Input on Radio Selection

[Bobs 67S]

I'm a neophyte for anything audio so I'm looking to the experienced guys to give an opinion on a radio for a noisy old high revving 911. For cross country trips a radio is essential.

The ideal radio would be good sound from the smallest package (read - light weight). I'm spending a lot of time and attention to get rid of weight in the car so I'm not looking to add pounds in speaker magnets, if you know what I mean. It's got to be heard over a (slightly louder than stock) exhaust.

As a starting point a budget for the radio (under $150) such as a Blaupunkt Montreal
(or something comparable) it has a built in amp with 23 watts, and it has a less complicated face to (somewhat) match the simplicity of the car. A CD player and the possibility to hook up an Ipod would be good, too.

Speakers will be in a 3.5", 4" or 5.25" size. I'm not looking to cut up the door panels so a alternate location of mounted under the dash or in the kick panels is being entertained. Budget is under $75.
Starting point is:
Rockford FRC4205, 5 1/4" 2 way, 2-25 watts ($60)
or
Audiobahn AS40Q, 4" 160 watt ($30)
or
Rockford FRC3205, 5 1/4" co-axial ($30)

Smaller is better for installation into a tight area.

Would this combination even work? Would it make anything better than just noise?

Anybody have a recommendation for other products to get to these goals within this budget?

Thanks,
Bob

[rick2]

I found 4 brand new blaupunkt 5.25 at a best buy for $4 each The young kid there actually cared enough to help me out. They were a very old style and were not in the computer so his manager made up a price. I then made kick panels out of fiber board from home depot and covered with leather I cut from some guy's couch he threw out on the side of the road. I sound like a hobo but it looked nice.

[mjmoran]

How about go for a Sirrus or XM portable set-up that will go to a single MB Quart or Boston (higher end type) coax speaker in the speaker location on the dash. Go mono. You can also then plug your IPOD in the head phone jack on the XM unit and hear all the tunes. Keep the stock radio where it is and mount the XM set-up in the glove box or under the dash.

[Ivs]

When I received my vehicle it no longer had the stock radio. I searched for awhile w/o success, I had no idea this board or Pelican existed. With the help of this board I have been able to find various parts and great advice. Back on topic, Since I could not find an original radio I decided to go w/ something fun so I installed a Blaupunkt RNS 150 navigation / CD / AM-FM unit. This proved to be somewhat of a pain since I had to have a wheel sensor installed to provide the data required to calculate GPS coordinates etc. Since then I have been able to find the correct radio and hardware and now want the more correct/original look. I do want new technology w/ GPS,so what I am going to do is this.... I found a radio / CD changer that is hidden and operates by radio frequency remote control [ www.customautosound.com ] . This enables me to put the unit in the smugglers box and still be able to operate it. The period correct Frankfurt will be placed in the dash, and I will have a stock look w/ todays technology. I will probably purchase a portable GPS unit as well.

[RC70SCoupe]

I asked this question not too long ago. I wanted to keep the IROC radio delete plate sticker I had made up.

I went to the factory in Fullerton. All very nice, helpful sales people. I have the 10 disc in the trunk, the radio/controller in the glove box. The radio is GREAT. The RF remote works better than expected. Plenty odf power, even without the amp. The only hitch with the remote, no screen display to tell you radio station/CD you are playing. I kept the optional corded screen display. Its very small, fits fine in front of the e-brake handle.

If you want to keep your original radio in the dash, but have a modern stereo, check them out.

[Bobs 67S]

Thanks for the info Ivs and RC70SCoupe.

CustomAutoSound.com has # USA 1 Cassette, in a size to fit a 356, which I believe is also a fitment for the early 911's.

Their dash top speaker replacement is ver r r r y interesting. One looks to be a carbon fiber holder with smaller speakers attached.

The goal is to have the modern sound with the least amount of weight. Puting two radio units will be a weight dis-advantage.

For the combination of radio and speakers it looks like the Rockford Fosgate speakers are ok. Nothing bad said about them.

Other radio/CDs are a hard match for the 1960's period dash. Some of the choises at least have predominetly black faces and a minimum of small fussy buttons rather than the current light colors and a ton of gee-gaw buttons.

The least offensive for appearance are the Clarion DB345MP, the Sony CDX R 5515X and the Kenwood KDC 1028.

Has anyone had experience with these? The previous picks had some folks pinching there noses, which I read as "there are better out there". Hopefully there is a good one in this batch.

By the way Jim, that Nakamichi with the "black face and at least one knob" must be a really nice unit (it costs about the same as a set of Hooziers).

Thanks again,
Bob

[Paul Schooley]

Ray, I need to come up with a radio delete plate. Got any photos I could use to make one up?

[ttweed]

Ray, I need to come up with a radio delete plate. Got any photos I could use to make one up?

Paul-
The dealer still sells them. Not correct for an early car, but cheap enough and the perfect surface to put one of Ray's stickers onto.

TT

[RC70SCoupe]

Paul,

Check out the dealers as TT suggested. Maybe Dave B. at Road and Race also.

I made the IROC sticker to fit directly on the delete plate. When I reupholstered the dash strips, I did not cut out the material for the radio, or the plate. I put the sticker directly on the material where the plate would go.

You may want to try this before cutting any of your dash material.

Shamless plug: I will have the 901 and 915 stickers at the Lit. Show this Saturday.

[RussianBlue]

... sorry off topic a bit but for my delete plate I just cut a piece of aluminum that I bought at home depot for pennies - then cut to fit.....

..... then if you have any old panels laying around (ez if you have black already) just pull the leather off, cut to size and glue with 3M... then slide the piece right in....
..... not difficult except you have to cut the leather just a bit shorter in order to be able to slide the piece in w/out binding up... you'll understand.

As far as radio ideas - hmmm my thoughts are to not have a "radio" but only an Mp3 type player (these can be miniscule in size and weight) - you can hook this up to speakers etc...

Just download what you want for your daily trips and listen to that w/out any commercials etc.... Also it can be totally removable and very discrete, make a small mount under the dash and go with the no radio look!

... just an idea.......


PS resizing my pics really gets annoying