What's been done to improve music in these cars? Sounds like I only have one front and one rear speaker. Is that common?
I use a bluetooth speaker in all my cars. The sound quality is crazy good and it's easy to hide. Plus I move it between four cars.
Up until 1972 the Delco radios were all AM or AM/FM monaural versions. Even the rear speaker was optional as was an 8 Track tape player. In 1972 a stereo AM/FM radio was offered. The factory radios can be modified by gutting the insides and installing modern AM/FM Stereo units with options like Bluetooth, USB inputs, and Pre Amp and sub woofer outputs. The rear decks will accept dual 6 x 9 speakers and the single front factory speaker can be replaced with a stereo speaker within the original speaker frame. Lots of options for modern sound.
The radio in mine has some type of Bluetooth or maybe it's just a jack import chord to the phone. Haven't used it. Normally drive with the volumn at 50 which is max.
I get pretty good sound out of the rear seat center speaker and dash speaker, but with quality modern replacements. I wired the front and rear speakers as left and right stereo speakers and had the stock radio rebuilt with modern electronics. As good as it sounds a nailhead at 2700 rpm through a nice dual exhaust sounds even better.
Yep, it's more of quantity vs quality thing with a "good" exhaust system. I have a decent pair of 6x9s hidden under the back deck, along with an good amp. It could use some mid/high speakers in the front but this works well enough for now.
I have a dewalt jobsite speaker that runs on their 20v platform. I have a bunch of tools that use those batteries so it was an easy decision. It puts out pretty decent sound quality and will play for days on the 20v batteries.