MoogieBoogie

Hi everyone.

I searched, and found conflicting testimonies. I even e-mailed one CL member who did the upgrade and couldn't get a response.

In any case, I'm planning on doing the Nakamichi upgrade. I am getting everything - headunit, amp, speakers, sub, cd changer (cd changer apparently is the same for Pioneer premium and Nakamichi). I have a few questions:

1) Will the harnesses just plug right in? Since I'm replacing everything, would it be a matter of substituting the existing components for the Nakamichi components, and then just using the same Pioneer harness to plug in? So basically, would I be able to plug my existing wiring harness into the back of the Nakamichi headunit, take the harness for the amp and sub amp (Pioneer Premium system has two amps, so I'm guessing two harnesses) and plug it into the new (single) Nakamichi amp? Is it that simple? Or is it much more complex?

2) The only problem I read about after searching, is that the Nakamichi amp requires a lot more power than the Pioneer premium amp, which can cause distortion at higher power volumes after the upgrade is complete. Someone (928owner, I believe) solved it by just running a direct power line from the battery to the amplifier. I was wondering at what level does the distortion begin, (dial position of the volume ****).

3) How many watts is the Nakamichi compared to the Pioneer? I've read the Pioneer was 230W. I'm not sure this is correct.

Thanks,
-Brian.

THE_CEO

hey before you install your upgraded nak system send it to OLT...so that he can customize it for you..

CEO

lexusaudio

IT DEPENDS WHICH PIONEER SYSTEM YOU HAVE. IF YOU HAVE RADIO P6800 ON THE CASSETTE FLAP DOOR THE FIRST GENERATION SC PIONEER SYSTEM YOU CAN NOT EASLILY UPGRADE IT. THAT WOULD BE THE PIONEER RADIO WITH HEAT SINCS ON THE BACK AND THE STANDARD TOYOTA RADIO PLUG THE 10 PIN 6 PIN PLUG. THE PIONEER RADIOS WITH EXTERNAL 4 CHANNEL 1 CHANNEL SUB AMPS USE THE 1 CONNECTOR 15 PIN PLUG. THAT IS THE SAME PLUG THE NAK RADIO USES. I SEARCHED ALL YOUR POSTS AND COULD NOT FIND WHAT YEAR SC300 MOOGIEBOOGIE HAS. I LIKED YOUR FANCY MATS AND HEADLINER THOUGH. THEY SWICTHED TO EXTERNAL AMP RADIO IN LATE 93. SO IF YOU HAVE A 92 I WOULD NOT SUGGEST SWITCHING TO NAK SYSTEM.IT WOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT THEN AFTERMARKET INSTALTION. BUT IF YOU HAVE THE NEWER SC RADIOG

MoogieBoogie

Thanks for your response LexusAudio.

My system doesn't say radio p6800 on the cassette flap door. My car is a 92 model, so now I'm confused. It came with the upgraded subwoofer and CD changer package. Does this mean that I don't have an external amplifier for speaker and 1 channel external amp for sub?

Also, as for the fancy mats and headliner, that's definitely not me. I would never do such a thing to my car. I believe that person was Din or Vin. I never posted pictures of my car

Thanks again,
-Brian.

lexusaudio

THE REASON YOUR CONFUSED IS I WAS WRONG. IF YOU HAVE A CD CHANGER THAN YOU HAve the pioneer 4 channal amp under it. the non cd button pioneer radios with p1600 on the cassette flap door are the ones that connot be easily converted to nak as there are no speaker wire output from the radio running to the trunk where the nak amp is installed. . without the cd button radio ordered from the factory there is no wiring of any kind to support either a pioneer system cd changer or a nak system cd changer.but since your 92 was ordered with a cd changer it can be converted to nak system quite easily with the minumum of new wires or splicing. the 4 ohm pioneer speakers are adequte except for changing the sub which goes from 1 ohm on pioneer to 4 ohms on the nak system. so pioneer sub cannot be used.

MoogieBoogie

Thanks again for your reply.

So I would actually have to splice? The harnesses are not completely compatbie?

