Tedster

Finally got around to finishing off my stereo. My goals were better audio quality, louder/more sound for top-down driving, ability to use my iPod MP3 player, and little added weight and no lost space.

Long ago I had replace the door 'speakers' with Infinity 652i coax speakers. They fit in the door space with major surgery to the speaker basket. This alone gave me much better audio quality, even with the stock '00 headunit. The Infinitys use extra large magnets, and put out more bass than most speakers of the same size. Still not enough volume at highway speeds with the top down, though.

Here's what it looks like when you take the center console (armrest), rear panels, and 'glove box' assembly out:

Having the Helm manual really helps with this so you can find all the fasteners and do everything in the right order.

The old headunit is out, and you can see the wires I've run for the rear speakers and AUX input. There's really no extra room to run more wires through the center console.

I wound up running the wires out through the little panel by the passenger's left knee, and along the outside of the center tunner under the carpet and Rick's leather console cover.

Head unit all connected up:

It works!


(to be continued...)

Tedster

(...continued)

Rear panel with my crude surgery:

Infinity 452i speaker (note huge magnet) and trim ring:

The trim hides all my rough cutting and scratches:


Here's the accessory socket -> FireWire power adapter that I was planning on wiring into the 'glove box' for the iPod.

The wire it uses is so thick and stiff that I decided that it would take up too much room and be too difficult to work with. I may eventually totally disect it and use my own wiring, but for now I'll just rely on the iPod's battery (I get 3-4 hours on it).

It's a little dark in there, but if you look closely you can see the rubber grommit I put into the back wall of the glove box to run the AUX input wire through.

You can also see Modifry's Glove Box Organizer , which really helps you store several things without them all piling up and bumping into each other.


Headunit all buttoned up and working:

I really like this headunit. It has a bunch of selectable colors; I prefer orange to match the speedo and tach. It plays MP3 CDs. It has a big memory buffer for skip free CD playback, and a cool drawer-loading CD mechanism. It's XM Radio ready if you want that. It has a wired remote input for the DCU or new DCI to keep the dash controls working.

As you can see, I've removed the inner panel of the radio door (with the mysterious slots). This is necessary with this headunit due to its extra depth. I'll eventually try to clean it up, and maybe find something to line it for a better appearance. But as is there are no clearance issues with the knobs or CD tray.

I really notice the improved sound, even with just the front speakers. The rear speakers really do fill out the sound and give much more volume on the highway or freeway. And having the iPod wired in is really nice! It has much better sound than FM, and is very convenient.

Ted

lig

Having seen/heard this setup in person - it is very cool. Clean looking and sounding. ipod is a very nice touch.

Well done, Tedster!!!

lig

AEW

I saw that you have the Sony HU that i have!! I have to say that i love mine
too but i have not had dash controls for 3 months at least!! you said that yours
work with the new DCI?? what is that and where can i get it??

Thanks AEW

Tedster

Here's the info on Modifry's DCI:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...&threadid=87330

I'm currently using the S2KMan DCU, which is similar (wired dash control adapter for Sony HUs that take wired remote) but the DCU is programmable and allows extra functions for press vs. hold of buttons. The DCI is not programmable, but is pre-programmed with extra functions for combination presses of buttons, and has speed sensitive volume adjustment.

I am beta testing the DCI, and if it works as well as I expect, I will be selling my used DCU soon!

Tedster

Andrew.

Guess I added a few extra ounces; doh! Actually, the little springy clips that hold the black trim ring onto the front hook into that bracket. How did you get the trim to stay on?

Jeff,

thanks!

Tedster

The beta-test DCI is installed and works great. The speed-sensitive volume is really nice! More details on the DCI over it that thread.

One minor problem with the CDX-MP70 headunit (unrelated to the DCI): the illumination wire/dimmer control doesn't work. If I set the dimmer to Auto, the display doesn't dim when I turn the headlights on. The correct wires appear to be hooked up, if I'm reading the wiring diagrams right.

Has anyone had problems with that feature?

scooby2

My display dims when the headlights come on. I checked my wiring diagram and the orange/white striped ILLUMINATION wire from the Sony harness is connected to Pin 9 of the Metra/Honda plug which is a solid orange wire and labelled ILLUMINATION. Maybe you have it connected to Pin 19 (labelled as DIMMER) which is directly below Pin 9 and is an orange/white striped wire.

Tedster

Thanks! I'll check that next time I'm in there.

MintyWinty

That Head unit is sick! How much and where did you get it?

-Steve