I am aware, but if I do 1 speaker in each headrest, the sound stage is going to be way off as well. Given my requirement to work within the space I have available, I'm willing to sacrifice stereo sound...
Well you might not to venture into the unknown, but the space at the bottom of the console looks big enough for TV full rangers, but you might have to experiment to find one that is truly FR. Do you have a Princess Auto there?
I do have a Princess Auto a few minutes from my home.
The lower area you mention curves and this is also where the hump for the transmission housing is. I don't know how much space is available to me under this area. I know it's not much...
TV's are thin. You will have make your own grille though.
PA has a bunch. I almost bought some when they were on sale (everything goes on sale at PA sooner or later). Or you could get even more adventurous and try to find an old Monsoon.
PA has a bunch. I almost bought some when they were on sale (everything goes on sale at PA sooner or later). Or you could get even more adventurous and try to find an old Monsoon.
I’ve had a few sports cars and the stereo has always been something to fill the hole in the dash, and never used while in motion. I even attempted an install into my ‘63 Mini, that never happened, and I had no regrets either, positive earth is just nobody’s friend.
If you want to hear anything, I would strongly recommend an amp of some sort that incorporates a step-up power supply, the ones that come in head units (10 watts)just wont cut it in that old car. There are decent, small sized amps that will work fine with two small speakers in the back, around 40-80 watts should be able to get it done, and still be able to be hidden away somewhere.
My Fiero had speakers in the headrests, something I had tried on one of my dad’s cars ten years before. They are fine and all, but don’t really add much, and may not be worth bothering with.
Might want to get to those after the traditional speakers are done and satisfactory.
Something to try and tackle would be to improve the sound deadening capability of the interior using rubber mat under the carpets, firewall, etc.
If you want to hear anything, I would strongly recommend an amp of some sort that incorporates a step-up power supply, the ones that come in head units (10 watts)just wont cut it in that old car. There are decent, small sized amps that will work fine with two small speakers in the back, around 40-80 watts should be able to get it done, and still be able to be hidden away somewhere.
My Fiero had speakers in the headrests, something I had tried on one of my dad’s cars ten years before. They are fine and all, but don’t really add much, and may not be worth bothering with.
Might want to get to those after the traditional speakers are done and satisfactory.
Something to try and tackle would be to improve the sound deadening capability of the interior using rubber mat under the carpets, firewall, etc.
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phase - I'm fortunate in that my car is negative ground (just like any other modern vehicle). The positive ground cars had generators and when they switched over to alternators, they went to the negative ground system. I believe that was around 1968 that they moved away from the generator system.
That looks almost identical to my interior, "Thank you" for posting this photo.
Yes, there is almost no room to work with. Your photo shows the speaker in the door. My panels were never cut for speakers. Yes, the metal behind it has the factory opening, but the panels are not cut. If I ever opt to restore this car to original condition, I can't be cutting them...
Unfortunately, those interior center dash vents are direct to the exterior. There's a metal grill in front of the windshield. If you are standing outside the car and look down inside this grill, you will see the top of the vent box. The only thing between the exterior and the interior is a metal plate on a hinge operated by a lever beside the steering wheel. Even when the plate is in it's closed position, air still flows (much slower) through those interior vents when driving.
HAHAHAHA, "sort of" Yes, you know the car!
To say it's a 2+2 is rather misleading. It's really more like 2 + a dog and a picnic basket. I'm willing to lay money down that NOBODY ever got pregnant in the back seat of one of these cars!
The bottom of the rear seat is nothing more than a board with some foam and a leatherette covering. You can unclip it and swing it forward to access the battery compartment. No way of putting anything under that seat that is thicker than a tabloid newspaper.
Under the main seats, a person "might" be able to slip a thin amplifier in there. The underside of the seat is webbing and flexes a lot. Hitting a bump, it is quite likely that you would feel an amplifier unless it was really thin. There's no way you'd get a speaker under it.
