Thinking of buying a retro style car stereo with modern features

I can firmly recommend Massoud and team at CreativeCarAudioShop.com . I have sent him two, maybe 3, I forget, Blaupunkts (SQR 46 Reno)to fix (no audio) and/or refurbish, plus add a 3.5 mm audio out plug. They came back fixed and looking as good as new. He also offers Bluetooth audio link but the 3.5mm jack is good enough for me.

My coupe came with a Custom Autosound www.customautosoundmfg.com Secret Audio radio in the glove compartment. Clunky and outdated, plus who listens to radio anyway...? There were two "underseat" speakers which are actually pretty good for a non-permanent install. As I don't want to punch any holes, I kept them and they provide quite decent music when powered by an Ebay sourced small amplifier which are marketed for motorcycle audio. Small, inexpensive and all the power I need. It's not a Mark Levinson fully differential Class A-B tube amp, but I wouldn't notice if it was; it's not exactly La Scala in there... :D

My left-over speakers. They make newer ones which lok quite decent nd could be maybe hidden under the seat when not in use. I just recline mine against the floor rear bulkhead so the sound projects forward.

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Ebay amp such as the one I am using. Of course it's not 500 Watts, but that's besides the point...
Ebay amp

ebay amp.JPG
 
Dan Wood said:
I am starting the installation of a Retrosound Hermosa radio with euro faceplate and euro decal. We are building a driver. We also used two 3 inch speakers in the dash for the front speakers same as I have used on our Wagoneer. I will be switching the knobs later.
www.crutchfield.com

RetroRadio M2A (Chrome buttons)

Digital media receiver for classic cars — does not play discs
www.crutchfield.com www.crutchfield.com
www.retromanufacturing.com

Faceplates

RetroRadio faceplates add a decorative trim to your RetroRadio to match the interior styling of your specific make and model. These faceplates are designed as a trim piece that is applied over the Radio Face and mount in front of the dash. Please see our bezel section for decorative bezels that...
www.retromanufacturing.com www.retromanufacturing.com
www.retromanufacturing.com

Universal Vintage Overlays (3-PACK) for RetroRadios

Tempered glass screen overlays for RetroRadio®. Styled for a variety of classic cars with 3 vintage dial designs. Easy to apply, remove, and swap.
www.retromanufacturing.com www.retromanufacturing.com
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Hey Dan, This car for sale on BAT is using the same retrosound stereo that you are using. Looks good! https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-bmw-3-0csi-4/
 
Eric V said:
Wow, really nice classic Becker with modern connections and even a DIN adapter. Kinda pricey but really good option.
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It's unclear if the pricing is in AUS $ or US $. If my assumption of AUS is correct, then the listed price of $770 is US$586, a more reasonable amount. A very nice range of products. I have been thinking for a while that this was an unmet market. I'm glad someone has filled some of the gap with such nice products.
 
Luis A. said:
~ As I don't want to punch any holes, I kept them and they provide quite decent music when powered by an Ebay sourced small amplifier which are marketed for motorcycle audio. Small, inexpensive and all the power I need.

Ebay amp such as the one I am using. Of course it's not 500 Watts, but that's besides the point...
Ebay amp

View attachment 107565
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Interesting. The specs state that it's an 18w amp but the unit is tagged with the 500W label on top. Clearly it's so you can impress your friends. You'd need at least 40 amps to deliver 500w continuously. Remember the old days when off brand stereos had outrageously inflated specs? They quoted IPP power. Instantaneous Peak Power. What a farce. Power transistors are so cheap now days that we can all have as much volume as we want for not much money.
 
bmw2800cs.com said:
Yep, I'm doing what you're doing :)
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May I suggest there is plenty of space for good performing bass boxes under the front edge of the front seats. A pair of 40-80 watt ported 5 liter boxes tucked up tight against the forward part of the seat mounting ‘tower’ nad using a “high pressure” 5-6” bass driver will make lots of tight good bass down to 40hz. Port a should be designed apt about 40hz. You could also mount small midrange speakers on those same boxes, firing forward into the wheelwells. High mounted tweeters aimed across the car and playing above 2khz would round out a nice stereo systems .

