Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax Replacement of Parrot Series 5 Aero 8

I think the clue is on the plaque - Paint Colour.

If you had a two tone then the alternative colour of the wings would be on the lower line.

I thought paint code as well but my colour is from Vauxhall and its code is GWL, I guess this must be Morgan's paint supplier code for that colour.

So my first pass at sorting the audio in the Coupe has hit the usual Aero gremlin point.

1. Take car to specialist Audio reseller (name redacted to protect the incompetent)
2. They agree that sound is just plain odd and suggest cabling review before changing parts.
3. Take Alpine 117 out of dash and find just RCA pre-out cables in use (low level therefore going to amp)
4. Try chasing cables and as they pull the wire gently the drivers window starts doing the up down door opening shake....engineer gets nervous look on his face.
5. We spend fifteen minutes trying to find the amp. Under seats, boot, passenger footwell, engine bay - nothing.
6. He starts to demount the dash and all the lights on the dashboard start to flash, his expression goes up a few grades on the panic scale.
7. We both agree that we should stop dismantling and do some process of elimination. We unplug one side RCA and sound becomes excellent. We plug it back in and it remains excellent. Huh?
8. We switch off and back on, it sounds pants again.
9. He signals defeat and asks to be released from going further.

We wonder how one pair of low level RCA outputs can drive front/rear in stereo and the fader/balance controls both seem to do their job both front to rear and side to side. We agree Morgan's do not follow the laws of conventional physics. We put the deck back in the slot and prey to the west (Malvern) for a following wind. On the way home the Alpine units sounds great but only comes out of the right channel. Then half way home it reboots.

More prayer ?
Hammer ?

Sorry mate, that is simultaneously both horrific and pretty amusing

Alistair if the coupe is the same as the Series 5 aero the amp is located in the passagner footwell at the bulkhead end. Remove the carpet and you should find an alumium plate held in with either 4 or 6 C/S hex screws.

The amp is fixed to back of this plate.

Alistair, sounds like dirty connectors to me. As you suggest a low level feed to amp, such connectors would affect to a greater degree. If amp is found in footwell sounds like a contender for dust etc., so further possibility of dirty input connectors.

Asbo, Richard.

Thanks

I did lift all the carpets etc and did not see anything that I could remove. I will take a further dive into the footwell with more vigour, a candle and tools. It's going to take some work to make it sidepipe proof. The new Class D amps are surprisingly powerful and compact so as they say in Blackadder, I have a cunning plan.

TimH

It was indeed both funny and frustrating at the same time! He was all full of bluster at the start "nothing I have seen has ever beaten me blah blah blah" Then he started to try and fold himself into the car (with the hard edges of the tillets sticking into his legs!) and work out where things were. Then the phantoms appeared around the windows and lights and you could see his face changing. I did warn him that nothing is ever that easy in the Mog. Ah well, more idiot proof just means better idiots.

I fear this may have several chapters.

Current favourites include
Alpines new 905d floater https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/alp...-apple-carplay-android-auto-dab-usb.html
Focal or Audison 4 channel Class D amp https://www.carelectronicsnottingha...al-4-channel-amplifier-class-d-4x55w-rms
Front door speakers (4x6 plus tweets in the dash) replaced with Focal 4" mid/bass and focal dash tweets. I need a bracket to fit these and might see if our resident craftsman Bonsie fancies a challenge 8) https://www.focal.com/en/car-audio/car-audio-kits-solutions/elite/k2-power/component-kits/es-100-k

I am not after competition sound pressure level stuff but I like a firm, well controlled bass that does not go tubby at lower frequencies. I also like that drum and bass, dance, housey music as well so it helps.

Still trying to work if I can fit a sub somewhere but the good lady needs to use the left seat....ah well.

Shiny went in for adjustment this morning.

Went with the Sony XAV8150 floater which is not wireless car play but the man pointed out that the iPhone needed charging for longer journeys anyway, fair enough. There are little boxes that can convert wired to wireless that I can look at later. Sorry Ale but I need Apple Car Play, I have been consumed by the Apple bubble.

Engineer looked, how can I say it politely, nervous. I have pointed him to the panel at the passengers feet as the amp location. They said they may need it for a few days! I am expecting a combination of cabling and possibly a shagged amp. If I put the sound to (fader) back and (balance) right all the sound disappears. What fun.

They have speed dial set to call me as they find things!

Okay be gentle. (Sorry Ale. I went with the Floater)

I know this is not going to be to everyone's taste as it is a bit BIG on the dash. I live on iThingyOS and do use the car for business. It is a bit dominant but I can reach all the controls and A/C around it. Sound quality is really improved. They had to drop the dash to get all the cabling laid out correctly. Carplay plus DAB, Waze plus actual music coming out of the four speakers etc etc.

It turns out the Alpine built-in amp had given up the ghost not the cabling. Thanks for the comments re the location of the inbuilt AMP, it was in the front of the passenger footwell behind the plate. I really will have to stop listening to the drum'n'bass and dance music so loud.

I can rest my hand on the gear knob and it is in just the right position to use the touchscreen. The on-screen buttons are nice and big to use. As I often use the autobox in manual selection mode this is perfect. Carplay has a few limitations but for safe driving it is good. I like the Sony user interface (it helps if you have had a playstation in your past) however the up/down volume rocker is not as a good as a traditional round knob. Why do people have invent away from simple proven solutions.

I don't think the external AMP is quite man enough to manage the upgraded rear 6x9s if you do raise the volume, you can feel them getting a little bit tubby so it may be upgraded for one with a bit more control.


I will peel off the silly label.
I will hoover it
I will clean the dash
I promise.....