My old Bronco audio system

[Netfly]

I was asked about my old Bronco audio system so here goes. As I mentioned elsewhere, It's been retired since the vehicle was sold and I haven't purchased another vehicle it will fit in nicely. Mostly because of the rear subs.
The toys included:
Head unit: Sony ES XR-C900 - Cassette Tape Deck/CD controller
Features:
Laser Amorphous tape head (never needs demagnetizing), Dolby B&C, Copper-shielded Chassis, +15/-15vdc converter, Diversity FM Tuner, Motorized Face w/3 viewing angles, Dual-Illumination, 4V Pre-Outs F/R/Sub, CD/MD/DSP/TV control via UniLink. Wired & Wireless remotes.

CD Changer - Sony CDX-838

Amps:
Amp, Front - Nakamichi PA300 II - 75W x 2 @ 4Ω
Specifications:
2 x 75W @ 4 ohms (0.003% THD)
Power Bandwidth : 5-50,000 Hz (both channels drive, 4 ohms, 0.1% THD) Yes, 5 Hz.
Total Harmonic Distortion 0.003% (4 ohms, 1 kH, 75W)
Frequency Response : 5-50,0000 Hz +- 1 dB (with "Direct" input sensitivity controls at minimum), 50-50,000 Hz +- 1 dB (with "Low Cut" input, input sensitivity controls at minimum)
S/N Ratio : Better than 115 dB (HF A-TD, at rated power, input sensitivity controls at minimum)
Damping Factor : Greater than 1,000 (4 ohms, 1 kHz)
Input Sensitivity/Impedance : 0.2 - 0.8 V Variable / 50 k ohms
Stereo Separation : 85 dB (4 ohms, 1 kHz)
Power Source : 14.4 V DC negative ground (10.8 - 15.6 V allowable)
Power Consumption (Max) : 27 A (both channels driven, 4 ohms, 75 w x 2)
(Music) : Approx. 10 A (4 ohms)
Load Impedance : Above 4 ohms
Dimension : 320 x 52 x 16mm WHD

Amp, Rear - Nakamichi PA200 - 30w x 2 @ 4Ω

Amp, Sub - Alpine 3545 - not a sub amp, just used as one.
Specifications:
RATED @ 12 VOLTS @ 0.08% THD
250 x 2 @ 4 Ohms
350 x 2 @ 2 Ohms
700 x 1 @ 4 Ohms MONO
Frequency Response ~ 10 Hz to 50 Khz
Signal/Noise Ratio ~ 110 dBA
Slew Rate ~ 20 V/us
Fully Discrete, Complimentary Circuitry
STAR Circuitry
Forced Air Cooling system

Speakers:
Front - Nakamichi SP10 (tweeter), SP50 (5") with passive Nakamichi 2 position crossover
Rear - Boston Acoustics 6 1/2" two way with passive crossover
Subs - (2) Gold Sound 15", Dual voice coil 8Ω, coils wired in parallel for 4Ω each speaker, 2 speakers run as stereo in a custom made 48" x 30" x 12" internally ported box. (or was it 48x32x10 sorry its been a while, maybe I'll measure it tomorrow). Made from 3/4 " ply.



Crossover - Nakamichi EC200 active sub crossover - controls crossover frequency and gain for each side of crossover independently

Equalizer - Alpine 3401 - 7 band parametric EQ
Custom Controller - provides 2 sec turn on delay (to allow deck to turn on and settle before amps power up), knob to control variable 1 sec to several minute turn off delay, individual bypass switches to control each amp and passive 4 way volume control.


The install:
The front amp was mounted under the driver's seat, the rear amp in the wall panel behind the driver's door. The sub amp attached to the left side of the sub box. Front speaker crossovers in the front kick panels, rear ones in the walls near rear speakers. The front tweeters were above the arm rests, woofers in stock speaker locations. The rear ash trays were used as tweeter openings and rear woofers were below them. The alternator was replaced with larger rebuilt Ford unit and required different belt. Had to relocate the stock bracket as I recall too.


If you have any questions about my system or building yours I'd be glad to help.

 

[8991XJ]

Talk to me about the Gold Sound woofers. I believe that is what I have in my car, just the little 12" ones, installed in '88, but I have no information on them. They sound good but I have a lot more info on almost every piece or audio gear I have ever had.

Interesting that your pictures of the Bronco are clear and crisp. I would think that with that rig the Bronco would be hopping, making the photo a bit blurry.

 

[Netfly]

Hi 8991XJ,
Yes that Bronco was hopping . It had a 351HO fully rebuilt to 9.5:1 with cam, etc. Had about 220k on it when sold and I still miss it, except for the 9 mpg and needing high octane fuel.

http://www.goldsound.net/component.htm

Gold Sound use to make a full line of speaker, their own brand. Now they mostly sell other peoples drivers. I have a pair of their brand 8" woofers from them too. They were in the rear walls, but the cavity wasn't really big enough for them, so I figured if I was going to build a box anyway I might as well go all the way. So out with the 8"s and in with the 15"s. They are comparable to JBL 15"s. I probably still have their brochure somewhere, I'll try to find it.

 

[Netfly]

Still looking for their brochure, it's somewhere, I'll try to find it later. Did find their Dealer Price List. Had a friend in the business at the time.



Your 12's should be on page 4. You may be amazed to see how cheap the SEAS drivers are too.
Keep in mind those were dealer prices, they probably retailed for roughly double.

Also found a system diagram of the Bronco, before head unit and CD changer upgrades:


Seems I can't upload full size pics, they shrink to about 2/3 size.

 

[Netfly]

Found the Gold Sound brochure. It's a 4 sheet of paper size 2 sided fold out, so I scanned it in sections.



It doesn't show every model, but you can get the other info on the price sheet.

 

[Netfly]

I used the 1588 which was their best dual coil, 8Ω, 15". Ran the coils in parallel to get 4Ω. Could have gone with the 1596, but the low end response of the 1588 was better.

 

[BubbaH]

What year is the Bronco? Third gen 80 to 86, but has the blue oval, which came in 83. Love me some Ford action. Got any more pics?

 

[Netfly]

Hi BubbaH,
It was an 85. Own it from 87-05. It was a loaded XLT, Victoria red two tone, an add on optional color. I replaced a ton of stuff on it at one time or another, except the C6 transmission. That was solid. I liked that you could remove the top. It was a very fun ride. Only have a few pics. Mostly better versions of the other.

 

[8991XJ]

Thanks for the documents. Glad to finally have some info on these woofers. I got them from the stereo store I used to work at, but boy had they changed, when I went back to visit some friends for a few days. They didn't hook the system up right but I fixed that couple weeks later. Sounded great since.

 

[Billboard]

Had a 91 Bronco, silver anniversary edition with the silver Bronco emblems on the side. I wish I never sold that truck.

Stock stereo

I did have a couple of the Sony XR decks from the 80s, still have an XR-80 in one of my cars, great sounding cassette decks.