Old cars and stereos

[Detective D]

Been working on my newer truck stereo since we got a sunny afternoon in WI. Made me think about this forum and I was curious:
What stereo is in your car?
Did you keep it stock? Did you put a giant sub in the trunk with a big amp? Did you cut more holes in the package tray to make room for more speaker?
Can your old car even take a modern speaker in the door? Would you want it to?
Do you hide your modern bluetooth head unit or did you cut the dash to take it?

Just wondering what people have done with their rides. To me, music is a big part of cars and Every vehicle I have owned , save one, has had a good radio or I put one in.

Most recent I am working on the stereo in my 2002 2500HD, full rebuild basically. But that's sort of mundane.
I did put a nice stereo in my Ramcharger. Alpine head unit/CD player, upgraded all 4 speakers to 6x9, added a small inline amp to boost the volume and clarity in that huge box. Might add a bazooka sub behind the rear seat in the future, but it does the trick plenty well for now without having to run a big amp.

 

[YY1]

I have a circa 2005 Pioneer CD/USB/eighth inch aux 25 WPC DIN head unit mounted in a factory cassette pod.

Currently Onkyo bookshelf speakers (with very odd specs making them suitable for car use) but plan to put either 6x9s in the factory package tray location with a 60-75 WPC amp, or a 2x10" box above the axle with the seperate tweeters on the package tray and a 100-150 WPC amp. Neither of those options will require any cutting of factory sheet metal.

Not interested in cutting the doors, either, but might entertain mounting shallow mid-bass drivers or co-axial 5 1/4's in the kick panels and perforating a second set of covers.

 

[Ron H]

Put in a Hermosa Retro radio in my '63 vert and made up movable speakers stowing under the seats. I don't like those so hunting for other options. Sound in a vert is an extra hassle. Didn't find a lot of choices for shaft mount radios and this one didn't require cutting other than the bezel plate (I have 3 of them so cutting one wasn't a problem). Made up an aluminum face plate behind the bezel and used the original knobs. Has more features than I wanted; but liked the power antenna and flash drive.

 

[Triplegreen500]

My '72 Satellite wagon was already cut when I got it (stock was both knobs on one side of the display), so I installed a single-DIN Alpine tape deck when I got it ('92). That's still in there; I may replace it with a newer single-din bluetooth Alpine I have in the garage. Back in the day, I also added 5-1/4" speakers in the front kick panels (in front of the doors, under the dash), and in the D pillars on either side of the tailgate glass. And, being a 2-row car it has the YUGE cavern under the trunk floor, which got a 12" sub and a 450w amp (hey...it was college...). Amp and sub are long gone and I've just been listening to the dual 3" exhaust...but may put tunes back in.

My Charger is bone stock (AM radio and everything), and honestly I enjoy the car so much I don't miss music at all when I'm driving it. And for me - an audio engineer - that's saying something! IF I do anything in the Charger, it will be a BT unit in the glovebox (I feel less bad about cutting cardboard; would get a new box to cut and keep the original) with speakers in the stock location. Nothing "hi fidelity", no subs, just...background. But I just don't feel the need at this point.

My '91 Daytona has been through generational changes as well. I bought it new when I was 19; for a while it had a stock head unit with upgraded speakers in stock locations. For a while there was an amp an a sub in the trunk. For a while it was an aftermarket head unit. Then, it went back to the stock head unit for appearances, no amp, no sub, but still has the upgraded speakers in stock locations (dash tweeters; 5-1/4" doors; 4x6" in the quarter panels). Then the stock head unit crapped out completely so I installed (you guessed it - they're bulletproof for me and cheap) a bluetooth Alpine unit, and kept the stocker for when I show the car at survivor events.

My truck (01 Ram 2500) has stock speakers (A-post tweeters, front door 6x9s, rear door 5-1/4" that I added component tweeters to) and - yep - a bluetooth Alpine head unit.

My 06 Wrangler is just getting started - bought it last winter, still figuring out all the mods it's going to get over time (hey...it's a Jeep...). But I've already got my Alpine bluetooth head unit in, driving the stock dash and soundbar speakers. I have an old amp in the garage (the one from the wagon years ago, actually) that may find its way in, with a sub of some sort...to be determined.

I like the Alpines because they're $129 all day long; you can change the colors to match your dash lighting; they've got a very good EQ setup so you can really tailor them to your speakers and get excellent quality even from stock speakers; they have all the preamp outputs you could want (all channels, plus sub), and with bluetooth you get phone capability, streaming capability, and I can use the Sirius app in any vehicle I have, right from my phone.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

Jvc 8 track, wired to a 250w equalizer/booster under the seat. Two kenwood 4” speakers in the dash. 2 pioneer 6x9s in the package tray. Looks correct, sounds great.

