1999 Miata M2 Install

I was hoping you guys could help me with my friend's installation. He has a 1999 Miata M2 (2nd Generation Miata) with the stock stereo. We did some research on whether the Rio Car could be a slave to the stock radio. It seems there was a famous website that detailed how to easily modify the stereo to accept AUX-IN. However, the links are broken and I haven't been able to find them anywhere (even in Google's cache).

Anybody know about doing this install? Here's a link to stereo specifications from Miata.net.

Scosche and Metra have a lot of adapters.

Also check the website for Tune-Town - they do a good job of breaking things down per-car. I'd post some links for you, but I'm in a bit of a hurry to do some shopping... :)

Also, there's a great Miata website or mailing list that has a lot of audio information (I know because I kept getting hits for it while searching for other stuff - I'll see if I can find it later for you)

Bruno

You could try mailing Hugo (altman) who has an MX 5, runs the forum, has an empeg in his car, and oh - I forgot - designed the empeg in the first place

He probably won't be able to help with this specific question as his MX5 will not have been fitted with the specific head unit that the 99 Miata is fitted with.

Oh, and Hugo doesn't run this forum (though he does host the UK MX5 mailing list)...

Any luck finding that site? I'd love to pass the information along to the monkeys that are trying to install my Mk2 into my '99 Miata.

More to the point, is there any way to sub the Empeg in for the Bose tape deck (which I find utterly worthless) without buying a new amplifier? The shop that I'm working with right now says that they need an amp to "excite the Bose amp" into recognizing the output from the Empeg instead of the head unit. I'm not an audio geek (yet) but this sort of arrangements sound more like the kind of case where what's needed is some sort of switch. Any of you audio gearheads out there have any insight into this?

I never could find the site I wanted. My friend ended up pulling the head unit and installing a Pioneer HU with the Empeg slaved to it (via the Pioneer P-Bus to AUX adapter).

The guys that did the install (and also did mine) did a good job. The Empeg looks really good in the car. I think my friend said there was some minor Dremmel work required to make it fit properly.

No kidding? He replaced the Bose HU? Or did he have a Mazda HU? I had thought that the Bose was standard but perhaps it was just standard with the package that I purchased. If he did have a Bose, is the Pioneer unit that he selected significantly better?

I see. The P-BUS connector let him connect the RCA cables off of the Empeg harness? And the other end of the P-BUS plugged into the Pioneer HU, right?

Just trying to ascertain all of this ASAP as I was contemplating a new head unit for the above reasons.

>>No kidding? He replaced the Bose HU? Or did he have a Mazda HU? I had thought that the Bose was standard but perhaps it was just standard with the package that I purchased. If he did have a Bose, is the Pioneer unit that he selected significantly better? <<

I had a Mazda HU, which was exactly the same as the Bose HU for '99. It should say 1M31 or 1M32 somewhere on the unit (upper right IIRC), that's what I had.

The Pioneer I selected is not significantly better, it's the most reasonably priced replacement I could find. It does have a couple of issues: when it's on, the antenna is up, no matter if I'm listening to CD's, the Empeg, or the Radio; and the headlight switch appears not to be working. The latter issue seems like it could be repaired witht the proper wiring, I just haven't gotten around to it.

>>I see. The P-BUS connector let him connect the RCA cables off of the Empeg harness? And the other end of the P-BUS plugged into the Pioneer HU, right? <<

Yup, that's the way it was done.

If this helps, I'm thinking about just moving the Pioneer to my OTM then putting the Empeg with a AM/FM tuner I have for it into the Miata. I'd loose CD functionality, but then that only matters between the store and my ripping PC. Heck, if I could find a simple handheld radio that received AM/FM/CB/FRM that I could attach to the AUX on the Empeg I'd be set! I'd whip out the handheld whenever I needed it (~1 / month) and be happy with the Empeg in between.

I know it has been mentioned on here before, but you can get good discmans that have built in radio tuners. Just keep it in the glovebox, hooked up to the AUX IN. You still have radio and cd capability.

Try www.miataforum.com, I'm sure you'll find the answer there. (audio section)

Frank