The ICE thread

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:34 am

Just to resurrect this old thread - I've been doing some alterations to the sound on mine. First of al I've replaced the Pioneer bass tube (which lived in the rear footwell!) with the Clarion SRV313 which Matt H had. Part of the reason for this was the fact it meant I couldn't fold the seats down easily without removing it, and putting it in the boot would get in the way too. There is less deep bass than there used to be, but more than enough for me. Clarity is good, and it comes with a remote lead to adjust it without crawling under the seat to twiddle a knob.

As I mentioned before, I was never 100% happy with the sound from the front component speakers. I realised last week after driving the silver one a bit that at low volumes the original speakers actually sounded better! So after a bit of research I bought a set of Alpine SXE-1350S speakers, which do sound a lot more balanced. The other thing is they fit as though they were designed for the BX - the original yellow connector on the door loom just plugs straight in, and the tweeter is dead easy to mount in the dash (although you will need to connect it to the original leads somehow).

To replace the tweeters previously I had to cut out the originals with a holesaw, and glue the new ones onto the original mounting plate!

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:14 pm

Nice work. I'm really fretting about tunes in my Mk1. At the moment, it has Mk2 door cards, but when I get around to fitting proper Mk1 ones - goodbye door speakers.

Oh and it needs a head unit. Preferably one that isn't like having Blackpool illuminations in the middle of the dashboard!

Mind you, need to stop the wind howling in before getting carried away with tunes!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:41 pm

Dollywobbler wrote:Nice work. I'm really fretting about tunes in my Mk1. At the moment, it has Mk2 door cards, but when I get around to fitting proper Mk1 ones - goodbye door speakers.

Oh and it needs a head unit. Preferably one that isn't like having Blackpool illuminations in the middle of the dashboard!

Mind you, need to stop the wind howling in before getting carried away with tunes!

Mk1 has the tweeters in the top corners of the dash and a Bass speaker behind the dash, the sound from the original Phillips radio/cassette (with no rewind function) in the DTR isnt bad really. A super shiney led-tastic Cd player would look out of place in my opinion.

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:57 pm

Ah, I need to study my new dashboard then. It's still in the back of the car because we're doing the house up and I don't actually have anywhere to put it!

I would like a period stereo, but realistically, this thing's never going to be concours, so it'll have whatever's to hand at the time.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:16 pm

I have a few period looking radio/cassettes - I think one of them has an aux input on the front if you have an iPod or similar. You're welcome to one next time you're up here.

Matt H · Post by **Matt H** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:29 pm

I want one of these... Any of them!

Classic car stereos

Matt H · Post by **Matt H** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:33 pm

Although i reckon one of these would look great in a Mk1 BX...

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:37 pm

Am I the only one who went through the years and thought it suddenly went downhill in 1998? On a similar theme, I can't stand the CD players where you need to flip down the front just to change discs. It's an extra thing to do when you need to be able to do it quickly, and the only advantage is for looks!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 3:35 pm

Matt H wrote:Although i reckon one of these would look great in a Mk1 BX...

yep, I concur, have you got one?

Mickey taker · Post by **Mickey taker** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 5:00 pm

I like proper old skool car stereos like

the sharp 5850 which I believe was the first with APSS automatic program search system ( track selection for tapes)

and the lovely old audioline with built in graphic equalizer .

oh god I just found this

The 1985 Argos catalogue

I had my mk3 cortina then and bought those goodmans speakers on the right and that graphic equalizer to go with my sharp 5850
Those were the days , pod speakers from Argos and can you feel the force at full volume

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:06 pm

I too have been making my ice more meaty.
I saw Matt Hs post and got hold of the SRV313 sub. I put it in the TD estate, disconnected the rear speakers and put some Alpine SXE 1325s in the doors, these have a tweeter built in and give the top end a needed boost to augment the dash tweeters.
The result is a great improvement. The bass has to be on a moderate boost only as its a bit boomy and one note only-ish when given some welly so I set the cutoff at 75hz with only moderate gain but it is still a full sound. It is fed from an Alpine h/u and I have fitted a 3.5mm jack socket in the dash to plug an ipod into when needed.

In the GTi I have some Rainbow KX-165 16cm in the back shelf as well as Alpine SXE 1325s in the doors. Fed by a Panasonic CQ-RD25 cassette h/u from the 80s I was never impressed with the overall sound in this car and I did try the Clarion sub in this car too. But it did not really make an improvement as while installing the sub I checked the phase polarity of all the speakers and found the rears were out of phase. Correcting this transformed the bass performance without the sub.
So now with a bit of bass boost and no sub the bass is good enough for me and is a match for the the sub as it provides a more subtle and realistic bass. It is fed from an ipod into the CD jack of the Panasonic cassette head unit.

Wife of course hates all this noise, she thinks I have turned into an adolescent.
Whats wrong with that ???

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:27 pm

Jaba wrote: Wife ....... thinks I have turned into an adolescent.
Whats wrong with that ???

There could be positive upsides. I wish I had the energy of an adolescent

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:58 pm

On the subject of retro radios, these are what I have managed to dig out.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:38 pm

If its cassette based only, then its Nakamichi all the way, if you can find one & then if it actually works

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:48 pm

I suppose these could also be called retro compared to today's kit. The Sony is a temporary stop gap that I've been using while the Pioneer was playing up - not a bad sound but seems to struggle a bit with clarity and volume. It does have the handy feature of not needing an ignition switched live though, it will turn itself on by detecting the charge from the alternator when the engine is running.

I've had the Pioneer for about 15 years and it's travelled about 250k miles in various vehicles. It was the first stereo I bought, with money I got for my 18th birthday so if it is possible to get attached to a stereo, I guess that's my favourite!

Not long after I got it, I caught some people who'd broken into the car, and in the chase afterwards this was all they left behind (although pretty smashed up). They escaped with 2 speakers and all my CDs though, bastards. Last winter it refused to accept CDs occasionally on cold days, but an internal clean seems to have sorted that.