For my next project I would like to get better sounding music, right now it is all stock and I use one of those blue tooth adapters that causes some static and also falls out on bumps or random times (not fun). I Would like to get blue tooth built into the head unit but do not want it to look "new." I would like to keep the same "stock" or "Retro" look as possible. What it comes to is these few questions.

1.) what speakers are good but not going to break my bank, I do not have in mind how much this will cost but do not want the BEST sound system, just better, preferably With blue tooth built in so I do not need to use an adapter. I would like to have the head unit look as "retro" as possible but does not need to have a cassette tape of course.

2.) How hard is the wiring, I have not done it before and honestly do not like the idea of messing with it since I am not good with finding problems if they were to come. Is this something that is easy to learn or is there a lot of issues that this can cause.

3.) Will I need an amp, and if so which one and setup should I go with. I have seen old forums here with ideas but those are nearing 20 years old and I only assume that there are better options now.

4.) You have any other better Ideas that I could use, such as a better adapter that does not fall out as easy that does not have static at high volume, Which I do not think is out there but am ignorant with those facts.

Thank you all for any input and look forward to any ideas.

 

First thing you'd need to show the experts here is what radio you have now. Bose, Delco, aftermarket?

Pic wouldn't be a bad idea either.

 

All stock Bose/Delco on the covers. Not to sure if this help. Sorry the hard top is in the back right now so makes it hard to take those pics. Let me know if this helps or if I should send something else. Thanks👍

 

Okay, a factory Bose system. That will help a lot.

There's people here a lot more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am, so I'll defer to them. My car came with an aftermarket radio and what appears to be the original Bose speakers. I thought it sounded really good, but YMMV. I like that you want to keep the stock look. Wasn't an option for me.

Good luck and have fun.

 

You have a bunch of different ways to do this. It really depends on how involved you want to get with it. So by the sounds of it you just want a basic radio that sounds half decent and doesn't cost a bunch. If that's the case the first thing is to select some parts.

For the head unit (in dash radio) you have an almost unlimited amount of choices. The most straight forward approach would be a simple single din style head unit with a built in amp and all the features you want. So here's where you're going to have Bluetooth, USB and your aux connections. Just stick with a good name brand here. Pioneer, JBL, Sony etc.

Next is speakers. Any basic 6x9 coaxial will fit under the rear speaker covers. You may need to drill new holes to mount them but it's not a big deal. Now is the tricky part. You can remove the door speakers and replace them directly and keep the Bose speaker boxes that are on the door. If you do this you will need small 4" speakers. A speaker that small won't make a lot of sound. So you will want to spend some money here on something quality. Another option is to remove the Bose box and make an adapter plate that will allow you to mount 6 1/2" speakers. This will sound much better but requires more work and a little fabrication. This is what I did in my 84. The third option is to pull the dash pad off and install 4x6's. This was what was installed from the factory on non Bose cars. Then simply don't use the door speakers.

The "best" budget system in my opinion is to do both the 6 1/2" door and the dash pad speakers. Then run the door speakers off of a small amp. But you can always upgrade to that later.

For wiring just get a adapter harness. Then solder the wires to the harness that comes with your new head unit. The wires are color coded so you can't really mess this up. The last piece is a mounting kit. This just mounts the new head unit in the dash.

One last thing. Most people who install after market audio in a C4 that had a Bose system will run new speaker wire. Just get a roll of the stuff in 16 gauge or larger. Routing this will be the time consuming part. Take your time and just do one speaker at a time.

 

Thanks for all the info as this will help a lot, I was on a cruise today with the top off and the sound was not terrible, the dial was about 3/4 so it was not on full power because if I do it becomes very muffled and static in the background. I used to use a cassette adapter that was wired which sounded better and cleaner than my current blue tooth adapter, but I think my cassette tape has finally given out so I can no longer do that. So my questions to you are:

1.) is it safe to have my dial fully turned up or do you think 3/4 is better for long term safety.

2.) How easy is it to add a blue tooth adapter or run an aux cord to my current set up, and how do you think that will sound. Currently as I said before I use an adapter through the cigarette lighter, which is more static than the cassette tape. Do you think that the Wired directly to my head unit will sound the best or if the Bluetooth directly to the head unit will sound better. I do not mind a wire if the static goes away, and with the cassette tape it was better than the adapter blue tooth.

3.) The head unit is stock a 1.5 DIN I thought, would a 1 DIN look out of place or how would that work, or am I misunderstanding something

4.) If I do go the route of replacing all of the speakers I think I could do the bigger ones in the doors as I found some videos of the customization of the speaker box. Honestly speaking do you think someone with no wiring experience can do something like this, I have redone my entire carpet so I know how to remove any of that if needed but for whatever reason wiring has always been something I have stayed away from, no real reason though.

