Pic Request (pretty please): Retrosound stereo in-dash!

[THODGES89]

Hi all,

Really likin' the Retrosound stereos I'm seeing. From everything I've seen, here and VMF, Retrosound>Custom Autosound. Will it support an amp and pooossible 5-6 channel system? They don't advertise rca outputs as I've heard you need for an amp. I'm thinking about the black face with 'chrome' bezel. As for knobs? Too many choices...

http://www.retrosoundusa.com/products/details/id/15

 

[Flatback72]

Here's a pic of mine, black face and chrome bezel just like you want. I also went for the plain chrome knobs for lack of a more authentic choice, and was pleasantly surprised by how nice they look when installed.

Installation issues were minor - I had bought a brand new heater/stereo dash bezel and found the plastic adapter bezel was about 1mm (0.040") taller than the dash bezel opening, so I carefully filed the opening in the dash bezel until the plastic bezel fit. As can be seen in the pic the adapter bezel is just a smidgeon too narrow and I did a pretty poor job of centering it (I'll have another go at that another day). Also, the supplied plastic adapter bezel has a chrome plating that is very thin and fragile, and care needs to be taken not to scratch it when installing. I scratched mine in a couple of places and in hindsight would have put a layer of tape over the chrome to protect it until the installation was complete.

I don't have an amp, the unit is plugged into a pair of rear deck 9 inch speakers which gives me ample volume even at highway speeds with the windows down. So it's my opinion that an amp is not needed unless headbanger volume is wanted.

The unit does have two RCA outputs.

I installed the USB cable under the dash on the right and you can just see the tip of the USB stick just to the left of the right hand vent knob.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Nice!

I too have seen/heard that Retrosound is a better unit than the Custom Autosound system - which is too bad, because I really prefer the CAS unit's appearance (it looks more like a stock unit and even has the cool AM radio slide tuner-looking numbers on the LCD panel making it look even more stock when the unit's off). I've read/heard (mostly at VMF) that the CAS unit has performance issues and that the Retrosound unit has superior sound and volume, but that's mostly from folks that do not use amps for driving the speakers. The one guy I found that runs amps seems happy with CAS unit feeding the amps. I believe the CAS unit has 2 more RCA outputs as well, which should support a 5-6 channel set-up. If not, you can always run a splitter off the rear channel into a crossover 4-channel or separate crossover/amp for the subs (like I did in my Jeep).

Since I'm a 'headbanger-level' kinda guy, I'll probably be running multiple amps with a couple of subs in a box under the package tray. Whichever unit best supports that configuration will be what I go with. Which means I need to do a lot more research to make that determination.

But - that Retrosound unit looks awesome in your dashboard, Brett. Glad to hear it's serving you well!

 

[THODGES89]

AWESOME flatback. Just what I needed-thank you tons. I'm glad you're happy with your setup. It looks like my uncle Vic did a little customization back in the day-I think I've found two speakers in each door and someone put one in each quarter panel :-/ Anyway looks like I've got options.

Thanks for the input mister! I'll definitely be referencing this when I decide what to do.


This is what I'm working with, by the way. Someone already hacked the bezel. I'll be getting a new one as well.

 

[imusa76]

in the link above, they do offer stock looking knobs.

I would go with them if you looking for the stock look.

 

[matrixx]

my experience with custom autosound is not very good. I bought a $300 unit for my 65 coupe and it lasted all of about 8 months. It looked great and worked great and then it died. talked to customer service and they would not honor a warranty because my car was not garaged or covered when not in use and that possible water damage occurred?!?. Really? I asked if i could send them the unit and see if it could be repaired, they agreed but if there was any cost involved i would have to pay in order to get the unit back to me. I never sent it and the unit was still in the car as a placeholder when i sold it. The back light would come on but no digital numbers or sound at all would come through. Any-who my dash has been cut or trimmed to fit a single din CD deck so i'm not worried about it now. let us know how the retrosound works out if you go that route.

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

50x4 watts? that pretty freakin awesome straight out of a deck!!! you can run decent speakers with that.

what i would do is run 3.5 speakers in the dash hole and 6.5 circle speakers in the doors.

i have a 65% drag 35% street car, and i still want a radio. it'll be nice not to have to have a external amplifier!!!!

ALSO, STILL NEED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE I'M IN THE PITS WAITING FOR MY PASS TO COME UP!!

 

[matrixx]

50x4 watts? that pretty freakin awesome straight out of a deck!!! you can run decent speakers with that.

what i would do is run 3.5 speakers in the dash hole and 6.5 circle speakers in the doors.

i have a 65% drag 35% street car, and i still want a radio. it'll be nice not to have to have a external amplifier!!!!

ALSO, STILL NEED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE I'M IN THE PITS WAITING FOR MY PASS TO COME UP!!

