I have bought a used original radio whithout amplifier last summer . V8yunkie gave me the amplifier out of his '72 and last week I did manage to get the radio to work. It was quite easy, after a run-in of 15 minutes the FM system worked. It is not high-fidelity, but it sounds very good for a 32 year old car radio. :cool:
I do not have speakers that fit into the place behind the kick panel. In Dr. Rebuild's online catalog I found 68-69 front speakers for $22.85. Has anybody tried these? I guess their main advantage is they fit into place without any modification. Do they sound acceptable?

 

Hi Mark:
Nothing will sound acceptable in your 60 when compared to todays stereo systems. There are many aftermarket speakers that will fit into those openings but you are limited by the radios deteriorating electrical components many of which were wax wrapped. You can have your radio upgraded to state of the art digital while retaining the analog appearance, this when combined with some aftermarket speakers will produce a "reasonable" sound but the speakers stock location is not conducive to good high end. :cheers:

 

If I want to listen to good music I do not go out to the garage and sit in the corvette. If the radio in the vette does not hurt my ear that is already acceptable.

 

"f I want to listen to good music I do not go out to the garage and sit in the corvette. If the radio in the vette does not hurt my ear that is already acceptable."

You asked, I told you, if you are comfortable with "acceptable" this term is a variable person to person, obviously what is acceptable to you is not to me...rip the radio out if you like, makes no difference to me

 

In '70 there were only 2 speakers in the dash for both the AM/FM U69 and the AM/FM Stereo U79 option. I'm not sure about '69. Some time before '70 they transitioned from kick- panel to dash location. Out of curiousity anyone know when it changed? Was it 68 or 69? ~Juliet

 

all 69s had kick panel speakers, 70 was the first and a major improvement

 

Jerry-----

Yes, 1969 was the last year for the kick panel speakers. The main problem with the 69 configuration is that the speaker recess in the pillar post is not able to accomodate a speaker with a very large magnet size. If one seeks out a 4 inch modern speaker that will fit in the opening, one can achieve, as you said, an acceptable sound. The other problem which arises is that one has to seek out a speaker compatible with the Corvette radio. ALL 68-76 Corvette radios require speakers of 10 ohm impedence. Except for the "reproduction" 4 X 10 68-69 speakers , these are not available on the market. So, you either need to use 8 ohm speakers (which will work alright) or use 4 ohm and impedence-match with appropriate resistors.

Another option, which I intend to try in the future, is to obtain one of the "Challenger"-type speaker assemblies which mount in the back of the luggage compartment. These require no modifications or new holes to install as the are a Velcro and "press-fit" in the back of the storage compartment. Just run the wires under the rug and you're set to go. You can then remove the speaker assembly just about as easily as taking a suitcase out of the car (which is not necessarily real easy, of course).

 

Joe,

I built a cabinet out of ½” particle board and covered in it a black material. This cabinet fits snuggly in the back and house’s two 6x8s and two 3” tweeters. I laid an 80watt amp in the jack compartment. I can listen to the radio with the T-tops off at 80mph and it sounds great. All this can be removed in less than 15 minutes.

Nothing like great tunes while cruisin’

 

I have just removed the speakers (installed with velcro tape) from my storage compartment.
One of the previous owner installed them together with an amplifier in the middle compartment box. They did not really sound better than what I have heard from my original radio with a PC speaker connected while testing it. Well maybe the previous owner saved too much money on this installation.
The original radio does not only need an impedance of 10 Ohm, it does also have a 6V DC Offset on the speaker signal. This is something that is not compatible to modern speakers.
This is why I would like to know if anybody has tried the 4x10 replacement speakers, before I start matching modern speakers to the original radio. :confused:

 

Mark-----

I have never tried the reproduction 4 X 10 speakers. As far as I know, though, the reproduction 4 X 10 speakers are identical to the originals. I had an opportunity to try these when my 69 convertible was new. They weren't a very good speaker then and I doubt that the reproductions will be any better now. I have examined these reproductions carefully and they look identical in all respects to the originals.

These speakers provide, at best, adequate performance with a monaual radio (although the same speakers were used with the U-79 stereo radio for 68-69).