I haz spectacular news (for me)

[o. l. t.]

My shit is here. :D


YouTube- Mcintosh

[Spider Monkey]

I don't get it. You already had that.

[o. l. t.]

I fucked up and sold it........... twice. However here is why I am happy to have this one. The previous 2 were JDM, this is USDM so I can actually listen to the fucking radio.

[kurnlesbiskuits]

That will go great with your striped soccer ref uniform.

[o. l. t.]

ummmmmmmmmmmmmm k

[dcmcki]

Where is the 8 track slot?

[o. l. t.]

I know right? Fuckin-a...........

[o. l. t.]

In my Lexus IS300 a single din radio just doesn't cut it. I need a radio that is double din, amber illumination, and has rca's. The Mcintosh barely had just one of the requirements, but I love this radio and decided to make it mine.

The following pictures show me cleaning up some existing wiring from another RCA attempt on this radio by a previous owner, and the final result.


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5717.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5718.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5719.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5720.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5721.jpg

This is the area where work was needed to repair a previous attempt.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5723.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5724.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5725.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5726.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5727.jpg

[o. l. t.]

This blue tint must be removed to be turned another color, but I do not have amber plasti-kote on me today so we'll do this later.

Notice the color change on the caps.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5728.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5730.jpg

Not going back into a Subaru :D

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5731.jpg

Fixed for installation into a Lexus.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5733.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5734.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5722.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5735.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5736.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5738.jpg

[o. l. t.]

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5737.jpg

So while we still have the blue screen for today, we have amber illumination and front and rear out RCA's. :) (and it doesn't say Subaru on it. ;) )

For anyone that is not aware, this radio was built for a special edition Subaru by McIntosh Labs for two years. It's sonically identical to a McIntosh MX406.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5742.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5745.jpg

[o. l. t.]

This is the only way to get a Double Din Mcintosh. :) They do not sell them. I'm not using some ugly fit kit in my IS300. I have the DD kit in there to hold it up right now and I am fabricating a new custom trim as we speak.

On a side note, you can find the JDM version of this head unit on ebay fairly inexpensively (for a McIntosh), but that requires you to use a completely useless Fm converter that doesn't pick up any stations and the display always reads wrong. This is one of the very rare to find USDM versions so everything is as it should be. :)


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5746.jpg

[Spider Monkey]

Okay, although you did not show us an after picture of the soldering work once you fixed it, I'm still impressed.

[97gp]

I can dig it

[o. l. t.]

Out with the Eclipse Navi.

In with the McIntosh :)

I have GOT to go get the amber plasti-kote tomorrow. :)

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5748.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5749.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5750.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5753.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5759.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5760.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_5763.jpg

[undeadxsunshine]

Good news for me, my a600 will be here tomorrow!!

[o. l. t.]

Woohoo! Don't hook the shit up backwards like the guy I sold my a100 to. That plug is a mindfuck.

[undeadxsunshine]

haha alright i'll be careful. how do the wires attach to the inputs? what size wire can they accept?

[pl8er]

damn dude....excellent job and great thread! You should fly out to Ohio and setup an install in my car for me :)

[o. l. t.]

haha alright i'll be careful. how do the wires attach to the inputs? what size wire can they accept?

You'll have to see it. The plug can be put in upside down really easy which reverses the -and+

[Twistedchild420]

Very impressed....great work OLT

[o. l. t.]

damn dude....excellent job and great thread! You should fly out to Ohio and setup an install in my car for me :)

Gratz. You should HEAR the fucking thing. There is nothing else out there that sounds like it. The thing that I always hate about a car stereo is that it sounds like a car stereo. No matter how you balance it on an RTA or how you install it, the damn thing always sounds like a car stereo which is that each component is visible in the system when listening. You know there are subs, they play independently of the mids..... almost like they don't like being part of the system.

It's the head unit that does this. On a home stereo even if you are pushing heavy bass, it still sounds like you have one music source working towards the goal of making music. The mids and subs all come up in unison and play together.

Kinda hard to explain, but a car system always sounds like a car system. Home stereo's just blend it all together better IMO. This head unit sounds like a home unit. It doesn't try to define each speaker.

