Power6

I swapped the Nakamichi stuff in my ES this week, well most of the Nak stuff. Some of the info is here on what needs to be done. The rest I just figured out with the service manual and surfing EBay.

Anyone who really cares about stereo would pull the stock junk out and put in some real equipment, so what we have here is more of an oddity.

I picked up the parts over time, looking for good deals on EBay. Some sellers think the stuff is worth big bucks if it says Nakamichi. Most just sell "w/nakamichi" radios that are obviously the Pioneer. I started off when I got a good deal on a Nak radio.

So here is what else you need to do this: Aforementioned headunit, amplifier, and CD changer, optionally the speakers. Historically it is claimed you need the "harness" too but that is not true. All the wiring is the same, but you will need to add some wiring. The Nakamichi system has a digital audio line from the changer to the headunit. Some say the speaker impedance is different but it is not, all the 3ES have 4ohm door speakers and 2ohm sub.

Some tips on finding the parts. The radio is the only obviously branded part. Amp has a sticker too, but I found best luck searching for the part numbers on EBay. 86100-33040 for the amp, 86270-33060 for the changer. The changer is made by Pioneer and looks exactly like the base stereo, except for the additional digital audio output jack.


Pioneer system changer


Nakamichi system changer


Here is the amp, I found searching the part number 86100-33040 on EBay.


The Nak amp is much larger and heavier than the Pioneer, even though claimed wattage is close, 195 vs 200 or something like that. But we know wattage claims don't mean that much, I've seen some mean 50W amps. The Nak amp mounts right in the same spot, same plugs. The top mounting bracket from the Pio amp works, but the bottom bracket did not, accounting for the size difference most likely. My Nak amp is sort of hanging out until I figure out what to do about that.

Soo the digital audio line...the jack looked awfully familiar, like the kind used on GPS antennas. Turned out it is, a type of Coax. The connector is a HRS GT5-1S plug, and the wire use is RG174 coax. I picked up some wire and terminals easily for this, and made my own cable



With that I was in business!

So how do the two stack up? At first I was disappointed with the Nak. The Pioneer system is not very powerful, but it is tuned very nicely, a full rich sound. At first the Nak sounds thin and weak. I think it still doesn't sound quite as good on FM radio. Driving around with the CD changer loaded up same discs as last week with the base system, I am coming around. The Nak amp is obviously more powerful, it cranks right up like a stout external amp'd system. I really like the mid bass coming from the front speakers. I am going to keep this system I think.

I did not swap the speakers. They are different part numbers, but the used ones I have seen look pretty much the same as the pioneers, and the sellers ask too much for them. If I wanted better speakers I'd just go aftermarket on that one.

One problem with this swap...most of the Nak radios come out of Platinum/Coach editions, which have Maple wood trim instead of Walnut like the base car. The radios have different part numbers by the wood trim, cannot buy the faceplate on its own! So few regular ES300s with the Nak system, that radio must be a rare one. I think the faceplate from my stock radio would swap but then I wouldn't have the cool Nakamichi logo ;-) You can see the mismatch here, doesn't look as bad as this picture but it is noticeable.

I may be better off getting all the walnut trim pieces...

*apologies for the photos they are iPhone, still haven't figured out which box here has my DSLR batt charger. Also FYI I tried the Pioneer radio with the Nak amp, and vice versa, they both work, but neither combo sounds good at all.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Interesting, thank you for the writeup.

GoodRevs

Very cool, most people are trying to get rid of the Nakamachi system and replace it. You spent the time sourcing out the parts and went ahead and did the opposite to see how it would sound, I respect that

There's a few other 3ES owners in the area active on here, it'd be nice to get together a small ES meet sometime.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Swap the pioneer faceplate into the nak unit. You'll lose the "cute" nakamichi logo but it will look better

Power6

Yes I have considered that, mismatched wood with cool logo...or matched wood stealth Nak decisions...I was hoping I would drop by the local boneyards and see they might have a special edition ES that I can scavenge the wood trim off of. We'll see about that not likely I am guessing.

Still liking the Nakamichi system, it is quite powerful amplification for old stock stuff.

Thanks GoodRevs yeah I like playing detective and swapping stock parts around. I have more projects coming but not in a hurry in due time.

Power6

After some more time i am sort of "meh" on the Nakamichi. It plays loud and clear but part of that is that the EQ built into the deck/amp cuts out the lowest frequencies. So you get nice clear sound but some songs are really missing that full sound, very thin. Turn up the bass **** and you get muddy mid-bass, blech.

In some ways the optional fancy sound system is worse than the base Pioneer, which at least gives a full sound with the weaker amp. I wouldn't seek out the Nak if you are looking for a used ES.

So I am on to the next stage...which involves using some equipment leftover from the stereo in my old WRX since I don't want to drop a bunch of money. The decks in this car have pre-amp outputs running out to the amp, so there is no reason I can't install an amp in there. With a couple Metra adapters and my old PBR300X4...the testing went well, it works! I made it plug and play with my harness.


The Nak system crosses over the door speakers waaay high, but with this amp I get a full sound from the door speakers so I know I am getting around that. In fact I don't know how the sub sounds because this is a 4 chan amp. The plan with the harness is to split off the fronts input and send back to a sub amp in the trunk to run the sub.

I will swap the Pioneer back in to see if it sounds better through the amp than the Nak does. I have a feeling it just might.

bdracing

Schweet.....thx for the write up...and the pictures. I have the Pioneer with that pesky Display issue....

Power6

I understand the display issue is easy to fix, Pioneer still sells the display to fix it, and the radios themselves are pretty inexpensive to find used on EBay or elsewhere.

bdracing

Grasshopper would like to hear more of this fix you speak of .....

Power6

Check out this thread for the lowdown on button and display backlight fixing