New stereo

t_chelle16 · Jan 8, 2006

Just got done installing Sadie's slightly late Christmas present.

It's not really super high end (I really don't care to rattle the windows of the houses I drive by), but it sounds pretty darn good for $150. It's satelite radio ready (not that I'll ever use that feature), plays mp3/wav/wma files, and plays CD-RW's. I like that you can put a CD in w/o folding down the face (my old one was like that and it was a pain) and it doesn't have a crappy/annoying screen saver or other stupid graphics. I just wanted a nice, simple stereo.

I also took the package tray I'd made fom old Sadie and installed it (will still build a new one some time). The speakers new Sadie came with were better than the ones I had in old Sadie, so I installed them again but used the boxes I had on old Sadie.

I still need to find some speaker covers (don't know where I'll get them) because new Sadie's speakers didn't have them and the ones from old Sadie are in pretty bad shape.

I do have some brand new standard kick panels and some new 6 1/2" speakers so in the next few days, I'll do some playing around and figure out how to fit them in there and hopefully have those installed next weekend.

When I pulled out the back seat, I did find a little more rust, but nothing too devastating. Just an area where the metal is thin and there's a few holes, but it shouldn't be too horrible to fix (when I start completely redoing the interior in the spring).

There was also a little surface rust in the same place on the passenger's side, but the metal was still fairly solid so that should just be a matter of cleaning it up with a wire wheel POR15ing it. The rest of the floor under the seat was nice & solid.

Oh, and my big moment of the day was when I realized, after removing the old stereo and getting the new one installed, that I had left a CD in the old stereo. I had to hook it up to the battery to get my CD out. Also, don't try plugging in the antenna by sticking your hand through the glovebox (between the dash & the insert). You can reach just fine from under the dash and your hand won't get stuck.

-Chelle

krash kendall · Jan 9, 2006

Looks like it was made for it! A real pro job! I've never seen boxes made for package tray mounted speakers before, pretty cool.

65stanger · Jan 9, 2006

Looks good, bet it sounds better!

t_chelle16 · Jan 9, 2006

Thanks. I didn't realize just how crappy my old stereo sounded until I tried this one out. It was a world of difference. I just got done burning a couple hundred mp3's to CD's, now I just need somewhere to go. Maybe I'll run to the store to get a soda.

I've never seen boxes made for package tray mounted speakers before, pretty cool.

They're just regular speaker boxes I bought at Walmart a few years ago.

-Chelle

Edbert · Jan 9, 2006

<hijack>Anyone here enough of an audiophile to know if they make players that can read a data DVD full of MP3s? I know there are a zillion for MP3 CDs.</hijack>

t_chelle16 · Jan 9, 2006

When I was looking at the stereos at Walmart, I could have sworn I saw one that listed DVD-R's, but when I checked again later, I coudn't find it so I may have just been my imagination.

I'm sure there's something out there, though.

-Chelle

zookeeper · Jan 9, 2006

Very nice! That looks like a super clean car BTW. Not to hijack the thread, but I just gotta share this stereo story with you guys. Last July, our town held it's annual car show. I was depressed because my Mustang wasn't done (again) and spent the morning looking at everyone else's car and answering the same question over and over again (where's your car?). I had my son with me, but my wife met me around 11:00 to take him to another kid's B-day party. I couldn't help but notice she was driving my truck. In case I've never mentioned it, my truck is a total POS, and I mean total. I don't have a lot of money, so I had to sell my last truck, a sweetheart of a truck that I bought new, lowered and kept spotless it's whole life, in order to have enough money to build my Mustang. To get to work and back I bought a fleet truck from the company where I work. It's an '89 Chevy 4x4 that had well over 150K miles on it when I bought it (odometer broke a year before I bought it in '97 and it's stuck at 153,000). It spent 90% of it's working life off road and looks like it. It's actually in good shape considering what it's been through. But it leaks, the heater doesn't work, the radiator leaks, the exhaust leaks, seat's ripped, the body's dented and it's two different colors, orange and green (sweet). But it's been dead reliable and it was cheap allowing me to spend my money on my Mustang. Anyway, my wife was driving this pile, rather than our Suburban, which is a nice clean vehicle. When I asked why, she told me she was entering it in the "Worst Stereo Contest", held every year at a local stereo shop. I begged her not to, since it's bad enough that I have to drive it, but to have other people see just how bad it is inside was too much. But she wa not to be deterred and went against my better judgement. Anyway, to make a long story short, she won 1st place, which was a 4 foot tall trophy, and a $1500 stereo! I would have preferred to have it installed in my Mustang, but that would be against the rules, so now my $900 truck has a kick-azz sound system! Kind of nice not to have to sing to myself anymore! Not that I don't sing well...

iskwezm · Jan 9, 2006

Edbert said:
<hijack>Anyone here enough of an audiophile to know if they make players that can read a data DVD full of MP3s? I know there are a zillion for MP3 CDs.</hijack>

Some of the "import" brands will read cd/wav/mp3/mp4/cdr/cdrw/dvd/dvdr/dvdrw,the bigger name brands will usually have a screen,but the slave units are starting to be more available.

