# 1971 Camaro w Hybrid 1986 Kenwood



## Kenwood1986 (Jun 14, 2016)

In my 1971 Camaro ("split bumper") is a hybrid stereo with a modern Pioneer receiver at the front and 4 Pioneer speakers on the other end. In between is a 1986 Kenwood 9-band equalizer KGC 7400 (wired for RCA in and both outs) connected to two Kenwood amps KAC 7200 (35 watts rms per channel at 0.5% thd) with an RCA-to-DIN adapter each to a DIN cable going into each amp. 

Compared to most stereos I see here, my is pretty tame but it has exactly what I want and features that I think are unique. 

*In 1986* it was all Kenwood with a cassette-radio KRC4000. In 1988, I abandoned the car in the garage. In October 2012, it was get rid of the car or rebuild. Get rid of my first car.....no way. I am into year four of the rebuild. The car can and has been driven up and down the street. Presently finishing the doors and installing a modern air conditioning system. Will then get it licensed and on the road. Later this year will paint Christine.so I don't become another Arnie
- - *KRC 4000 *(2000 photo but externally no difference between the 2000 and the 4000


- - *KGC 7400*


*Why did I keep the 1986 Kenwood parts? * Wanted the eq for I like how it fits in the center console (so I needed DIN connected amps to connect to the eq). It looks great to, especially with the nine bands light up. It also has a built in function that filters out front speaker frequencies below 400hz. More on that later (This 7400 is not the same 7400 wired for RCA being used today).The KRC 4000 was dead but borrowed a 2000 and speakers to bench test the eq and amps and found the eq still worked and the amps produced clean sound. 

*New Receiver:* A Pioneer DEH3600UI. Pretty basic by standards here but still to many functions for me. All I wanted was line out, a remote turn on wire, and play WAV from a flash drive in a USB slot located on the front. No particular reason for the Pioneer other than finding a good price on Amazon
*
4" speakers:* My Camaro is probably unique being 4" speakers mounted in the lower door panel. The early 2nd gen Camaros were not designed to have speakers in the doors but the door panel has an additional lower panel attached to it with just enough height for 4" and nothing larger. Built the speaker mounts-enclosures with quite a tilt towards the driver seat. RMS is 20watts.

*6x9 speakers:* In the back under the package tray are 6x9 Pioneers at 90watts rms each. Above avg.

*Two amps* were mounted in the glove box area during the present Camaro rebuild. Because of the closeness to the battery 10gauge was sufficient to power from the battery. It was a tight fit but they went in. However I had to remove them in order to install the new ac so the amps will be moved to the trunk. Won't rattle the windows but that is fine by me for I want clean sound at volume that won't hurt my ears. These amps still do that at 3 pounds each, 6x6x2 1/2"

- - *In the glove box*.


- - *Stacked on new platform for relocation to the trunk* has spacing for heat venting


*Replacement equalizer*: Last year tried using various adapters to connect the Pioneer receiver to my original 7400 but it did not work. Even posted about the problem on the forum but never solved I gave up and purchased the KRC 2000 I tested the eq and amps with and put it in the dash. Bought a cassette adapter and an mp3 player. Sounded ok but still playing from an mp3 player, through a cassette adapter in a 30 year old cassette-radio. 

Two weeks ago I just happened to be looking on ebay and saw the same eq as mine wired for RCA. Had some reluctance to buy since my attempts with adapters did not work but with the 30 day ebay guarantee said why not. Bench tested with clean sound and good volume but heard a single speaker pop when turned on, cd inserted, volume to and from "00", cd ejected, and receiver turned off. A toggle switch on the remote turn on wire prevented pop except for the volume to and form "00", but this is no longer an issue for volume will never be set to "00"

*What kind of sound do I get?* *EXACTLY *what I hoped for being surround sound with the rear a fuller strong sound and the front having distinct and sharper mids and highs (especially acoustic guitar and vocals). To get the front sound is where the eq filter was needed. Low frequencies from the 4" only muddles the mids and highs so the 400hz filter eliminates them leaving a sound that is thin (to be expected). Using the eq fader, I adjust till I get a good mix of the stronger full sound from the rear with the sharper and more distinct mids and highs from the front. 

Sound is clean with good volume. I might turn the volume up to 95dbl. For brief moments will go higher 

The 6x9 do surprise me for strong bass can come from them. From the Fleetwood Mac album "Mystery to Me", the song "Why", at 1:10 has drum strikes that I can feel through the air and the body of the car


*passenger side*


*Driver side*: Speaker enclosure on the door has quite bit of angle to the rear


*Interior*:


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

love it! one of my fav cars and am glad you didn't go nuts on it..split bumper ftw!


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## Kenwood1986 (Jun 14, 2016)

Did you notice the chrome speaker grill covers at the front of the center console? That was done in 1977 to have speakers (5 1/2") in the front to go along with some Jensen triaxel 6x9 in the back. Under the front dash I installed a slider control for left-right and front-rear. All this was to play that great (lol) 70s tape player known as the 8-track. Anyone else old enough to remember it? Did you ever have to jam a piece of something between an 8-track and the player to get better tracking?

The 5 1/2" came out in 1986 when the Kenwood went in. That 4" install was poor from every aspect. The present 4" was a quality install

Left the grills in for they hold together the upper and lower half of the console


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