Car Stereo

[Say Hey Kid]

https://www.carsdirect.com/aftermarket-parts/top-car-stereo-brands-consumer-review

What are your opinions on car stereo?

Click to read more...

 

[TD Charlie]

What specifically do you wanna know? This article is a dozen years old

20 years ago, when I was still into this sort of thing, I liked Panasonic head units, Infinity speakers, JBL amps, and Adire Audio for subs.

Now, it’s sort of a pain in the ass to tamper with factory sound, so I don’t do much of it anymore. I loved it back in high school/college

I did however, add a $30 receiver into the glove box of my ‘64 Malibu, with a cheap 4 ch Sony amp under the passenger seat that powers a pair of 3.5 inch Crunch two ways in the dash, and a paid of 6 inch Kenwood two ways in the package tray.

 

[TheAngryHank]

What specifically do you wanna know? This article is a dozen years old

20 years ago, when I was still into this sort of thing, I liked Panasonic head units, Infinity speakers, JBL amps, and Adire Audio for subs.

Now, it’s sort of a pain in the ass to tamper with factory sound, so I don’t do much of it anymore. I loved it back in high school/college

I did however, add a $30 receiver into the glove box of my ‘64 Malibu, with a cheap 4 ch Sony amp under the passenger seat that powers a pair of 3.5 inch Crunch two ways in the dash, and a paid of 6 inch Kenwood two ways in the package tray.

In my 65 impala I'm thinking a Bluetooth unit in my trunk , a fold down touch screen under the dash that can be invisible if I like with the stock AM radio where it belongs.
6x9 in the rear..as invisible as possible,
Thoughts?

Also , like to raise the rear an inch? This thing is low but the stance isn't quite how I like..I don't think.
Good thing is I can put blocks in the rear coils and if I don't like it just yank em..back meats are 275/60/15.

BTW, your chev is a beauty

 

[TD Charlie]

In my 65 impala I'm thinking a Bluetooth unit in my trunk , a fold down touch screen under the dash that can be invisible if I like with the stock AM radio where it belongs.
6x9 in the rear..as invisible as possible,
Thoughts?

Also , like to raise the rear an inch? This thing is low but the stance isn't quite how I like..I don't think.
Good thing is I can put blocks in the rear coils and if I don't like it just yank em..back meats are 275/60/15.

BTW, your chev is a beauty
View attachment 842470

What does that have for factory speaker locations? I always felt like 6x9 speakers in the rear tray just muddied the balance. As i get older i prefer highs and clarity over loud and boomy.

I would just reuse the factory speaker locations if you can. Fit pairs of whatever you can in factory locations, replace any center channel speakers. If the rear has holes for a pair of 6.5 speakers then just stick with a good set of two ways of the same size. The Malibu had a single 4x10 in the dash, so i made my own bracket that holds a pair of 3.5 inch two ways. I wouldn’t have added anything else but somebody had already cut holes in the rear deck, so i figured i would use them. The interior needed to be torn out to re-wire the back speakers. I didn’t trust the existing wiring, and sure enough they were out of phase.

The amp i used is the Sony XMS400D. For the money i highly recommend it. I forget the power rating on it, but i saw a few reviews where it was tested thoroughly and the constant power was far more than advertised. Most head units can’t provide much power and speakers struggle to produce the volume we call for, so it destroys the speakers. The closer you can match the rms ratings on speakers and amp the better

I opted to use the glove box for the head unit because i ran a usb and aux cable out the back and under the carpet, then punched it up under the passenger seat. So i have BT, but also easy radio/cd/usb/aux access. Pioneer makes a good one for about 100 bucks

Definitely leave the factory radio where it is, unless you replace it with the retro sound unit that sorta matches the aesthetic. Just be mindful of impedances on those, and any factory speakers you might reuse. I kept the original 4x10 speaker, just cuz i don’t wanna trash any original parts, but it’s sitting safely in the garage. I would just shove the cheapest BT unit in the glove box though. Unless you’re going full blown restomod, big screens and such don’t really fit in.

I agree on raising the rear an inch. It would immediately give the car a more mean and aggressive look.

 

[TheAngryHank]

What does that have for factory speaker locations? I always felt like 6x9 speakers in the rear tray just muddied the balance. As i get older i prefer highs and clarity over loud and boomy.

I would just reuse the factory speaker locations if you can. Fit pairs of whatever you can in factory locations, replace any center channel speakers. If the rear has holes for a pair of 6.5 speakers then just stick with a good set of two ways of the same size. The Malibu had a single 4x10 in the dash, so i made my own bracket that holds a pair of 3.5 inch two ways. I wouldn’t have added anything else but somebody had already cut holes in the rear deck, so i figured i would use them. The interior needed to be torn out to re-wire the back speakers. I didn’t trust the existing wiring, and sure enough they were out of phase.

The amp i used is the Sony XMS400D. For the money i highly recommend it. I forget the power rating on it, but i saw a few reviews where it was tested thoroughly and the constant power was far more than advertised. Most head units can’t provide much power and speakers struggle to produce the volume we call for, so it destroys the speakers. The closer you can match the rms ratings on speakers and amp the better

I opted to use the glove box for the head unit because i ran a usb and aux cable out the back and under the carpet, then punched it up under the passenger seat. So i have BT, but also easy radio/cd/usb/aux access. Pioneer makes a good one for about 100 bucks

Definitely leave the factory radio where it is, unless you replace it with the retro sound unit that sorta matches the aesthetic. Just be mindful of impedances on those, and any factory speakers you might reuse. I kept the original 4x10 speaker, just cuz i don’t wanna trash any original parts, but it’s sitting safely in the garage. I would just shove the cheapest BT unit in the glove box though. Unless you’re going full blown restomod, big screens and such don’t really fit in.

I agree on raising the rear an inch. It would immediately give the car a more mean and aggressive look.

Got ya.. the big meats with the steel rims and dog dish caps speak I'm all business so mean is kinda the goal ,
The touch screen under dash ,ill make a bracket with hinges and will fold up and vanish retaining the factory look.rear speaker is semi built in the top center of the back seat. I'll grab a pic..pretty cool. Idk the size but small.

 

[TD Charlie]

Got ya.. the big meats with the steel rims and dog dish caps speak I'm all business so mean is kinda the goal ,
The touch screen under dash ,ill make a bracket with hinges and will fold up and vanish retaining the factory look.rear speaker is semi built in the top center of the back seat. I'll grab a pic..pretty cool. Idk the size but small.

I found some pics online. I love the look of that, but functionality wise it certainly adds more questions than answers. I wonder if you could retro fit a couple 5 inch speakers in there somehow. Or like you said, use the package tray and mount a pair of speakers up there, leave the factory rear speaker location empty, just have the cover there for looks.

I just hate the idea of cutting into the rear deck. Mine was already cut up and when I had to snip back a little more to make a slightly larger hole, it still hurt my heart to do it.

 

[TaLoN]

Custom car stereos were big back when factory installed systems were bad.

Now, factory systems are pretty damned good, so unless your looking to blow out windows or let the entire neighborhood hear your system, it's not worth it for the most part.