Spiagga's Stereo

When I got Spiagga, she came with an old Sony tape deck, two 4X6 speakers on the rear deck, and an electric antenna. I'm glad to say that the antenna worked, and the speakers made noise, and that the radio played. Unfortunately, the radio display did not work, and the AM radio reception was non-existent. All of these quirks just seemed to add to the personality of the car, and not once did any of my early passengers ever pass a negative comment on the state of tunes.



Tuning was done by attempting to remember what stations were on what side of the radio band. Eventually I got some stations set into memory, but there was some pretty bad radio moments. Think Tejano Hell here. Living in LA, there is a lot of Hispanic music. As I understand it, they are the biggest demographic in LA. Were I not self employed, I would know just how to win big in a lawsuit against my employer. Seems most of the commercials are for "Abigados!!!! Dos-Dos-Dos Dos-Dos-Dos-Dos!" I think that means call Larry H. Parker, but in Spanish. Lest you think I'm offensive here, I have sang along to some Selena songs. Really the state of the tunes didn't matter much as listening to 1.5L at 7,500 RPM is music in its own.

A good lifelong friend of mine upgraded from a Pioneer CD player to a SONY IPOD capable radio. So, in walked a Pioneer radio to my life, for only the cost of installing the SONY. That install was into a Civic, and was a breeze.

I'm no stranger to Pioneer gear. While in the Marine Corps in the early 90s, the PX (a sort of on base Meglomart) generally sold Pioneer gear. So, I have had a number of Pioneer gear from amps to CD changers in my vehicles. The Pioneer radio sports a Mosfet internal amplifier with the overrated wattage claim. It says 45W X 4, but I'm just not drinking the juice. Doesn't matter, because I'm only driving two small rear shelf speakers. While the Pioneer is not as sexy as my Sea Coupe's Alpine, it was free, and and would get me out of Calixico music.

In getting the radio in, I pulled the old one, and investigated the glory of the rats nest that just seems so confusing to some, and quite relaxing to me.



Really it was just a matter of removing the wire from the Sony loom and connecting to the Pioneer loom. Pretty mindless entertainment, but it was better than watching more news about Britney Spears. Ohh I'm quite convinced that she is now certifiable. As in "Dinky-Doo." I put some caps in line to the rear speakers to get the 6 db roll off on the low end. I hope this keeps me from blowing out the rear speakers.

So, I came up with a thought. Why don't they make the molex plugs across manufactures the same? If you already have a stereo installed, all you do is unmount, and unplug the stereo and plug it into the new stereo. Too simple, I know. Hey, if you need the plug, charge someone $20.00 for it. You could even charge more and get people to pay for molex connectors with gold connectors, and other unnecessary add ons.



See how these connectors are quite similar? Yet, the shape of the molex has different ridges in the casing? I mean heck the color of the wires is generally standardized.

So, the only thing I was not sure of was the polarity of the speakers wired in the rear shelf. I used the old battery trick to find out if the woofer pushed up to show positive orientation or down for negative orientation.



So, with everything wired up, I was a bit nervous to find out if I would have the dreaded alternator hum. In my high school Fiat I had a buzz so bad, people called it a turbo. That bad. Of course it might have had something to do with the 400 watt Radio Shack EQ booster I had. Remember those?

I cued up Billy Joel's CD Storm Front, pulled out of the drive way and let her rip.

"Harry Truman,
Doris Day,

Elvis Presley,
Disney Land...."

I played that treat in high school too. I was so ahead of my time. Somethings never change. Nor should they. There was not a hint of whine. Good deal, and the caps inline to the rear speakers seemed to keep the 4X6 speakers from popping.

Future plans call for kick panel speakers in a fiberglass enclosure. I'd like to fit 6.5 drivers, but I just don't think a kick panel enclosure will have enough air to produce proper midbass. Next, I'll put a fiberglass enclosure in the spare tire area with a 10" woofer. I have no idea of what type of amp to get. Heck, if I could find a pair of vintage Punch 45 amps, I'd be happy as a hog.

Personally, I had another amazing Friday night. Let me tell you what kind of lucky I am. First, and most important, my Pitter is once again asleep in my bed. There were some 80 mph winds this week, and the sound really has her bugged. So much in fact that she went to sleep with a flashlight. Okay....but interestingly enough, she is sleeping sideways in the bed. How I'm going to get her to move with waking her, I don't know. But let me tell you, this is indeed good luck. I love that little girl so much. Its as if the bluest ocean wouldn't match how inviting her eyes are and the sweetest cello note couldn't possible be as serene as her laugh. Your not here to read about my daughter so, I'll get back on target. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with the So Cal W203 group from MBWorld.org. I'm actually going to take the Fiat instead. Hopefully we'll get some kind of canyon run in.