1990 Convertible Stereo Upgrades
03-15-02, 04:57 PM
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1990 Convertible Stereo Upgrades
I posted this monster in reply to a Q in one of the other forums, and thought it fit here, as well. Maybe someone can save a few months of trial and error. I am finally happy (well, the stock HU still skips all the time, but that is the sacrifice I made).
My goal was to get audible SQ sound at 80, with the windows and top down. I hate hate hate the stock head unit. Mine skips under acceleration. And I have an automatic! In the end I kept it, though.
After five months of experimenting, which included 3 subs, 2 amps, and 2 new head units, I have the following changes made to the stock setup.
1) Component set of speakers for fronts (doors). Flush mounted the tweets on the flat area above the vent in the door. Replaced stock mid-woofers with decent mid-woofers. This set included crossover (Ultimate Platinum 6.5 set). Yes, this was budget - $99 for all of it. And it sounds great.
2) 8" Eclipse 8708-4 sub in a 3/4" mdf box in the larger of the two bins visible when the cosmetic cover is removed (driver side bin). I also tried a 10" and 12" in the box. The 8" (37mm total x movement) is better than either. SQ of course, this is not an SPL setup - I put the cosmetic cover over the sub, for instance. I built the box to match the angles of the well, and figure it is almost .5 cu ft. Drilled a bunch of holes in the cosmetic cover directly over the sub. Eggcrated the entire underside of the cosmetic cover. Asphalt matted most of the underside of the cosmetic cover, as well as the plastic liner between the cab and trunk. Asphalt matted any vibrations in the trunk area too. Relocated the headrest amp that was in this bin to the side well, just unbolt it, wrap it, and stuff it in there. Sub was $150, box I built, figure $40 for the mdf, a terminal plate, sealant, paint, etc. It gets covered, so it ain't pretty. It sounds really, really good. I get flat response (with the amp boost at 45 hz) down to around 35 hz. Accurate bass. And yes, the spare tire still is in it's stock location.
3) Stock HU. Damn, nothing else looks as nice, what can I say. And not having a faceplate removed says to thieves that I have a crappy stock stereo. I leave the top down everywhere, I almost never put it up. I've had the tonneau cover on for 2 weeks straight. I live in central California, it never rains. it's always warm. what can I do - top down! None of my stereo upgrades, except for the tweeters, are visible. Wish it had some antishock, maybe I should try to isolate the mounting somehow . . .
4) Clipped the front wires at the HU Harness. Tap the brown/red. This is the power switch for the stock amps, use it to remote your amp (s) as well! Line level converted the front speaker outputs (converter at Radio Shack for $10). I forget the colors of the speaker wires, but I have a schematic if you want it.
5) Run RCA from the HU to the amp. Of course I have 4 gauge from the battery, a 1/2 farad cap, etc. But that will vary with your installation. Then run speaker level to the front speakers. The HU feeds the rear amp and headrest amp still. I have the rear speakers unhooked, cause they are useless and rattle and go down to only 80 or so anyway. With the sub and new fronts, they are superfulous. The amp has an rca line level out pass-through to the other (sub) amp.
6) Buy a 4 channel amp. I did stages, so ended up with a 2 2 channel amps, which is hard to fit under the cosmetic cover. Oh well. The new Blau T series is incredibly small, and inexpensive. For keeping the stock HU, there is no need to drop $2000 on amps.
7) Get a sub amp with remotely adjustible gain. The Bazooka 250pro2o has this. It is clearancing right now at Circuit City for $100. Bridged into 4 ohm 170 W rms. No it is not top of the line. Yes it works. The remote fits perfectly into the between the seats console.
8) Power the fronts at least 100w rms a channel. A new HU with '20' W rms will not fix your distortion or volume troubles. I know. I tried. With a $300 Premier and a $200 Jensen. Again, power is the king. Nothing beats raw power. Clarity is so nice. Having dynamic range in a car is so cool.
9) If you can find a HU with ISO install, you can use the stock HU brackets to install, but you'll need to fab a cover/pocket for the 2 din opening. This will recess the HU too, which is a huge plus. I did not try this.
10) So with 370 W rms (1 2x100rms, 1 2x55rms (bridged is 170W) in the amps, new fronts, a sub, and the stock HU, it sounds really good. The remote gain on the sub amp is necessary, because top down at the setting that is bearable top up, it can't even be heard, so crank the level top down, subdue it top up. Perfect.
11) I am happy to field questions.
My goal was to get audible SQ sound at 80, with the windows and top down. I hate hate hate the stock head unit. Mine skips under acceleration. And I have an automatic! In the end I kept it, though.
After five months of experimenting, which included 3 subs, 2 amps, and 2 new head units, I have the following changes made to the stock setup.
1) Component set of speakers for fronts (doors). Flush mounted the tweets on the flat area above the vent in the door. Replaced stock mid-woofers with decent mid-woofers. This set included crossover (Ultimate Platinum 6.5 set). Yes, this was budget - $99 for all of it. And it sounds great.
