Does anyone have any experience with Classic Car Stereo radios they’ve installed in their cars or have seen up close in a buddy’s vehicle? I have had awful experiences with Custom Auto Sound; Retro; and some crap unit I bought from OPG in 2011. In addition, my brother had his 1967 Vette orig radio restored and upgraded last year for $600 and it just stopped working, so I don’t trust that route either. I’m just looking to put some simple tunes in my 1966 Elky in the stock location.I’ve got decent speakers in the stock dash location and 50W housed speakers behind seat. Stock working antenna. Car is mostly original. Thanks!
Classic Car Stereos?
Westieterrier
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I saw Ken Harrison sell Chevelle Radios as well.
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Update: So I installed the Retro Sound Hermosa with internal amp. and after a little work it sounds awesome! Perfect for the little cab of my '66 Elky. The back speakers are separately-housed units mounted on velcro behind the seat rear panels. They sound great and are basically unseen. Here's a really good tip for the front speakers: I used high-power 4" speakers fit to the stock dash location, but as everyone experiences, they don't sound very good. I had an audio expert build me a little box/baffle to surround them (he did it in place, no less!) and the difference is truly remarkable! Stereo is as clear and loud as one could ever want in an old Elky, plus the bluetooth has given me many great features that I can use with my iPhone. I got the classic faceplate and ivory buttons, which to lay people look as if the stereo is original. Very happy!
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I have a retro sound in my '71 and I absolutely HATE it. It sounds cheap, the menu is so complicated to scroll through to play let's say a specific tune stored on my USB drive, etc... It plays only the same few tunes over and over again but I cannot access the other tunes stored on the usb drive. It's a real "piece of 
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Claude.
"Claude.
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Those factory Delco radios were some very well made units. I found you can install a mini jack to the blue wire inside and on the top of the radio. That wire comes from the radio station tuner and goes to the amp. You cut the female end off and solder two 1K resisters to that wire on the amp side and solder the other end of the resisters to the black and red wires from the patch cord.. Then solder the ground white and the sheath to the radios steel cabinet.
Now just put the mini jack into your I pod and you have a decent sounding tunes..
Now just put the mini jack into your I pod and you have a decent sounding tunes..
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Sorry to hear that Claude. I had a Ken Harrison and a Custom Autosound and both were junk. Only reason I got the Hermosa is because at least it had mixed reviews. My unit is there newest iteration and doesn't say China on it anywhere (Japan they told me makes the guts), the rest assembled in Nevada. There was a learning curve on the controls, but now it's second nature to use them. It is really wonderful. Maybe I just got lucky for once.I have a retro sound in my '71 and I absolutely HATE it. It sounds cheap, the menu is so complicated to scroll through to play let's say a specific tune stored on my USB drive, etc... It plays only the same few tunes over and over again but I cannot access the other tunes stored on the usb drive. It's a real "piece of
Claude.
I bought speakers from Custom Autosound and their special bracket was total junk. So I made my own center dash bracket for the speakers and one of them were bad. I bought new 3.5 inch Infinity speakers from Crutchfield mounted on my own bracket and everything went well. After that experience I bought a RetroSound Motor 2 setup with Bluetooth and couldn't be more pleased. I sent in a personal note into Custom Auto and complained and they never even answered my complaint.
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Custom Autosound is definitely junk. They are arrogant SOBs too. I don't understand why the free marketplace doesn't rid us of them. Ken Harrison wasn't much better, but the customer service was excellent. Good guys, bad product. I too have infinity speakers up front and baffled beautifully. I think, Bill, we have the same system, the RetroSound II setup, and it's a good piece. Very attractive as well. Here's a pic of mine:
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I have Retro sound stereos in both cars, once I found out to use some of those RF choke coils on the input cables they were fine.
1968 Malibu Sport Coupe, 489c.i. 590hp 600tq, TCI 200r4 Freakshow 3,600 stall, 3.73 12 bolt posi
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I also have a RetroSound II, sounds great but I've never had it on while driving since I like listening to the heart beat of 590 HP
Here is mine. I think it looks great. Have a couple Polk 4x6's that I am going to put under the rear ashtrays ( I am a convertible) at seat level with black metal mesh grilles so they will not be very obvious but with only the two front speakers I need more. If you look to the lower left edge under the volume knob you will see my mic for the bluetooth iPhone. I thought being so low and especially with the top down I wouldn't be able to make a call but it works great around town. I think mine is 50 watts peak X 4 but seems to kick, maybe not loud enough to hear over Ricks thumping 590 but good enough for my little 325..
