Greetings all!

I thought some of you here would enjoy a video I put on youtube. It was mostly meant for my friends in the surround sound world, but since it involves my 122 I figure you guys would appreciate it as well.

Documented is the surround sound audio system that is in my '66 130:



No cutting of sheet metal on the rear shelf was required!
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http://dylans122.blogspot.com

if you punch through the inner wall where you have the front speakers you could recess them 3 or 4 inches. Of course they would need a case to protect them from the outside but the is some room there.....maybe only 2" it does get narrow.
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Patrick ('68 220, '83 245).

Dylan;

Super! ...I had a couple of thoughts:

1. I'd check the OFF current drawn by the amp...those things are notorious for discharging the battery...when they're OFF! That's because the current drawn by the electronic control circuitry which is always powered up waiting for the control input from the head unit is not as minuscule as it might be on some units. You may need a heavy duty switch or contactor in line to actually bring the current draw to zero when things are OFF.

2. Have you thought of locating the tweeters in the upper corners of the windshield where they are not so visible to a person standing outside the vehicle? I'm a huge fan of "No-see-'um-no-steal-'um" ...case in point: Gwendelin's Vehicle was just the victim of a smash-and-grab...some lowlife smashed the drivers window, rifled around the glovie, and found and got away with a GPS he found there...and NOT the two week old I-pad under some papers on the passenger seat!!! I hope he overdoses, but it makes the point for making all of your nice-performing, expensive equipment DISAPPEAR before some lowlife does it for you!!!

3. Be careful about leaving the Ignition ON without the engine running if you still have the OE points...if they happen to be closed, the coil primary will be flowing for the entire time which if too long, with the definite potential of overheating the coil. It's not an issue for the 5min duration of your vid, just keep it in mind...you are also putting the headunit current through the Ignition Switch...I like to have a separate heavy duty toggle for all additional loads, or if you prefer automatic, just slave one of those 30A Bosch relays which cost all of $5 off the ACC terminal 54 of Ign Sw.

4. You might try raising the woofers to just under the dash as high as possible...they do protrude into the footwell a lot...and cover All speakers in the passenger compartment with (audio transparent) black speaker cloth ...more "No-see-'um-no-steal-'um" strategy.

Cheers...My compliments on the demo audio material in the vid also...just watch your speed when listening to Karn Evil No. 9!

Hi Ron! Thanks for the response.

1.) I haven't looked with a meter, but I've had the amp installed for over half a year now, and I've had no problems at all with a drained battery.

2.) I thought about putting the tweeters higher, but decided against it for a couple of reasons. One reason is that I wanted to keep the sound in the front and rear at about the same height. Secondly (and more importantly,) installing the tweeters up there would have been a LOT more difficult. I'd have to remote ALL of the windscreen trim and run lots more wire.

As it is, you really don't notice the tweeters if you aren't looking for them. They are a very flat black, and there is no visible logo on them. From outside the car you can't even see the little mini-grills.

3.) This car has a breakerless ignition, so no points. (Though I do know that it's still not good to leave the key "ON" while the car isn't running, even with a breakerless ignition.) The main power of the head unit is hooked up straight to the battery (connected over by the fuse box.) The only part of the head unit that's hooked into the ignition switch is the "Ignition power" lead from the radio which is a very low draw. (Modern head units have an "always on" connection in order to remember radio presets and other things, and that's where they draw their power from too.)

4.) The woofers stick out a fair amount, but it's really not that bad! I have no trouble accessing the clutch or the floor stomper high beam switch. Someday though, I think I might try to actually cut a hole out in the side panel and sink the speakers in for a flush mount. (There's plenty of room behind that panel in the fender.) It would require a bit of creative welding, but I think it's something that could be done.

In an effort to keep things low-profile, I have removed the "Boston" logos from all the speakers. It was an easy task, as Boston just uses a sticker that easily comes off.


Thanks for the feedback Ron!
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http://dylans122.blogspot.com

Good stuff Dylan. Fine musical taste with P Tree and Beck. Can you give details of the amp, make, model etc? Unfortunately, not much SACD stuff around now. I've got a stereo Blaupunkt Frankfurt driving the back shelf speakers in my "off the road" Amazon but have 2 in the front doors (fitted there when I bought the car and not something I'd do myself)and have them wired up using the Hafler surround circuit for a bit of extra ambience.

We never did get a final run down of your experiences on your round the country trip. Would have been a good read in your blog, which is in need of an update.............

Here's a run down on all the gear in the car:

The head unit I'm using is a Sony SACD (MEX DV-2000). The head unit does all the surround processing. It handles SACD, DVD-Video (Dolby Digital and DTS), DTS-CD, and Dolby Pro-logic as far as surround sound formats go.
http://www.sonystyle.com/product/en/mexdv2000/bstock

Powering the head unit is a 5 channel Boston Acoustics GTA-1005 amp.

http://www.bostonacoustics.com/GTA-1005-P613.aspx


In the rear of the car sits a pair of Boston Acoustics SC95 6*9s.

http://www.bostonacoustics.com/SC95-P587.aspx

In the front I run a component pair of Boston Acoustics SC50.
http://www.bostonacoustics.com/SC50-P582.aspx

For the sub I have a 10" Boston Acoustics G210.
http://www.bostonacoustics.com/G210-P571.aspx

I have yet to install the center channel, though I have a speaker and amp ready to go. It's just a matter of finding the right place to put it.



As far as the trip, I've got lots of pictures and movie film I took that I've been meaning to post on the web somewhere. I shot most of the trip on Super 8mm, so I just need to telecine the film into the computer. It will make it's way to the blog... some day.
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http://dylans122.blogspot.com

Thanks DB (very apt in this context) a very good price on the Sony at the moment for the refurbs. All the rest very spendy so I hope your insured for full value.
Ref Ron's other post. I suspect you don't have Pertronix or it would have been toast by now. However it is down to a magnet stopping adjacent to the module sensor so it's Russian roulette.
I too have looked at those side panels with a view to adding a box on the outside. Plenty of room even for a 6x9 and a 1 cu ft box of irregular shape. It is sort of structural so best to keep the hole in the panel just big enough to clear the speaker chassis. Immaculate welding and sealing vital!
Look forward to the Blog update. You could add the Cine later maybe.