2) 8" Eclipse 8708-4 sub in a 3/4" mdf box in the larger of the two bins visible when the cosmetic cover is removed (driver side bin). I also tried a 10" and 12" in the box. The 8" (37mm total x movement) is better than either. SQ of course, this is not an SPL setup - I put the cosmetic cover over the sub, for instance. I built the box to match the angles of the well, and figure it is almost .5 cu ft. Drilled a bunch of holes in the cosmetic cover directly over the sub. Eggcrated the entire underside of the cosmetic cover. Asphalt matted most of the underside of the cosmetic cover, as well as the plastic liner between the cab and trunk. Asphalt matted any vibrations in the trunk area too. Relocated the headrest amp that was in this bin to the side well, just unbolt it, wrap it, and stuff it in there. Sub was $150, box I built, figure $40 for the mdf, a terminal plate, sealant, paint, etc. It gets covered, so it ain't pretty. It sounds really, really good. I get flat response (with the amp boost at 45 hz) down to around 35 hz. Accurate bass. And yes, the spare tire still is in it's stock location.
3) Stock HU. Damn, nothing else looks as nice, what can I say. And not having a faceplate removed says to thieves that I have a crappy stock stereo. I leave the top down everywhere, I almost never put it up. I've had the tonneau cover on for 2 weeks straight. I live in central California, it never rains. it's always warm. what can I do - top down! None of my stereo upgrades, except for the tweeters, are visible. Wish it had some antishock, maybe I should try to isolate the mounting somehow . . .
4) Clipped the front wires at the HU Harness. Tap the brown/red. This is the power switch for the stock amps, use it to remote your amp (s) as well! Line level converted the front speaker outputs (converter at Radio Shack for $10). I forget the colors of the speaker wires, but I have a schematic if you want it.
5) Run RCA from the HU to the amp. Of course I have 4 gauge from the battery, a 1/2 farad cap, etc. But that will vary with your installation. Then run speaker level to the front speakers. The HU feeds the rear amp and headrest amp still. I have the rear speakers unhooked, cause they are useless and rattle and go down to only 80 or so anyway. With the sub and new fronts, they are superfulous. The amp has an rca line level out pass-through to the other (sub) amp.
6) Buy a 4 channel amp. I did stages, so ended up with a 2 2 channel amps, which is hard to fit under the cosmetic cover. Oh well. The new Blau T series is incredibly small, and inexpensive. For keeping the stock HU, there is no need to drop $2000 on amps.
7) Get a sub amp with remotely adjustible gain. The Bazooka 250pro2o has this. It is clearancing right now at Circuit City for $100. Bridged into 4 ohm 170 W rms. No it is not top of the line. Yes it works. The remote fits perfectly into the between the seats console.
8) Power the fronts at least 100w rms a channel. A new HU with '20' W rms will not fix your distortion or volume troubles. I know. I tried. With a $300 Premier and a $200 Jensen. Again, power is the king. Nothing beats raw power. Clarity is so nice. Having dynamic range in a car is so cool.
9) If you can find a HU with ISO install, you can use the stock HU brackets to install, but you'll need to fab a cover/pocket for the 2 din opening. This will recess the HU too, which is a huge plus. I did not try this.
10) So with 370 W rms (1 2x100rms, 1 2x55rms (bridged is 170W) in the amps, new fronts, a sub, and the stock HU, it sounds really good. The remote gain on the sub amp is necessary, because top down at the setting that is bearable top up, it can't even be heard, so crank the level top down, subdue it top up. Perfect.
11) I am happy to field questions.
04-29-06, 10:58 PM
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im in the process of changing every piece of audio on my 90 model s5 fc3c but i need a little help on taking the speakers out of the headrest please tell me howu did it or how i can do it?? thanks champ
10-18-06, 09:50 PM
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Bringing this thread back to life. My door speakers are shot. I was looking at the cheap 6.5" Blaus on cructchfield.com to replace them with. Is it a simple install - just remove the old ones and replace w/ new?
10-21-06, 06:10 AM
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Originally Posted by $100T2
I think the door speakers are 5 1/4. I bought some OZ Audio separates off Ebay, they bolt right in.
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10-21-06, 12:26 PM
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I bought some 6.5"s and they fit fine. I've heard you might find some trouble with some 6.5"s because they go too deep and the back hits the window. I got lucky and my 6.5" Kenwoods fit.
10-21-06, 02:56 PM
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Originally Posted by DragonRx7
I bought some 6.5"s and they fit fine. I've heard you might find some trouble with some 6.5"s because they go too deep and the back hits the window. I got lucky and my 6.5" Kenwoods fit.
10-30-06, 05:45 PM
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Sry for the thread jack but I have some after market RF power woofers in my 89 auto vert door panel and I have a prob with the cloth over the speaker hole vibrating and hitting the metal, witch then sounds like the speakers are crap and I bugs the **** out of me.
So has any one had this prob and done anything to successfully fix it and still keep a stock look? Right now I am trying to stretch the cloth tighter and hoping to at least reduce the noise.
So has any one had this prob and done anything to successfully fix it and still keep a stock look? Right now I am trying to stretch the cloth tighter and hoping to at least reduce the noise.
11-08-06, 11:24 AM
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When I was installing the speakers, 6.5 seemed too small. I could have easily fit 6.75 or 7" speakers in there. And since it is a vert and only the back 3/4 of the window goes down, the windows dont interfere with it.
Right now I have a polk audio component system for the doors, pioneers in the dash and headrest, and two sony subs in the trunk. I have four sony speakers that I am planning on mounting right underneath the windblocker.
Right now I have a polk audio component system for the doors, pioneers in the dash and headrest, and two sony subs in the trunk. I have four sony speakers that I am planning on mounting right underneath the windblocker.
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