strapping is what you will use to mount your Head Unit to the console: if you have not pulled your console out yet you will see what I am talking about if/when you are ready to install said Head Unit. I found the metal strapping gave a more solid attachment than some flimsy plastic bracket from some kit.

 

The metal strapping is the same strapping that usually comes in a Stereo Head Unit box-meant to be bolted up to the back of the Head Unit & the other end of the strapping is suppose to be mounted to the firewall; unfortunately there isnt a whole lot of room behind the stereo-so mounting the metal strapping to the firewall is not an option. Luckily I had two pieces of metal strapping: I used one for each side of the Head Unit-and cut them to fit after reshaping them. One end of the metal strapping attaches to the Head Unit while the other end of the strapping attaches to the factory mounting on the inside of your console. You will have to play w/this strapping to get the proper bend so that your Head Unit will fit flush to the dash once your console is reinstalled.

 

All the wires leading up to your console wiring harness have plug-in's just left of the passenger's knee if you were sitting in the passenger's seat: and is a very tight space.

 

Since I dont smoke I plugged my cigarette lighter into my power antenna. I ran the power ant wiring inside the driver's side trim panel when it was removed during the driver's side speaker install. In order to remove the driver's side rear trim panel to gain access to the power ant. you will have to remove the driver's side rear hatch hyd.strut support as the trim panel is also held to the body by the same mounting stud that mounts your hyd. hatch shock/support-whatever you want to call it. I bought an on/off switch from Autozone that fits in one of the console plugs next to the hazard light switch: so I could control my Pwr Ant manually. This way if I ever go thru an auto car wash I could lower my Pwr Ant and still listen to a tape if I wanted...or CD w/out the Pwr Ant rising up.

 

You have to cut the factory speaker holes to fit larger speakers...no way around it: but when you hear the sound from an upgraded/custom system you will be glad you did.

 

In order to cut the holes you have to remove the trim pieces at the 1/4 window. This means you have to remove all the little plastic 20 year old clips (dont be to upset when they break): I replaced all the clips w/phillips course threaded screws. In order to remove the trim panel you will have to remove the 1/4 window.

 

Once you have the 1/4 window removed the trim will come off. BE CAREFUL as the window weatherstrip sealant is VERY VERY TACKY!!...and black so if you interior color is light-dont let the black stuff come in contact w/your interior. So have paper towels ready to catch it-so as to not allow the tacky black tar like substance to end up on your trim (believe me it is like taffy being stretched-and it gets on everything if you are not prepared for it.

 

I enlarged the speaker holes w/a Jig-Saw. It helps if your Jig-Saw has multiple speeds so you can go a slower pace. A Roto-Zip Saw would be even better. Be sure and use your Speaker Templets.

 

I also ran two lines to the rear of my cargo area for bass speakers.

 

I put the Amp under the passenger seat and installed the CD Player under the driver's seat.

 

As for the ground wires for the Head Unit and Amp I installed them on the passenger seat's frame mount. Remove the passenger seat and pull up the carpet: you will see a relay also mounted there. I had to remove the relay and drill a whole a few inches further down to make room for my ground wires: it is best if you mount your ground wires together and as close to the accessories as possible. The CD Player doesnt have a ground wire as it gets its power from the Head Unit.

 

All in all it took me about a week to do simply because I dont have a garage and all week it kept raining on/off. This was my first serious install-pretty much straght forward...just take your time and think things through.

 

It is nice to hear quality sound when winding down the road w/the window down and you can hear every note distinctly.

 

Hope this helped.

 

Kevin,

(Yea,Still an Inliner)

[Guest Venture-Z]

I made a custom box for my 280 that has two 6x9's behind the seats pointed forward a 12" sub pointed backwards that sits right between the shock towers. I ripped out the raised deck and coated the floor with bedliner. The front of the box sits at an angle behind the seats, the top is level with the shock towers,and the back is flush with the back of the towers. I also replaced the stock speakers, the ones next to your head, with 3 way 3 1/2" alpines. I put some pioneer tweeters in the little chrome vents in the dash, you can't even tell there in there unless you really look. The overall soud is well rounded, the low's are solid and powerfull, I have to turn down the bass to read road signs, and the highs are clear and crisp but not shrill. Most of the equipment isn't that great but I can always upgrade down the road.

[BAlford]

You might try 4 small speakers like this.

 

http://www.waskomtexas.com/zcar/re_car/woofers.html

 

We have added, since these pictures were made, a new radio/DVD/CD player, a TFT LCD monitor where the rear view mirror was, a rear viewing camera and two new speakers up in the corners above the woofers. We can watch a movie with sround sound.

[zguy95135]

when i got my car it had holes cut in the storage bins behind the seat. the holes face toward the back of the seats. but he took out the stereo and it looks really ugly without speakers (bass thingys whatever ) im gonna have to poprivet some sheetmetal on the inside and out.

[Forrest]

I just pulled out my rear deck and I have to make a decision about all this as well. My speakers used to be mounted in the deck over the storage compartments as well. I think they'd probably sound better in enclosures, but also, having the speakers there limits rear deck redesign options. And you can't take them out of the car for autox. And you have to have the rear deck in the car. It was kind of a pain.

 

MSA's design looks great, but 150$? Not for me. I wouldnt' feel right spending 150$ on the sound system when I have so many things to buy to make the car perform better. However, if someone builds them, please take some pics and measurements, because I'd be interested to see what it took.

 

I think I'm just going to look for some cheap 6x9 enclosures.

