Stagea Stereo Removal ??

[Sk0pe]

OK, now the head unit is in, it's time to pay attention to those crappy factory speakers.

Looks like the front speakers have been replaced, as they have blue cones... But the rear passenger speaker is farting like a hippo on beans whenever there's the slightest bass going thru it. Thus, the rear speakers are getting replaced. Can anyone tell me how to get the door trim off? Since I'm probably going to move the front speakers to the back and put some nicer ones in the front, I need to remove both front and rear door trims. Being a clueless git, I need some piccies and/or instructions for getting the trim off. Or am I able to pull just the speaker covers off?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

M

[Jay95R33]

I did exactly the same thing. Bought some nice new Alpines for the front and put the ones that were in the front (after market Clarions) in the back.

Very easy to do, although by memory the mount isn't quite a 6 inch speaker. I took the mount down to the stereo place and got them to show me which ones would fit. lol

Front doors have 2/3 screws at the very lower lip of the door trim. Also a screw under the little pocket. You'll need to unclip the surround that's around the door handle too cause there's a screw under it. then you should be able to unclip the press in clips that hold the trim to the door.

Backs are pretty much the same too.

You need to get the trim off to get the speakers out, you can't just pop the grill off

You'll need to cut the factory wires cause they have plugs on the end of them, unless you run new wiring which is going to be a big pain in the butt.. lol

J

[Sk0pe]

Excellent stuff, thanks Jay!

[Terminal]

Running new wiring is a fun job, what do you mean Jay? I rewired my entire car, with my Amp in the boot on my sub box. you just have to pull the kick guards off from the floor and run the wires along there.

When you get 6" speakers, make sure they have the mounts that stick out slightly from the main holes. most pioneers have this and i think clarion and kenwood. i've hooked up all pioneer speakers in my car. i had to cut the back of the speaker mounts off as the new speakers were much deeper. when/if you do this, be very careful, as i found out mine was shorting on the car which was causing the whole system to crap out.

Another thing i found, don't worry about how loud it is for the cops sake, the stagea has some pretty good sound deadening in it, and i can hardly hear mine even whenit's cranked up to full (2 x 10" subs)

[Sydneykid]

OK, there's enough guys with Stageas out there to get a consensus....

How are you finding the standard radio reception? I have a Nakamichi head unit which I transferred from another of our cars. It worked fine there, but in the Stagea it has lousy reception distance. I made up an adaptor plug for the standard aerial which maybe the problem, how have you guys done it?

[Terminal]

I was getting really bad reception. in canberra the triple J transmitter is on black mountain, and if i was more than about 25 - 30km from it it would cut in and out, then 50km it was useless.

when i got my stereo repaired the other day the guys said my aerial wasn't hooked up properly and they said they fixed it for me. i have yet to test the distance on it, but will so this weekend on my drive through the country to bathurst

[BensDR30]

Reception = crap.

The problem is that the Stagea runs a diversity antenna (both rear side windows) and most workshops only fit 1 band expander. As a result, thes side that has the expander fitted has a higher impedance than the OEM side, and the signal get degraded accordingly. It's really not the ideal setup for conversion. I''ve learned to live without decent FM reception & am pretty close to trial fitting some kind of splitter with the band expander. I'm not too sure what that will do to the signal strength, as it will subsequently increase the impedance of BOTH antennas....

I've also already replaced the front speaker (torn cones), and the rears are about to get done too (same story...).

[Sydneykid]

Reception = crap.

The problem is that the Stagea runs a diversity antenna (both rear side windows) and most workshops only fit 1 band expander. As a result, thes side that has the expander fitted has a higher impedance than the OEM side, and the signal get degraded accordingly. It's really not the ideal setup for conversion. I''ve learned to live without decent FM reception & am pretty close to trial fitting some kind of splitter with the band expander. I'm not too sure what that will do to the signal strength, as it will subsequently increase the impedance of BOTH antennas....

I've also already replaced the front speaker (torn cones), and the rears are about to get done too (same story...).

The Nakamichi I have is an Australian one, so I have no band expander. I just plugged the antenna lead into the head unit via an adaptor plug. But I do notice it gets better reception when the RHS of the Stagea is facing the radio station antenna.

PS; I am very happy with 6" coaxial MB Quart I have in each of the 4 doors.

[atticus]

Well i just drove from Canberra to Bathurst. usually when i do this drive i lose reception before i even get out onto the hume highway. this time i had full reception the whole 300km trip, changing to different frequencies and still picking it up (triple J) perfectly. Normally on this trip i can't get radio reception until i'm in bathurst after leaving canberra

I'll go back to the place where i got my stereo tuned the other day and ask them exactly what they did to my radio, because it works absolutely awesomely now. i just plugged it in when i installed my head unit, but i must have missed something. anywho, i'll find out what they did and let you guys know

[Terminal]

Well i just drove from Canberra to Bathurst. usually when i do this drive i lose reception before i even get out onto the hume highway. this time i had full reception the whole 300km trip, changing to different frequencies and still picking it up (triple J) perfectly. Normally on this trip i can't get radio reception until i'm in bathurst after leaving canberra

I'll go back to the place where i got my stereo tuned the other day and ask them exactly what they did to my radio, because it works absolutely awesomely now. i just plugged it in when i installed my head unit, but i must have missed something. anywho, i'll find out what they did and let you guys know

[Sydneykid]

Well i just drove from Canberra to Bathurst. usually when i do this drive i lose reception before i even get out onto the hume highway. this time i had full reception the whole 300km trip, changing to different frequencies and still picking it up (triple J) perfectly. Normally on this trip i can't get radio reception until i'm in bathurst after leaving canberra

I'll go back to the place where i got my stereo tuned the other day and ask them exactly what they did to my radio, because it works absolutely awesomely now. i just plugged it in when i installed my head unit, but i must have missed something. anywho, i'll find out what they did and let you guys know

Please, a severe interrogation of their knowledge would be appreciated:cheers:

[Jay95R33]

Please, a severe interrogation of their knowledge would be appreciated:cheers:

Your not wrong there SK !! Please get as much info out of them as possible..

