| Author | Message | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 833 Registered: 5-2001 |
Mike P. - could you post a picture of those rear speakers in your car? | ||
| Mike Procopio (Pupz308)
Junior Member Username: Pupz308 Post Number: 180 Registered: 10-2002 |
So, I recently completed about all the I plan to do in the 308 sound-wise. It's a more moderate approach. CD/MP3 player with decent MOSFET aplifier (23 x 4 channels, RMS [continuous output]). This is enough to get decent sound out of the speakers that we're talking about--no need for an additional amplifier. Also, doesn't stress the electrical system much. 5 1/4" front speakers. Mine are only temporary--$35 for the pair, pioneer GS something or other. Low end stuff, adequate sound for the time being. The key for me is, in the back, the previous owner had fit two very interesting surface-mount speakers. I'd estimate they've got a 4" woofer + tweeter. Their optimus (radio shack brand, basically), nothing too great. The best way to picture how they're mounted is by looking into your louvre windows from the outside--they're pretty much centered. Having four speakers, with two decent ones on the rear shelf in addition to the two factory front speakers--is an adequate setup for being well covered in terms of the basics. There is not too much low end kick, however. But there is enjoyable music whenever I'm in the mood, loud enough to be as loud as a I want with the top off and at throttle. My major problem now is getting volume out of the front speakers. Mike Charness has a sharp looking cloth cover over his speakers--it does indeed look factory. Classic 308s, though, have this bizarre shiney plastic/metal/cardboard/fabric contraption just slopped right over the actual speaker opening itself on the door panel. I've not yet come up with any ideas that would look decent yet still allow sound through--it's definitely a hard problem. | ||
| Hans E. Hansen (4re_gt4)
Member Username: 4re_gt4 Post Number: 981 Registered: 4-2002 |
Hmmm.... I thought 308 stereo meant buying a Tubi. | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 827 Registered: 5-2001 |
If your car is yellow or white it would help. Mine is black. You could probably fry an egg on the hood after a road trip on a clear day in July with a big amp under it. | ||
| Mark Eberhardt (Me_k)
Member Username: Me_k Post Number: 432 Registered: 5-2002 |
Pat, The amp will heat up until the temp difference between it and the air surrounding it is high enough to dissipate the heat. If the air temp goes up 50 degrees, so does the amp temp. When I'm driving on the highway with the stereo on, my amps get to hot to keep my hand on, so maybe 150F in the car that's at 80F, 70F difference. In the front trunk, the temp is probably around 140F, based on the air coming from under the dash as Dr. Tommy said, so the amp will be at 210F. That's pretty hot. The instruction that came with the amps I bought were quite clear they felt a truck was not a good idea unless it was vented and actually said that if you put it in the engine compartment you would void all warranties and make your friend point and laugh. A 308 front truck is about half way between a sealed trunk and an engine bay, so I took that to mean they did not approve of that location. Mike hasn�t had any problem, so maybe it�s fine, maybe it�s not depending on the amp you pick and the volume you use. | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 813 Registered: 5-2001 |
Erik, I used to have one of those too but I had to lean foward all the time trying to find the remote. | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 812 Registered: 5-2001 |
If the heat that pours out from under a 308 dash is any indication, it gets pretty hot under that front hood. Just make sure the foam is in good condition that seals the radiator off from the tire well. If it's not, head down to Home Depot and buy the foam stuff that you stuff around a window a/c unit and cut it to fit. Same stuff | ||
| Erik R. K. Jonsson (Gamester)
Member Username: Gamester Post Number: 298 Registered: 11-2000 |
I highly suggest a deck with a remote, it allows you to stay focused on the road and not ever have to lean forward to adjust the tunes. | ||
| Pat Pasqualini (Enzo)
Member Username: Enzo Post Number: 314 Registered: 2-2002 |
Mark, if you are worried about the heat stressing the amps you could always put little fans blowing air across them. But how hot does it really get in the front? Amps are usually placed in the trunk and for people living in the south the trunk can get really hot also. Some amps get quite hot after running so the temp in the front to matter would have to be hotter than the amp gets. | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 335 Registered: 8-2002 |
