Thread: Roadster owners- what are you doing for tunes in your ride?

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Mine is so-so. I wanted nothing showing so I had Secret Audio installed 7-8 years ago.
10" sub in box in trunk, secret audio, amp & CD changer mounted behind glide seat, Pair of POS speakers in boxes behind the seat (worthless) and a pair of POS speakers mounted in a panel under my dash on pass side aimed straight down. The display on unit quit years ago so I have to guess what station I'm on or what track is playing. The new ones aren't compatible w/ anything I have now- including the CD changer. What a crock. This wasn't cheap.
Car is going to upholstery in 1-2 weeks just to tighten some panels up & correct a few things & possibly upgrade the system to something else at same time. I'm thinking separates on speakers but where? Do I really need four or will a pair suffice in an open car?
I want it totally hidden- nothing showing. The sub needs to go- takes too much room in trunk & you can't hear it anyway. Plus- I am an old fart & don't want it beating the paint off the body.
I'm thinking along the lines of something marine. I believe Sony has one w/ a remote that has a display that shows everything right on the remote. I don't really care about FM or satellite but want CD & maybe Ipod or similar capability. As long as I can't see it. I need ideas & links.

What's in your ride & do you have pics?

Is your logic to go marine for waterproofness? If so, they are not waterproof. I just left that industry, and stereos were the single biggest replacement item we had to do under warranty. My Son did electronic installs in boats, and his comment to me was "I don't care if it's a $ 10 stereo or a $ 500 stereo, if it gets any water (even a small amount, like rain) it is done."

They are trying some stuff to help the situation, like shields over the top, but that is about it.

I don't even bother putting a stereo in my rods any more........can't hear them over wind and engine noise, except when stopped at a red light.

Don

im just gonna listen to the whistle of my blower .....that is the best car tunes of them all

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I don't even bother putting a stereo in my rods any more........can't hear them over wind and engine noise, except when stopped at a red light.

Don

BINGO ..
Radios and such are generally worthless in a roadster. Have not had one in my roadster for over 25 years.

Not to get too far afield here, but how do the talk shows work out in a roadster?

Tunes belong in the garage for me, but I wouldn't mind having an AM radio in the roadster for some trips as well as when I have to wait for Sweetie.

Geez, last night we went to the WhataBurger rod run, the girls walked across the parking lot to a new Ross store and bought so much stuff that they had to call for cars to pick em up.
Not to mention they were gone for a while.
(And the credit card finally quit smoking this morning.)

There's gotta be a safer place for a rod run....

Marine radio was the only one I found w/ a remote that showed the stations or CD tracks right on it. I need music in this car. If I want to listen to 600 hp of all motor- I'll drive the 55.

Here's what I have now. I have no problems w/ listening while driving BTW- I just want it to sound better. The remote is under the seat.........somewhere.





This is set-up behind the Glide seat. Note the tiny 4" speakers located behind seat firing at seat back.





View of speakers & panel under the dash. They are tiny 4"POS speakers. This panel will be redonein leather this time. Fuzzing up real bad.






Remote wired head unit w/ non-working display






Sub in trunk next to battery & extinguisher

Well, for one thing your speakers are all aiming away from you if I see the pictures right. The ones under the dash are shooting straight down (and are tiny) and the one in the trunk seems to be aiming back. I am no audio guy, but I think that the sound should be coming at you to get the full effect, especially in something as noisy as a roadster (compared to a Cadillac for example). Also, bigger is better when it comes to speakers, and a good amp will help out too.

Don

.....tweeters & mid-ranges {the little & medium size speakers} are 'directional' & if you want your stereo to sound good they must be pointed towards you. Imagine a triangle where the right side speaker{s} are at one point, the left side speaker{s} are at another point & you & your passengers heads are at the other point. In the bottom front of the door in speaker pods {or may be in the kick panels in pods} will work about as good as it's going to get in a small car {speaker pods that are pointed up at a 45% angle towards you}. The woofers & sub-woofers {the bigger ones} are not directional and don't need to point at you. So with 2 way or 3 way speakers {where the high, mid & low speakers are in the same enclosure} they should also be pointed at you to sound good. This creates a 'sound stage' where if you close your eyes it sounds like the band is on your dash. Although I have a coupe so I don't have to worry about water getting in & you would if you don't have a top & drive in the rain..... You could buy the best speakers made & if you put them under the dash & point them at the ground they aren't going to sound good {or if you put them behind the seat}. I'm working on getting my stereo 'fine tuned' now & it's not easy in a small car. I have Focal Utopia 3 way speakers in 'pods' that are in the bottom front of my doors, a Macintosh Amp & a Eclipse head unit. Were talking HIGH dollar stuff & it sure DOESN'T sound like it!!! I need to put Dynamat {actually I'm going to use that other stuff that is mentioned on a resent post here, don't remember the name} in the doors which will help & then add a sub woofer. I'll up-date ya as to whether or not it is even possible to get good sounds in a small car!!!lllll Bill

Stereo systems in a roadster are only really good when sitting still. On the road I use an mp3 player or Ipod with ear buds. Sure it's illegal in some states, but I've never been stopped, plus I don't have to put up with the idiot commercials. The sound of the road and the wind is usually enough sound for pure enjoyment of a open car. Blower whine could be sweet.

Thanks Steves32 for posting this.

I got busy, bid on a nice looking 60's era AM car radio on Ebay and won.

An antenna, a choke coil in the feed line and an aluminum box to set the radio in ought to do it.

Along with a single 6" x 9" speaker.

Now I just have to fit it in between projects....

I have a Sony Xplod system in my '34 roadster that I put in a couple of years ago and am real happy with it. It has a trunk mounted 10 disc CD changer with two three way speakers under the dash pointed down and aft. The head unit mounted in the glove box, has a feature that allows for making an adjustment that makes the sound seem like its coming from speakers mounted higher and pointed at you. (can't recall just what that feature is called, if interested, I can check and let you know) This is a pretty simple system, no amp and still sounds pretty decent to me.

get yourself an ipod. the passenger is on his own.

I used to use a a headset, the kind that fits into the ears--illegal I know--but you can't hear anything anyway with all the wind noise. I always took them off when I entered a town but they worked okay out on the interstate. An iPod is not a bad idea. Now that I have a coupe, it is not a problem.

I have a top end stereo system in the roadster pickup, and two door mounted speakers. Works great around town and up to 40 MPH. After that all I hear is wind noise, canvas flapping, and the odd high decibell screech from the speakers.

It's in the upholstery shop so there's no turning back now.
Plans are for speakers in kick panels, hopefully hidden w/ perforated leather.
Another pair of speakers- these will be component w/ crossovers at panel located next to seat (whatever you call that panel) and head unit partially hidden under the dash w/ remots- and a 6 disc CD changer behind the seat. The Secret Audio is all in a box now- right where it belongs. Right now- head unit will either be Alpine or Eclipse.
I'm leaving it up to the shop to decide.
I'll keep U updated.