Sound System Upgrades

Post by **Yoda** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:59 pm

I'm interested in hearing what stereo upgrades others have done to their 64-66 Thunderbirds.

My 65 convertible came with a Custom Autosound receiver and replacement dual 3.5" speakers in the dash & rear panel. I added a Sony MP3 changer in the trunk (unfortunately I had to drill two small holes) and one of those amplified spare-tire subwoofers. The MP3 changer is great, but the spare-tire subwoofer is pretty much useless. I honestly can't hear it unless I have my decklid raised! I will say that if I had to do things over today (put the MP3 changer in about 1.5 yrs ago), I would go with an IPOD setup (easier to install, more flexible, more accessible, no need to drill two holes).

As my car is a daily driver and the sound system is still quite dismal, I'm considering the following:
1. replacing the dual 3.5" dash & rear speakers with the dual-cone types
2. buying/making kickpanel speakers
3. buying/making underseat speakers

Has anyone determined if Custom Autosound (or any other vendor) offers replacement kickpanels with speakers for 64-66? While my original panels aren't in great shape, I don't really want to cut holes in them.

Also has anyone tried underseat speakers? Do the Custom Autosound ones fit? Other opinions?

I know a convertible will never have great sound without major modifications, but I'd like to improve my mostly stock car to the extent possible without cosmetic alterations.

Many thanks!

Alan H. Tast · Post by **Alan H. Tast** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:26 pm

I'm certainly not an audiophile, but I would think that underseat speakers would help to distribute the sound in the passenger compartment, albeit possibly muffled. I would also think that this would be a relatively easy installation with a set of homemade boxes and low-profile speakers that would clear the underside of the seat mechanisms.

As for replacements for the dash and rear panel, someone more knowledgable than me should have a few suggestions. I know I'd like to know a few for replacing the factory AM-FM and speakers in my '63 before I drive it from Kansas City to Portland next August for VTCI's International Convention.

boaterbob · Post by **boaterbob** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:57 pm

I have a 66 Ragtop with Custom Auto Sound and the same problems. Maybe it doesn't have enough watts? Would putting the four speakers in the bottom of the front doors give alot more volume? I think the cut outs for the speakers are already There from the factory even if the speakers are not. It sure would be nice to have some good cruising music.

Randy Mattson · Post by **Randy Mattson** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:43 am

I was not happy with the Custom Auto Sound in my 65 convertible either. I had the original AM radio redone. It is now AM-FM stereo with jacks in the back to plug in a CD player or cassette player. It sounds great and will not lose a modification point. The cost to convert the radio was about $400.

Post by **Yoda** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:52 am

Interesting. My car didn't have the original stereo when I purchased it. That would be a nice approach.

Where did you have the work done?

Randy Mattson · Post by **Randy Mattson** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:51 pm

There's a place not far from me (20 miles?) called S/M Electro-Tech in Blaine, Minnesota. He's a regular advertiser in Old Cars Weekly. He did a tech session on radios and sound systems at the 2003 VTCI north central regional. It seemed like a good idea to convert my original radio. So far, no complaints.

VicRattlehead · Post by **VicRattlehead** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:06 pm

Randy Mattson wrote:I was not happy with the Custom Auto Sound in my 65 convertible either. I had the original AM radio redone. It is now AM-FM stereo with jacks in the back to plug in a CD player or cassette player. It sounds great and will not lose a modification point. The cost to convert the radio was about $400.

was this an am 8track radio??

i wanna convert my parents am/8track to am/fm/8track some day. can you get some contact info for this guy.

mike harmon · Post by **mike harmon** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:45 pm

Question for Randy- when you had your orginal radio re-done to replace the Custom Auto Sound unit, did you also replace the speakers that were with the Auto Sound? I was also wondering if anyone has had any experience with Custom Auto Sound in the coupes?