The frustrating thing for me is that the factory head unit worked 100% perfect a few months ago (reception was great). Then after the panel shop touched up a little scrape on the passengers front door the reception has never been the same !

I have no idea why though

J

[Sydneykid]

Your not wrong there SK !!  Please get as much info out of them as possible..

The frustrating thing for me is that the factory head unit worked 100% perfect a few months ago (reception was great).  Then after the panel shop touched up a little scrape on the passengers front door the reception has never been the same !

I have no idea why though  

J

Shoot J, you might have hit on it. Our Stagea had to have the LHS rear door replaced (compliance blah blah blah) and it went to our race team panel beater to have the door repainted (it was white, not blue). So that's it, the panel beaters stuff up the radio reception when working on the LHS. Oh and that's the side I get worst reception on. It all adds up (where is that X Files music?) :werd:

[Jay95R33]

lol, now that is strange...

Damn these panel beaters

I've got to do an oil change this weekend (just ticked over to 70,000km) so if I get keen I'll check the antenna connections while I'm playing with the car

J

[Sk0pe]

OK, I've now replaced the head unit (pioneer in, Nakomichi out), and put a nice set of pioneer splits in the front. The previous owner had put in some nice alpine 6" two-ways in the front, so I'm putting them in the back. Can anyone tell me if the clarions I've pulled out of the rear doors are the factory speakers?

Ok, here's what I found with the radio reception:

When installing the head unit, I noticed a blue wire that was connected to the back of the Nakomichi, to a lead labelled "remote control". I figured that it was to start up the external amp (there are still leads from where the previous owner had an amp and a sub). I didn't hook this up when I first installed the head unit, and radio reception was JUST acceptable. My pioneer unit has a "Remote control" output, which the manual says is for triggering external amplifiers and glass antennas. I have since connected this lead to the blue wire on the loom, and now, radio reception is EXCEPTIONAL. It seems that (like modern Subies) there is a standard signal amplifier for the glass antenna, and the head unit switched this on and off thru the "remote control" connection.

Maybe you guys have seen the same thing?

[Sydneykid]

Ok, here's what I found with the radio reception:

When installing the head unit, I noticed a blue wire that was connected to the back of the Nakomichi, to a lead labelled "remote control". I figured that it was to start up the external amp (there are still leads from where the previous owner had an amp and a sub). I didn't hook this up when I first installed the head unit, and radio reception was JUST acceptable. My pioneer unit has a "Remote control" output, which the manual says is for triggering external amplifiers and glass antennas. I have since connected this lead to the blue wire on the loom, and now, radio reception is EXCEPTIONAL. It seems that (like modern Subies) there is a standard signal amplifier for the glass antenna, and the head unit switched this on and off thru the "remote control" connection.

Maybe you guys have seen the same thing?

Ah, the old antenna amplifier. There's a job for me tonight, connect up the blue wire.

You haven't by chance worked out the colour coding for the factory tweeter wiring harness?

[Sk0pe]

You haven't by chance worked out the colour coding for the factory tweeter wiring harness?

Hmmm.... "factory tweeter wiring harness". Can't say I've even SEEN one of those. You're implying (or saying) that the Stagea came with splits standard. I haven't even seen where those tweeters might have gone.

Of course, if you're referring to the normal 6" speakers as "tweeters" then, yes, I believe I have decoded it. I have a diagram of it at home that I will post up tonight if that is indeed what you mean.

Sk0pe

[Sydneykid]

Hmmm.... "factory tweeter wiring harness". Can't say I've even SEEN one of those. You're implying (or saying) that the Stagea came with splits standard. I haven't even seen where those tweeters might have gone.  

Of course, if you're referring to the normal 6" speakers as "tweeters" then, yes, I believe I have decoded it.  I have a diagram of it at home that I will post up tonight if that is indeed what you mean.

Sk0pe

Mine has standard tweeters in the A pillars:cheers:

[Terminal]

Yeah mine has the standard tweeters in the A-pillars too SK.are you replacing or just wanting to plug the original tweaters into a new head unit?

all i did to replace mine was run the wire down through the A-pillar by removing the weather strip, running it down and then replacing the strip over it. then ran the wire under the dash to my crossovers.

[Sydneykid]

Yeah mine has the standard tweeters in the A-pillars too SK.are you replacing or just wanting to plug the original tweaters into a new head unit?  

all i did to replace mine was run the wire down through the A-pillar by removing the weather strip, running it down and then replacing the strip over it. then ran the wire under the dash to my crossovers.

Replacing tweeters, I have them mounted and wired (at the tweeter) but not at the head unit. I ran out of time on the day I was doing the install and I haven't gotten back to it yet. I was hoping someone had worked out the wiring codes to save me a poking around with the multimeter.