pparaska Posted May 29, 2002 Share Posted May 29, 2002 The one thing I haven't planned on yet in my Z is the audio system. It has to be budget minded - I'd not mind giving up some sound quality in speakers to bring the price down. I don't really know what this will cost, and if I have to put it off to save up, that's no biggie either. I don't need a great system. Mediocre is fine - the exhaust is loud enough anyway! What (I think) I want: - AM/FM with MP3/CD player (AM optional) - Two rear-ish speakers: -Two 6x9's in the rear panel area, -or maybe something smaller on top of the strut towers? (I don't like alot of bass, so subwoofers are not needed nor wanted.) - Possibly a tweeter or mid/tweeter on the A-pillars or down on the dash in the A-pillar area. I think the MP3 option may make this really expensive. My last 240Z system is 20 years old - a late 70's Sanyo AM/FM/cassette unit with two Jensen Coax-II 6x9's in home-made boxes and that sounded pretty good (except the tape part) to me. Obviously, my knowledge and tastes in this area are 20 years old, so the cheapest stuff will probably be fine for me. Call this system to be designed a "low-tech" solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 29, 2002 Share Posted May 29, 2002 LOL, I feel ya Pete, somewhere here in the house is a 70's pioneer underdash "supertuner" which was actually a damn awesome radio (tape, well it was passable) and it blazed its 4 watts to a ragin pair of jensen 6x9 Co-Axles haha. I remember when the 40 watt boosters came out and we were like whoa this is loud (it also had like 10% THD !) I still remember my friend (no not I ever, not even close, Led Zep 1 & 2, or funky maybe brothers johnson) cruising with the BeeGee's playing... Luckily this is one time where I don't come kicking and screaming from the old school, good tunes rock. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 29, 2002 Share Posted May 29, 2002 Pete, You should talk to Evan, he has done lots of work on audio in his Z but has spent much more than what you are talking about. The MP3 option shouldn't cost you too much. You can get a new Alpine MP3 CD for about $300 and I am sure you can get the other name brands for closer to $200. I have always thought that Pioneer speakers give great bang for the buck! If you want lesser brands (which will be OK) go to www.partsexpress.com and check out what they have. I HIGHLY recommend putting a component speaker system (less than $100 at Parts Express) in your doors (or anywhere in the front) and then put some 3 or 4 way 6x9s in the back using those pre-fab boxes that are like $20 a pair at Walmart. A decent component system used up front will probably give you more than you expect. If you can stand to spend a bit more, get yourself a decent little 2 channel amplifier and run the whole setup with that. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted May 29, 2002 Share Posted May 29, 2002 I just put a cheep system in my beater pickup.. Pioneer Cd player and 2 6x9's was on sale at walmart for 149... Not bad for a cheep system needs 2 more speakers and maybe an amp with a sub woofer.. but for 149$ it was well worth it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 pete: the aiwa mp3 player is pretty inexpensive, but stay away from it. speaking from experience, and davy can confirm - they suck more than a teenage girl on a prom night. Mine pauses at any minor bump, and it's my 2nd unit. It's a crappy design. pioneer, jvc, kenwood, sony, and alpine make good ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nullbound Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 hi pete, you may want to check out pics of my stereo install (even though the pics arent that great...), starting at pic 40 in my photo album. i used the msa 6x9 panel for the rear speakers and am really happy with the quality of the construction. it fits really well and looks nice, but the port in the middle is just for looks. for the front speakers, i bought a set of q-logic universal plates for 5.25" speakers. these do not have a mounting spot for tweeters. i tried a set with the tweeter mount, but they would not fit into the available space on the passenger side. the ones i bought were about $60 at a local stereo shop. i've seen people carve into their doors at the bottom corner, but it's not a flat surface at the metal and just never seemed like a good idea to me. the stock kick panel is much cheaper to replace than a door panel with a hole in it is. the speakers i had chosen for the front had the option of mounting the tweeters on the grills, similar to a coaxial. i could have mounted them somewhere else, but after some testing i found the imaging to be much better with them mounted in the same location as the mids. it's not in the pics, but the plan is to trim the edges off the kick panel enclosures and have the leading edge tucked behind the weather stripping. the stereo sounded really good to me in that form until i came across a really good deal on a set of 10" subs. i couldnt refuse, so i mounted them on 3/4" mdf in the spare tire well. i'm not into the bassy stuff, so the small size of the spare tire well gives good tight bass response for my kind of music. i have an orion amp under the passenger seat to give power to the subs (100 watts per sub, but the gain is way down on the amp while the bass is at the halfway mark on the cd player). for buying your equipment, i highly recommend crutchfield.com. they have a sony cd/mp3 (cdx-mp30) player right now for $250, which has a plug in for XM radio. for speakers, i highly recommend kicker. you can get kicker 6x9's for $150 and 5.25" coaxials (not the same as mine, though..) for $90. separates like mine will cost $180, though you can get a set of polk audio on clearance for $120. cruthcfield should be able to get universal pods. i've seen them at best buy before, as well. good luck with whatever you decide! i look forward to seeing pics of your installation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest riggerjack Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 cbraudio.com for good quality, ebay for price. look for the drop shippers. i'm buying a 600w amp for $71 after shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay1970Z Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 I had a Jensen MP3 deck which was in my Caddy but is now in my brother's accord. Only paid $150 at Wal-Mart and it looks and sounds good. Kinda silver with a red glow, it looks good. Ray, I also saw that Pioneer deal at Wal-Mart yesterday, looks like a good deal to me, I will probably get something like that for my Z once I get it that is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Pete, I would certainly get an amp to boost the magnitude of sound to overcome the volume of sound coming from the engine and give you better, fuller sound. A subwoofer is not a bad idea to enhance the musical experience evenif you don't intend to "use" a lot of base. I hear you on that one, Buddy. I have always purchased from Crutchfield due to their do-it-yourself products and instructions, but I'm sure that Evan can hook you up too. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Go check out ubid.com and ebay. You can get some good deals from good people on ebay and ubid is all stuff ubid owns. It all depends on your budget. Let me know and I'll see what I can find. I've done mine for pretty cheap so far. There is a site for wiring too. It's http://www.knukonceptz.com. The stuff there is awesome, as good as Monster Cable (if not better), and cheaper than Radio Shack. I'm sure if you wanted to do subs, you wouldn't have a problem building boxes. http://www.diysubwoofers.org should be a good place to get you started on that. Anyways, just let me know what you want to spend and I'll see what I can dig up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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