aftermarket radio options?

[demon322]

My dads satellite is about finished at the body shop. We were discussing options for a radio once its done. He wants to keep the stock stereo in the factory location, and then have a different radio somewhere else. What have you guys done with yours? Glove box? Console? Thanks.

 

[66cuda]

Well you asked... so no offense I thought about this one for months...I thought of having the stock radio reconditioned to have all the newest guts and retain the outward stock appearance.... the cost was underwhelming meaning quite expensive...I kept flipping between doing it anyway ( one time cost) and cutting the dash and putting in a newer and far better radio....then i went to a pretty good sized show in Capac Michigan...while at the show I met quite a few mopar people and a lot of car talk followed...eventually landing on this very subject. one of the guys had a stunning road runner....not at all stock but stock appearing until you got to the engine which was pretty much chrome stem to stern and absolutely beautiful!!! his buddy had a 69 Barracuda equally stunning, both sounded deliciously wicked!! the guy with the runner was quite proud that he had retained the stock appearing dash by having his mopar radio reworked to have 4 channels and retain the Stock faceplate.....we drifted over to the Barracuda ( right next to the runner) and that guy said listen to this and flicked on his new sony radio which was perfectly installed in the dast and told me of his 'polk" speakers....the radio sounded like a concert hall it was beyond good it sounded great and he could use a thumb drive or an MP3 player plugged right in.... pretty slick....we then drifted back to the runner and he turned on his stock looking modified stereo....that he paid around $600 for....I would have been REALLY PISSED it sounded like crap tinny scratchy......both cars had Polk speakers...he had bought them to mimick the sound coming from his buddy's radio in the barracuda....NOT EVEN CLOSE!! NO CONTEST!
SO then I started toying with an under dash or a glovebox install....we were now standing next to a guy with a 48 plymouth....he sealed the deal for me.... he too had a nice new SONY mounted in his dash I asked him why did you do that? he walked me around to the front of his 48 and showed me his headlight ring which was nicely chromed and quite broken...he said I had that radio in the glove box and while I was reaching over to change the channel I rolled into the back of a F 150 at the Woodward cruise..... the headlight ring is going to cost me another 250 to get repaired and re-chromed in addition to the 550 to fix the fender and front end....I want my radio where I can see the road when I change the channel.... SOLD ME...the following day my dash was cut and the new SONY installed....it looks great and it sounds fabulous and it is a standard DIN so I can upgrade to anything that fits that standard size.....it has power galore and can be easily heard clearly over my loud exhaust and when I open the dumps.
Unless you plan to go to BJ's or MEcums and are building a stock stock stock numbers matching ZERO modifications to tires wheels engine etc etc...then what is the point to having 40 year old technology to listen to?
my 2 centavos

 

[Caddguy]

I am wanting to put a new set up in my car and after talking to the guy at the shop I think I am going to go with a hidden deck and keep the old stock radio as a decoy. The idea of having my dash cut up for todays tech knowing that something bigger, harder and better is going to be on the streets in 10 years, well it just does not seem worth it to me. You are doing unrepairable damage to your car for no reason at all unless you just want the "High Tech" look. All mid to high end decks come with a remote now so you will not have to fumble around looking for a good station or change your cd/mp3 with out taking your eyes off the road. The only thing I dont like is Im going to have to buy some new kick panels that allow two speakers to be mounted in the front but I can just save the old ones and reinstall them if I get the urge. And another advantage for me is the deck is hidden so some punk with more balls then brains will not take a glance at it and decide he likes it more then I do and puts a brick through my glass. Just my .02 worth, in the end its your car and do what you think will work the best for you.

 

[G. G. LEVERETTE]

The hidden audio is the way to go in my opinion, hide the system and use the hand held controller to control the search function. The also have the kick panels with speakeres installed from the vendor.

 

[RedFish]

Just another option.
look for marine stereo on ebay. Their hard line remote has complete LED display.

 

[abodyjoe]

get a new one with a remote and hide the radio under the seat.

 

[demon322]

Thanks for the replies. I think I like the idea of a new stereo hidden either in the glovebox (if there is room) or possible under the seat as suggested. I will have to look into the kick panel speaker option to get a 4 speaker system. Thanks again and Merry Christmas all.