I don’t see if you mentioned if you are going to run a stereo pair per headrest (r/l in each headrest) or R channel passenger headrest left channel drivers headrest.
The 2” auras are great, more than you need in every way, you don’t want to give them to much power as they are right next to your ears. The head unit fader will work but results may be mixed and it will limit tuning. The issue here is the music will always sound like it’s behind you and this effect will get greater as your ears get closer to the headrest greater still without door/front speakers. Is the dash vented in any way? 2 more auras facing up bounced off the windshield would go a long toward to balance the front and rear. This would also do more for the sound than a single tweeter.
The 2” auras are great, more than you need in every way, you don’t want to give them to much power as they are right next to your ears. The head unit fader will work but results may be mixed and it will limit tuning. The issue here is the music will always sound like it’s behind you and this effect will get greater as your ears get closer to the headrest greater still without door/front speakers. Is the dash vented in any way? 2 more auras facing up bounced off the windshield would go a long toward to balance the front and rear. This would also do more for the sound than a single tweeter.
3 8 ohm speakers per channel, 2 speakers in the headrest in series connected in parallel with the dash speaker to the amplifier. The amplifier and the dash speaker see 8 ohms, the headrest speakers see 16 ohms and power to them is halfed. This will help the front rear balance and add adjustment range to the fader. This is just from memory you can check an impedance calculator to confirm.
OK, now i have a good idea that you are in Langford. I am in the Highlands and might have some useful small FRs for you (some free, some with a cost).
Contact me via email if you want to come up for a look and a visit. Nice road for a drive in an MGB :^)
dave
After reading more of your posts I have 2 more ideas for ya.
1.) purchase some reproduction door cards and cut them up instead so you still have the originals you can swap back in later.
Interior & Steering Wheels, Page 2
2.) Fab up a custom, slightly larger center console that can accommodate a couple small-ish speakers. The geometry doesn't look particularly complex. Alternatively you could make friends with someone who has a 3D printer, coat it in resin and either wrap or paint it to match the interior.
I'll let you know if I have any other ideas.
1.) purchase some reproduction door cards and cut them up instead so you still have the originals you can swap back in later.
Interior & Steering Wheels, Page 2
2.) Fab up a custom, slightly larger center console that can accommodate a couple small-ish speakers. The geometry doesn't look particularly complex. Alternatively you could make friends with someone who has a 3D printer, coat it in resin and either wrap or paint it to match the interior.
I'll let you know if I have any other ideas.
Amplification......what about some chinese class d boards...tda8932 is matchbox size...admittedly 1 channel but the class d thing is where I'd be looking. Doesnt need to be 'boxed', just screwed out the way and electrically isolated from shorts. Most work on 12v and have pretty high gain.
Source....we all(?) have these fancy phones with most audio apps we need...apart from good old FM. So maybe stream from phone to a BT module. They often have a 3.5mm jack for a wired backup. Could have a discrete cable tucked away for that.
Speakers....hhmm. maybe a panel exciter on the back of a door card....where the steel is cut for an original speaker. Or inside the dash?.Might not be 'hifi' or get much LF. Then maybe have a small sub enclosure sat on the rear 2+2 area trimmed to match to fill the lows. Even just a 4 or 5 inch might suffice if designed properly.
Great project!
Source....we all(?) have these fancy phones with most audio apps we need...apart from good old FM. So maybe stream from phone to a BT module. They often have a 3.5mm jack for a wired backup. Could have a discrete cable tucked away for that.
Speakers....hhmm. maybe a panel exciter on the back of a door card....where the steel is cut for an original speaker. Or inside the dash?.Might not be 'hifi' or get much LF. Then maybe have a small sub enclosure sat on the rear 2+2 area trimmed to match to fill the lows. Even just a 4 or 5 inch might suffice if designed properly.
Great project!
2 speakers in each headrest. I will lose stereo effect, given 1 channel will run the left headrest (speakers on both left and right side of the headrest). And 1 channel will run the 2 speakers in the right headrest.
