Blackened 79

Does anyone have a Model # USA 3 ? I'm thinking of putting one in my 71
with a power amp to beef up the output .

sb69coupe

I have a USA-6 and have been underwhelmed with the quality. Sound quality is fair, but the digital display is not even visible given the angle of orientation of the radio in the bezel.

Shannon

ORVette

I have a USA3 I ordered from The Last Detail last year for $130, and it leaves a bit to be desired. It sounds great and has good power, but the tuning drifts alot, and it was supposed to come with pre-amp outputs, but I'll be darned if I can find them. Your post inspired me to finally write them an email and ask what's up? Anyway, I wish I would've saved a little longer and gotten a unit with digital tuning. The USA3 does look good and original though.

Jay M

I think the best thing to do is buy a used gauge pannel that has already been cut to fit a modern CD Head unit. Since it is cut it is much less expensive than a good one. I found one for $50

Right now I have a crappy Custom auto sound reciever:


I think it looks kind of ugly- it's no substitute for the stock radio. There is a recent thread with pictures of peoples' stereos. They look much better I think.

Another thing that someone on the forum did that I thought was very clever was to build a box that fits in the back that holds the amps, rear speakers, and head unit. He has learned to use an ir remote upside down to operate it. With that setup he can keep the stock radio in the dash.

Sony makes a marine remote control that would be ideal for that type of setup.



I'm planning on getting an XM reciever and decent amp and speakers. My local installer said that there won't be any problem placing the XM antenna under the fiberglass, he does that all the time on boats.

He also has a great place to put the amp- He mounts it in the jack compartment on the wall that the passenger seat leans against. It is safe and completely out of sight there. He also prefers putting 5 1/4" round speakers in the kick pannels. Even though All C3s after '69 I think had the front speakers in the dash, the still kept the perferated kick pannels all the way through '82

Once I save some more money I can get this installed. Right now I just ordered Steeroids, so the bank account is hurting a little;)

~Jay


[Modified by Jay M, 11:38 PM 7/9/2002]


[Modified by Jay M, 12:02 AM 7/10/2002]

Ken74Conv

Custom Autosound SUCKS!!! :U

I put one in my car spring of 2001 and I've only tryed using it 2 or 3 times.
I'm frustrated with the money I spent and all the work to put it in.
I'd rather listen to the exhaust anyway.

Lee70454

I'm with Ken74conv, do not waste your money on them.

Fevre

I got a Kenwood system and it is not too bad but it is WAY overpriced. I am getting a lot of radio interference but I don't think it is the stereo but a wiring issue, too much wire and too thin a wire. If I can get rid of the interference I am thinking of putting the org stereo back in and wiring one up under my vert top with a wired remote so it looks like the stock radio is in play but the aftermarket one is rocking. ;)

midyearguy

I have a nice used bezel from my 68' that I could sell if anyone needs it. I paid $300 for the new one but if anyone wants it make me an offer. My email is down so PM me or reply here. I also have a right hand side door panel, it's like brand new except the is a 6" slice in the top of it, can probably be fixed cheap. Also have the rest of the interior, all black if anyones interested. I'm replacing the entire interior so all the old stuff would be nice for a daily driver. Thanks

75Rag

I installed the Kenwood clone KNW 801. At least this one has a CD controller, and it's not too bad for basic operation. It fits perfectly in the existing opening (no carving) and with the RCA outs I connected a 500w Kenwood amp to power a sub and some additional rears. The deck itself has more than sufficient power to run the 4 4x6's I have in the dash a kick panels. All said... far too expensive for what it is but with no alterations to the dash the dollars even out. The sound...awsome. Even with the top down. :yesnod:

Roadster71

If you can, stay away from Custum auto sound. I returned my USA1 3 weeks ago and can't even get a answer to my e-mails on what it's status is.

dman535

I choose to have a factory radio converted. I had the guts ripped out and this conversion done that updates it to solid state stuff. It has 22 watts of power a side and has an auxillary input. I bought a $29 cd player at Best Buy, has 45 sec of anti skip and sounds great. Best part about the whole thing is that if someone walks by all they are going to see is a factory GM radio, they will look for the ricer with the KENWOOD sticker on the windshield to rip it off.

Check out the site :
http://www.westechradio.com

Ken74Conv

Good idea. Who did you have convert it?

JimBR0

Hey dman535, if you don't mind us asking.....how much? Westech Electronics does not advertise a price on the site.

Just thought I would ask the question everyone else didn't :bb

dman535

The web site is : http://www.westechradio.com
email is : newliferadio@aol.com

Send an email telling the guy what you have. My radio was like $399 and it didn't need any cosmetic work and I wanted a pre-amp out on it.

I was really impressed at the lack of noise playing through the radio. I bought a radio shack 12v adapter for the cd player and I realized just how quiet the radio was when I heard all this "noise" being generated by the 12 adapter. I ended up running the cd player on a couple of 1800mah nimih batteries.

DaveL82

Don't waste your money (I did)! I bought the unit that has a remote head so that I could mount additonal gauges in the dash. Can't get rid of the alternator whine.

Dave

g046678

I stuck a 50 watt amp in the back compartment of my 1978 vette ,and plug my IPOD into that. The stock DELCO stereo is there just to fill hte space.

Corellian Corvette

Check out my website. I have the CA Kenwood Unit w/ pre-outs and the 10 disc changer. 200 watt Rockford amp powering 6in alpine separates in the back. Head unit powers Pioneer 4x6 in the dash.

I'm REALLY happy with it. It's not the best you've ever heard, but considering that radio reception is good, I have 10 disc CD and it looks relatively stock, I'm happy. With the t-tops sound quality is good, with the tops off I can turn it up loud enough to hear the radio over wind noise.

Chuck Harmon

Chuck