Eclipse

Eclipse Speakers

[10/17/2001] Reviewed by: Paul Hutcheon - abby@flarenet.com

Applicable to: '99 + 1.8 liter

Replacement 5 x 7 2 way door speakers for my '99

Great upgrade using the stock radio/CD unit. Easy install although do not use stock wire harness - I cut off & replace with Female connectors (small for - / large for + wire).

New Eclipse by Fujitsu Ten model 85741's 2-ways were well worth the time & money to install - Superior sound over stock speakers.

Under 30 minutes to remove completely


Eclipse 7002 & 5083

[3/2/2000] Reviewed by: Matthew Tucker

Applicable to: '99 + 1.8 liter

The Eclipse 7002 is a 5.8" 1 DIN in-dash LCD Panel. The Eclipse 5083 is an 8 disc CD changer.

The "brain" unit of the 7002 is the trick of the instillation. The 7001 is actually a two piece set consisting of the "brain" unit and the display unit. The display is pretty straight forward and is fairly easy to install. The best place I found to mount the "brain" unit is inside the space below the top storage area (behind the seats). You have to take the armrest off, then remove the carpet covering the back section, then finially remove the bolts holding the metal hollow section in place. Once you get that off there's plenty of room to mount the "brain".

The 5083 changer mounted well, where else but, in the trunk. All in all the entier instillation took a few hours. Unless you enjoy punnishment I'd suggest spending the money to have a pro install it though. But the units work great! The unit is even programmable with titles of the CD's in the changer and it will remember it whenever you insert the cd into the changer and will be displayed in the disc list on the panel. I also have an Alpine DVA-5200 (in-dash DVD player) hooked up too. BTW the 7002 is among the easiest LCD panels I have found to get to play whiel the car is in motion (it's a matter of grounding one wire). Alhtough, it is illegal in most places to watch moving images while driving. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* But if you choose to do this that's totally up to you. Even if you get it professionally installed (and they set it up not to display movie images while driving it would take only a few minutes to get it to play while in motion if you choose to).

Over 30 minutes to remove completely


Eclipse 5341 In-Dash AM/FM CD

Reviewed by: Robert Allen - rja@sun.com

AM/FM receiver w/ indash single-CD player. 11 watts RMS, 3 front/rear/subwoofer preamp outputs, "NOB" - a rotary control that controls volume, tone,  etc. ESN security programmed by CD of your choice; radio will be replaced if stolen upto 1 year from date of purchase.

I'd recommend this unit without reservations. It's currently driving my 5 1/4" Infinity door speakers plus 1 pair of Infinity headrest speakers. Although 11 watts RMS may seem low, this radio is much more audible than my modified stock radio, with much better stereo seperation and FM reception as well. The unit is rated at approx 35 watts peak.

Installation is somewhat involved. This is a 1 DIN unit, and I had to fabricate a plastic plate to cover the hole left by removing the 1 1/2 DIN stock radio. It would be nice to have a Crutchfield 1 DIN install setup to to this if it'd work with this radio (which Crutchfield does not sell). You'll also want a pair of stock wiring harness adaptors (from Recoton) to solder to the wiring harness that comes with the Eclipse unit. Having some heatshink tubing to insulate the solder joints is easier than using electrical tape. If you're reasonably handy at reading instructions however the harness work is simple; oh, but beware, the pinout for the stock Mazda harness in both the shop manual and the Garage instructions on miata.net are WRONG - use the instructions on the back of the Recoton Mazda harness jumper set.

Right now I'm driving my door and headrest speakers with the head unit, but next weekend I'll install an Aura 475Q amp in the trunk (I've already run the wiring from the head unit) and use the head unit to power just the headrest speakers, using the preamp outputs to power the rear amp. Eventually I'll get a subwoofer installed - the head unit has a pream sub-output (non-fading) as well, and it's even adjustable for phasing. This Eclipse unit is very satisfying on its' own (w/ upgraded speakers), but can also grow into a system over time. I've chosen the low end of the 534X series; higher end units support CD changers and/or Eclipse sound processors if you feel the need. The rotary control (aka "NOB, for "No Ordinary Button") is a large knob that allows you to easily control volume, tone, front/rear fading, etc., w/out fishing for little chicklet buttons while driving.

The reason I'm just driving 1 pair of headrest speakers right now is the radio instructions do not specify if it can drive a 2 ohm load safely. I'm going to rewire the headrest speakers in series (8 ohms) and install some bass blocker capacitors at the same time.

Over 30 minutes to remove completely


Back to Product Reviews 17 November, 2001