The stereo in my 74 Lesabre sounds like crap, no surprise given the car is 41 years old. I'd like to upgrade the entire system while keeping the factory radio in it's place. I'm just looking for advice on what to get and what to do. I can do the work but I am no expert when it comes to the audio stuff. I gotta say I'm a bit surprised this place doesn't have a dedicated audio section. Playing some tunes is part of the car experience.
Might want to look into "Custom Auto Sound." They make period correct looking radios with modern solid state electronics inside. They have speakers, amps, CD players and everything you would need to upgrade your car and make it sound good. Probably be some other guys chime it here with other ideas too. Good Luck. Mike D.
I have a 65 Electra, that had no speakers what so ever when I bougth it.. I kept the original radio in it's slot, and placed a jvc hu, I had laying around, where the passenger has their knees.. I placed a 6x9" "inside" the dashboard, facing down - one 5" with a tweeter in each sides air vents, where your feet are - 2 6x9" under the hat holder ( the plate between the trunk and rear seats ) playing up and a 12" subwoofer in the trunk.. All the speakers are wired to 2 amplifiers.. It can play loud and well, and the only thing you can see is the HU..
here's where I hid my head unit http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?264900-Is-that-an-8-track-player-Nope-its-a-stealth-CD-player!!
Well I was thinking I would get a receiver that would be hidden while the stock receiver stays where it is. The car has 5 speakers now. I don't want to hack things up so I will stay with that. But I have no clue on other things. What's a good speaker brand. Do I need to replace the 40 year old wires? What speaker types should I get - woofer, sub woofer, tweeter.... Do I need anything else?
Great reading on the Crutchfield website. You'll learn a ton. Personally, I buy the head unit with the highest signal to noise ratio (watts per channel is not so important); I buy speakers with the widest sound reproduction range. Then you need to match an amplifier's output to the rating of the speakers. In my Buick I have a Pioneer head unit feeding into a 90 watt Alpine Amp, driving two 6x9 inch Blaupunkt rear speakers hidden under the perforated package tray. The guys have mentioned Custom Autosound as a head unit source. They might have a headunit that will look stockish and fit right in your dash. Here is what my custom head unit install looks like.
clarion cz702 is still the best headunit for the money its also a 3way active headunit ,so youre able to have an SQ system if you want Next would be the pioneer 80prs Upgrade front to good componet setup can be 3way upfront or 2 way.up front and a pair of subs (sq not spl blurp.box) Non active youll use a lil box(passive crossover) active means youll amp each speaker and set your own crossovers If you go with good front stage you may as well delete the rears unless theirs subs So where are your current speakers located, and what size currently? id imagine frong doors, center of dash? And rear packsge tray?
LOL, I imagine that was good advice but a lot of that went over my head. I have three speakers up front, one in center one on either side. There are two mounted in the back seat facing the trunk ( it's a convertible).
Yeah, that your car is a convertible kind of left me wondering, because it's been my experience that 'verts are very noisy either top up or down, and IMHO a good sound system would be wasted in one. I just have the factory AM/FM units in my 2 convertibles, hooked up to the factory (new exact replacement) speakers. There's one in the front, which I can hear on the highway with the top down, and the one in the back, which I'll turn on in town or when the top is up. The Wildcat has a working factory 8 Track, and that provides what passed in 1967 for "stereo". Other than that, it's earbuds and an iPod, much better fidelity and it sort of provides a bit of ear protection from the rushing wind. The only thing with that is in some areas you'd better not let a cop see you, it's considered distracted driving. The fact is, in an American convertible from the 60s or the 70s, you can't really hear bugger-all anyway, unless you want to crank it very loud and entertain the neighborhood. that's just my opinion...take it for what little it's worth.
Ive never had a vert so really cant say. but to me sounds more reason to go active and amp every speaker amp for pair of tweeters amp for pair of mid ranges or one 4channel amp for both tweet/midrange and an amp for either subs or a pair of 8in Midbass
Here's a link to a place that can upgrade your stock radio with modern workings, and carries speakers designed to fit in stock locations. No hacking! I talked to a guy that had his stock '64 Skylark radio done and is very happy with it. http://www.billtheradioguy.com/
sounds cool, but doesn't mention anything about updating the DSP like a Burr-brown 24bit DAC Someone should inquire about that otherwise itd be a waste of monet a d youd be better off doing the A track skeleton mod or mount new HU somewhere hidden like glovebox or under seat System is only as good as its source
The Nailhead is the only music I need :Brow:. I do plan to upgrade my sound system one day by having the OE head unit gutted and modern electronics installed and dual voice coil speakers in the stock locations. The only time I listen to the radio is when the car is not running.
What you could do for some loud and clear sound would be a pair of sundown audio Neo Pro 6.5 pro audio speakers and some hybrid audio 6.5 imagine subwoofers (free air them in the 6x9 rear package tray holes) maybe some selenium tweets in dash location Selenium St200 up to the bigger ST400 Super Tweeter via part-express.com sundown audio neo pro 6.5 Jl audio 4 channel amp Thats be a cheap setup can always add bass down the line
Some good suggestions here. I think my main problem is coming up with the whole package. I have started doing some research online. I know I want Bluetooth so I can stream music and do hands free calls. I believe I do want an external amp and a sub-woofer. Marc makes a good point about it being a convertible but I still think good sounding music will still come through. From driving with the worn out system now, it doesn't have to be that much louder when the top is down. I'm going to keep researching and let you guys know what I come up with.
An amp will make any system sound so much better cause youre getting .ore then the 16 rms watts or so with any non amped system like i said prior this is the best head unit for the $$ 119 shipped http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-CZ702-Vehicle-Digital-Receiver/dp/B006WVXA0I Has blue tooth usb port burr brown DSP! If you ever go active down the road has digital time alignment and other stuff the only head unit similar in features is the pioneer 80prs which still goes for 240 250 ish
Mike the Clarion looks like it is a good receiver. I was also looking at the Sony MEX series. You familiar with them?
Right now I have a head unit in the glove box and 2 6x9 speakers in the rear deck (factory location), not bad. the HU has a remote control but the response is sluggish and a pain to use while driving. I plug my phone in via aux-in (it can bluetooth but that has a mind of it's own sometimes) I'm waiting to finish my console/floor shift conversion and then I'd like to see about moving the HU to the ashtray slot (sacrificing the ashtray interior/mechanics but keeping the door)
I left my stock stereo in place, then mounted an amp and everything out of site. My only connection is via a small earplug cord. But I can run that to satellite radio, an iDevice, my kid's video games, a laptop, or whatever. That is sufficient unless you are doing a $10,000 competition stereo installation - sound quality is quite good.
