Modern radio

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Anyone got any thoughts on this?



http://www.ebay.com/itm/RetroSound-Redondo-RT-Radio-BlueTooth-iPod-USB-RDS-3-5mm-AUX-In-68-70-Dodge-Cars-/361614383856?fits=Year%3A1968%7CMake%3ADodge%7CModel%3ACharger&hash=item5431e59af0:g:ZDoAAOSwc1FXbZMo&vxp=mtr

[Dino]

I've been looking at that one myself. It's a nice looking unit and I think with a decent amp it should be all we want. Still unsure what route to go with the radio though. Part of me still wants an 8 track in the dash just for looks and a hidden stereo in the ashtray.

[oldcarnut]

My modern hidden radio consists of Pandora on the cell phone and a nice blue tooth speaker.  No wires to splice, no radio for someone to steal, and I can take it with me anywhere or into another car.

[Dino]

My modern hidden radio consists of Pandora on the cell phone and a nice blue tooth speaker.  No wires to splice, no radio for someone to steal, and I can take it with me anywhere or into another car.

I heard a buddy's blue tooth speaker in his house the other day and I was amazed at the sound quality. What kid of speaker do you use in the car? Do you stuff it under the seat or do you have it mounted somewhere? Can you have two speakers to get more of a stereo effect or does one do the trick?

[oldcarnut]

It's just a JBL Charge tube shape speaker.  I just lay it in the seat or top of dash.  Has plenty of volume.  It's not mounted as I take it in the garage, yard, or whoever I want to liston. Not sure about the dual speaker setup but mine has multiple speakers in the unit already and sounds good to these old ears.

[Dino]

Excellent! It's certainly a quick and easy solution and it gives me more time to figure out a permanent solution.

[funknut]

With these cars you'd have to start with a hefty amount of sound deadening/insulation to get rid of the body and road noise, but if you're going to go there, for a few hundred bucks you can have a pretty solid stereo.

If you want to keep the stock look, for me, the choices are:

1) Go with a retro option like the OP linked to (somewhat spendy, and an unknown quantity in terms of audio quality), or
2) Leave the stock stereo in place, disconnected, and install a modern stereo in a concealed location (console, glove box, etc.)

I'm also curious to know if anyone has had experience with the RetroSound unit.  Looks interesting.

[oldcarnut]

I had something similar, maybe by same company in the 68 Firebird the wife had.  It wasn't bad but you have to get speakers to match the wattage output, find some place to mount them and run the wire.  For my own use, if I'm going to spend some money to liston to music, I'd like the option to be able to use it anywhere and not just when the car is running.  Its nice to be able to put it in the other vehicles too.   Mine was just an alternative with extra usable options

[maidenoz]

I recently installed one of these radios.  Had a Kenwood unit and wanted a more original look.  For me it sounds just fine but it has a modular design which requires some assembly then re-assembly to get it to sit right in the dash.  Also had an issue with the wrong software being loaded into the head unit which required a bit of back in forth from retrosound and jeggs.  Apparently retrosound intends it sold as a kit but jeggs broke up the various pieces and the assembled their own "kits"...  Unfortunately for me the thumb roller radios need a different software.  Thankfully after talking to the guys at retrosound they were able to send me the software to update the unit, so I have to say I'm pleased with their customer service.  Still getting used to all the controls though!

[twenty mike mike]

I recently installed one of these radios.  Had a Kenwood unit and wanted a more original look.  For me it sounds just fine but it has a modular design which requires some assembly then re-assembly to get it to sit right in the dash.  Also had an issue with the wrong software being loaded into the head unit which required a bit of back in forth from retrosound and jeggs.  Apparently retrosound intends it sold as a kit but jeggs broke up the various pieces and the assembled their own "kits"...  Unfortunately for me the thumb roller radios need a different software.  Thankfully after talking to the guys at retrosound they were able to send me the software to update the unit, so I have to say I'm pleased with their customer service.  Still getting used to all the controls though!

The thumbwheels look really cheap in the pics, much worse than the cheap originals. How do they look and feel in real life?

[maidenoz]

They do look a bit "plastic-y"...  But its hard for me to tell because I have never seen an original in person.  Also, my car didn't come with an original radio plate, so the aftermarket replacement brings attention to it as well as it is shinier than the rest of my dash.  The thumb rollers realm don't roll, more of an up/down action, but feel ok to me.

[M5Ivan]

I have my AM radio in the dash for the stock look but I went with a hidden bluetooth amp setup and stream spotify/pandora from my phone. The amp has a wired controller for play/pause/volume/forward/back that I plan to mount somewhere inconspicuously. I'm running a 4 channel bluetooth amp plus a mono amp for the subwoofer. The 2 amps are mounted upside down under the rear parcel tray with some 6x9 speakers. You can see the subwoofer in the trunk, but you don't see the amps.