1994-1996 Q45 Tweeters on a 1990-1993 Q45

[Infinitiguy19]

Ok please don't tell me to search because I have read nearly ever topic (I think I rival Lino on this one).

But I have the tweeters and A-pillars. And the only reasons I undertook this modification is because Mike (Goody94Q45) and Wes (Elwesso) said that the pillars will fit. And because this is just one step closer to a 1994 Q45 without actually buying the actual car.

The pillars do in fact fit, But I am having a problem wiring them up. I of course looked at the wiring diagrams and disassembled all the speaker assemblies I have (4 spare cases and speakers and 3 working amps).

I did talk with Wes, Left a message with Shane (Qisguy), Called Berner (Unknown007), Called Poor mans Q45 (PMQ), Called Lino and called Clarion to see which year amps I have (Because stupid me have more parts than I can organize and I did not mark them.) but Clarion was no help with the numbers I gave them.

But I came to the conclusion that I needed the 1994-1996 Q45 front speaker amps because the tweeters are not getting sufficient power. Of course Poor Mans Q45 helped me with that one.

Wes told me I need to get the speaker harness from a 1994-1996 Q45 and then wire it up to the tweeters (Which is what the 2 extra pins are for).

Now I don't doubt either person's solution because they are light years away from me as far as knowing the Q45 or Car stereos, But I want to find a definite solution so I can spend as little as possible and get this wired up ASAP. Because it looks like my car is gutted. My passenger side door panel is on the rear seat, Drivers door panel is in the trunk along with all the parts from the IOS order. (I still have to put in those damn sway bar bushings DAMN RAIN).my A-pillar covers are on the rear seat.

And for those that want to understand what is currently going on with the tweeters. When the tweeter is plugged in (piggy backing off the green and red wire of the front speaker) there is a faint sound coming from them but no matter the volume on the radio you still have to put your ear to the tweeter just to hear noise from it. Short story: there is not enough sound coming from the tweeter, and there is certainly some kind of static.

And mind you these are used tweeters that came from a non running car and the interior was not the best it could be. But I would expect the tweeter to work.

Here is the car there from: zer...450sx

I have also made some videos for those who want to see what the tweeters look like all opened up (because as you can see from my spark plug post I suck with a camera no matter how many Megapixles it is (10MP)):

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWNI_-HbYTA

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXN3AaH8F-Q

Guess the background noise. (hint: There was a movie made on the show).

So please help
Modified by Paul Wall at 12:00 AM 6/16/2009

[qsiguy]

Sorry for not answering the phone, I've been off on maternity leave for over a week since we had a new baby a week ago and haven't been answering work calls. I didn't recognize your number so didn't answer...

I've been doing stereos for years but surprisingly I have not been very far into the stereo on my 94 Q. My first thought about why you are not getting much volume from your tweeters wired to the door speaker is that the door speakers may have a band pass crossover on them which means they would have the high frequencies you want for the tweeters filtered out. If that is the case you would need to tap into that channel before the crossover. If you have the amplified speakers that may be difficult as the crossover could be part of the amp.

Does that car have the amp/boxes in the doors like the 94's or are they just wired directly to the head unit? Is it a Bose system in the 90-93's? Are you using the origiinal head unit or have you changed it out to a newer model?

[SanCarlosQ45]

You will need the the amplifier unit from a 94-95 because it contains the crossover. Like Qsiguy says the higher frequencies could be filtered out. If you have the amplifier unit from a 94, bose or not, there sould be signal (black red and black white), power (blue yellow + and ground), and the tweeter output (purple and yellow), so a six pin connector; This is all from the bose amps; the amps are in the speaker enclosure Qsiguy.

Just take a 94 pigtail harness connector for the door and run the tweeter wires to pillers. That sould work as long as the signal from the headunit is compatible with the 94 amps.

Hopefully the headunit will send out a signal that is compatible with the 94 amps, either enough signal power or doesnt send out frequencies in the mid range only (thats unlikely but I dont know the 90-93 setup)

[Infinitiguy19]

Does that car have the amp/boxes in the doors like the 94's or are they just wired directly to the head unit? Is it a Bose system in the 90-93's? Are you using the origiinal head unit or have you changed it out to a newer model?

Yes my car has the OEM Bose system which has a amplifier for each speaker.

Yes I am using the OEM head unit that came with the 90-93 Q's.

I found a rear amp from a 1994 Q45 (2/93) and I still get the white noise coming from the tweeter and its is still barley audiable unless you put your ear to the tweeter. Looks like Wes nailed it on the head and I need a 1994-1996 Q45 speaker harness.