-Brian.

lexusaudio

if you presently have a 92 to 97 sc cd changer system with pioneer headunit p6800 with a cd button then there would only be 2 splices needed. the first would be the power supply for the nak amp which would have to come directly off the battery just like an aftermarket instalation which isnt difficult to do. you can run the wire under the sill plate then under the back seat to a hole in the seat frame where all the wiring is going through to feed to the trunk..... and the second splice would be the subwoofer wiring coming from the nak amp would have to be spliced. the pioneer systm has a seperate 1 channel amp near the pioneer sub. all if which would be elimnated by the direct nak amp to nak sub hookup just like regular nak system. the 4 4 inch speaker wiring 2 door and 2 back shelf could stay the same as well as the speakers themselves................................................................................. if you presently have a 92 or 93 sc with pioneer headunit system without a tape button only headunit with aluminum heat sinc with p1600 on the cassette flap door. the t easist method to stay factory would be to convert it to pioneer cd changer system not a nak cd system with headunit p6800 as to go to nak system which would be more difficult because there is no amp or cd changer wiring going to the trunk. the smaller 4 channel pioneer amp could be mounted near the radio in the dash and be plugged into the speaker output wiring that came out of the p1600 headunit. the radio connector would have to be adapted but could be done as easy as a aftermrket instaltion which would also require all new speakers. you could still go to nak system with the nak amp mounted near the headunit. it actually would be a good idea as it would get the nak amp out of the trunk where it picks up moisture and water damage.

MoogieBoogie

Thanks again LexusAudio.

I've started my installation. What a pain in the butt to get everything out - the trunk mat, trunk panels, back seat, rear panel.. I have a few questions. (SC)

1) I noticed that all that harnesses plug in fine. I just have to somehow get the Pioneer subwoofer amp wiring harness down to where the Nakamichi amp will be (below the CD changer). Is the harness long enough so that I could extend it that far, or will I have to cut the wiring harness, splice the wires down to the Nak amp and then resplice at the harness there?

2) My Nakamichi headunit was damaged by US Postal Service. It's insured, but in the worst-case scenario, would I be able to replace the face of the headunit with my Pioneer headunit? They look identical, aside from the Nakamichi logo on the Nak headunit. It appears to be only cosmetic anyway.

3) Is it necessary to change out all the speakers? I've read that all the speakers are the same - Nak or Pioneer.

4) How the heck do I get the shifter plate off? My car is the 5 speed model (manual trans) and the shifter plate doesn't seem to want to come off. At the same time, I don't want to pull too hard because I'm afraid I might break something.

Thanks anyone in advance for your help!
-Brian.

MoogieBoogie

I finished my install for the most part.

The removal of the rear seats, the rear deck, the trunk deck, and the side trunk panel was a pain in the butt. After doing so, I took out my Pioneer rear speakers, subwoofer from the rear deck (I left the Pioneer amplifier for the subwoofer in), and the CD changer and Pioneer speaker amplifier from the passenger side of the trunk. After doing so, I noticed that the brackets that came with the Nakamichi components didn't fit, so I swapped the brackets, put in the Nakamichi amplifier. The two harness plugs that were connected to the Pioneer amplifier (for the speakers) connect to the long side of the Nakamichi amp. There is one more harness plug that must be removed from the Pioneer amplifier on the rear deck, and re-routed down through the hole and into the trunk, and connected to the short side of the Nakamichi amplifier. You need to remove all the electrical tape and zip tie holder stuff to be able to do that. In addition, I needed to cut two wires for the subwoofer. These wires are connected to the harness on one end, the subwoofer on the other end. I cut the two wires, removed the insulation, and used regular speaker wire to make it longer. Basically, I cut that wire near the subwoofer, spliced and connected some regular speaker wire there, and connected the other end of the speaker wire into the trunk area, and onto the other end of the cut subwoofer wire. That completes the wiring for the Nakamichi amplifier. I reinstalled everything back in the trunk.

For the rear deck, the Nakamichi speakers didn't fit the housings that the Pioneer speakers were in. It fits for the most part though. The subwoofer is plug and play. This was it for the rear deck area. I reinstalled everything back, rear deck and rear seat.

For the deck, there are four harness plugs for the Pioneer unit that needs to go into the four harness plugs for the Nakamichi headunit. It fits perfectly, and it's pretty simple once you get everything apart.