[Guest 240hybrid]

I don't have anything set up in my 240 yet, but plan on using basically the same setup with a few differences as I had in my 280. In my 75 280 I had a 1200 watt Pyramid amp(I know not the best out there, but it did very well) powering 2 - 4 and 1/2" kicker mid speakers in the door panels, and 2-6x9" polk audio high/mid speakers in the storage areas behind the seats like Zguy talked about. The doors on the storage areas where taken out and simple pieces of 3/8" plywood cut to the same shape as the little doors I took out. That area makes for a nice enclosure and the sound was great and very clear due to the locations of all 4 speakers close to the passengers and a descent amp.

 

I do have a 12" kicker comp. VR and a Kenwood Excelon 600 or 800 (can't remember) direct port amp, but I don't want all that bass anymore, I grew out of that and into classic rock and roll. All I know is that it beat like hell, its a shame it was only used for about 3 months. Maybe I'll sell it as I don't want to clutter the interior up with amps and subs.

[timh]

When I bought my Z, the door panels had a rectangular speaker grills from the 70's. I made sheetmetal panels to hide that hole and support the 6" Boston Rallye's and tweeter I currently have. See my personal gallery for a photo. Nothing is in the rear of the car, the bass is sufficient for my age (34) . http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/album_personal.php?user_id=166

 

Tim

[Guest Fontouk]

I've done multiple installations of stereo equipment in various cars for myself, friends and family, for about 13 years, and even got offered a job as an installer.

 

First off, if speed is your primary concern, you might as well just skip the stereo all together for weight savings. If you want a nice ride, then the first thing you need to do is sound proof your interior with either dynamat type stuff, or I've seen mention of rhino liner and what not. You'd be amazed at how much your stereo has to fight with road noise, and what good sound dampening can lend. You should deaden the doors, floors, and roof (hidden behind the headliner). Doors are the worst for speakers. Think of it this way, even the cheapest home speakers are in a box. Doors are riddled with holes, and are just plain horrid acoustically. Seal 'em off completely with dynamat. Not to mention, doors are a pain in the rump to install speakers that don't quite match up with stock holes. You may want to consider doing "kick panels" out of fiberglass. Here's a few links on "how to" fiberglass (not mine, just collected).

 

http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

http://coralchopper.com/the-ride/glassing.htm

 

Fiberglassing is easier than it sounds, especially if you're just going to cover it with vinyl or carpet. If you have the heart and will to sand for hours on end, you can get 'em painted to match the car exterior/interior for a really sharp look.

 

As for a subwoofer argument, even a small sub will enhance your overall sound, (when used with a crossover) as the mids/highs won't try to hit the low notes, and focus instead on making better sound in the mid/high range. Even a small 8" sub will make a huge impact on your overall imaging. Also, for ease of use, skip the "fancy" tuned/ported subwoofer box designs and stick with a simple sealed box made of 3/4" Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). Porting is an art unto itself, and though it will increase the SPL (Sound Pressure level), you have to have the right diameter holes, right length port tube, tuned to a specific frequency that you want to "hit".

 

Personally, my favorite system design is to take RCA outs from a deck (either 2 channel or 4 channel) into a crossover, split off the sub from the mids/highs then amp that signal into 2 mid coax's + sub, or 4 mid coax's + sub. Nowadays it's even easier with 5 channel amps with built in crossovers, neatly contained in one easy unit. For reasonably priced gear, check out http://www.sounddomain.com. Often times you'll find an older model that's being phased out, but still new in the box.

 

As for individual speakers, I prefer JL (NOT JBL!) sub's, and MB Quart for mid/highs. Go to your local high end car stereo shop with some of your favorite CD's, and listen to all kinds of speakers to get a feel for what's right in your price range. Pick generic places you think you want to mount things, and talk to the people at the car stereo shop for what they've put in similar vehicles. It'll help alot in the end, and they're more than happy to share experiences of mounting X speaker in Y door.

[RPMS]

Since you've already got holes in the door panels, go ahead and enlarge them for 6 1/2" speakers. Be careful of two things though - how you place them, and how deep the magnets are. I had one set of Yamaha speakers that didn't look particularly deep, but they prevented the window from completely rolling down unless you knew just how to wiggle the glass. Also, if you don't place the speakers carefully, or if they have large grilles, they can interfere with the window crank - or your knuckles.

 

I have 6x9's in the fronts of the storage compartments facing the seats. They weren't supposed to handle anything but the low notes, so I didn't think the mounting direction really mattered. They don't sound bad, but they need heavy active equalization to sound right. There are a lot of airholes to plug to keep them from whistling, and the air volume that's behind them is pretty small so they tend to honk. I think the same would be true of MSA's system. I think it's too small a volume to sound good. I ended up strapping a fairly large sub box onto the back deck. When I need more carge room I take out the sub and hook up the 6x9's.

[Guest PBooty]

Thanks for all the feedback guys,

 

I've been musicless for about 2 months now. I commute back from LA to SB (1.5 hr drive) a lot for school/home and I'm getting pretty use to listening to the sound of the road Vroooooom

 

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do...

 

Decisions Decisions....

[RPMS]

Whatever you decide, make sure to get a quality head unit. It's the foundation of your system, and you can get a top quality basic receiver for about the same price (or less) than one of those crappy units that have a bunch of flashy lights on the display. You don't pay much attention to the light show after the first few weeks, but you'll constantly be reminded of it if you cheap out on quality.

[Guest PBooty]

anyone got pics of their setup?

[Guest PBooty]

no pics? fine! I'll go..

 

 

So far I ran the wiring for the rear speakers and the antenna.

Now i gotta find speakers for the doors, then figure out how the heck im gonna wire up the head unit. I don't even have a clue home im gonna attach the head unit.