I just installed the USA 60 in my 69 convertible. I have been thinking of doing a review for everyone, but time is never something I have too much of so here it goes. Short and sweet.
I purchased the custom auto sound USA-630 and it was delivered about three weeks later, I checked in several times just to get an update because I wanted to hit a important show last weekend in the Chicago area, it arrived two days before the show on Friday. So as far as availability and timely shipping I have to say although it took three weeks to deliver it it did arrive just when they said it would. Upon arrival I ripped open the box like it was Christmas morning and was pleasantly surprised that the radio arrived well packaged and without any sign of damage. It included all instructions and necessary hardware as well as two chrome looking bezels for the radio face. One was marked 1969 SS Dash. After I got ride of the old radio(which was an aftermarket peice of junk from the 80's) it was clear that the last person who wired my radio did'nt know what he was doing, so my father and I spent the better part of the day tracking down all the different colors and coding them correctly. As I went to install the radio with the bezel labeled "1969 SS Dash" I noticed that it was too small. There was almost enough room to fit a sharpie pen on either side of the radio between the chrome lip on the dash and the chrome bezel. So I went to the other bezel provided in the kit, which was too big to fit. I called up auto sound right away, but there was nothing he could really do or suggest because he's just not familiar with every car(but who really is).After further examination I realized the larger bezel fit perfectly at eh sides but it was the vertical height that was the problem, so after some careful consideration I took out the trusty dremel and cut away just the top lip of chrome surround on the dash. The reason I opted for this was that with the angle of the 69 dash you cannot see the top of that opening, the angles just don't allow you whether your sitting in the car or outside of it the only way to truly tell that the dash was modified is to take out the center console and look straight up, but even then its tough to see because the radio covers it up as it protrudes from the opening. So enough though I had to technically cut my dash, I thought it was a reasonable cut to make. Once in I modified the provided back strap by bending it in my vise and and shaving a few inches from it, it installed seamlessly and is a strong support for the radio.
So that hopefully covered the shipping, customer service and final fit of the radio. Also I'd like to mention that auto sound was very responsive and wanted to help me, but there was only so much I could do. They offered to just take it back and give me a new one or void the transaction completely, but as previously stated I chose to make modifications.
Function wise:
I purchased this radio because I could plug my ipod into the radio. I am 22 years old and like others my age, my ipod holds over 50,000 songs and most importantly no commercials, crappy songs, or adds for erectile dysfunctions on the local oldies channels every few minutes. I was informed that I would be able to plug my ipod into the usb port and play my songs til my hearts content only that was both true and false. For those of you that are familiar with ipods you will understand this next part easily, however those without one it may be a little difficult to imagine the problem I faced.
When my ipod was plugged into the radio it played the music thru the radio which means that the artist name and album info was all displayed on the ipod, however when the ipod was connected the actual ipod itself could not be used. Just like when you are syncing you ipod to your computer and the message "do not remove" comes up with the big no smoking sign. So you are forced to use the ipod by manipulating the radio controls, the only problem with this is that it takes each song and assigns it a number so it began playing track one and then two and so on. I could not access play lists or go to specific artists. Now if you have a small ipod or a few songs thats not bad, but when you have 50,000 it makes it nearly impossible to find the song you want when you want it by just hitting the next button a few thousand times, it may be the first song you turn the dial to or the 46,781st song theirs just no way to tell. So after this disappointment I opted to use the auxillary cable also provided with the ipod, I went to walmart and bought about 8 feet of av cable (red and white male plugs) I then removed my console and ran the wires under my carpet and then drilled a hole thru my console box by using the same hole that the shift light uses. Once I was sure that I had enough working cable I put everything back together and it is now seamless. I can now manipulate my ipod thru my console and no one is the wiser. The only draw back to using this method of ipod connection is that as your ipod plays the batteries are draining.
Sound quality:
I am running a dual front ken Harrison speaker and I installed a new antenna a few weeks ago, that it. Since I have a convertible, there aren't many options for other speakers, I recently took a trip on the highway to a show and when things grew loud I just turned up the radio, yes it was very loud and if I pulled over it would be considered blaring, but in all of our special situations we have to make do. So sound wise it could be better, but it is still discernible from the exhaust note. Also I think its important to mention that with sound systems the quality is only as good as your weakest link. Meaning that if you have the newest alpine face unit and one ken Harrison speaker your going to be disappointed, and if you have great speakers but your running the sound from an original am/fm radio your also going to be left disappointed.
Looks:
At first I was a bit skeptical about the unit because of all the chrome on it, as you all know the dash of a 68-72 chevelle is primarily dark with black plastic covering most if not all areas. However I was pleasantly surprised that the chrome bezel which protrudes from the radio hole the chrome finish reflects off the rest of the interior and gives the look of a black chrome, and really accents the interior. I was contemplating painting the bezel, but after I saw the unit installed I didn't think it would make a huge difference. There are two choices for radio knobs black and chrome, I opted for chrome, and painted the inner circle with a sharpie marker I had lying around. Once the center of the knobs are painted black it is pretty difficult to tell the difference between the original large primarily black knobs for 69.
So overall I would say that this is a good radio, with enough power at 240 watts (forty more than any ken Harrison radio) and with a price tag of $229 compared with the ken Harrison price of almost $300 in OPG. Another big selling point is that it looks like a real dial radio with the hash marks and everything, when the car is off it looks correct for that year it even has push buttons.that extend out just like original radios.
I know that this was hard to follow, but I'm trying to get ready for a show tomorrow so I'm doing this quickly. If you have any other questions message me and I'll be happy to answer.
-Brian