So in conclusion, it's definitely possible to swap out your Pioneer premium system for the Nakamichi system for the Lexus SC. I'm not sure if it will work for those without the CD changer option, since I've heard it's a different setup from what I had (upgraded subwoofer option with CD changer). In searching through hundreds of posts, some people have said that it isn't possible or to "stick with what you have". This is proof that it could be done and could be done rather easily.

Many thanks to LexusAudio, Toked, 928owner (for his previous posts), and SC400_408 (for selling me the Nakamichi stuff - good seller btw) for all the help in doing this. One thing that I found to be different from the experiences of others - I didn't notice any clipping when I raised the volume. I'm not sure that there is a need for a separate, thicker gauge power wire to be directed directly from the battery to the amplifier. Maybe I'll feel the need for it later.. we'll see.

I'm not 100% done with my swap yet. I just plugged in the headunit for testing purposes. Unfortunately, the US Postal Service damaged my headunit while shipping it so it has a nice crack in the face. So my question is:

- Is it possible to swap the faces of the Pioneer premium headunit with the Nakamichi headunit? It looks to be the same. The face does come off, and the circuit board can be removed from what I've observed.

Also, the Pioneer headunit will work with the other Nakamichi components. However, the sound comes out at a lower volume and the subwoofer will not work. Of course you wouldn't want to leave it this way, but this is an option for those who installed all the other components, but have a damaged headunit - and at the same time want to listen to some music while waiting for repair (ME).

Hope this helps some people. It was difficult to find information on the swap, which is why I took the time to write up my experience in doing it. Feel free to ask questions.

-Brian.

mikee72

So, what was the final word on the sound quality difference between the Premium and the full Nakamichi setup? I'm contemplating the swap with the intent of gaining more low midrange, but since I've never heard the full Nak system, I'm reluctant to spend the money without some "before/after" testimony.

Percy

***What's involved in the customization?***

Percy

THE_CEO

for the radio, he changes the bulbs and covers for the screen..but i have seen some more elaborate ones where they changed all of the lights on the whole unit...

CEO

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Since this post just got bumped anyway, I want to make sure all new readers realize that this upgrade is for the SC - NOT the GS. The SC Nakamichi systems are very different than the Nak in the GS. For the SC, the upgrade is worth doing, but for the GS, I still maintain that anyone would be better off installing aftermarket amp, speakers, & sub(s), rather than doing a GS Nak upgrade.

THE_CEO

he he sorry to not mention that...my bad!

CEO

lexusaudio

the 1993 to 1997 first generation gs nakamichi upgrade is all plug in and play. so i assume engin ear olt you are talking about the 2nd generation nakamichi upgrade. the nakamichi upgrade in the 93 to 97 gs is the easiet upgrade of all. 5 channel pioneer amp has same plugs as the 5 channel nakamichi amp and the brackets fit in same mounting plate. the first generation sc nakmichi upgrade just requires rerouting the the 1 channell pioneer subamp to the 5 channel sc nakamichi amp other wise it is plug in and play.............................................................. the 2nd generation nakamichi systems from 1998 up were all made by pioneer and were not wiring harness compatible with the pioneer premium sound analog system. so it very hard to go from pioneer analog to nakamichi digital from 98 to 2000 in all models except es. 1998 es can be swapped out to nakamichi easily same wiring harness. the nakamichi sysatem in 1998 are pioneers digital system stereos and1998 up the premium sound non nakamichi are pioneers analog sound system. nakamichi got out of the streo business with lexus after 1997 but let lexus use their name on the digital pioneer made systems. digital in this case means sound carried digitally from the square blue connectors on the cd changers to the d/a convereter box mounted behind the cd changer.. all the first generation cars were all analog both pioneer and nakamichi. . ......................................so all first generation cars are easy to upgrade to nakamichi and worth doing. the first generation nak amps were the best ever made for oem production and last forever if not water damaged. the exception to easy swap is the 92 93 sc cars with p1600 radios with built in amps and toyota type radio plugs. even those can be modifiied to factory cd changer system by switching to cd button head units p6800 or n104 and adding the factory pioneer amp 86120-24111.due to most forum visitors switching to aftermarket the prices of oem equipment is faily inexpensive. but that wont last long. car collectors and collector shows all value the oem stereos not aftermarket . so eventually all those nakamichi stereos will be valuble and the 2004 aftermarket systems of today will be obsolete.