Nakamichi CD400 Head Unit swap for the Blaupunkt - Speakers came alive and sound

So I had a Nakamichi CD400 Head Unit sitting around that I used in my previous car and decided to throw it in the Roadster. It was setup by chance with the same "VW Jetta" connectors that are used in the Roadster. I checked one speaker, the power, switched power and ground, concluding the harness was good enough to hookup and test. Plugged it in and discovered the speakers worked / routed perfectly. So it was an easy plug and play! The whole sound system went through a total change. The Nakamichi pushes more power out to the blaupunkt speakers so they respond so much cleaner, better and have less distortion. So I get higher highs and lower lows. The head unit is very good looking and clean too. Its a simple head unit and I have quick access to adjusting highs, mids, and lows. Simple and Great UI, exactly what you want and expect from a head unit. Tuner appears better. Has a Sub out and Line-In so I can hook an ipod, iphone, or connect to a generic line in plug / headphone jack. Will do the aux hookup next weekend.

http://www.woofersetc.com/p-760-cd400-nakamichi-sound-quality-amfmcd-player.aspx

Here's a pic of what the lighting looks like and the different modes









Pics of it installed (daytime):

The harness in the 1.5 is: American International VWH-1004 1987-02 Volkswagen car radio Wiring Harness

Picked one up on ebay for $5.49 & free shipping: Car Stereo Radio Receiver Install Wiring Harness Plug for Installing CD Player | eBay

Had one on my head unit by chance that was already wired. I think its some sort of standardized thing using the VW harness.

Here's the wiring diagram to the Lotus/Exige harness which is the same for Tesla (verified on 1.5):


Swap was easy, just need the keys to unlock and pull your head unit out. Disconnect the wires, pull out the mount/frame thats in the dash (tabs are typically bend down and up, four of them), install the new radio frame pushing the 4 similar tabs down as with the original, connect up the wiring harness, slide in the head unit, install the finishing trim around the unit and done.

Here's a link from the Lotus forum showing the removal:

Stereo Install (Wire Harness Diagram / Focal / Alpine / iPod pictures) - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community

Don't know if the wiring harness changed with the 2.x, you'll have to inquire.

ecarfan said:

wiztecy, that is a excellent upgrade. And judging by your photos you have a 1.5 single DIN, correct?

Click to expand...

Thanks, was stoked it was so easy and it turned out well. I had a feeling adding more power would bring out more life to those speakers. Yes, its a single DIN.

ecarfan said:

Is the Line In input on the front face of the unit or at the rear? Mini RCA jack?

Click to expand...

The original Blaupunkt had the line in on the front of the head unit and the ipod line in coming in from the rear. The Nakamichi has a single line in from the rear, two RCA jacks. I'll feed a line in cable with the 3.5mm female end somewhere by the aluminum tray or possibly replace the ipod jack in the center console with the aux jack.

ecarfan said:

An unrelated question: where did you get those very cool looking aluminum "divider" inserts that fit into the tray/shelf piece? (What do you guys call that area?). Thanks.

Click to expand...

That area is called the Trinket Tray, the dividers are called trinket tray dividers. The Elise-Shop sells them for the Lotus Elise (same tray) but their quite pricy ($121 each). They're extruded aluminum like the Roadster/Elise frame, so they do look nice. I found one on Ebay for a very good deal then a second one showed up there and picked that one up too. Gives me three separate areas to store things on that sill as well as keeping things from sliding side to side.

Here's a link to a new trinket tray divider:
DIVIDER-TRINKET TRAY (Elise S2) [A120U0060F] - 89.67 : Elise Shop, Performance parts for your Lotus Elise