I love amps from the early 90's too.

I recently picked up a Kenwood KAC PS 500F from the UK. Just awesome. Back in the 1990's amplifiers had real non-current limiting power supplies running real MOSFETs.

New amps suck!

Those early Soundstreams are very cool. They are hard to find around here.

This might be the right thread to post in...

I'm looking for something far less ambitious and I have a set of Dahlquist ALS-3 car speakers which fit nicely into the 914 mounting position. But they like power...

So, what are new options for a head unit/separate amp combo?
Seems like everything I search for is integrated and has 30W x 4 channels built in.

And I can't find anything on the Mc MX406 from their website.

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Paul

Are those vintage speakers? I've never heard of that brand of Car Audio. Perhaps it is a home hifi brand?

If they are vintage, that might not be worth installing. For vintage car audio, amplifiers are work keeping and restoring but speakers and head units are not. Speaker technology has improved over the years along with head unit features. Amplifiers on the other hand have gone down hill as manufacturers look for ways to reduce costs per watt.

Additionally if they fit in the stock 914 location, the audio quality will not be great. Not for any speaker that will fit in that spot.

If you just need sound in the car, they may be just fine. It all depends on your level of audiophile within.

I think that the standard 914 speaker locations are actually pretty good! They are of a good path length (distance from drivers ears) and can be remade to point on axis pretty easily! If you're not after huge bass then just get a pair of 914ap speaker panels and use them. I started with a pair of these, but found that they wern't on axis enough for sq, so made a wooden baffle and then used fibreglass to build up the angle correctly, then covered in vinyl. In the 914 this is definitely the best location as you don't have to deal with door rattles, (because there are no speakers in them!!) and it looks very cool too. I made a second pair of fully fg baffles recently for a pair of KEF drivers, these were much more in depth!!

If the bass isn't enough for you, then make up a fibreglass sub box in the footwell. A good 6" sub can be surprisingly effective, I have used an 8" too (cdt) and now have moved to a 10" (Velodyne)

Don't use those speakers you mention, get a set of car audio coaxials (tweeter in same basket as the midrange) and just put them in the kicks using one of the ways described above..

With regards to headunit, anything goes really - most do have a built in amp these days which is sometimes enough for some people, just be sure the HU you buy has preouts, so you can hook up an amp of your choice if you need more control/sq/volume.

In a 914 the three things that are very useful to have in a HU are -

TA (time alignment) - you'll be able with a pair of coaxials to get a very decent sound with a good central stage.

iPod or iphone Bluetooth connection - safety first, but also easier to change tracks on your phone than leaning over to change the cd.

Internal active preouts - then you can upgrade and fit amps and use the internal crossovers to control them.

I have loads of 914 builds over here sat in shelves that maybe useful to you guys, but postage from the uk to you would be quite high!!

Dahlquist speakers are vintage, from the 70's, one of the early time alignment baffle-less speakers out there. Saul Marantz came out of retirement to be the president, and I used to work there when they were on Long Island so I'm partial to the memory of them.

The ALS-3 was a three-way box speaker of conventional design, without special time delay features, etc. But they are built like trucks, extremely heavy and durable with a high quality metal cabinet. I found a pair on eBay for 10 bucks in excellent shape (still in the original box!), they still normally go for much more. Because they were made for auto/marine installation they have pretty robust surrounds and don't disintegrate just because they are old. They are from Germany and sounded really good in my 1980's installation. And with a couple of flat pieces of steel they mount perfectly and easily in the normal speaker location, especially when they still have the U-shaped mounting bracket.

Everyone's advice has been good, thanks. I had hoped there'd be more options for a head unit; seems like bypassing the amplifier that's built in already is just a waste! And it seems like few companies are separating things like they used to.

Paul

Hi guys...I'm new to this. Not to crazy about Macs(My dad's friend LOVED Macs and Carver he would love that set up) I'm partial to Krell and Magnepans but that's another topic. Bought my 72 1.7l from a former co-worker, who had it for 20 years prior. Look I'm an audiophile first(since 12yrs old) always had some cutting edge stuff in my cars and sometimes at home. I myself installed recently a Kenwood head unit and some Pioneer 6.5 in the kickrests. Looking to put a sub and amp behind the seats(why not). Don't really want to load up the trunk space. I know the Mac is efficient, but class A Soundstream (or any class A for that matter) calls for a lot of power and heat!!! What alternator/batteries are you guys running. Thanks.

Milton

Love the old Soundstreams... I have my Class A 10.0 and Class A Picasso that I bought new back in 94.

Still running them in my truck, and would love to run them in the 914 if I cannot get the Monolithic I found to work.