Ok, I might order a 350z soon and want to plan a little ahead ... I just like planning The idea is to replace the onboard audio, that everyone seems to hate so much. The catch: I neither have the 350z to look at, nor do I have the *slightest* idea of car audio. I don't know how many speakers there are, what type they are, what ahs to be bought for replacement, sizes, if the wires can be reused, if a new headunit just fits, what adapetrs I need, how car audio is wired at all ... i.e. no clue at all.

I have read through the FAQ's in this section, searched around abit, reasd a few articles, but they mostly deal with some person already knowing the basics of a 350Z wiring asking for an opinion on some brand product. I've seen the links that explain how to take the doorwall s off, how to take the whole interiors off for the speakers on the back etc.

Questions:

1) Does anybody know a website, faw, guide, that explains the basics on how to wire cars? What kind of adapters there are, what you need to buy (esp. for a 350Z) etc?

2) Does the 350z come with detailed plans etc that explain everything needed?

3) anything I forgot? Power consumption thoguhts, heat issues? Proper isolation of subs?

Sorry for the noob things, but searching the web or the forums isn't of much help.. you get 50000 hits on something, that's not interesting or too advanced :/

I'm thankful for any pointers!

 

Sounds like your best friend is going to be www.crutchfield.com
Now they dont have the best prices but if you call them, they will send you out literature which explains everything your asking. It has all kinds of nice picture to help you follow along as well. If you do order things from them, the tech support is very good and will walk you through everything over the phone. That might be a problem since your overseas though, but they should still send you some stuff to read.

Good Luck
BSZ

 

crutchfield.com is great for "how to's" If you buy a wiring harness from them, they have terrific tech support for installing it. That is going to be your best bet on the net that I have found so far. Some good places to buy components from are:

etronics.com and sounddomain.com and ebay of course.

 

What are you really planning on doing? Are you talking $300 headunit upgrade, or are you talking about $4000 full custom system? try Caraudioforum.com or caraudioforums.com (I read both of them, mostly cause I ferget which is which).

Just bought a bunch of stuff from sonicelectronix.com (no sales tax baby!) and sounddomain.com. Both gave me tracking numbers within 10 hours of ordering, still waitin for delivery

 

The links from you guys are helpful Although crutchfield's configuring tool lists 0 products fro 350z and speakers/amps .. hrm...

As for what I plan: A total change of the standard system, everything. But I'm no uber Audiophile and neither want to give up a lot of (trunk) space, nor do I need 1500$ 300 Watt 15" subs etc. I was thinking of a really good HU (Some Alpine upper model or similar ... alpine's a bit to flashy .. suggestions?), that will drive the 4 front/rear speakers, and a single mono sub amp to drive a 12" or just 10" sub, that either goes to standard location or maybe the sides of the trunk .. I remember a forum person who installed it on the side of trunk, with factory like carpet cover etc .. that was excellent, but I can't find the thread anymore. I can't really decide on the speaker brand s.. local discounters sell infinity and pineer plsu a few MB quarts. For total money, I was thinking max 2500$ for everything. I'm more into good sound quality, loud & huge booming pressure are not for me. I try to achieve some above average sound, clean, crisp and a clear, defined bass .. well .. whatever is possible in my pricerange

 

Hopefully this helps.

JL Stealth Box $700
JL 300/2 2x $350
JL 300/4 $380
BA RC520 $300
BA NX67 $160
Clarion DXZ545MP $250

Total-------------------$2490

For more info on the products, below are the address to the mfgr websites.

www.jlaudio.com
www.bostonacoustics.com
www.clarion.com

Ebay and onlinecarstereo are pretty cheap. If you never installed car stereo before, i suggest you have someone do it for you. Nothing is as bad as cracking the pannel or frying an amp.

 

Buying an Enthuisiast and doind the system yourself cause you KNEW the BOSE would suck ---- Priceless

 

No idea what this is about ... but flaming is pretty much sad. First, I said I plan on replacing the bose system since people *seem* to all say it's crap. I'll check myself first .. I only try to plan ahead cause I have fun in planning and seeking out technical details.

Second, I have a tendency to try to get to know things and then do them myself .. with help if needed. I like to know what happens.

Different from the last comment on the links you gave me, which was nice, this last statement sounds purely arrogant of you.

stu46: hm ... JL is not a very common brand and hard to get in Europe. I'd have to import, which probably drives up prices, si I'd betetr try to find out what I can get locally (in an american forum, please excuse me :P). The local store sells infinity and mb quart as well as some pioneer .. I'll have to call to see what else they can get. I'd guess MB Quart and inifinity are pretty safe brands in terms of quality. I might have to shell out $3k. From what I see in your list ... I wanted to go on upper end HU, i.e. the second best or so Alpine or Clarion can deliver. That should ensure relatively good quality for the 2 front end rear speakers I hope?

 

Hi Voon, I dont think the above quote was ment to offend you, but more like good planing. At any rate, I have a brand new mono sub amp that I'm trying to sell if you are interested. I purchased it to run to power hungry subs and after talking with a few people decided it would be best to get 1 amp per sub since the subs are rated at 500 watts RMS each. If you are only looking at 1 sub (10 or 12) this would be a great option for you. It is a PolkMOMO C500.1 which puts out 560 watts RMS @ 2 Ohms. What this means for you is this. You get a good 4 Ohm DVC sub. DVC stands for Dual Voice Coil which will have 2 sets of inputs. When you wire both of the inputs together it will lower the resistance giving you a 2 Ohm load. That will inturn draw more wattage from the an amp that will take a 2 Ohm load. Mine amp will do that with no problem. Like I said, it is brand new from Polk and has not had any power through it since it was bench tested at Polk so they could certify the power. I got this before I left Circuit City (electronics store) with my employee discount and am only trying to get what I have in it. $215.00 plus shipping. It sells at Circuit city for $399.99 and at Crutchfield for like $449.99. If you look here you will see all the features and specifications. Let me know because it is sitting at home collecting dust.

Either way, good luck with your system.
BSZ

 

Sorry, didn't notice that.

I'm running the clarion dxz945mp hu. it's wayy cool. full touch screen. might run you about $700-$800. my brother likes infinity, i haven't had a chance to listen to them yet. it's just sitting in his room. I'll get back to you about MB Quart. The stereo shop that I go to sells them.

pm me or post once you find out what brands are available. I can go check around. My z is in the stereo shop for a while so i'll be there quite often to ask questions if you need.

 

Woah, yeah, wasn't a flame at all-just meant to be humourous addition to the post above it. Actually, I also forgot that in Europe, you all have to get the Bose, don't you? That sucks; at least we have the option of not paying an additional premium for the Bose, which has a reputation for sucking among most people who dig car audio stuff.

I'm in the process of ripping out everything myself and upgrading and doing all the work myself as well.

 

Hmmm, ack. I'm sorry Dissident, I got that wrong ... guess as a non-native speaker I don't really get all the finer things in this language :/ As for Bose, I think we have two options. We do not have the big model splitup in the US, there's just two. Either basic, or pack. The pack will include leather, xenon etc ... and the Bose system (which I don't even want to pay for, if it's not good ... hrm). Well .. I'll talk to the dealer and see what he thinks or what is possible.

 

Yeah, I thought I heard that in Spain, it's only 1 model; loaded. That sucks. I think the fact that we have the enthusiast model, which had every option I wanted and none I didn't, was a huge selling point for me (over the G35 or RX8 for example).

Well, good luck and let us know what you decide.

Paul (thinks your English is better than most on this site )