Randy Mattson · Post by **Randy Mattson** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 2:50 pm

OK...The place is called S/M Electro Tech, located in Blaine, MN. They have a website: www.turnswitch.com. The phone # (Toll Free!) is 877-780-2861. If you do contact them, mention my name. I do not get any referral priveleges but it might help in that he spent a couple of hours at our convention conducting a tech session and only 3 people attended. The guy I dealt with is named Greg. I forgot his last name.

I left the Custom Auto Sound Speakers in (2 in front and 2 in back) and connected only the right front and left rear for the stereo effect. The other 2 speakers are not connected to anything at this time. Those speakers are actually fairly decent.
One of the nice points on using the original radio is that the connectors are as original. I did redo the speaker connections, as the original speaker wires were replaced when the new speakers were installed.

If your original radio had an 8 track, I'm certain he can repair that too. I had him install jacks in the back of the radio to plug in a tape or cd player if I decide to add that later.
Good Luck!

VicRattlehead · Post by **VicRattlehead** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 12:41 am

thanks for the info ill get in touch with them soon and let you all know how it goes.

btw when was the tech session? i was at the convention and dont remember it.

Randy Mattson · Post by **Randy Mattson** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 11:50 am

The tech sessions were on Friday. There were 6 sessions, scheduled each hour for 50 minutes each. The first one at 9 AM, was with John Draxler in the parking lot. He used Joe Wishy's '66 convertible that the trunk wouldn't open. John actually conducted the first 2 sessions. John Colehour learned from the radio guy that the strange looking box in the trunk of his 63 was actually a reverb unit and, yes, it can be repaired to work again.

wolfmaniser · Post by **wolfmaniser** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 2:32 am

I'm curious...
Did these tech sessions entail how to modify the stereo, improve the existing sound system, or what? I'm very interested in modifying
my existing stereo, or sending it away to have it modded if I have to.
On a side note, do those trunk Studiosonic Reverberators have an effect?
Do they add to the surround sound, or add bass? I've never heard one.

Randy Mattson · Post by **Randy Mattson** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 1:51 pm

The tech session was about the various options one could do with their car and the approximate costs.
The reverb unit was an extremely popular after-market item in the late 50s and into the 60s. You needed 2 speakers, normally 1 front & a rear speaker. The rear speaker would be delayed from the front and have an echo effect. I installed one on my '64 Pontiac when I was in high school. It was "cool"!

mike harmon · Post by **mike harmon** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:21 am

The reverb's also had an interesting but annoying habit of "booming" when the car hit higher speeds. In '63 or '64 we put one in a friend's modified '55 Chev- I can't remember what the speed was that this occured at, but it was above 70. A physics major at school explained why this happened, but it eludes me now.

Post by **Yoda** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:45 am

Wanted to post a followup with some additional info:

1. I just installed some Pioneer 6.5" 3-way speakers from Wal-Mart in the kickpanel area. The magnet actually fit inside of the little square holes behind the kick panels. Only catch is that you'll need to slightly bend back the tab on the speaker with the wiring connectors AND you'll need to add some sort of insulation/paddng for about 1" around the square opening behind the firewall because otherwise the wiring connectors will make contact with the sheetmetal and short out your speakers. I haven't yet cut my kickpanels to fit over the speakers so I'm not sure how that will look. FYI - my kickpanels are in pretty poor shape -- otherwise I might be hesitant to cut them. Also, I left my replacement dash speakers hooked up as well - just using the 6.5" speakers to supplement the sound.

2. I mentioned that if I had things to do over, I'd probaby go with an IPOD rather than the MP3 changer in the trunk. I think I have an even better solution: I recently spend quite a bit of time researching portable music players for my wife's Valentines gift and came across the Neuros. It has OGG support (IPOD doesn't) AND it has an FM transmitter which means in theory you can tune your FM stereo to an empty channel (determined by the Neuros) and the unit will wirelessly transmit your music as in FM broadcast. I haven't yet tested this feature to see how well it works in practice, but I'll be certain to post my results here once I do. Imagine the ability to play 20+ GB of your own music in your TBird without any modifications, extra wires, etc. This would in theory work with an original FM radio! The Neuros has lots of other very cool featues as well. More info here: http://www.neurosaudio.com/

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