My system has been running with the amp and equalizer in the spare tire area for around 10 years with no hardware problems, including on track days... | ||
| Mark Eberhardt (Me_k)
Member Username: Me_k Post Number: 431 Registered: 5-2002 |
Peter, Maybe my car leaks more than most, but it gets pretty hot in the front trunk from the radiator. The instructions with the amps I bought were pretty explicit about that being a bad thing. I see Mike is running it that way, so maybe it's fine and it is neat. Maybe oversize the amp (I lied mine are 160-2 rockfords)so it doesn't heat up as much, mine get quite warm and a verticl interior mount is supposed to be the best for heat disapation. Good luck, is sound like your headed to a great system...sorry about the pun. | ||
| peter james moran (Pjm)
New member Username: Pjm Post Number: 16 Registered: 3-2002 |
Well I don't want to go down the street and be confused for some thump'en Honda or whatever, but I do love music at times when I drive. Granted a lot has been done to make this particular car an outstanding performer in its' own right and the sound coming from the engine compartment well is nothing short of amazing. Sure there is value in original equipment, but you put on modern tires right? The car deserves a first rate stereo system in my opinion. So here's what it looks like I'll end up with: an Eclipse head unit, 5-1/4 JBL speakers in the doors with color match acoustic cloth, tweeters on the dash corners (aka-328), a sealed woofer located behind the passenger foot plate and the amp in the right corner of the trunk. It will be installed in about 2 weeks after I have a track day at Laguna with the car -woo hoo!. I've done a lot of research and the cars did NOT come with a factory unit. Now if you can find the rubber/plastic factory faceplate then you would be original. Anything else was done by a dealer. Thanks for all the input. I'll post pics and report the outcome. Cheers, Peter | ||
| J. Grande (Jay)
Intermediate Member Username: Jay Post Number: 1158 Registered: 10-2001 |
My fear is that it ends up looking and sounding like the Hondas that keep me up all night! I understand upgrading the speakers. I'll do that in the stock locations. But adding a big amp and modern deck just doesn't seem right to me. Don't get me wrong, when I was younger I had a Prelude with 800W amps that pumped Earth Wind and Fire all day, but a Ferrari is different. | ||
| Mark Eberhardt (Me_k)
Member Username: Me_k Post Number: 430 Registered: 5-2002 |
I through an 8" sub in the foot box too, but I recessed it in the box front panel and put a piec of expanded metal over it/behind the carpet so the passenger can't damage it. Then a pair of rockford 150-2 amps (cert�d output 280 watts each)on the firewall behind the seats positioned so they don't interfere with the top. A set of blaupunkt 5 1/4" speakers in the door, I recovered the door and ordered the covers without the stock cutout, just carpet. Dynamat extreme and acoustic foam under all the carpet. Then the tweeters went on the dash. It can now be heard over the engine if you'd ever want that  | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 809 Registered: 5-2001 |
I needed Mike's amp to make mine work. Thanks Mike. | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 808 Registered: 5-2001 |
Jay, I did that to my car. I bought a Blaupunkt on ebay that was installed by dealers back in 1982. It was unused, still sealed in the box. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to find it. It is exactly the one I remember seeing in them as a kid. It's in the car now but I plan on adding on "behind it" for better sound. I've got some plans for it this spring. I have extras. I may have what your looking for. I dig around and email you some pictures of what I've got. | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 332 Registered: 8-2002 |
Interesting, Jay, Dr. Tommy here bought my original Blaupunct a few years ago that I had kept around "just in case" ! Or Tommy, did you just buy the amp that ran it? I can't remember... | ||
| J. Grande (Jay)
Intermediate Member Username: Jay Post Number: 1157 Registered: 10-2001 |
Guys, are any of you selling the ORIGINAL deck from your cars? I'd be willing to buy it if the price is right. Personally, I want my car looking like it came out of the factory. Give me an 8 track over MP3 decks for the Ferrari! LOL Somehow, it just doesn't look right with amps, subs and changers. Give me the sound of the carbs all day long...that's music to my ears! | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 328 Registered: 8-2002 |
