I am looking to replace the stereo in my 69 Vette. I wanted to try to stay with an original style look while also having an auxiliary input in the front. I may be an idiot but do not understand the auxiliary inputs in the back of the stereo that seems to be the option on most stereos out there.

Can anyone give any recommendations? I am also trying to avoid spending over $300 for the stereo as I am also going to be purchasing a new sound bar to put in the back of the car.

 

aux inputs is what I run my mp3 player into in an old alpine unit, the unit is old no front ports, if I was buying new for my 69 I would either get something I do not have to cut the dash to fit but my dash is already cut so I will use any low end unit with mp3 or sd card slots in the front...

 

I actually bought my retrosound model 2 from ecklers when they had a 20% off sale. Its about the only one out there that comes blue tooth ready. Yes it was over your 300 threshold, not by much, but probably the best bang for the buck. All the wiring inputs are in the back but are long enough to route to a convenient out of the way location.

 

I just installed the Retro Sound Model Two in my 68 a few weeks ago. Very Very dissapointed !!!!! I bought the Model Two radio, their Quad 4 amp and their speakers, 4x6 for the kick panels and 6x9 in their Retro Pods mounted against the rear wall of the cargo area. Sounds like crap with their speakers!! I just replaced the 4x6 in the kicks with Polk DB651s Slim Mount Coaxials the upfront today. Sounds a little better but still sub par !! Will next replace the rear 6x9 with something else. Haven't decided yet what 6x9. Radio reception is not good!! I used two different brand new antennas and didn't make any difference. If you have a roadster (convertible) forget about ever seeing the lit dial on the radio durring the day !! I have to stop the car, pull over and cup my hands around the face of the radio to see the lit dial !! Overall...... Don't waste your money on the Retro Sound radio !! Hold off, save more money and buy something else !! I have installed many audio systems in my cars since the late 70's. I'm no expert or tech kind of guy. But I have had others that sound much, much better. I will probably replace this system next winter with an Auto Audio system !! I give Retro Sound a "D-" grade !!!!! Good luck, Tom.

 

tomdoc, what's your take on the Polk front speakers you installed? Thanks T

 

I like big boomin' stereos! Always have, currently in my DD I'm running a Alpine head unit with Kicker 6" components w crossovers (the tweeter is separate from the mid speaker) in front, 4"in rear, 2 kicker 12" solobaric subs, two amps, capacitor, 1 ott power cable, sounds incredible with all types of music.
For great ideas on a system, Google Crutchfield.com, great customer service.
They know what will fit in our corvettes, speaker sizes etc and general ideas and pricing.
For head units, I have always had good luck with Kenwood, Alpine, Sony- stay away from Pioneer and Clarion- will shut down from heat soak in the old Vettes. You want something with highest RMS speaker power, if you are going to run a amp, make sure the head unit has a high power preamp signal 2-5v, they do sell new center face plate bezel with head units at Mid America Corvettes if you want to take a look, with or without radio, so you don't have to cut the original.
Make sure when you run speaker system wires, that you run power for everything on (what I do) the driver side, under carpet, then on passenger side run all speaker and signal wires, especially when you run amps.
Tomdoc sound like you need a antenna filter, should help radio reception, and tape the antenna connections with electrical tape, do you have the distributor shielding on car?- yes stay away from retro sound.
Oh and most important- a good ground!

 

Hi Terry, The Polk speakers I installed in the kick panels sound much better then the 4x6 speakers I bought from Retro Sound. But like I said in the above post, the Retro Sound radio with the added power of the Retro Sound Quad 4 amp is just a very poor system. The Polk Slim Mount Coaxial speakers just squeak in the kicks and I would recommend them !! Tom.

 

I have been googling everything, trust me. The problem is, I don't like the look of the Retro Sound radios, and they have the aux connect in the rear which means I would have to somehow work a wire to where it is hanging out hte front so I can access it.

For those telling me Alpine, Kenwood, etc...I know they are great stereos, but as I said I am trying to keep with the original look. That seems to leave me with 3 brands - KHE (which has not so great reveiws), CustomSound (which has bad reviews), and RetroAudio (which I dont' like the looks and aux is only in back).

To say the least it sounds like I am screwed. Just have to decide which is the lesser evil. I will be adding a sound bar to the back of the car for better speakers along with the 4x6 speakers in the front.

 

I used the Polk DB651 upfront and with my amp they sound really good and clean.

I get really good volume out of them as well. In the rear I used those 6x9 boxes with Polk Polk DB691. The amp I have is a 4 way 75 watt alpine and while it won't knock your socks off I can listen to music with the top down at freeway speeds.

I went with the Retro Zuma, and of course as soon as I bough it the Hermosa came out which has streaming blue tooth.

As for the cables I'm running them into the ash try for easy access.

 

I went with a new head unit because I don't like the 'old' look, but it is up to you. My set up is a little different because I use my Fiero seat speakers as my rears.

When you researched the 3 head units, do they have pre-amp outs or only speaker outputs? If they offer pre-amp you can fix most of the problems with the crappy sound by pushing the speakers thru an external Amp.

I do not use any power from my head unit, I run everything to a set of Amps mounted on the back wall. You can hide them up under the rear deck lid if you don't want to see them.

I have Kicker 4x6 in the dash and down in the kicks. I used a capacitor filter for the lowers to get more mid-range out of them. I did NOT want to see my speakers from anyone walking by. My 'rears' are stock crappy GM 3.5" speakers in the Fierro headrests, but I have 4 new kickers in a box here in my office waiting for the new leather covers to come from Mr Mike.

I also have an 8" Infinity Sub built into the jack compartment which solves any base issues related to 4x6 speakers in the front. The fronts give me high's and mid's and the sub fills in the lows. The headrest speakers fill allow me to hear the words as I am driving with the roof off.

I have no idea where the original car had rear speakers. Mine were cut into the rear wall, which I removed and re-fiberglass'd.

Good luck.

 

Have your original radio sent out to be upgraded with newer parts and add an aux input to it. It isn't very hard to do.

manufacturers put the aux inputs in the rear because they figue you will keep you Ipod in the glove box and that way you can keep wires out of sight and behind your dash.