So my last speaker finally went, and I finally have the cash to update the audio system in my '83. What do you all have for head units, speakers, and dash setups?

I'm mostly confused by the conversion kits to mount a single din head unit. Will a conversion kit for an S3 car work modified? or would I be better off fabbing my own brackets? I'm no good at fabbing but you've gotta learn somehow.

Also for the EQ and the balancer, what do you all have mounted there?

I was planning on getting a cheap $100 head unit, a pair of 4" splits and a pair of 6.5" splits (or coaxials... not too familiar with the terminology). No real intentions of adding subs or external amps at the moment unless necessary. More than likely I'll have to do new wiring all around, but I'm not sure. Some input would be great, I'm new to the whole car audio game.

 

Conversion kits are your best bet, but to be honest, the only thing holding my unit in place are the adjustable tabs on the radio sleeve and the pocket adapter below the radio. Never have had a problem.

 

FBorDie, sounds like you are already knowledgeable.

I stuffed a new single din into my car last summer. Only thing I regret is getting the CD player. Never use it. I always use the usb thumb drive, and sometimes a smart phone.

The bracket assembly that came with it slipped right in. Check out Crutchfield.com. You can look up what will fit.

 

Does this eliminate the need for the Clarion Amps in the bins? Also, how about the stupid joystick? Did you eliminate that too? Mine still has factory components, but screeches when you reach a certain volume level.

 

I was about to ask the same thing, though I believe my '83 has a Clarion amp under the drivers seat. If you run an aftermarket head unit (and amp if you'd like) it sounds like you can completely bypass the factory wiring.

I was curious if there is a pocket or clock that can go in place of the joystick. I bought some cheap Rockford Fosgate 4" and 6.5" Coax speakers, they should be more than enough for me. Hopefully they'll do well enough with the stock head unit until I can afford a new one. I'm not too concerned with audio, I just like to be able to listen to some music on my commute!

 

I would suggest running new speaker wire from your head unit to your speakers and eliminate the clarion amps.

 

I run the stock SA setup that came in the GS in 1980. Replaced the speakers with new 4" ones
that sound great. Added a hidden cable to hook my ipod into play music, done.

I just wish the radio had more FM presets. It only has 2!

 

TG - More information please! I prefer the stock look.

 

Theres a thread on how to make a cable to allow an ipod or any music source to
drive the clarion stereo in the SAs.

Here it is: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-arch...ghlight=stereo

 

The amps and joystick are not connected. New speaker wires to the speakers. I kept the old radio if I ever want to put it back in (doubt it).

 

I ran 2 15's kickers in my girl. it took me about an hour to hook up the 0 guage, screwing holds for the wires and drill/tapping a ground spot. I even did hella modding to the center console.

 

0 gauge?! Hiw many watts where you pushing that would require that kind of wire?

 

My old setup:

Oh ish...


Still nasty


Oooh, better from further away!


Disgusting!


That makes me sick to my stomach just looking at it now...yuck.
Kenwood single DIN
4" Kenwood front 6.5" Kenwood rear speakers
4x400w amplifier in the battery bin (4 channels at 100w each) powering the 4 speakers

Run separate wires for each speaker, don't rely on the stock wiring for those. I used an adapter kit for the wiring and was disappointed in it to say the least. The kit worked well for Bat +, dimmer lights, and those inputs though!

 

Updated May 2010.
Used the original metal bracket, added the bottom cubby and glued in a trim plate.
It does have CD, but the thumb drive is in the glove box.
Joystick is only for decoration.
Ran new speaker lines to the front and rear.
Power antenna polarity is reversed. Turn on radio lowered antenna. Rear window wiper no longer functions so I used its switch for the antenna rather than re-pinning the connections.

 

I was pushing about 4000 watts. I'll be putting something bigger in sometime soon.

 

I'll try to gather pics of the system
It's been gone for a minute so I delete stuff over time.

 

It's nice to see all the setups on here, but I wish there were more S1/S2 cars. I'm still completely confused with the aftermarket head unit mounting, though I'll have to wait a while anyway at this rate.

Who knows, I bought a pair of 4" and 6.5" Rockford Fosgates which I'll be putting in tomorrow. We'll see if they sound good enough for me on the stock setup. I prefer the OEM look anyway.

 

I used my imagination on how to fit my stereo in. An Alpine CDE 153bt unit ( kicks *** for sure) is fairly fit able anywhere. I'm sitting porch side as a storm passes through. Probably tomorrow I'll have those pics up. Working on Honaka (my babies name) tomorrow converting the carb to mechanical secondaries

 

Here's mine. The face plate cover will sit on my panel. I've glued plastic mounts in the face plate cover to be held on by screws behind the panel. I'll be adding a fiber glass den that I'll make then paint.

 

I actually went the other way with mine and removed the cd player and amp to put the factory radio, but with kicker speakers in my gslse, sounds great

 

How are you guys with S1 and S2 cars mounting them? The kit I used is going to cause me to remove a lot of material from the faceplate to get the bezel to sit in it, rather than OVER it as it should be. I used a kit for an S3 car, but I've heard of guys using miata brackets?

 

I did what you are doing last year. Dropped $200 on a JVC kd-ar4959bs receiver/cd player and 4in and 5 1/4 in fosgate speakers. USB thumbdrive holds all the music that I could ever want. And the 4 inch and 5 1/4 inch fosgate speakers are plenty loud w/o distortion.

Only complication was the 32 year old OEM connectors crumbling in my hand. Installation was easy

 

I went with a double din, ditched all the OEM GSL-SE stereo stuff and did my own. Got a window switch holder from a car without a stereo fader ****, so now I have something practical.

 

Now that looks nice. What head unit did you use? I plan to keep the mid/tweets in the OEM locations and add a small sub in the LH storage bin.

 

That is a Pioneer AVH-5500bhs.

I would recommend a unit with navigation already built in, mine only has the option to add it on. Love it otherwise.

I tossed in two 10" subs from pioneer too. I made a custom box that sits in the rear. I dont have any good pics at the moment of that install.