[o. l. t.]

Very impressed....great work OLT

Many tks. :)

I wish you could hear this thing.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU it's like hearing it again for the first time every time I turn it on. It never ceases to amaze me.

YouTube- The mc jammin

[pl8er]

Gratz. You should HEAR the fucking thing. There is nothing else out there that sounds like it. The thing that I always hate about a car stereo is that it sounds like a car stereo. No matter how you balance it on an RTA or how you install it, the damn thing always sounds like a car stereo which is that each component is visible in the system when listening. You know there are subs, they play independently of the mids..... almost like they don't like being part of the system.

It's the head unit that does this. On a home stereo even if you are pushing heavy bass, it still sounds like you have one music source working towards the goal of making music. The mids and subs all come up in unison and play together.

Kinda hard to explain, but a car system always sounds like a car system. Home stereo's just blend it all together better IMO. This head unit sounds like a home unit. It doesn't try to define each speaker.

Interesting that you said "car stereos sound like car stereos" as it is one of my favorite articles from Stereophile. They were reviewing the stereo in the Aston Martin (I believe Linn put it in there) and he said something along the lines of "the first thing I had to do was remove the thought of a car stereo from my mind".

http://www.stereophile.com/news/11285/

Not the full article, but still.

So yeah, I'm pretty jealous at this point.

[o. l. t.]

Interesting that you said "car stereos sound like car stereos" as it is one of my favorite articles from Stereophile. They were reviewing the stereo in the Aston Martin (I believe Linn put it in there) and he said something along the lines of "the first thing I had to do was remove the thought of a car stereo from my mind".

http://www.stereophile.com/news/11285/

Not the full article, but still.

So yeah, I'm pretty jealous at this point.

Very cool. Only a few people I have ever spoken with truly understand the certain way a car stereo sounds to my ears. Most people can't distinguish it and say there is no difference it all just sounds like music. To me it's night and day. I can hear every component of a car stereo fighting each other to play together.

[kurnlesbiskuits]

Looking good. I need to start making some tweaks to my system.

[pl8er]

Very cool. Only a few people I have ever spoken with truly understand the certain way a car stereo sounds to my ears. Most people can't distinguish it and say there is no difference it all just sounds like music. To me it's night and day. I can hear every component of a car stereo fighting each other to play together.

I understand what you are saying, but doubt I comprehend what your ears are hearing. I have just never had that level of a setup. We have a few guys here that could be in this area though, for sure.

[o. l. t.]

I understand what you are saying, but doubt I comprehend what your ears are hearing. I have just never had that level of a setup. We have a few guys here that could be in this area though, for sure.

You'll never find another USDM one, unless you wait for a loonnnggg time for one to come up on ebay, but the JDM one's are always being sold by Tomas Audio. I have gotten a few of them from him and he sells mint new like top notch head units. http://cgi.ebay.com/Mcintosh-2Din-CD-Cassette-Subaru-Legacy-MX406-HX-D1-/360270325143?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Car_Audio_In_Dash_Receivers&hash=item53e1c8e597

It's a small price to pay to hear music sound like this in a car. Just the head unit alone on whatever you already have is a complete world of difference. I can tell you that $300 on that head unit from japan will change your perspective forever.

[pl8er]

Your excitement about this has me excited.

I need to get back into audio.

[hoss]

Okay, although you did not show us an after picture of the soldering work once you fixed it, I'm still impressed.

I am too, for reals.






















































All this talk of Subaru's ITT and not a single "Meanwhile in Australia" picture.

[pl8er]

Never understood that as they are a Japanese company :shrug:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jd6LlMpeSXQ/S7G28JQmA7I/AAAAAAAAAJE/qDte-eJc1-Y/S780/meanwhile-in-australia.jpg

[hoss]

I dont understand it either, but everytime I see them I think australia and not japan :shrug:

[pl8er]

Well it is the whole Croc dundee thing, but I just never understood it. Until maybe a year or so ago I totally thought it was an Australian car maker. Just think, criminals making cars...go figure.