5.) what would the price be on something like this? I am in between keeping this car for ever and eventually doing a swap or something along those lines to make it faster, OR I could just buy a different car. I redid the carpet in this one and love the look but do not know if its the right choice.

Now I am just ranting so I will stop myself here, Thank you for that reply and any future ones

 

1.) is it safe to have my dial fully turned up or do you think 3/4 is better for long term safety.

Not sure what you mean by "safe". Being that your speakers are over 40 years old they are probably already pretty beat up.

2.) How easy is it to add a blue tooth adapter or run an aux cord to my current set up, and how do you think that will sound. Currently as I said before I use an adapter through the cigarette lighter, which is more static than the cassette tape. Do you think that the Wired directly to my head unit will sound the best or if the Bluetooth directly to the head unit will sound better. I do not mind a wire if the static goes away, and with the cassette tape it was better than the adapter blue tooth.

I'll be honest I wouldn't add an adapter. Just pull the factory head unit and sell it. Then replace it with one that has all the features you want. This will give you the best results. The factory head unit may even pay for the new one.

3.) The head unit is stock a 1.5 DIN I thought, would a 1 DIN look out of place or how would that work, or am I misunderstanding something

This is why you need a mounting kit. If you buy a single DIN head unit, the mounting kit will take up the extra space and make it look right. There are several different styles of mounting kits available. Some even give you a little spot for your phone to sit in.

4.) If I do go the route of replacing all of the speakers I think I could do the bigger ones in the doors as I found some videos of the customization of the speaker box. Honestly speaking do you think someone with no wiring experience can do something like this, I have redone my entire carpet so I know how to remove any of that if needed but for whatever reason wiring has always been something I have stayed away from, no real reason though.

It's not so much if I think someone with limited experience can do it. It's, are you willing to learn how to do it? None of this is hard work. But if you're lacking certain skills like how to solder wires together, then maybe watch some YouTube videos on that topic and practice on some scrap wire before you do it. Also, the harness that needs soldering is done on a work bench and not in the car. This is way easier for a beginner. Then when it's all done you just plug the new head unit in.

5.) what would the price be on something like this? I am in between keeping this car for ever and eventually doing a swap or something along those lines to make it faster, OR I could just buy a different car. I redid the carpet in this one and love the look but do not know if its the right choice.

Well, I got the Pioneer head unit that's in my 84 right now from my local junk yard for $20. It has Blue Tooth, USB, 2 AUX ports and front and rear pre-outs. It's also 40x4 watts. So, it had every feature I wanted. I think new that exact one was around $150. If you look you can find at least a good head unit for a very good price. The wiring and mounting kits are going to be around $40 combined. So, make sure to factor that in. Also think about this. If you learn how to do this now you can do this on your next car. Then maybe a buddy will pay you to do it to his car. I started installing stereo systems in cars back in the late 90's. I made a lot of side money doing installs for people.

 

Great information, thank you for this input. Do you think if I changed out the head unit that it would change the "connection" or have better sound from a better head unit? if that makes sense, since it is newer and better blue tooth than my current setup. "1984-89 Chevrolet Corvette Newport 1.5 DIN Direct-fit Radio RetroSound AUX" If I put in this head unit or found something similar, just not "touch screen or new looking" would that or could that make the connection and audio better. The speakers sound good, they are just static when it comes to blue tooth, the radio from what I remember sounds good. I will check this out right now to see if that is actually true.

Thank you

 

I think a head unit with built in Bluetooth, AUX inputs and USB would sound way better than using adapters to get those features. One thing to understand though. The factory Bose systems had an amp for each speaker. so you can't just swap the head unit and have it work. You will need to remove or at least disconnect the factory amps and then wire the head unit to the factory speakers. This is why most people run new speaker wire.

 

When dad did the radio in the 84 years ago, we had a vehicle specific line output converter and then just hooked the head unit to the original amped speakers with the line level signal. It sounds surprisingly good. I can tell the amps are needing a rebuild now but I can hear it over long tubes and... well there is something resembling a muffler on the back.

I would say replacing the speakers is going to be cheaper unless you absolutely want to keep them and they all work. Otherwise making it all work will be more effort than its worth imo.

years ago I did a component setup in a car where the dash had the tweaters in a similar location as the vettes do and the drivers were in the door. I had no alignment issues to speak of. (The factory bose speakers were installed in that location and selected because they would reflect and be in sync.)I can't say the same would hold true on these cars. If you do replace the door speakers, add a little sound deadening. A decent coax will probably resonate pretty bad in that chamber size unless you can eq it out. The bose speakers definitely have some trickery going on as far as I can hear to fix that.