Radio Kit on a 3

[mr2turbo300]

The previous owner removed his Alpine stereo from the car on purchase and I was trying to decide what to put in its place. I was going to put a Sony CDX-R5700 in as I could have one of the hardwired RM-X4'S which were OEM on many of the earlier cars. A couple of questions though:

1/ Can somebody post a piccy of the remote control in place for reference.

2/ I have a couple of plugs (1 * redish/brown 8 pin with middle 4 pins connected - Speaker)and a black plug with 5 pins connected - power etc.) Are these the standard radio connectors or am I likely to be into adapters/soldering.

3/ Has anybody ever routed any cables between the column and the radio - Easy or hard ?

Many Thanks,
Rob.

Many thanks,
Rob.

[thatphilbrettguy]

I'll just drink me tea and I'll take some pics.

[joust]

mr2turbo300 said:

3/ Has anybody ever routed any cables between the column and the radio - Easy or hard ?

Dead easy - just stick your head up and you can see all the way from one side to the other - or just put your hand through and thread the cable. Tuck it away or even better tie cable it away.

Also check out Anthony's www.gto3.com/components/audio.htm for a comprehensive guide.

J

[mr2turbo300]

Cheers Phil/Justin

[LaurenceFrost]

The plugs you have described sound like the ISO plugs that 99% of today's head units utilise.

The new head unit should plug straight in and work.

[thatphilbrettguy]

Iffy pics but you get the idea.

[V6GTO]

Am i the only one who thinks the music quality isn't up to scrath? M.

[amg merc]

V6GTO said:

Am i the only one who thinks the music quality isn't up to scrath? M.

No, its awful - mine's full of top, but, as others have said many times over, you don't seem to care so much in a Noble as other things keep you busy!

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

The standard speakers cost £23.95 for the pair so they're not going to be great. Change these first. Most 16.5/17CM one's will fit. I've got Infinity's and a new Sony headunit (straight, 5 minute swap).
Sony CDX-M9900 and Infinity Kappa 652.5i. Much better.

>> Edited by ThatPhilBrettGuy on Tuesday 10th August 09:59

[stuh]

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

The standard speakers cost £23.95 for the pair so they're not going to be great. Change these first. Most 16.5/17CM one's will fit. I've got Infinity's and a new Sony headunit (straight, 5 minute swap). Sony CDX-M9900 and Infinity Kappa 652.5i. Much better. >> Edited by ThatPhilBrettGuy on Tuesday 10th August 09:59

Re the 652.5i's - Are they easy enough to self fit?

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

stuh said:

Re the 652.5i's - Are they easy enough to self fit?

Yup. There's a crossover unit you have to hide in the door. I just wrapped mine in bubble wrap to stop it banging around. To get the old ones off pull the metal mesh off, then undo the 4 screws. You'll have to cut the connectors off the wires and join them to the crossover units. All very easy.

[amg merc]

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

stuh said: Re the 652.5i's - Are they easy enough to self fit? Yup. There's a crossover unit you have to hide in the door. I just wrapped mine in bubble wrap to stop it banging around. To get the old ones off pull the metal mesh off, then undo the 4 screws. You'll have to cut the connectors off the wires and join them to the crossover units. All very easy.

Phil, What kind of improvement could I expect with just changing the speakers over (and not the head unit)?

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

amg merc said:

Phil, What kind of improvement could I expect with just changing the speakers over (and not the head unit)?

I didn't try them with the old unit, but I'd say quite a bit. There's one thing I found though. Playing CD's on the old unit was fine (if you ignored the crap speakers) but the radio is terrible! No speakers are going to make that sound any good.

Another downside is the new speakers are much heavier. I'll just have to eat less....

I'll take sound pics tonight. I think they look quite good. They don't stick out too far (about the same as the Sony's).