Radios

[lama]

Okay, I know the obvious answer to this question is that you can't hear the radio anyway. But assuming I'll go slow enough at some point to hear it, does anyone have any recommendations for a radio/CD player for an S2? I think my only requirements are a removable face plate for security, and a CD player with a good delay to prevent skipping. Also, I assume the speakers Lotus puts in are carp, so any ideas there?
Thanks.

[tonykart]

I've just installed the new Clarion 835 MP3 player, with Clarion SRV Active Sub woofer. Phoenix Gold Tantrums on the back, and JBLs on the front.

Sounds great and can even hear it clearly with the roof off at 70mph.

[bogie]

On an S2, if you have 4 speakers have a look at them. If they are blue coned then they are Alpine jobbies - good for 50wrms (cost around £70 a pair)and not worth replacing unless you are going to use external amplification.

If you have black paper coned Eurotech 15wpeak jobbies then rip them out at the first opportunity - they are truly rubbish - even the std head unit maxes them out.

I recommend Alpine head units as they have the most powerful internal amps - about 4 x 32wmrs (4x60peak) which is useful. Personally I use last years model - CDA7893 MP3/CD so I dont have to carry many cds in the car (10 albums on 1 cd using MP3)

For speakers - just get some decent 4" and 5 1/4" coaxials - spend around £70-£100 a pair on a good brand name. Also get some Dynamat sound deadening (about £15) and while you have the speakers out stick some behind them on the plastic, also fill the cavities with hollowfibre (old pillow stuffing will do) this will improve bass response a touch.

There are lots of on-line retailers - Ive had a lot of stuff from www.caraudiodirect.com, good service and prices...check out the specials page, sometimes some good offers.

pics of my install here - hits 118dB, no distortion, clear at 140mph, roof off !

http://community.webshots.com/album/57887221xRqcTQ

cheers

bogie

[lama]

Thanks Tonykart and Bogie - very helpful. I guess it's a bit of a lottery whether Lotus gives you good speakers or bad speakers - what a deal!

Bogie, your system looks great. Did you install it yourself? Difficult to do?

lama

[bogie]

Lama

i specced the system and picked up all the bits, also set it all up. I had the box built behind the seats by Sinclaires of London (Romford, Essex) and also all the wiring put in by them - there is nearly 70metres of cabling in the car...none of which can be seen except for in the rear of the boot - no mean feat in an elise !

Fitting (about 2 days total inc box build trimming etc)was £800 - all the bits cost me about £800 too...could be done cheaper/more expensive dependin on your choice of components

A lot of things are tricky if you do it yourself: cable routing, fibreglass bonding of amp board and manufacturing of bass box etc...the trimming alone costs £200 so when you consider youre paying £600 for 2 days labour its not too bad...and a damn site cheaper than any other car audio place Ive tried that wanted £1K + just to fit my own bits

[tonykart]

Don't have pics of my installation but I put it all in myself. The active subwoofer sits on the shelf behind the seats, the 835MP headunit has 4x53 power to amp not really necessary. The cable routing was easy to the sub under the left door sill. Spent about 600 quid, and fitted all myself quite easily.