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I went with this system on my '70. The Out of Sight audio unit looked like the way to go for me, and on paper this system should be great. We'll see though. Hasn't even arrived yet so I'll let you know.
Out Of Sight audio Bluetooth Mark 3- $350 (other versions available)
Customautosound Backseat Driver- $229
Customautosound 3.5" bracketed Kicker CS in-dash speakers- $74
Leaving the non-functioning AM radio in the dash. All of this is hidden so no one will even know it's there. Hopefully it sounds good!
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Out Of Sight audio Bluetooth Mark 3- $350 (other versions available)
Customautosound Backseat Driver- $229
Customautosound 3.5" bracketed Kicker CS in-dash speakers- $74
Leaving the non-functioning AM radio in the dash. All of this is hidden so no one will even know it's there. Hopefully it sounds good!
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427L88- I'll keep you posted. Shipping seems to be by pony express lately. Hopefully by next week sometime.
I'm hoping that just the Backseat Driver speakers/amp will sound good enough coming through the seat. If not, I guess plan B is to add speakers to the rear shelf. Didn't want to do that as I prefer everything hidden.
I'm hoping that just the Backseat Driver speakers/amp will sound good enough coming through the seat. If not, I guess plan B is to add speakers to the rear shelf. Didn't want to do that as I prefer everything hidden.
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Plans B & C are in full effect. The backseat driver that showed up was for a gen1 F-Body, so back it went and a credit issued through Classic Car Stereo. CCS had a review on their site (a review btw done by the owner of CCS) which gave the Backseat Driver amp/sub package (made by Custom Autosound) a poor review. I didn't see that review until after the return was completed, but when it was brought up to a CCS customer service, they agreed the components were not really up to the their standards. I guess I dodged a bullet on that one. BTW, since that conversation, that review has been taken down.
So Plan-A of having a completely hidden audio system are out the window. I ended up with Kicker 6.5" kickpanels, Kicker 6x9" speakers for the rear shelf, and a 4-channel 360 w amp. Not as stealth as I'd like but that's life. I'll end up with the 3.5" speakers in the stock stereo dash locations powered right off the Out Of Sight Audio unit, and the other 4 speakers powered off the amp. Stuff hasn't arrived yet so I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
I'm totally inexperienced at audio installation so any advice is greatly appreciated!
So Plan-A of having a completely hidden audio system are out the window. I ended up with Kicker 6.5" kickpanels, Kicker 6x9" speakers for the rear shelf, and a 4-channel 360 w amp. Not as stealth as I'd like but that's life. I'll end up with the 3.5" speakers in the stock stereo dash locations powered right off the Out Of Sight Audio unit, and the other 4 speakers powered off the amp. Stuff hasn't arrived yet so I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
I'm totally inexperienced at audio installation so any advice is greatly appreciated!
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I have the RetroSound too, and I have been quite happy with it. It will sound even better when I pop for good speakers some day. The first one I had DID develop a weird cut out problem on the sound that the tech staff was pretty skeptical of, but they had me send it back and sure enough, they said I was absolutely correct and sent me a new one, even upgraded me to the most current model that has the satellite radio hook up. I have had the second one for over a year and it has performed perfectly. It does SO MANY things that I'll agree the menus can be a little intimidating for guys like me that aren't techno geeks, but not really any worse than most other aftermarket stereos. I have $125 Sony in my truck that is just as complicated, it just has the benefit of being able to have more buttons than the retrofit stereos can have. Having a good modern stereo is one of the top three most enjoyable things I have ever done to my car. I found their staff very friendly and helpful. Kudos to them, Pypes, Dakota Digital and Inline Tube who have all been a pleasure to work with on my recent projects.I also have a RetroSound II, sounds great but I've never had it on while driving since I like listening to the heart beat of 590 HP
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