Flashback Hatchback

Technology has come a long way for mobile electronics. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, mobile multimedia didn't even exist, and hard audio components were bulky and inefficient. In fact, radical charging system upgrades were necessary to keep the big power-hungry amplifiers on-line.

Though crude by today's standards, early high-end car audio equipment was well engineered and well made, albeit chunky. Equipment manufacturers like Rockford Fosgate, Linear Power, Precision Power and Alpine, to name a few, took car audio very seriously. It was in these early days that competition began, which in turn drove technology towards correct mobile acoustics.

David Wood remembers the day of the installer, before digital processors corrected for poor automotive acoustics, when it was the installer's job to properly tune a system. He also remembers that the equipment was good, and wanted to prove it.

With a closet full of choice vintage gear like brute Linear Power IQ amplifiers and the legendary Alpine 7618 head unit, Wood set out to build a retro system competitive with modern equipment. As Operations Manager of Monroe, LA's Mobile Toyz, he also wanted to show his customers that if they buy quality components it will be money well spent.

Sexy MX-3
To pull it off, the entire rig had to be of the time -- and the Mazda MX-3 would be the perfect car. Introduced to North America in 1992, the MX-3 had racy lines and a crisp 1.8-liter V6. Though not eagerly fast, it was an early introduction to the import performance trend.

Dave was already a fan of the MX-3, with one in the garage reserved for shows and competition. He knew his way around the compact hatchback and in 1999 he dropped $4500 on a second MX-3 to be used as a commuter. A couple years later the little hatchback was retired as a commuter and slated to join its garaged partner in the show car ranks. First it would have to look the part, so Dave began a complete redo.

Breathing new life into the worked commuter, the tired 1.8-liter six was replaced with a 2.5-liter Japanese Millennia motor with the help of Darrell Gilbert. Dave even freshened up the bigger motor with Toucan air intake, Nology ignition system and smaller diameter UR Racing crank pulley. To be sure, a ZEX Nitrous system was installed on the front-end with Hot Shot headers extracting spent gasses.

Taking advantage of the aftermarket goods available for the MX-3, Dave also dialed in the exterior by lowering it with Ground Control Coilovers fitted with KYB shocks. Putting the power down are 18-inch Maxxim Tequila wheels shod in Nitto NT555 tires all around.

Dave's MX-3 was beginning to take on the attitude of a retro ripper, but it still required exterior attention. An Erebuni wing was fitted to the hatch and the antenna was shaved for a clean, aggressive look. Mike Marable applied the purple/raspberry paint and installed Alteza taillight lenses for the finishing touches on this retro ride.

Vintage Gear
Most of the equipment needed for this recreation of the early days was in Dave's closet. A couple units had to be sourced to complete it, though. Dave found out the hard way that you can't just ring up your local retailer to find choice vintage car audio equipment. It's just not the kind of thing that people keep around. While Dave had most of the gear ready to go from a previous competition system, he still had to find an Orion Concept 97-2, JL Audio 12W5 woofer and Linear Power 5002IQ amplifier. Using technology that didn't even exist when most of this gear was manufactured, Dave turned to the Web and Ebay to secure needed, obsolete car audio equipment.

All of the missing pieces were found on Ebay, but the Orion Concept unit was a bit trickier. Few were built and were hard to find even when new. He managed to find one that had seen better days but was able to be repaired. In fact, everything had to be put under the scope and serviced as necessary. Lanny Williams went through the vintage merchandise to ensure these 10-year-old components were performing to spec. Surprisingly, most if it was fine and the gear that didn't work needed only minor repairs.

In the spirit of building a true retro system, Dave even used old school accessories and techniques. For instance, the entire car was excessively treated with Dynamat by Charles Trichel. Not just the usual treatment to headliner, doors and floor, but everything. They used 195 square feet of Dynamat to cover the interior of this small two-door hatchback. One thing's for sure, the interior of this import is rock solid.

Not only is there no chance of rattles, there is no chance of electrical shortage. Wrangler's 150-amp, externally regulated alternator was installed in place of the original wimp and 1/0-gauge Streetwires power and ground cable routed front to rear make sure the power is planted. Each amp gets 8-gauge as distributed by a Streetwires distribution block. Streetwires twisted 14-gauge speaker wire is routed to all mid and high speakers and 12-gauge reaches the subs. Streetwires ZN6.0 Hypertwisted RCA routes all signal.

{While Dave had most of the gear ready to go from a previous competition system, he still had to find an Orion Concept 97-2, JL Audio 12W5 woofer and Linear Power 5002IQ amplifier.}

Reference Digital
Anyone who has been in this biz for a while will feel right at home in the driver's seat with organic Alpine components glowing with glory. The Alpine 7618 was the unit of the day; it had no frills and was all action. With an output impedance of 0.25 ohms and a solid preamp, the 7618 is as good as anything on the market today. Mated with an Alpine 5959 disc changer, the source of this system is truly hi-fi.

Another Alpine vintage goodie is the Alpine mobile phone. Before wireless and cellular the real playaz sported mobile car phones. Heavy, big and expensive, they were a luxury afforded by few. They were so cool that they actually sparked a trend of "phoney" antennas that simply stuck to your car. Dave's is real, however, and works perfectly.

Most amplifiers didn't have built-in tuning capabilities in 1993, and digital electronics were merely experiments to mobile electronic engineers. Installers relied on creative speaker placement and external electronics to tune a system. Still, Orion took a leap of faith and introduced what was probably the first digital equalizer, the Concept 97-2. It was so expensive and experimental that only one unit was allocated per dealer. Unfortunately it was ahead of its time and it would be several years before the industry widely accepted digital technology.

