Aftermarket Radio Opinions Wanted

-
70SwingerGuy

70SwingerGuy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2023
Messages
346
Reaction score
306
Location
Saskatoon, Sk.
Thinking about upgrading my thumbwheel radio to a modern lookalike with bluetooth etc and am looking for opinions. Whats peoples experience with retro radios such as Redondo or others? Qualilty/fit/finish?
 
Don't know how other people feel but I have one in my 69 barracuda and one in my 72 demon. I also put a 69 barracuda dash in my 72 so they are both thumbwheel. I like the Radioes haven't used all the features yet mainly the FM radio.
 
70SwingerGuy said:
Thinking about upgrading my thumbwheel radio to a modern lookalike with bluetooth etc and am looking for opinions. Whats peoples experience with retro radios such as Redondo or others? Qualilty/fit/finish?
Click to expand...
You could leave the stock radio alone, and use your smartphone to stream music into a Digital Signal Processor with a built in amp via bluetooth and then on to your speakers which can be concealed or not.
 
jbc426 said:
You could leave the stock radio alone, and use your smartphone to stream music into a Digital Signal Processor with a built in amp via bluetooth and then on to your speakers which can be concealed or not.
Click to expand...
That is what I did.
 
jbc426 said:
You could leave the stock radio alone, and use your smartphone to stream music into a Digital Signal Processor with a built in amp via bluetooth and then on to your speakers which can be concealed or not.
Click to expand...
Im not familiar with doing this, can you elaborate, maybe a link to what I would use? And thanks :)
 
I have a Retro Sound or Retro Radio. I forget what it's called. I don't like it at all. I am planning to get another OEM Rado and gut it to put a Bluetooth device in it. There are several threads here about these devices.
 
go-fish said:
I have a Retro Sound or Retro Radio. I forget what it's called. I don't like it at all. I am planning to get another OEM Rado and gut it to put a Bluetooth device in it. There are several threads here about these devices.
Click to expand...
Why dont you like it? Is it one of these? RetroRadio
 
Anything I've read about the look alikes are they're junk. Get a hidden system and mount in glovebox or under pass seat. Blue tooth, aux input etc. Lots of options out there.
 
Cheap, display is dark, controls not intuitive, ... doesn't look right
 
go-fish said:
Cheap, display is dark, controls not intuitive, ... doesn't look right
Click to expand...
jbc426 said:
You could leave the stock radio alone, and use your smartphone to stream music into a Digital Signal Processor with a built in amp via bluetooth and then on to your speakers which can be concealed or not.
Click to expand...
4spdragtop said:
Anything I've read about the look alikes are they're junk. Get a hidden system and mount in glovebox or under pass seat. Blue tooth, aux input etc. Lots of options out there.
Click to expand...

Thats all very helpful, thank you all :) Looks like I will be going with a bluetooth amp or DSP
 
Round marine guage pod radio. Looks at home mounted under the dash next to my tach and other guages.
 
Here's what I stuck under the dash on both the wife's Dart and my Roadrunner. Run the speaker wires to this and stream music through your phone.

Screenshot_20241107_070851_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
70SwingerGuy said:
@jbc426 can you recommend a DSP that works well? Preferably something that doesnt break the bank..haha
Click to expand...
The old adage, "Speed cost money. How fast do you want to go?" applies here too. What is your budget? I can share which components I would use, given your budget if you like.

Take a look on Woofer's etc and Crutchfield's web-site, and then individually shop each item on the web for the best deal. It all depends on your budget, but remember you are eliminating the head-unit. I would then spend that saved money for that on better speakers and DSP.

A DSP with 6 channels can drive two small tweeters, a mid-base and a sub-woofer. The sub-woofer can use 2 of the channels in a "bridged" mode to essentially double the power to it. You can also run a nicer set of 2 channel 6x9's wired so you can adjust the tweeter and the main speaker. You don't have to buy speakers that use a passive crossover, which you would not need. Look at individual speakers i.e. tweeter's, mid-base's and sub-woofers.

You can always add a trunk mounted sub later as budget and needs allow. The 4 channel DSP's are is nice too, because you can can pass through the signal to a self-powered sub-woofer later.

A DSP allows you to electronically cross-over each speaker to it's optimum frequency response, adjust the listening position using the time-delay function (able to virtually positioning each speaker electronically) and have an equalizer to tailor the sound to you taste.

Amps With DSP

WoofersEtc.com - The Online Car Audio Superstore, the Largest Selection at the Lowest Prices!
www.woofersetc.com www.woofersetc.com
 
Last edited:
jbc426 said:
You could leave the stock radio alone, and use your smartphone to stream music into a Digital Signal Processor with a built in amp via bluetooth and then on to your speakers which can be concealed or not.
Click to expand...

not a fan of that. we currently have a radio under the seat of our dart. while it works via Bluetooth to the phone, its kinda a pain in the ***. just cruising around town it might be ok but on a road trip when you are running maps phone etc with your phone it would be much easier to reach to the dash radio and increase/decrease the volume. i found this out personally on our recent 5000 mile road trip.

I'll be using these guys to modify my stock radio. Home page MikeHaganAntiqueAutoRadio.com. a friend has one of his radios in two cars and loves them. not cheap but what is these days.
 
My wife's phone pairs to her blue tooth module as well so always have 2 phones available for trips.
 
66Valiant528 said:
My wife's phone pairs to her blue tooth module as well so always have 2 phones available for trips.
Click to expand...

then the passenger has to control volume. pain in the ***. rather have it so either one of us could reach the dash and turn the volume up or down quickly and easily.

i never really thought about it until our trip. sounds in the car go from one extreme to the other while driving.
 
@jbc426 Thanks again for this! I checked out that link and wow, theres quite the range of gear. Question though, Im not running separate components(tweeters, mids, subs), but rather full spectrum 3 way 6x9s in the back, and perhaps some 4x6s in the kick panels, would a DSP still work well for this simple setup, or is it way overkill?
 
My radio upgrade. Delete Delete Delete. Nothing but the sweet sound of a Mopar 360. :p

1970-dodge-dart-swinger.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I went with a Custom Auto Sound unit in my Coronet. I am VERY pleased with it, and this from a guy who has dropped a ton of dough on audio equipment in a lifetlme. It has excellent sound, penty of power, subwoofer outputs, and lots of adjustments. I like it so much I got a second one for the Valiant. I went with an outboard CD player that I stashed under the seat. From the outside and if you didn't know better, it looks like a standard AM radio. The price was good as well, about $350 IIRC. They make them in all kinds of configurations - here is mine set up for the oddball 71-74 B body style.

20240311_183443.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top