So.....I finally got back from Army duties and have settled down to my mundane life Then, to complicate matters......I was forced to move to a new house which is smaller than my last and has less room for me to work Anyway.......the Zed was pushed in to the garage and the Stereo install began. In terms of speakers.........here is what I was left with of the original speakers. Not great I know and somewhat symptomatic of cars close to 17 years old. I made the choice to replace the factory speakers with units that bolted straight in rather than modify anything. I want to keep my car as close to original as I can although being an audio enthusiast, I want good quality sound. If you look at my signature you will see that I am a big fan of Infinity Car Audio and its fortunate that Infinity make a 4 x 6 Two-way Plate Speaker that fits straight into the existing 300Z rear factory speaker location. There's not much to say here hence the single picture. All it took was to remove the factory grills, unscrew the old speakers, fit some speaker terminals to the existing factory wiring, plug in the replacement sleakers and then screw them into the factory locations. Put the grills back on and BINGO! rear speakers are in!!!:zlove: Then life became complicated! I was torn between replacing all the speaker wires with decent after market "oxygen free" speaker cable. Some of my audio mates say in a car, this is of little value especially since I am using budget second hand components. Read this as "budget" and not "cheap" because I am fortunate to be able to source gear from Japan and the States; an offer that I have made to all forum members if interested. Anyway, I decided to lay out all the components I was going to install in the Zed's boot and since I already had the rear speakers installed, do a test to see if they all hooked up and worked. It looks a little messy but suffice to say I know what is going on; which is all that is important! What you're looking at is: Carrozzeria KEH M505 Multi CD Control, Tuner, Deck, Amp - From the States Carrozzeria CDX 505EQ CD, Graphic Equilizer - From the States Carrozzeria TS-LX100 Enclosed Self Powered Tune-up Subwoofer - From Japan Alpine 3553 4/3/2/ Channel Power Amp - From Japan Infinity Kappa 62.5i Two-way 61/2" Speakers (Front) - From the States Infinity Kappa 462.7CFP Coaxial Two-way Plate Speakers (Rear) - From the States I'll call a halt for now and wait for some comments to filter in. The next stage is all about pulling out the seats and laying speaker cable under the carpet..........yes......I am going to replace the factory speaker cable!!! From there it's a case of removing the door trims and installing the front speakers. While I'm at it I will be putting in new battery terminals and my own earthing kit made with help from Robo's 300TT Info Page. A while back I got on to Optima Batteries in the States and organised an Optima Red Top battery for the Zed...... So all the extra work will hopefully be worth it!! If all this, together with pictures of the work being done, is of interest to others........I will continue. I just don't want to possibly repeat what has been done before and thus....take up valuable server space. Let me know your thoughts!:zlove:
Dont use an optima red top, go for the yellow top way better for stereo applications ... well thats whats most recomended and what I have been told many times.
no... the yellow tops are only better if you plan to play your stereo at loud volumes, for many hours on end, without the engine running.... such as at a sound comp or display.... They are a deep cycle battery and hence an handle it.... of course, if you're like me, and the stereo is only playing when the car is running, then a red top or blue top optima battery will be fine. I am currently using a blue top. Cheers
Whats the benefit of upgrading anyway? My battery is not an upgraded one and im running around 1500WRMS..
For the price...... To begin with......my car came from Japan with a dead battery... ....standard problem with most imports I have dealt with. Secondly...... the price I get the Optima batteries for, buying a battery locally was not a real proposition!:zlove:
Well done mate, good project. Always fun pulling things apart for a stereo install. I did the speaker wire replace also in mine, namely because i run all speakers and the sub off one rear amp and it was easier. I also used those same plate speakers in exchange of the rear speakers, they do a good job. Here is mine, no doubt something similar. Give us some pictures when your done. Good Stuff. Steve
Thanks...... Glad to hear the plate speakers do well in your setup. I like the fact they go straight in without any need to modify. I'm doing the wire for the same reason. I still haven't decided if i am going to use the Alpine amp since I also have a Legacy amp I imported from the States which is rated at more power than the Alpine and, I have used it previously to good effect in my Subaru B4 Wagon. However, the Legacy Amp is twice the size of the Alpine unit and I need some space in the boot! Your install looks neat. What type of Amp are you running....I cannot make out what it is!
Cheers Its a JBL gto 6 channel amp, room for everything. Its not award winning loud, but it goes well with my setup.
