Miata Mailing List: June 1993, Message #5
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   From: (none)
Subject: Clearwater Headrest Speakers
   Date: (none)

For lack of a better way to throw away my money, I decided
to replace my stock headrest speakers with a set of the new
Clearwater headrest speakers.  I already have the Clearwater
door speakers and amplifier, and am very satisfied with them.

The Clearwaters cost $120 and are available from several sources
(directly from Clearwater, from Brain-Storm Marketing, and from
Motorsport, Inc.).  I ordered mine about 6-8 weeks ago, but they
were delayed due to being out-of-stock; they just arrived last week).

As usual for Clearwater, the merchandise looks good and the
instructions are complete.  Unlike the stock Mazda headrest speakers,
which are rectangular and fit exactly into existing rectangular slots
with bolts, the Clearwater speakers are round and merely press-fit
into the space.  One of the 4 speakers had a loose wire due to a
broken solder joint, but this was easy to fix in few seconds with the
old soldering iron...

Installation was straightforward, especially since I'd done it before
with the stock speakers.  The wiring harness is in one piece, unlike
the Mazda harness, which is in two pieces, but the Clearwater harness
is thinner and smoother, so it threads under the carpet and seatbacks
quite easily.  I recommend using some electrical tape to temporarily
hold all the wire terminals together while threading the harness; it
makes it much easier.

A drawback is that the round speakers don't fit properly into the
rectangular slots (the fit is tight, but they make the foam sides
bulge out), so the plastic cover plate in the headrest doesn't fit
correctly.  I may got back in there with a carving knife to allocate
a little more space in the foam, to give a better fit.
(Has anyone done this already?  Any suggestions?)

Once installed, I think the results are excellent.
They do seem considerably better than the stock speakers, but
 I've only had a few minutes of driving time to evaluate them so far.


Conclusions:
If your car doesn't have any headrest speakers at all, I highly
recommend the Clearwaters - at $120, they're considerably less
than the best price I've seen on the Mazda headrest speakers ($159),
and I think the results are better.

If your car already has the stock speakers, it may not be worth your
while to upgrade - even though you get better results, I'm not sure
that the amount of improvement by itself is worth $120.
It all depends on your priorities, and where you feel like throwing
your money.  Personally, I'm very happy with what I got.



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Shameless Used Headrest Speaker Sale Advertisement:

I now have a set of 2-year old stock Mazda headrest speakers
for sale, complete with wiring harness, attachment bolts, and
installation directions.  They've never been abused and still
work fine.  The Mazda recommended list price for these is about
$199, I paid $169, and the best mail order price I've seen
advertised is $159 (I think Honey Mazda?).
I'll be happy to ship them to your address in exchange for $60.
If interested, send me e-mail.
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Ken Buck
Internet: k.buck@ma30.bull.com
Company Mail:  Bull, MA30-824A, 300 Concord Rd, Billerica, MA 01821