Car Audio question, (old school):

[speeder]

I have an old mid-line Nakamichi cassette head unit that I want to install in my '79 MB w116 300SD. I think that it needs an amp or two to work, can anyone recommend some good small amps? Used ones from eBay or CL would be ideal, also need opinions on what are the best small speakers to install in factory holes, I don't want to cut-up any door cards or the like.

I do not need booming bass or ear-splitting power, just the best sound under the limited circumstances. I'm not interested in using a modern head unit, there is one installed now and they are just too freaking ugly for this beautiful old car. It's either the original Becker Mexico, (I have one on the shelf), or this Nakamichi which I really want to try.

Here is the head unit:




It's going in this car:

[LeeH]

It would appear to have its own amplifier...

[speeder]

Hmmm, thanks. I guess I just need the other half of that plug/harness and it has speaker wires on it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Auto reverse and pull out, sweet!

You might spend as much finding the speaker harness as an amp would cost, and those '80s head units were mediocre at best. It already has RCA cables for an amp, going that route would get you exponentially better sound. Take a look at Crutchfield, for a little over $100 you can get a decent name brand amp that will give you much higher quality audio. Crutchfield is the Pelican of audio, great company.

4-channel Amplifiers at Crutchfield.com

I would probably consider this compact Clarion, it has enough power to push a decent coax speaker and can install inside the dash.

Clarion XC1410 Compact 4-channel car amplifier — 50 watts RMS x 4 at Crutchfield.com

[RANDY P]

something 4 channels, and low profile. anything brand name and on sale is what I would use.

Reminder- that 300SD speaker system is a COMMON GROUND setup- you will NOT be able to use the speaker fader controls on the console (?), so don't even try to wire it in- it won't happen- you WILL smoke the amp if you try. Use the factory radio harness for power and ground- chances are there is NO constant 12 there so you may need to go under the steering column for that.

Run new speaker wires to all 4 corners of the car, plant the amp in trunk near the power antenna....

Have fun running wires and cables, with the gas tank (and the fact it's a Benz)

rjp

[stomachmonkey]

A lot of those old decks with integrated amps produced fairly anemic audio.

They work better with a real amp.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by speeder

Hmmm, thanks. I guess I just need the other half of that plug/harness and it has speaker wires on it.

Cut it. It's gonna look the same on the other side.

It's been awhile since I've been behind the dash of one, but you should be able to wire that stereo directly to the fader I was talking about- the fader has TWO inputs- L and R. Since that is a low powered radio, it also is common ground outputs....

rjp

[speeder]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Auto reverse and pull out, sweet!

You might spend as much finding the speaker harness as an amp would cost, and those '80s head units were mediocre at best. It already has RCA cables for an amp, going that route would get you exponentially better sound. Take a look at Crutchfield, for a little over $100 you can get a decent name brand amp that will give you much higher quality audio. Crutchfield is the Pelican of audio, great company.

4-channel Amplifiers at Crutchfield.com

I would probably consider this compact Clarion, it has enough power to push a decent coax speaker and can install inside the dash.

Clarion XC1410 Compact 4-channel car amplifier — 50 watts RMS x 4 at Crutchfield.com

Thanks, that's exactly the type of thing I had in mind.

And yes, it's a pull-out with the handle from before the removable face days. Back when car stereos got stolen a lot. I saw an old photo recently from the '80s of a bunch of girls in a restaurant, out on the town and one of them had her car stereo in hand like a fancy purse. Hilarious.

And Randy, thanks as well. The head unit that is in the car now is wired to the factory fader control and it's probably 25x4 watts but your advice is sound as far as using all new wiring. Thanks buddy.

[scottmandue]

What size are the speaker openings in the doors? I just went through juggling a bunch of components to get decent sound in my Miata.
I ended up with Alpine co-axial door speakers and I am extremely happy with them, got them off Amazon and they don't cost an arm and a leg.

[speeder]

My car does not have door speakers, just two in the dash and two on rear shelf. I might consider different openings on the rear shelf if they do not look too hideous but no cut doors or dash.

[greglepore]

I have little Polk 3 1/2's in the dash of my w124 and they sound surprisingly nice, no bass but clean....

[RANDY P]

Up until the W202 a stereo system in a mercedes was a complete PITA. Nowhere to put speakers easily and venting bass through the trunk is a complete suck project. There is no inexpensive way to do it. A Mercedes is one-of-a-kind special headache to put music in, slightly worse (but worse, nonetheless) than a BMW of the same era.

The shop I once worked at built a killer w124 that we removed the carpet and the foam inserts and installed the amps under there, plexiglass covers, then original carpet back over that. 4 x 12" drivers and package tray basically cut out, and new one created out of wood and new upholstery- all the leather, lights, plexiglass, mles of custom wire, etc etc...

Wish I had pics but all I remember was that car was basically cut apart and rebuilt for sound. Everything was altered....

Tab eclipsed $40K for that system...Who says dope dealin don't pay?

rjp

[Gogar]

You can probably buy the other half of that Molex with the purple/green/white and be off to the races. If it's cheap, try it first and then get the amp only if you feel you need to.

[Steve Carlton]

If you're gonna spend $40K, you should go with vinyl.

[speeder]

You can probably buy the other half of that Molex with the purple/green/white and be off to the races. If it's cheap, try it first and then get the amp only if you feel you need to.

That's what I'm thinking. Thanks.