I realize visually this idea of stereo bass boxes seems strange but
(1) sound perception doesn’t always correlate to what visually looks good
(2) avoids cutting any visible trim panels, and is easily removed if so desired.
(3) is acoustically fairly efficient in comparison to woofers on the back deck or under the rear seat base.
 
bfeng said:
May I suggest there is plenty of space for good performing bass boxes under the front edge of the front seats. A pair of 40-80 watt ported 5 liter boxes tucked up tight against the forward part of the seat mounting ‘tower’ nad using a “high pressure” 5-6” bass driver will make lots of tight good bass down to 40hz. Port a should be designed apt about 40hz. You could also mount small midrange speakers on those same boxes, firing forward into the wheelwells. High mounted tweeters aimed across the car and playing above 2khz would round out a nice stereo systems .

I realize visually this idea of stereo bass boxes seems strange but
(1) sound perception doesn’t always correlate to what visually looks good
(2) avoids cutting any visible trim panels, and is easily removed if so desired.
(3) is acoustically fairly efficient in comparison to woofers on the back deck or under the rear seat base.
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Yeah it sounds right, unfortunately the previous owner cut 3 inch speakers in front (will eventually be mids and tweets, but for now just leaving them) and 6 inch speakers in the rear deck (probably will end up being an opening for the some base drivers in the trunk some day, for now I may just replace them). Don't know how old your are but the rear speakers are Jensens! Blast from the past :) For 6 inch speakers if you were on the cheap you'd get Jensen "road rated" if you had a little more cash Pioneer TS167's circa 1979!
 

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bmw2800cs.com said:
Thanks everyone for the info! I also came across these guys - don't know if I want to lay out the cash but they seem to be doing nice restorations with built in Bluetooth:
www.chromelondon.com

chromelondon

Blaupunkt Frankfurt Becker Mexico Europa Grand Prix Porsche VW Mercedes Vintage Classic Car Radios For Sale, Bought Exchanged Restore Repair Upgrade add MP3
www.chromelondon.com www.chromelondon.com
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I considered these guys but shipping to US made it impractical. I ended up with a Europa II with Bluetooth from Becker Autosound in NJ. Works and sounds great, looks great, good customer service. https://www.beckerautosound.com/
 
FWIW Crutchfield now has a couple sizes of single speaker that might work in the E9 dash that has dual voice coils for stereo sound.

www.crutchfield.com

RetroSound D-572UK Dash Speaker

D-Series single 5"x7" 2-way dash speaker with dual voice coils — stereo mix from a single speaker
www.crutchfield.com www.crutchfield.com

www.crutchfield.com

RetroSound D-412UK Dash Speaker

D-Series single 4"x10" 2-way dash speaker with dual voice coils — stereo mix from a single speaker
www.crutchfield.com www.crutchfield.com
 
Dan Wood said:
FWIW Crutchfield now has a couple sizes of single speaker that might work in the E9 dash that has dual voice coils for stereo sound.

www.crutchfield.com

RetroSound D-572UK Dash Speaker

D-Series single 5"x7" 2-way dash speaker with dual voice coils — stereo mix from a single speaker
www.crutchfield.com www.crutchfield.com

www.crutchfield.com

RetroSound D-412UK Dash Speaker

D-Series single 4"x10" 2-way dash speaker with dual voice coils — stereo mix from a single speaker
www.crutchfield.com www.crutchfield.com
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Wouldn't be stereo sound, the dual voice coils would mix the sound of both stereo speakers into one mono speaker. So it would have all of the sound of both speakers which is good but it wouldn't have the separation and soundstage which is what stereo is about.
 
bmw2800cs.com said:
Wouldn't be stereo sound, the dual voice coils would mix the sound of both stereo speakers into one mono speaker. So it would have all of the sound of both speakers which is good but it wouldn't have the separation and soundstage which is what stereo is about.
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Agreed. It won't sound like Logic 7. Just a possible solution to prevent additional holes for speakers. Certainly not for the audiophile!
 
Dan Wood said:
Agreed. It won't sound like Logic 7. Just a possible solution to prevent additional holes for speakers. Certainly not for the audiophile!
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Ha! I'm sorry :) I get carried away. The irony is that at this point only one of my ears work. Again, sorry about that. I just like talking about this stuff :)
 
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