# Horns in a 08 Miata???



## Carlton8000 (Feb 5, 2011)

I have always wanted to try HLCD in my cars ever since I heard Richard Clark's Grand National many years ago at a CES show in Chicago. Problem is I have always had these small Mazda cars including all variants of the RX7 and now the Miata. Am I barking up the wrong tree in trying to install these in my car?

What I have installed thus far.

1. Pioneer PRS-80
2. Silver Flute 8 (Stock Location)
3. Dayton PT2C-8 (Kick Panels )
4. Aura Bass Shaker Pro (no room for subwoofer)
6. JL Audio XD600/6

thx


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## Razmataz (Dec 3, 2013)

I put IDs full size horns in my 94 Civic a while back by removing the blower motor. Then the passenger side driver fit right up in the space it left. I have a 90 miata and I am thinking of doing the same thing again with Eric Stevens minis. The drivers side will fit no problem.


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## Carlton8000 (Feb 5, 2011)

That is the reason I asked. The blower motor on the pass side looks like it would be in the way. I see no problem on drivers side. If you get them installed in your Miata, it would be great to see the outcome.


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## Razmataz (Dec 3, 2013)

What about using a left upside down on the passenger side? You'd probably want to protect the driver with something. I'll keep you posted on my install. Are your 8s in an enclosure or IB? And how was the fit?


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## Carlton8000 (Feb 5, 2011)

I am not even sure if using a left horn on the right would work. The blower assembly actually is slightly lower than the lower leading edge of the glove box. 

Here is a few pics of the 8IB.
Carlton8000's MX5 SQ System by Carlton8000 | Photobucket

Seeing that no one has shown any pics of a HLCD in a Miata leads me to believe that the option has been investigated and determined to be rather difficult to implement.


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## Eric Stevens (Dec 29, 2007)

Rob Hepner did a early Miata with horns in it, as did an ID dealer in Florida.

Loking at pictures of the interior I cannot see how it would be difficult. You would want the driver mounted as far left and right as possible which would mean cutting into the plastic kick panel covers. 



















Eric


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## Carlton8000 (Feb 5, 2011)

Encouraging news, any detailed pics showing the mounting? Unfortunately the stock photo of the MX5 does not highlight the blower on the passenger side. Eric if you would be willing to arrange for me to purchase a pair of horn bodies that I could test for fit with the option to return, then please send me a paypal invoice.


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## jpeezy (Feb 5, 2012)

I had full size horns in my 5spd 1993 civic and my 2000 si,it takes a lil grinding on back of horn and the blower box, but they fit, with selenium d210ti (big drivers).if your willing to do a lil cutting of kicks plastic and metal,I'm pretty sure you'll be able to fit at least a mini, if not a full size horn.


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## jpeezy (Feb 5, 2012)

Good luck and post pics, as far as subs, there is an s2000 with roughly the same rear firewall setup as your miata,he has a I B setup with multiple drivers which probably jams, I've done bass shaker set ups with no sub and it works but you better have a solid mid bass, and not like bass music,but they hit pretty solid with dance or jazz.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

jpeezy said:


> Good luck and post pics, as far as subs, there is an s2000 with roughly the same rear firewall setup as your miata,he has a I B setup with multiple drivers which probably jams, I've done bass shaker set ups with no sub and it works but you better have a solid mid bass, and not like bass music,but they hit pretty solid with dance or jazz.


My latest set of horns use this driver. It's an oddball item but the small size and high efficiency would be a good match for your application. It's hard to tell from the pic, but the driver is about the size of a tennis ball; about 1/3rd the size of a B&C DE250.

JBL 2408H-1 Compression Driver 365011-001X | Speaker ExchangeSpeaker Exchange

It's a screw-on compression driver, so you'll need an adapter for Eric's horns. Parts Express sells one for about ten bucks.

In my 2001 Accord the blower motor stuck out quite low on the passenger side, and a small compression driver would have made things a lot easier.


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## Razmataz (Dec 3, 2013)

Thanks for chiming in Patrick! I am slowly but surely moving forward. I put in an Alpine 149bt last week. I also bought a pair of jbl 2118h's to use as mids so perhaps an all jbl speaker system? I don't see much about those compression drivers in the way of specs or reviews. Also Eric said his drivers are 90mm OD, so are these actually appreciably smaller? While I'm thinking about it, anybody want to make a sub recommendation? I'm going to replace the package tray with a vented fiberglass enclosure tuned to around 36 hz. Maybe 12s with underhung neo mags?


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

Razmataz said:


> Thanks for chiming in Patrick! I am slowly but surely moving forward. I put in an Alpine 149bt last week. I also bought a pair of jbl 2118h's to use as mids so perhaps an all jbl speaker system? I don't see much about those compression drivers in the way of specs or reviews. Also Eric said his drivers are 90mm OD, so are these actually appreciably smaller? While I'm thinking about it, anybody want to make a sub recommendation? I'm going to replace the package tray with a vented fiberglass enclosure tuned to around 36 hz. Maybe 12s with underhung neo mags?


The 2408H-1 is an interesting driver; it appears to be an evolution of the BMS 4540ND that I used about five years ago in my Accord.










Here's a pic; note the size, it's not much bigger than a conventional tweeter.

I don't know what driver Eric uses but I'm sure it's good. There's nothing magical about the JBL, it just does it's job, is affordable, and very very small. To be honest I'd hoped that it might sound better than the BMS but I can't hear any real difference between the BMS 4540ND, the JBL 2408H-1 and the Celestion CDX1-1425.

I can *definitely* hear a difference between those three and conventional compression drivers though, due to the smaller diaphragm and better response in the top octave. Basically those three compression drivers give up half an octave at the low end, but go about half an octave higher in the top end. (I'm running mine from approximately 1500hz to 20khz.)


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