65stanger · Jan 9, 2006

zookeeper said:
.............................Anyway, to make a long story short, ...

TOO late....

zookeeper said:
............she won 1st place, which was a 4 foot tall trophy, and a $1500 stereo! I would have preferred to have it installed in my Mustang, but that would be against the rules, so now my $900 truck has a kick-azz sound system! Kind of nice not to have to sing to myself anymore! Not that I don't sing well...

Sounds like you've got a better stereo in your POS truck than I've got in my house!!!

ForceFed70 · Jan 9, 2006

Lookin good!

May I offer a suggestion?

6x9 speakers were designed to be placed on the rear package shelf. Exactly like how you have them mounted.

However, they were never designed to be in a small box like that. They are designed to use the whole trunk as the speaker box.

Because of this you will probably find that your bass tones are lacking. Although the mid range sound of a snare drum comes through crystal clear.

If you can mount the speakers nicely to the package tray and seal around them a little while ditching the boxes, I think you will notice a large improvement in sound quality.

I know it's made a huge difference in the few vehicles I've played with.

mustangdave · Jan 9, 2006

70 is right: ditch the boxes, the trunk is a killer box itself.

t_chelle16 · Jan 9, 2006

zookeeper said:
Very nice! That looks like a super clean car BTW.

Thanks. When people see it from a distance, a lot of the time they're suprised when I say I'm just starting to fix it up. They think it's already been fully restored (of course they can't see the interior from a distance).

When I asked why, she told me she was entering it in the "Worst Stereo Contest", held every year at a local stereo shop. I begged her not to, since it's bad enough that I have to drive it, but to have other people see just how bad it is inside was too much. But she wa not to be deterred and went against my better judgement. Anyway, to make a long story short, she won 1st place, which was a 4 foot tall trophy, and a $1500 stereo!

LOL. Spiffy! Although I think new Sadie would have beat your truck before I got the new stereo in. She had the world's crappiest radio. No tape deck and it didn't pick up any radio stations. I was driving her and kept hearing this really faint noise (could only hear it at idle). Turns out the radio was on with the volume turned up full blast.

Lookin good!
May I offer a suggestion?
6x9 speakers were designed to be placed on the rear package shelf. Exactly like how you have them mounted.
However, they were never designed to be in a small box like that. They are designed to use the whole trunk as the speaker box.
Because of this you will probably find that your bass tones are lacking. Although the mid range sound of a snare drum comes through crystal clear.
If you can mount the speakers nicely to the package tray and seal around them a little while ditching the boxes, I think you will notice a large improvement in sound quality.
I know it's made a huge difference in the few vehicles I've played with.

Actually, I installed the stereo first and tried it out with the speakers the way they were (no boxes). Really, I don't hear any noticeable difference between that and with the boxes. I'm eventually going to redo the package try so I might try it again (maybe try one with the box and one without and go back & forth with the balance).

-Chelle

1320stang · Jan 10, 2006

zoo, remove it from the truck and put it in your stang when it's ready to roll.

chelle, was the hole for the radio already cut of did you have to cut it yourself?

t_chelle16 · Jan 10, 2006

I cut it when I first got old Sadie (in fact, I think my very first post on Stangnet was to make sure I wouldn't have a vigilante purist mob hunt me down & shoot me if I decided to cut up a radio bezel. lol).

-Chelle

RGS0907 · Jan 10, 2006

t_chelle16 said:
I cut it when I first got old Sadie (in fact, I think my very first post on Stangnet was to make sure I wouldn't have a vigilante purist mob hunt me down & shoot me if I decided to cut up a radio bezel. lol).

-Chelle

It looks real nice there. I just have to get rid of my 20 year old AM/FM Cassette

You just had to cut the front bezel, right? Was the dash opening big enough & did you need to support the stereo from the back or sides?

t_chelle16 · Jan 10, 2006

It's just the bezel, no cutting the actual dash.

The stereo came with a metal sleeve that fits into the opening I cut and the stereo fits into the sleeve (there's little tabs you bend out to hold the sleve in place and little clips that lock the stereo in place).

-Chelle

1320stang · Jan 11, 2006

Hmm.... missed that post, now, since I know where you live, I'll have to hunt you down...

j/k

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