I'd love to have speakers up front, I just don't know how I could pull that off as I refuse to cut into the car. I'm willing to forego a lot to avoid cutting into the car... The butchered center console I have is absolutely fair game as I will need to modify this somewhat in order to slip in a new head unit anyway.
possible layout
Okay... Thank you to everyone who has responded. I am very appreciative of your input to my situation.
Please see the attached photo's.
Console:
I know that I will need to do something to fix the current radio cut out. My intention was to pick up a black HDPE cutting board like you would use in your kitchen. Cut and file it to shape and use heat to mould it into the curves. cut out the required holes for the switches and it would look relatively stock.
So many here are pushing for front sound and I absolutely agree. I'm just not sure how to accomplish that. There were comments on placing speakers in the lower console area below the switches. If I cut out this area, I know the hump for the transmission is almost touching the bottom of the plastic. There's simply not enough room. Instead of using HDPE, I can use wood... I have plenty of that laying around and if finished well, would provide a look that is fitting of a vintage British car.
So let's assume I can slip a 2" speaker (might be able to go just slightly larger) in this area. If built up with wood, I could gain an easy .5" to .75" in depth without it looking ridiculously out of place. I wish I knew exactly how much room was under that console. Let's assume another .5" (it may be closer to .75"). I need a speaker with a maximum lower depth of 1.25".
Headrest Speakers:
Each headrest to house (2) 2" speakers, speakers will be located on to outer portion of the headrest pointing forward.
Rear speakers:
My wife was up island for work and dropped past her parents house this afternoon. She measured the openings of the rear storage compartments for me. It's a bit tighter than I had hoped for (not exactly a shock given how tight everything else is). I'm looking at 5.25" speakers at most.
Head unit:
Not yet chosen, let's assume it to run 55Wx4 (give or take).
Front Left channel to run left console speaker, driver's headrest speaker (x2).
Front Right channel to run right console speaker, passenger's headrest speaker (x2).
Rear Left channel to run 5.25" speaker
Rear Right channel to run 5.25" speaker
What speakers would you recommend (size, model, watts, ohms) and for the front, how would you wire them?
cheers!
Okay... Thank you to everyone who has responded. I am very appreciative of your input to my situation.
Please see the attached photo's.
Console:
I know that I will need to do something to fix the current radio cut out. My intention was to pick up a black HDPE cutting board like you would use in your kitchen. Cut and file it to shape and use heat to mould it into the curves. cut out the required holes for the switches and it would look relatively stock.
So many here are pushing for front sound and I absolutely agree. I'm just not sure how to accomplish that. There were comments on placing speakers in the lower console area below the switches. If I cut out this area, I know the hump for the transmission is almost touching the bottom of the plastic. There's simply not enough room. Instead of using HDPE, I can use wood... I have plenty of that laying around and if finished well, would provide a look that is fitting of a vintage British car.
So let's assume I can slip a 2" speaker (might be able to go just slightly larger) in this area. If built up with wood, I could gain an easy .5" to .75" in depth without it looking ridiculously out of place. I wish I knew exactly how much room was under that console. Let's assume another .5" (it may be closer to .75"). I need a speaker with a maximum lower depth of 1.25".
Headrest Speakers:
Each headrest to house (2) 2" speakers, speakers will be located on to outer portion of the headrest pointing forward.
Rear speakers:
My wife was up island for work and dropped past her parents house this afternoon. She measured the openings of the rear storage compartments for me. It's a bit tighter than I had hoped for (not exactly a shock given how tight everything else is). I'm looking at 5.25" speakers at most.
Head unit:
Not yet chosen, let's assume it to run 55Wx4 (give or take).
Front Left channel to run left console speaker, driver's headrest speaker (x2).
Front Right channel to run right console speaker, passenger's headrest speaker (x2).
Rear Left channel to run 5.25" speaker
Rear Right channel to run 5.25" speaker
What speakers would you recommend (size, model, watts, ohms) and for the front, how would you wire them?
cheers!