[jmanpc]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/jmanpc/meanwhileinjapan.jpg

[jmanpc]

And that deck is dead sexy. An amber display would really make it pop.

[brynm]

No amber lamps puns yet?

[IamDeMan]

The head unit is awesome, but the owner is a flake.

[o. l. t.]

A bag of sugar calling corn a flake.

Here's the Amber


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/audiogodz1/mcintosh/IMG_0750.jpg

[Spider Monkey]

I dont understand it either, but everytime I see them I think australia and not japan :shrug:

It was all of those commercials with Dundee in them. lol

[jesus]

Will the LCD stay the same color (i.e. not amber) or is that changeable?

[o. l. t.]

see post 9

[ramos]

Gratz. You should HEAR the fucking thing. There is nothing else out there that sounds like it. The thing that I always hate about a car stereo is that it sounds like a car stereo. No matter how you balance it on an RTA or how you install it, the damn thing always sounds like a car stereo which is that each component is visible in the system when listening. You know there are subs, they play independently of the mids..... almost like they don't like being part of the system.

It's the head unit that does this. On a home stereo even if you are pushing heavy bass, it still sounds like you have one music source working towards the goal of making music. The mids and subs all come up in unison and play together.

Kinda hard to explain, but a car system always sounds like a car system. Home stereo's just blend it all together better IMO. This head unit sounds like a home unit. It doesn't try to define each speaker.



all those years of owning shops and you never learned to tune a car?

[jesus]

see post 9

:grin3:

[o. l. t.]

all those years of owning shops and you never learned to tune a car?

Clean sound starts at TeH source, ngga.

[ramos]

Clean sound starts at TeH source, ngga.

....and a coherant, solid soundstage ends with the tune nukkah.

[o. l. t.]

You can do nothing with the end if you don't start clean. People bullshitting themselves looking at a flat RTA thinking they have something that sounds like music. There are only about 5 car head units in the world that can actually produce GOOD musical sound. The rest are just noise makers.

[ramos]

Who said anything about a flat rta reading? I never said anything of the sort. Tuning properly isn't about getting anything flat. It's about reproducing the music as close to the original recording as possible.

[JimJ]

You can do nothing with the end if you don't start clean. People bullshitting themselves looking at a flat RTA thinking they have something that sounds like music. There are only about 5 car head units in the world that can actually produce GOOD musical sound. The rest are just noise makers.

lawl

[silvercookie]

you mother fucker.

[90lac]

hey if any one wants one or if you want another on OLT. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02-LEGACY-RADIO-AUDIO-AM-FM-CD-CASS-MCINTOSH-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem335deb26dbQQitemZ220619024091QQptZCarQ5fAudioQ5fVideo

[atoz350]

hey if any one wants one or if you want another on OLT. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02-LEGACY-RADIO-AUDIO-AM-FM-CD-CASS-MCINTOSH-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem335deb26dbQQitemZ220619024091QQptZCarQ5fAudioQ5fVideo

What are they selling in this auction?

[o. l. t.]

hey if any one wants one or if you want another on OLT. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02-LEGACY-RADIO-AUDIO-AM-FM-CD-CASS-MCINTOSH-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem335deb26dbQQitemZ220619024091QQptZCarQ5fAudioQ5fVideo

Goddamn you, I had just gotten together the money to start getting my focals and you hand me another USDM Mcintosh.

The JDM one's are $300+ from Tomas Audio and they don't have weatherband or US tuners, the USDM are fucking super rare, much less $100 for them.

Now you made me buy it.

[Goremageddon]

Okay, although you did not show us an after picture of the soldering work once you fixed it, I'm still impressed.

this

[90lac]

Goddamn you, I had just gotten together the money to start getting my focals and you hand me another USDM Mcintosh.

The JDM one's are $300+ from Tomas Audio and they don't have weatherband or US tuners, the USDM are fucking super rare, much less $100 for them.

Now you made me buy it.

well Now you have 2 . So if you sell one you still have another one.

[jesus]

well Now you have 2 . So if one catches on fire you still have another one.

Fixed