Andreas, yes, you'll still need an amp if it's only got a pre-amp output, but you won't need a crossover. Of course, you might want to look for an amplified subwoofer (comes with it's own amp). I think I've got a spare 8" with 200 watt amp that could be used. It's a new "tube" type subwoofer I bought for my daughter's car that we're probably not going to use after all. The amp electronics are fairly small and perhaps all could be adapted to the kick panel area. If you're interested, contact me via email rather than here. Or check out www.crutchfield.com and look under "powered subwoofers" | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 653 Registered: 10-2002 |
Mike, I really like that Pioneeor DEH-7400MP and it says it has a preamp output for the subwoofer. But doesn't that mean, that I still need an amp between it and the woofer? Sure love that graphic display. Only once saw a nicer one in color on a Sony, but that was about 3 times the price. | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 793 Registered: 5-2001 |
Is that a McLaren? :-) | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 320 Registered: 8-2002 |
The Pioneeor DEH-7400MP also has a neat "screen saver" with animated entertainment features. I like the one that has a racing scene movie... at still of that is shown below. By the way, on my installation, I had the unit's outer bezel painted satin black. I think it looks much better.  | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 319 Registered: 8-2002 |
Pat: I don't know about the air space... it reduces the passenger footspace by about 2 to 3 inches, but really isn't noticeable since the floor mat is over it. I have an 8" subwoofer in there. No modifications were made to the car, no cutting. It could be completely removed and changed back to stock if I wanted to do that. Andreas: The new Pioneer MP3 units have a subwoofer crossover and wiring built in and hefty enough amplifier that you could get by without the extras I had installed. Paul: It shows the first 16 letters by default (newer ones have 32 character display), but you can tell it to scroll so you can see the rest of it if it's longer than that. But even better is that it's smart enough to use advanced MP3 text features, so you can tell it to display the Artist or Song Title rather than filename. | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 318 Registered: 8-2002 |
Barney: Yes, the way I have the fire extinguisher mounted, you still get full movement of the passenger seat. Details of the design are at www.tradetutor.com/raceprep/ | ||
| Paul Hill (348paul)
Junior Member Username: 348paul Post Number: 146 Registered: 12-2002 |
Mike C On the Pioneer DEH-P7400-MP - Does it have a limit on how many characters the filename is on the display when playing MP3 files? - I have a Panasonic CQ-DFX572 and it limits it to 15 characters. A real pain! Paul | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 317 Registered: 8-2002 |
Mike P: If they're the same price, I'd say go for the MP3 capability. Reason: You can put over 100 tracks on one MP3 CD, so you won't NEED a changer later! | ||
| Mike Procopio (Pupz308)
Junior Member Username: Pupz308 Post Number: 168 Registered: 10-2002 |
I'll probably be doing a Pioneer unit as well, probably tonight. Still undecided about Pioneer 4500-MP vs Pioneer 3500 (non-MP3 capability). Same price at Best Buy (4500 is on sale by $20). Someday, I'll do an amp and a CD changer, but I want to do this in steps. For now, at 22x4 (or is it 25x4?) will drive my four speakers (two surface mount on the rear deck) just fine without amp. It might even be adequate permanently, though certainly has nothing on Mike Charness's system. | ||
| Pat Pasqualini (Enzo)
Member Username: Enzo Post Number: 309 Registered: 2-2002 |
Mike, How much air space is in that box for the sub? And did they have to cut the center console to make that fit? | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 652 Registered: 10-2002 |
Mike, any recommendations for a CD/MP3 player, that also doubles as an amp with cross over? I'm about to toss the current CD player, have the sub woofer ready, but didn't really find a good place for the amp. So if there is a MP3 player, that has enough umpf to drive it, that'd be extra cool. PS: I'll bring my MP3 CD to Huntsville. I love that technology: All my fav songs on one CD and still room for more. Amazing! | ||
| Barney Guzzo (Trinacria)
Junior Member Username: Trinacria Post Number: 171 Registered: 8-2002 |
I am probably going to be putting in the Pioneer 4500 instead of the 7400 in mine. Did a bit of shopping and the Pioneers and Alpines seem to be the best. Kenwood makes a low profile speaker that fits in the doors nice using stock covers. Larger speakers can be fitted but they will stick out (so the windows still works) Mike What about the fire extinguisher by the passenger seat? Did you do that? That looks like a nice job. Does the passenger seat still move back and forth? | ||