My understanding is 50x4 is that its 50w spread equally among 4 channels. Hence there would be 12.5w per speaker. Not much to be excited about as that's usually the norm. I doubt they would have a 200w built in.

 

[73vertproject]

Years ago, I remember looking for "head banging" amps and when I came across a 100W amp (this is many years ago) I would be jacked until I saw it was 100W (25W x 4), with only 25 watts coming from each of the 4 channels. Which was for 8 ohm speakers, so if you were running 4 ohm speakers you could double that (50 watts) per channel.

 

[imusa76]

Years ago, I remember looking for "head banging" amps and when I came across a 100W amp (this is many years ago) I would be jacked until I saw it was 100W (25W x 4), with only 25 watts coming from each of the 4 channels. Which was for 8 ohm speakers, so if you were running 4 ohm speakers you could double that (50 watts) per channel.

is that 25w with RMS or Peak?

I used to to Stereo installed in the 90's while in High school, I was the guy to see before buying anything, I always used to look for the most RMS watts @ 4 ohms, and a very low THD (Total Harmonic Distortion), my car used to putout 132 DB @ the sound offs, that explans the hearing issues!!

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

50x4 watts? that pretty freakin awesome straight out of a deck!!! you can run decent speakers with that.

what i would do is run 3.5 speakers in the dash hole and 6.5 circle speakers in the doors.

i have a 65% drag 35% street car, and i still want a radio. it'll be nice not to have to have a external amplifier!!!!

ALSO, STILL NEED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE I'M IN THE PITS WAITING FOR MY PASS TO COME UP!!

My understanding is 50x4 is that its 50w spread equally among 4 channels. Hence there would be 12.5w per speaker. Not much to be excited about as that's usually the norm. I doubt they would have a 200w built in.

if thats the case, i'm going to crack down on the company because 50x4 means 50 watts to 4 separate channels.

if its really a 12.5 x 4 then that should state that.

i am a stereo install and stereo kind of guy so i know my stereo.

most car speakers are 4 ohms and home speakers are mostly 8ohm. and woofers on the other hand are anywhere from single 2 to 4ohms and a double 2 to 4 ohms.

 

[matrixx]

I'm not saying I'm an expert on it but I've done plenty of stereo installs just about most head units today are 40x4 45x4 or 50x4. From Jensen to pioneer, that's when external amps come into play.

 

[imusa76]

you have to look carefully at the specs.

some are 50x4 which is peak watts = 200w peak, and some say 50x4 which is 50w divided by 4 = 12.5w peak watts. ita all if the fine print.

same goes for Amplifres, they look great saying 1000W, but if you look at the specs you get 250w x 4 per chanel Watts peak, @ 2% THD , and 100w x 4 RMS @0.1 THD.

now on some of the High End amp, they say 1000w, you get 250w x 4 per chanel Watts peak, @ 0.5% THD , and 180w x 4 RMS @0.1 THD.

 

[will e]

My retro deck is retro. It actually has a casette player in it.

 

[imusa76]

over that last 2 week I ended up Removing the 90's Kenwood 25X4 shaft radio I had installed, and I bought from E-bay, a 1972 AM/FM Thunderbird Radio (it has 4 channels) and I installed that, and I'm going to use a FM modulator to use my MP3 player.

as for the speakers I have two 3 1/2" Pioneer in the dash location, at some point someone installed rear speakers, so I have two 5 1/4" Pioneer and there covered so they look stock. ( I know Mustangs did not have rear speaker, just the Door) it looks stock, and sounds good

I'll see how it sounds in the summer with the top down on the highway!! if I can even hear it

 

[chompz]

I m just about to finish my sound system in my 71 grande and i bougth one of this retro soun stereos they work great the only issue its that the remote didnt work but thats because i was cheap and bougth it from the refubished store on ebay... I put a memphis cross over and 2 amps one for the voices and one for the sub. i put two small db drive in the dash and 2 6 X 9 on the back you cant see either of those. And 1 12" sub in the trunk. I must say that its sounds really good i will post some pictures of the instalation when its finished and this unit its working great Im really happy with this purchase

 

[Blueoval71]

I've installed a dozen or so of the Retrosound units in the last few years and they are decent. The output chips are sub par compared to premium aftermarket units, so lous exhaust will overdrive the radio power. The Custom Autosound units used to be solid because they were using Pioneer and Kenwood units with re-badged faces (bowtie or running horse). The current Custom Autosound products have terrible tuner sections and extremely poor output chips (low wattage/high distortion). The advertised power output is extremely misleading. The chipsets used in current quality radios (I sell Kenwood) will put out 18-22 watts X 4 of clean useable power. The "advertised" power of 50 X 4 given by most companies is measured with no speaker load, thus a high floating AC voltage. Its sort of like horsepower at the flywheel vs rear wheel.