 

[Detective D]

Put in a Hermosa Retro radio in my '63 vert and made up movable speakers stowing under the seats. I don't like those so hunting for other options. Sound in a vert is an extra hassle. Didn't find a lot of choices for shaft mount radios and this one didn't require cutting other than the bezel plate (I have 3 of them so cutting one wasn't a problem). Made up an aluminum face plate behind the bezel and used the original knobs. Has more features than I wanted; but liked the power antenna and flash drive.

View attachment 1461928

That looks really nice in there. Using the original knobs made a big difference IMO, it just makes it "match" the rest of your dash somehow.

 

[Detective D]

My '72 Satellite wagon was already cut when I got it (stock was both knobs on one side of the display), so I installed a single-DIN Alpine tape deck when I got it ('92). That's still in there; I may replace it with a newer single-din bluetooth Alpine I have in the garage. Back in the day, I also added 5-1/4" speakers in the front kick panels (in front of the doors, under the dash), and in the D pillars on either side of the tailgate glass. And, being a 2-row car it has the YUGE cavern under the trunk floor, which got a 12" sub and a 450w amp (hey...it was college...). Amp and sub are long gone and I've just been listening to the dual 3" exhaust...but may put tunes back in.

My Charger is bone stock (AM radio and everything), and honestly I enjoy the car so much I don't miss music at all when I'm driving it. And for me - an audio engineer - that's saying something! IF I do anything in the Charger, it will be a BT unit in the glovebox (I feel less bad about cutting cardboard; would get a new box to cut and keep the original) with speakers in the stock location. Nothing "hi fidelity", no subs, just...background. But I just don't feel the need at this point.

My '91 Daytona has been through generational changes as well. I bought it new when I was 19; for a while it had a stock head unit with upgraded speakers in stock locations. For a while there was an amp an a sub in the trunk. For a while it was an aftermarket head unit. Then, it went back to the stock head unit for appearances, no amp, no sub, but still has the upgraded speakers in stock locations (dash tweeters; 5-1/4" doors; 4x6" in the quarter panels). Then the stock head unit crapped out completely so I installed (you guessed it - they're bulletproof for me and cheap) a bluetooth Alpine unit, and kept the stocker for when I show the car at survivor events.

My truck (01 Ram 2500) has stock speakers (A-post tweeters, front door 6x9s, rear door 5-1/4" that I added component tweeters to) and - yep - a bluetooth Alpine head unit.

My 06 Wrangler is just getting started - bought it last winter, still figuring out all the mods it's going to get over time (hey...it's a Jeep...). But I've already got my Alpine bluetooth head unit in, driving the stock dash and soundbar speakers. I have an old amp in the garage (the one from the wagon years ago, actually) that may find its way in, with a sub of some sort...to be determined.

I like the Alpines because they're $129 all day long; you can change the colors to match your dash lighting; they've got a very good EQ setup so you can really tailor them to your speakers and get excellent quality even from stock speakers; they have all the preamp outputs you could want (all channels, plus sub), and with bluetooth you get phone capability, streaming capability, and I can use the Sirius app in any vehicle I have, right from my phone.

How do you feel about Alpine?

 

[WileERobby]

 

[Budnicks]

I have a Pioneer CD/Cassette AM/FM like 100 total (?) 20 watt/per channel head,
in my current 68 RR (no idea what model)
also has Pioneer 2) 6x9's on the back package tray, uncutt
some sort of new speaker in the OE under/center dash location
it all came in the car when I bought it
the 2nd owner installed it, sometime prior to Dec. 2005
it was really the only decent install electrical-wise in the car
doesn't look hacked, so I'll leave it...

My 1999 Dakota SLT 4x4 still has the
OE cd/cassette 20amp equiliser/20 watt per/channel
sounds OK/decent still, 7 speakers, I'm not big on stereos
as long as they work & don't sand like gravely ****, I'm good
speakers
2 in the back side panels, down by the back seat base
2 in the front doors, in the kick panels
2 tweeters up top of the doors/front
1 center of the dash

I think I do have several original radios for RRs/Chargers out in the shed
I think I still have an org. 8 track AM/FDM too
I doubt I'd ever reinstall...

The new Jeep Gladiator Rubicon (de-badged) Limited/Launch Edition
has the OE sound system, big heads-up display
like 8 speakers, 100amp driver/equal. (?) 40 watt (?) per/channel
far superior to my others

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

I sent my am radio out to this place. Radio conversions for classic vehicles | Aurora Design

 

[70ChargerRT]

Retro Redondo Thumbwheel radio, 4” kickers in the kickpanels, 6x9 kickers in the package tray, 2 10” JBL Subs in the trunk and 5 Channel 700 watt amp in my Charger