External electronic crossovers were the rave at the time, and Alpine made one of the best. The 3681 was also a digital unit that sported digital time alignment. It was the perfect mate to the Orion Concept, keeping the signal digital all the way to the amplifiers. This technology didn't come cheap, though. With 20-bit Burr Brown D/A converters, the 3681 retailed for $900 each.

Two are used in this system, with one dedicated to the rear and another to the front. Outputs from the 3681, be it high-, band or low-pass, are dedicated to specific amplifiers that drive specific speakers. With some early mobile fidelity systems we saw dedicated left and right channel equalizers and other excessive designs searching for endless tuning possibilites. Although this tended to create a lot of equipment, it was nevertheless the trend in competition system design of the early '90s.

{Most amplifiers didn't have built-in tuning capabilities in 1993, and digital electronics were merely experiments to mobile electronic engineers. Installers relied on creative speaker placement and external electronics to tune a system.}

Solid State
What the early days of 12-volt audio lacked in multitasking they made up in raw power. Linear Power was a forerunner in amplifier design and manufactured some fine products. The IQ series of amplifiers is a prime example. These were actually considered low profile amplifiers and were able to run stereo, mono or mixed/mono. They also had a turn-on delay to avoid turn-on thump, a phenomenon that plagued early mobile systems. Competition-level equipment was void of any bells and whistles, so amplifiers were amplifiers, period. About as frilly as it got was gold-plated terminals.

Since amplifiers lacked internal crossovers, and multi-channel amplifiers (four, six, etc.) weren't popular it was common to dedicate amplifiers to a speaker frequency. You'd often see competition systems with five or more amplifiers. Also, by dedicating equipment to specific duties, passive crossovers were eliminated and tuning was simplified.

Dedicated to the front-end is a 3681, setting the pace for three Linear Power 452IQ, two-channel amplifiers. A high-pass output to one 452IQ powers four MB Quart 19NX neodymium tweeters. A second output delivers a band-pass to a 452IQ on a pair of MB Quart Comp 100 4" mid-range speakers while the third front-end 452IQ amplifier allows band-pass to a pair of MB Quart 160 mid-bass drivers in the doors.

Front speaker placement is reminiscent of 1990s' style, and even today's. Custom fiberglass kick panels house the 4" Comp 100 mid-range speakers and one pair of the 19NX tweeters. A second pair of tweeters is custom fitted into the side view mirror panel. MB Quart 6.5 mid-bass speakers are in the stock door panel location, placed low and forward.

A single subwoofer and 6.5" rear fill set-up is kept under control by the second 3681, with a low-pass out to a single, bridged-mono Linear Power 5002IQ and high-pass to the MB Quart Comp 160 rear fill speakers, which roll off naturally. This system design creates a wide and high sound stage and was popularised by the early '90s after some pretty experimental designs. Eventually the automotive OEM would catch on and the design is commonplace today.

Got Wood?
While system design was complicated, with tons of gear and even more experimentation, the installations were simple. Fiberglass was barely catching on, with the majority of media being MDF and plywood, body filler, carpet, vinyl and acrylic. In fact, vinyl and acrylic were considered high-end and used mostly in competition vehicles.

Dave did a nice job of keeping it real in that regard. Not only does the installation look of age, he stayed true to era techniques and ideas. With that, he placed fifth in the PRO 601+ class, proving to his customers that if you buy quality equipment, it will last for years and perform at the highest levels. He feels this is especially important today; there are lots of products that look good but suffer from mediocre build quality.

Dave Wood's 1993 Mazda MX-3 was the perfect ride for a retro car audio installation. It was at the forefront of the import performance movement with sporty lines and a hyper powerplant. With help from Mike Marable the car was given a face lift and paint job that withstands the test of time.

DASH & COCKPIT--Alpine was the deal in the '80s and '90s. The 7618 was the unit to have if you were serious about mobile fidelity. It was used widely long after it was out of production.

MOBILE--Before wireless and cellular phones you had to have a car phone. Expensive and bulky, few people had them, but they were so desirable that they sparked a "phoney" antenna look.

Kick Panel--Kick panels started to catch on in the early '90s, offering a more equal length wave form, left and right, to the driver's head. Companies like USD and Audioforms manufactured fiberglass kickpanels for the do-it-yourselfer. Dave custom made his out of fiberglass to house MB Quart Comp 100 component sets.

Doors--Original speaker locations house MB Quart Comp 160 6.5" mid-bass drivers. A dedicated Linear Power 452IQ drives them, as with all speaker pairs in the system.

Under the Hood--Dave swapped the 1.8 power plant with a 2.5-liter powerhouse with help from Darrell Gilbert. A cold air intake, headers and nitrous system ensure hustle when the throttle is called upon.

Crossover--Amplifiers rarely had internal crossovers and integrated digital processors were merely a dream. External electronic crossovers were what a high-end mobile system called for, and the Alpine 3681 was one of the best, if not the first, digital crossovers.

Hatch--True to an era installation, Dave made a simple display of MDF, acrylic and carpet. The JL Audio 12W5 is in a custom fiberglass enclosure that consumes the spare tire well. Fiberglass work was new to the installer of the early '90s and acrylic was reserved for high-end jobs.

Amplifier--Linear Power manufactured some of the nicest amplifiers of the day. The IQ series was considered a low-profile design and featured turn-on delay to reduce turn-on pop, a phenomenon that plagued early mobile fidelity systems.