Miata Mailing List: July 1996, Message #74
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   From: Jeff Anderson 
Subject: Re: Headrest Speakers for 92
   Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 20:07:34 -0400

> From archive-owner Mon Jul  1 13:21:41 1996
> From: Ryles Dodd 
> Subject: Headrest Speakers for 92
> Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 13:18:48 -0400
> 
> Were the 92's prewired for headrest speakers.  I looked behind the seat
> and saw a wire that looked like the correct size but it was plugged into
> a square white connector right behind the seat at the transmission
> tunnel. Is this the wire or will I need to run the wires as I had to on
> my '90.
> 
> Thanks
> Ryles
> .

Ryles:

On all the Miatas I've seen there is pre-wired head rest speaker cable run 
from under each seat to the radio.  The plugs are located towards the front 
of the seats on or near the floor.  They are not long enough to reach to 
the area at the rear of the seats.  To find them, reach under the front of 
the seats and pull the wires down and forward.  I'm not sure if I've seen a 
1990 without head rest speakers-- most of the ones I see already have head 
rest speakers installed.     

For the 92 year the plugs are cream color, square, and 4 conductor.  The 
OEM headrest speakers include cable that is to be run from the speakers, 
down the back of the seats in a channel made for the purpose, then under 
the seats to the pre-wired plug near the front of the seats.  Some say it's 
easier to take the seats out of the car to run the cable down the seat 
backs.  

If you are looking to save some $ without a reduction in sound quality from 
the OEM speakers, then you might want to consider some speakers on sale at 
J.C. Whitney -- $14.95 for a set of two, plus shipping:
         #03CH6757W, cat.# 91JA, code PEGF2 (312) 431-6102.  

These 3 1/2-inch speakers are a little more work to put in -- strip a 
little of the seat's foam, get the connecting stranded wire yourself, and 
splice the wires at the under seat connector.  The sound is not exactly the 
same as the OEM speakers, but to my ears they sound just as good.  No 
headrest speaker will ever sound real good when used with the black-face 
stock radio.  With the stock radio, I think the Clearwater's do the best 
job -- they sound almost fair.  

I've found a cure for the poor head rest speaker sound that comes from the 
black face stock radio and have been doing a low cost radio fix for our 
local club members and a few others that can bring me (D.C. area) their 
radio. The resulting sound is far better than adding even the best 
aftermarket headrest speakers and all types of speakers, including the 
stock ones, produce (almost) the same superior sound.  The improved 
headrest sound from the modified radio is great, especially for top-down 
high-speed driving.       
         

-- 
Jeff Anderson                 @   @     @     @   @@@@@   @      
Arlington, VA                @ @ @ @    @    @ @    @    @ @
91 Silver, 92 Blue          @   @   @   @   @ @ @   @   @ @ @ 
MCA, Capital Chapter       @         @  @  @     @  @  @     @