My plan for this - as I do up my ageing 2CV - is to go for a 'non-intrusive' system. Frankly, the 2CV dash just doesn't welcome a stereo 'head' unit. And, let's face it, most car stereos are ugly brutes - all flashing lights and attitude...

I've already bought all the parts: Sony 'Explode' speakers (brand new and bought for £16 off of eBay...), a tiny little 20+20W stereo amp with separate bass & treble controls (this will sit on its side against the steering column in the driver's tiny parcel shelf - accessible, but virtually out of sight) and... an ickle MP3 player/FM radio with a touch-screen display which will sit neatly on the wiper motor cover in a stuck-on silicone case (also bought for, er, £16 from HK...)

Ok, I'm having to build a rear parcel shelf on which to mount the speakers, but other than that it will all be next to invisible. When you park up, you simply pop the player out of its 'skin' and take it with you - with earphones if you must.

This does work. I installed a 100W MOSFET amp behind the dash of my now-sold kit car powered by a switch on the dash. Speakers were concealed under the rear seats. A 3.5mm jack socket on the centre console allowed anything to be plugged in - portable CD/Radio, MP3 player, etc. With my open-top kit car, the advantage was that there was simply no evidence of any system having been installed.

Ok, there are some disadvantages: FM radio reception isn't as good as with an external aerial, so if you pass through an area with a weak signal expect it to drop off. Also, depending on the player you use, due to it's size it can be awkward to operate on the move. Having said that, I soon got familiar with the button locations of my old MP3 player so could easily change tracks/adjust volume by touch - it used to sit on the transmission tunnel next to the gear stick.

With the wiper motor cover, the 2CV provides a sloping panel in exactly the right place! I am hoping my new cheapo player will touch screen will be even easier to operate than my old 'un.

not bad, in my 1st car (blue celeste) i had put a £60 clarion head unit in next to the gear stick on the dash shelf, i then put a pair of jbl 6''x9''s in the parcel shelf and a pair of 10'' jbl speakers under the front seats. I never used the boot as i had a jbl 1000w peak sub being run by a a 500w amp. the only trouble i found was when i had it turned up (to kill road noise, honest!) that it was really tinny and would make my ears ring. i therefore removed the parcelshelf, and upgraded the sub amp to 1000w, this set-up was used until i blew the amp up, and 2yrs later (last week) my sub finally gave up the ghost.

i recently bought a azu250, so i have now got a completely new set-up, jvc head unit, speakers now in the door have been upgraded to about 200w i think, fusion catogry D competition amp, powering a fusion 1000w ported sub, not quite got the fine tuning correct yet but its nice n loud!

Jeepers

A 500W amp?! That would draw in excess of 40A on full. Did you notice your headlamp bulbs dimming to the beat...?

My intended ICE route is simply to (a) keep the dash as uncluttered and unfussy as possible, and (b) to deter our light-fingered friends...

As you say, above 50 mph is pretty academic

ah yes the 'light dimming' was noticed, and cured especially as im now running 750-800w+ from my 1000w amp! the cure was something called a power cap. its a cylinder that goes inline from the positive before the amp, what it does is it stores electricity for when its needed. so when the amp needs a little more umph, it takes it from the cap rather than the battery, the bonus is it has a reading on the top so you can see how much it is using. if your worried about some asbo thugs, bolt everything down and keep it hidden!
any one else is as daft as me sticking so much audio equipment into an a series?

Yep. Going to... To the aca. Going to strenghten the front doors and put some 6x9 to them. Then i just have to deside which ones to use. I have one pair of speakers like those. Maybe easiest way. 8" sub to put some where.

and after that, just use wet towel to push it...



That i´m going do to the doors.

Hi folks,
just out of interest, isn't an amplifier rated on its 'music' power, not the current draw? From a little searching on the net, one site suggests that a 1000 watt amp would pull around 25amps from the car's electrical system.

Mind you, that still means it could be a good idea to carry a spare battery...

ken.

2 batteries is good, if you play it all the time when camped you dont look silly bumping the car... (harry. )

Even more so when your van is representing the breakdown service...

who me??

haha not for long stealing a lorry battery for the national!