| Mike Charness (Mcharness)
Member Username: Mcharness Post Number: 316 Registered: 8-2002 |
I'm here if anyone has specific questions. It's probably the best possible sound system you can have in a 308 without making extra holes and changing the appearance. The FOCAL speakers put into the doors are the best I could get that would fit behind the stock panels. I also had the perforated leather replaced with dyed-to-match grill cloth. You can see pictures of that by clicking here. That made a big difference, as the QV's perf leather over the speakers really muffled them even with better speakers. The subwoofer molded enclosure was from Z-Box, but as Lee said they're no longer in business. If you have a shallow enough subwoofer, you could just cut a hole in the removable kickplate panel there (it is just held on with a few screws). Since the Z-Box enclosure is no longer available, the place that did my installation now can make their own enclosures. If interested, contact Ron Southworth, who owns Traffic Jams (www.trafficjams.com) Ron also did that setup for the amplifier and equalizer. That was 10 years ago, and with today's more modern high-powered in-dash units, it might not be necessary to have an external amp to power a sub nor the equalizer for fine-tuning, but they certainly don't hurt the outstanding sound and power. At the time I had all the work done, I replaced the Blaupunct AM/FM cassette unit with a Pioneer AM/FM/CD. I recently replaced that with a new Pioneer DEH-P7400-MP unit that is MP3-capable, and am very happy with it. When I had that done, I asked Ron about upgrading the speakers or the sub, and he said that they're still top notch for sound compared to anything new on the market, so there was no reason to bother. Of course, I don't always use the sound system, but it's nice to have for those longer trips when the music of the engine just isn't enough. | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 789 Registered: 5-2001 |
Yes, Lee, I was there. I had the black metallic 308 QV. Glad you made it up. | ||
| Jesse Hoffman (Hoffmeister)
New member Username: Hoffmeister Post Number: 15 Registered: 12-2002 |
Hello, I too would be very interested in seeing this setup. I've owned a 308 now since December, but I still haven't even seen it. Hopefully, some day I'll get to go home and drive it Thanks, Jesse | ||
| Lee Pierce (Leepierce)
New member Username: Leepierce Post Number: 43 Registered: 1-2003 |
Oh, duh...I should have mentioned that these are pics of the car Tommy mentioned, Mike Charness's car, who organized the event at Talladega. Great event, beautiful day. Thanks a lot, Mike; I've been too busy to mention all that I wanted to about the event, but it was really, really great. My first Ferrari event, too! A good start... | ||
| Lee Pierce (Leepierce)
New member Username: Leepierce Post Number: 42 Registered: 1-2003 |
Here's another pic, this time of the amp, placed on a plywood cutout right into the spare tire. Really cool setup, sounded fabulous.  | ||
| Lee Pierce (Leepierce)
New member Username: Leepierce Post Number: 41 Registered: 1-2003 |
Tommy: Were you at the Talladega track event? I don't remember meeting you. I wasn't there with my car, just came to watch and ride. Anyway, I happened to have these pics here at the office, so I went ahead and posted them. The sub is fitted into an over-the-counter frame that was once made for the 308, but is not made any more. I'm sure you could make one out plywood or something. Anyway, the sub fits under the driver's floor mat.  | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 783 Registered: 5-2001 |
Mike Charness has a terrific setup. I took some pictures of it 2 weeks ago. I'll post them when I get home tonight. It includes a subwoofer down by the passengers feet and a really slick amp setup on the spare tire. He's the guy to ask. | ||
| peter james moran (Pjm)
New member Username: Pjm Post Number: 10 Registered: 3-2002 |
Last spring I tossed my 308 and I just got it back about two weeks ago. 11 months from the day I wrecked it to getting it back (with the 30K service done as well). It was a very difficult ordeal. To add insult to injury a body shop (Cooks in Pleasanton, California) left the car outside when they PROMISED to keep it inside and somebody broke into it and stole the stereo out of it. Cooks did not do the repairs. The stereo was not great, but I not the point. Nice, huh? So here I am - I've got this awesome looking 308 (picture to come soon) and runs so f*cking great (thank you Mark Spencer), but this gapping hole where the stereo used to be. I want to upgrade the whole system and would like to know what some of you have done. I searched the archives and didn't find any good previous threads. Thanks! Peter |