The stereo (archive)

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Car audio is all about compromise. I decided I wanted the best sound possible, but wanted it to look stock and be as light as possible. The sound is very good. Bass is much better and there is an actual sound stage. I used to turn it up quite loud listening to "Bob and Tom in the morning." They have deep voices which used to by muddy and indistinct and are now crystal clear. Remarkable.

Not a single hole was drilled or cut in the body. You can't tell its not stock (even the trunk looks factory) until you turn it on. It added about 10-12 lbs to the car, which was offset by removing the cell phone.

I installed a Blaupunkt PA4100 (4 x 100 Watt) amp in the factory location using the factory bracket which was slightly formed out to allow access to the controls and drilled for the Blau's mounting points. The amp was mounted from the top so it can be adjusted in place. I used larger screws for strength. This amp has a great power/weight ratio, its like 5 lbs after you ditch the cheap plastic I-mac housing.

My 1991 has the 1993 common ground wiring harness. Go figure. After much detective work, I found the factory connectors, both are 12 pin, you may have one 12 and one 26 pin connector. The part numbers are:

61-13-1-378-136 (black 12 pin)
61-13-1-378-137 (white 12 pin)
61-13-1-376-195 (pins for large ga. wire, smaller size is available)

I ran new wire to the front woofers, so these connectors allowed me to plug into the factory harness for everything but power, ground and two ground wires for the tweeters in the front sail. I used the factory woofer wiring to drive the new tweeters in the kicks. Confusing, I know.

I used velcro tape to mount Soundstream crossovers near the amp. I got them from Parts Express for $13 each.

The above made a dramatic improvement in sound quality and staging. Add a subwoofer and you're done.

I replaced the front 5 1/4" woofer with a 7" home audio woofer. The Peerless CSX 176 H is a midbass monster, 5.5mm xmax, resonant frequency of 38 Hz, plays flat to 5,000 Hz. $39 each at Madisound.

I spent three days fabricating a baffle to seal the cavity for the front woofer. It is made from 3/4" birch ply that slides in vertically and a 1/4" piece that slides in horizontally. Again, using factory holes to mount. The cavity was sealed and stuffed. I figure I'm giving the driver 12.5 liters, which is close enough to the optimal 14. The driver mounts flush to the sheetmetal and baffle.

The baffle has a sealed, recessed pocket for Vifa D26NC-05-06 tweeter. The tweeter is aimed at the ear of the person on the opposite side. To aim I strung a wire between grab handles, hung a drop light and lined up a nail for minimal shadow.

Two more days were spent on the factory grills. The inside was milled flat and the grooves extended to allow the larger woofer and tweeter to breath.

The rear woofer was replaced with the front's little brother, the CSX 145 H. Its a 5 1/2" speaker with 4.5mm xmax, 48 Hz resonant frequency. This driver fills the factory pod and cost like $32 from Parts Express. I ditched the pod cover and fabricated a little ring to protect the surround from the parcel tray. Like its big brother, this driver is not meant for infinite baffle (free air) use, so I covered the rear hole with metal grill material and made a sandwich of polyfill (acousti-stuf) between it and the magnet. It was cool, I kept adding material and testing the drivers side-to-side. As I did so the bass and openness kept improving. I finally stopped it sounded so good.

There is no tweeter in the rear. The rear tweeter crossover is routed to the factory tweet in the sail panel. The main tweeter is in the kick panel with the woofer. The sail tweeter just helps raise the soundstage. As you fade to the rear, the soundstage comes up and gets brighter. I know this is a little unusual, but it sounds terrific once you get the balance right.

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