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bavArian · 05-26-2020, 05:42 AM

Interesting thread, mainly because the same idea of music in the A is stuck in my head too! I have a good stereo in each of my cars, but the A is still giving me headaches on how to get good audio with minimal to no visual alterations of the interior.

I had similar ideas as the OP, but with a small 4-channel DSP-amplifier. Something along the lines of 2-way-front and a small subwoofer, actively controlled for clearer sound and higher efficiency.
Unfortunately, space is kinda rare in the roadster and here in Germany there is no practically no way to install anything modern in such an old car without running into problems with the TÜV, our technical equivalent of the DMV.
Depending on how much you want to invest and how high your standards are I'd say go for either small volume kickwoofers like the Peerless SLS 6.5 in a closed box under the A-pillar and a smaller broadband speaker just under the windscreen. The subwoofer would likely have to be under the seat in a roadster as there isn't really any alternative. Even then you can only go for a rather slim 10". It should be sufficient for about 50 to 60 Hz though, nothing for HipHop or eletronic music, but good enough for Pop and Rock. (curse you if you listen to Rap or Dubstep in a Model A anyway)

The biggest problem is the supply for the amplifiers. There are some step-up-switchers from 6 to 12 volts that can go 100 Watts or higher, but the original generator is the bottleneck. As far as I know it can't really provide much more energy than is required for the lights and the engine and certainly not enough to power a decent stereo.
I'd guess that you'd have to have an Alternator and a 12 volts conversion.

The easy way is to just use high-quality in-ears or headphones, but that kinda looks odd and I'm not really a fan of headphones.

05-26-2020, 05:42 AM	#31
bavArian Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: Germany Posts: 221	Re: Solution for audio system in model A? Interesting thread, mainly because the same idea of music in the A is stuck in my head too! I have a good stereo in each of my cars, but the A is still giving me headaches on how to get good audio with minimal to no visual alterations of the interior. I had similar ideas as the OP, but with a small 4-channel DSP-amplifier. Something along the lines of 2-way-front and a small subwoofer, actively controlled for clearer sound and higher efficiency. Unfortunately, space is kinda rare in the roadster and here in Germany there is no practically no way to install anything modern in such an old car without running into problems with the TÜV, our technical equivalent of the DMV. Depending on how much you want to invest and how high your standards are I'd say go for either small volume kickwoofers like the Peerless SLS 6.5 in a closed box under the A-pillar and a smaller broadband speaker just under the windscreen. The subwoofer would likely have to be under the seat in a roadster as there isn't really any alternative. Even then you can only go for a rather slim 10". It should be sufficient for about 50 to 60 Hz though, nothing for HipHop or eletronic music, but good enough for Pop and Rock. (curse you if you listen to Rap or Dubstep in a Model A anyway) The biggest problem is the supply for the amplifiers. There are some step-up-switchers from 6 to 12 volts that can go 100 Watts or higher, but the original generator is the bottleneck. As far as I know it can't really provide much more energy than is required for the lights and the engine and certainly not enough to power a decent stereo. I'd guess that you'd have to have an Alternator and a 12 volts conversion. The easy way is to just use high-quality in-ears or headphones, but that kinda looks odd and I'm not really a fan of headphones.