Are tweeters really loud at all/Can you hear anything from them on 1994-1996 Q45's?

[3Q Jay]

here's the secret: all the 94-96 amps do is parallel the audio out to the tweeters. there is a 'crossover' (really just a high pass capacitor) on the tweeter to keep it from getting too much power.

really, i find it hard to believe that a FUNCTIONING 90-93 amp couldn't drive a tweeter in addition to the 3.5 inch bose 802.

[maxnix]

I've always wondered if there was an amplifier on the tweeter like the other speakers.

[Infinitiguy19]

here's the secret: all the 94-96 amps do is parallel the audio out to the tweeters. there is a 'crossover' (really just a high pass capacitor) on the tweeter to keep it from getting too much power.

really, i find it hard to believe that a FUNCTIONING 90-93 amp couldn't drive a tweeter in addition to the 3.5 inch Bose 802.

So then I just need the harness from a 1994-1996 Q45, Then I need to wire it up right for it to work OK?

I've always wondered if there was an amplifier on the tweeter like the other speakers.

The video's confirm that there are no amps physically on the tweeters. its just a speaker, capacitor and wires. They do however get power from the amp.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

have you tried testing the tweeter out of the car? if the crossover is indeed simply an inline capacitor (common setup) then tapping the speaker wires should yield the same results.

the only other issue i can think of is the impedance change running drivers parallel on an amplifier that is not meant to drive the lower ohm load. not sure how that will reveal itself but you will be pulling more amperage than spec'ed.

sounds like a waste of time regardless if you ask me... but you didn't.

[Infinitiguy19]

I have'nt tried testing them out of the car (Because I don't know how and the people that can test them want $20 EACH)

Do you know how to test them out of the car?

And yes I have striped some of the harness that connects to the speakers and just T-eed them in to the speakers that way. And I did red to red and green to green.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

to test them out of the car you could simply hook them up to a reciever (anything with speaker wires). just be careful with the volume. i see the capacitor in the video so they should be protected against tweet killing frequencies.

red -> +green -> -

[3Q Jay]

you dont even need the 6-pin harness, that is optional.splice the tweeters into the speaker outputs from the board. you are wiring the tweeters in parallel with the mid-bass.

[Infinitiguy19]

Do you mind showing me where on the board the speaker out put is please?

[3Q Jay]

don't have one handy.it's the 2 wires coming off the board that go tothe mid-bass. or put another way, the two wires coming off the board that DON'T go to the 4-pin connector (body harness).

[Infinitiguy19]

OK I want to make it official, The 1994-1996 Q45 tweeters do infact WORK on a 1990-1993 Q45. Infact I will go as far as to say this is the best thing you can do for your sound system (Assuming your Amps are rebuilt or funtioning fine).

Here are some pictures of what I had to go thorugh while undertaking this project: http://picasaweb.google.com/pp...tlink.

Don't hate on me for my happy meal that was my little sisters, But I thought it would be funny.
Modified by Paul Wall at 1:26 AM 6/30/2009

[Q451990]

Nice... I'm going to search car-part for a-pillar covers from a 94-96 now.

Heath

[Infinitiguy19]

I added some more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/pp...tlink

After getting everything done to day, I have to say my interior is pure sex. I love these tweeters!!!

Write up coming soon.

[lino]

Congratulations! I knew you would figure it out. You must be so happy to have your trunk back . Looking forward to seeing the write-up. Well done

[BLACKonBLACK98]

Infact I will go as far as to say this is the best thing you can do for your sound system (Assuming your Amps are rebuilt or funtioning fine).

talk about an overstatement.

glad you're happy with your upgrade though.

[Infinitiguy19]

I would'nt call it an overstatemnet if you want to keep everthing OEM (Kosher).

But I may attempt this next: zerothread?id=171900

[BLACKonBLACK98]

"keep it stock" and "best thing you can do" are generally polar opposites in my book.

that link is awesome, i didn't know anybody had done that before. i have been planning on running a 9.5" in that location. my method is a little more involved though and consists of gutting the door, welding it up, and using it as a sealed (ish) enclosure. i may or may not chicken out.

[Infinitiguy19]

"keep it stock" and "best thing you can do" are generally polar opposites in my book.

Agreed

that link is awesome, i didn't know anybody had done that before. i have been planning on running a 9.5" in that location. my method is a little more involved though and consists of gutting the door, welding it up, and using it as a sealed (ish) enclosure. i may or may not chicken out.

I might try that but on the same scale as heywier. but I also want to keep it stock (Keep the ashtray and cig. lighter) so I want to do this:

[BLACKonBLACK98]

that's a nice one too!