Jonty's MR2 Turbo

In-Car Entertainment

Hear hear!

No car is complete without in-car entertainment, or 'ICE' as it's otherwise known. Although the MkII doesn't lend itself very well to the best positioning of speakers, due to the size of the cabin it's still possible to obtain some excellent sounds even with a standard set-up. During its 10-year production, the MkII has been kitted with standard and active sound systems (the use of amplifiers), cassette and CD combination head-units, and 6, 7, or 8 speakers including sub-woofers. There's always been room for improvement though.

Head-unit

When I purchased my MR2 it was minus a head-unit but that didn't dissuade me from buying the car -- it was always my intention to fit an aftermarket unit at some point. Being a fan of Kenwood components, initially the unit taken from my Rover Coupe was fitted but when I fancied a change, it didn't take me long to select the right head-unit for my needs. At the helm now sits a Kenwood KDC-7021 which is a typical CD receiver with maximum power rated at 50Wx4, CD/MD changer control, CD/radio text, a remote control, and the convenient DMask+ design for security and added peace of mind.

Whether a MkII has a basic or active original stereo setup, the head-unit connectors behind the scenes will not cater for aftermarket stereos unless a harness adapter is used. Autoleads produce such adapters and can be sourced from Halfords. As my MR2 was also missing the original mounting brackets, Autoleads were to the rescue again with a mounting kit which incorporates a blanking panel (ideal for single-DIN installations).

NOTE: In addition to an active installation (where amplifiers and sub-woofers are present), Toyota also offered a DSP option which is very rare to find. It involves more electronics within the car and the head-unit has only a single connector on the rear, which unfortunately cannot be mated with an aftermarket harness adapter as they're simply not available.

NOTE: The KDC-7021 head-unit was replaced with an older KDC-7070R when my MR2 was put up for sale.

Tweeters

All MkII MR2s are fitted with tweeter units on the inside of the wing mirror housings. Although the stock units are more than adequate, I decided to replace them with some components that originally accompanied the front speakers (see below) but when these proved to be faulty, Kenwood tweeter separates where obtained from Thames Car Radio.

The KFC-ST30 tweeters are a perfect fit in place of where the stock units would normally be located. They're also manufactured with an in-line crossover, to filter out all the frequencies which would otherwise damage them.

Front speakers

It's not uncommon to squeeze 6.5in (16.5cm) replacement speakers into the front doors, with only the original speaker shrouds needing to be removed. The important factor to keep an eye on is the depth of the magnets, ensuring the windows mechanism and glass doesn't foul the back of the speaker on the way down.

My trusted Kenwood KFC-P602 component speakers have been with me for a few years now, albeit the accompanying tweeters are no more. With a diameter of 6in (15.25cm) there were no problems with fitment but a peak power of 150W required amplification (see below). Although the speakers are quite old now, the sound quality is still very good.

Rear speakers

The stock rear speakers are 10cm (4in) in diameter and given their size and location, are only suited to provide rear fill as opposed to raw power and punch. My original choice of replacements were a pair of Kenwood KFC-PSR108C units which were also 10cm and powered by my amplifier (see below). Not content with the 108C's size, quality, and additional tweeters, I decided to remove them and fit some slightly larger (13cm) Kenwood KFC-PSR501 speakers -- part of the DualMags series.

Although these speakers also incorporate tweeters, they're actually suspended over the cone woofers instead and were subsequently removed -- a bit drastic perhaps but treble from behind ruins acoustics. With a peak power rating of 160W the 501's were originally fed by a 4-channel amplifier but with the addition of some 6x9 speakers (see below) the 501's were reverted back to a direct feed from the head-unit and cope very well.

NOTE: Due to the metal-work in the car, fitting aftermarket speakers may require slight trimming. Installing my 13cm replacement speakers did.

Rear speakers - additional 6x9

Due to the layout of the MkII the front speakers are obliged to provide most of the sounds with the rears acting as rear fill only. Not content with this, I've opted to install some additional 6x9 speakers which provide some added 'oomph'. With my MR2 being a hard-top I don't need to worry about storing T-Bar glass behind my seats so this allowed for the rear box units to be utilised. The plastic box lids were removed and new ones fabricated using MDF and clad with carpet (although at the time I was unable to source the right colour and will address this at a later date).

The 6x9 speakers are Kenwood KFC-6976 which are rated at 160W, powered by my amplifier, and give out the all important extra bass and mid-range which was previously lacking.

Amplifier

The workhorse of my installation is 100Wx4-channel Kenwood KAC-846 amplifier, encompassing useful features such as high- and low-pass filters, input sensitivity and output frequency control, and gold plated terminals. The 846 is another trusted unit which has been with me for a few years but it performs superbly and doesn't need to be replaced just yet.

Miscellaneous

When putting together a custom ICE install, emphasis can also be placed on the quality of the infrastructure. To start with, standard automotive and cheap replacement speaker cabling won't do justice to a high-quality amplifier and speaker installation -- electrical interference and reduced frequencies may be the result.

Rockford Fosgate cabling is used throughout my entire installation for power, earth, RCA, and speaker lines. Twinned with the use of gold-plated speaker and amplifier connectors (made by Autoleads) I've done my best to ensure good quality sound is the result. Running the cables in the car, time was spent to ensure that power and signal lines were not adjacent to each other, thereby reducing the chances of interference. It can prove to be a bit of science, but worth the extra time and effort.

The MkII door and wing panels can be regarded as a bit tinny, which can ever so slightly impair sound quality within the cabin (letting road noise in and valuable speaker sounds out). Installing sound deadening material can make a world of difference, and in my car comes in the form of Dynamat sheets cut into appropriate sections.

Finally, adding a fuse-box at the front of the car for safety and I'm done. Plumbed in just after the battery, should anything go wrong, the fuse will pop as opposed to any of my more expensive components.