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I bought my 1999 sc400 back in june and the dude who sold it to me said that the amp didn’t work which was no big deal. I took it out and realized it had water damage. I am saving money for college right now and would like to avoid spending the $200+ on a new one. Are there any aftermarket or other cars that came with amps that would work? Idk too much about any of that stuff so any advice is greatly appreciated.
I bought my 1999 sc400 back in june and the dude who sold it to me said that the amp didn’t work which was no big deal. I took it out and realized it had water damage. I am saving money for college right now and would like to avoid spending the $200+ on a new one. Are there any aftermarket or other cars that came with amps that would work? Idk too much about any of that stuff so any advice is greatly appreciated.
It would be much cheaper/easier to just replace that amplifier with the same piece. Lexus designed these as five channel amplifiers powering the speakers as well as the subwoofer. To get a five channel amplifier in the aftermarket to sound anywhere near as good, would probably cost double. Just get another stock one.
I bought my 1999 sc400 back in june and the dude who sold it to me said that the amp didn’t work which was no big deal. I took it out and realized it had water damage. I am saving money for college right now and would like to avoid spending the $200+ on a new one. Are there any aftermarket or other cars that came with amps that would work? Idk too much about any of that stuff so any advice is greatly appreciated.
I have a 97 300 parts car that had all the audio in it. Is the piece you need in the passenger side quarter panel? from cincinnati area
If you have a nakamichi amp thats what I need. Im also in the cincinnati area. If you have one what would you be willing to sell it for.
Sadly I know its not nakamichi. Wish I couldve helped man. I will say I havent found one SC in a pick and pull locally, I've looked pretty consistently since 2019. They do not show up around here. If you have facebook I can add you to a group where you should be able to find the amp fairly easily for a fair price. Just private message me your account name if interested. Goodluck.
Here is my tip, if you buy another used amp don’t expect it to last long!
buy an aftermarket new amp and a new aftermarket head unit along with some wires!! Upgrade your entire dated system with a blue tooth and run your wires from the head unit through the center console to the trunk and bridge them to the wires from the old amp (wires go to your existing speakers), then get a nice 10” subwoofer and connect it to your amp! This will make you want to upgrade your rear speakers too. Your amp is only going to power your sub and your head unit will be powering your door and rear deck speakers for that winning sound!
This way your whole system will be updated
it all can be done in one day if you get all your components bought!
sub $50, small amp $75, wiring $50 or less, knowledge of how things work and diy is priceless!
^ What he said. The Nakamichi amps, CD changers, and to a lesser extend head units, are ticking time bombs at this point. And you can buy good aftermarket stuff for about the same price as replacing those hard to find Nak's.
^ What he said. The Nakamichi amps, CD changers, and to a lesser extend head units, are ticking time bombs at this point. And you can buy good aftermarket stuff for about the same price as replacing those hard to find Nak's.
It’s fair to question their durability at this stage, given their age. But I think the suggestion that aftermarket components of equal value would be better is far fetched. Someone earlier was talking about amplifiers under $100. That will be pure garbage.
The Nakamichi system is showing it’s age, but if in good working order, sounds a heckuva lot better than some cheap Chinese garbage. Just my two cents.
It’s fair to question their durability at this stage, given their age. But I think the suggestion that aftermarket components of equal value would be better is far fetched. Someone earlier was talking about amplifiers under $100. That will be pure garbage.
Well yeah, but last I looked, a Nak amp in decent shape was going for $200-250. You can find good 5-channel amps in that price range new.
Alpine MRV-V500. I paid right around $250 for mine new, and it sounds as good as the Nakamichi it replaced. Kenwood eXcelon X801-5 was another one I considered at $240.
Alpine MRV-V500. I paid right around $250 for mine new, and it sounds as good as the Nakamichi it replaced. Kenwood eXcelon X801-5 was another one I considered at $240.
I stand corrected. Though I would tend to doubt it sounds the same or better, it at least matches power output.
I would still sooner have the amp repaired, but I must admit I don’t know what that costs.
Alpine MRV-V500. I paid right around $250 for mine new, and it sounds as good as the Nakamichi it replaced. Kenwood eXcelon X801-5 was another one I considered at $240.
I have that same Alpine amp, it’s been in my 400 for 10 years now, and the sound quality is a lot better and louder than the old Nak system!!
Yes cheaper amps aren’t as good, but for the price of replacing the Nack system you just can’t beat it, in my old 400 that I sold I have a Walmart pioneer $50 amp hooked up to a pioneer Walmart 10” sub and it did fine! For an inexpensive amp you still can’t beat it, I still have it, and transferred it to my 3rd sc because it works and it works well after 5 years, it may not be as powerful as my mvr-500, but it’s still a great paired with a 10” sub at the price I paid!
It’s all about how much you want to invest and how much time you have learn the wiring diagramto hook it all up, because no shop will do it for cheap, you would have to learn schematics of your sound system wiring diagram, I had to rewire 3 scs and now it’s pretty easy for me to understand how it all works and it works great!
If you have a Nakamichi amp in your Gen 1 Sport Coupe that still works? MY STRONG ADVICE is to not turn it on any more, pull it out, and replace the electrolytic capacitors "caps" which WILL go bad. If you wait until it blows, you car will smell bad for a bit, AND damage the circuit board, making repair much more difficult or impossible. I've got at least 2 of the #86280-24120 units, one had blown (blows the 20 Amp fuse under the hood), each additional fuse put in and blown, damages the board even more. Here's a photo of one from my '92 SC400. I swiped one out of my '93 SC400, which was still working, then got new caps from Digikey and replaced the 4 notorious ones. There's some smooth whiteish glue holding caps to the board, but they pull away easily as alternately unsoldering the leads (back and forth a bunch of times). This was easy to fix, the ECU's I didn't attempt. Big difference with damage in amps is that there's a lot of current flowing (big arc, lots of stink) as compared to tiny currents in the ECU. Likely applies to LS400's as well dunno about the Soarers.
(2ea) DigiKey P/N 493-5605-ND 1800uF/25v. (1ea) P/N UPM1V181MPD 180uF/35v. (1ea) P/N UPM1V331MPD 330uF/35v. (on backorder, so used P/N UPM1V331MHD6, same specs, little fatter and shorter, bit of hassle to fit it in.) Make sure you get the (-) lead in the same direction as it came out. Please oh Please if you have a working Nakamichi, pull it and fix it. The CD changer in trunk must be pulled to get to the amp below.
If you DO have a Nakamichi, it says it right on the front of the radio. If it says "Premium Sound System" only, I think it's Panasonic, not Nakamichi.
And oh yeah, the Nakamichi speakers have a foam suspension supporting the cone....The foam turns to dust destroying all but the tweeters.
Please see which caps I replaced indicated by white ovals
(on this amp, a TV repairman did a crappy job on this blown up board, it played for about 1 minute before it quit.).
'93 SC300 Automatic
'95 SC300 Automatic
'96 SC400 Automatic
'93 SC400 Automatic
'95 SC400 Automatic
'92 SC400 Automatic
Don't like the extra front slot on the '97~2000 models.
Last edited by MensaPE; 05-07-22 at 02:32 PM.
Reason: Forgot to list my SC's
01-15-22, 10:25 PM
Sc400 Amp
