Stereo head units - a discussion

What are all doing for radio/music?

I have been using Pioneer units, i have 2 of these (Bronco and F150)

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/CD-Receivers/DEH-7300BT

It works well but the display is poop and you can’t see it properly when the sunnis behind you.

Also, not a great style fit for these older trucks, so now I have 2 of these

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-NxlPA9WTX3Z/p_423BREMENS/Blaupunkt-Bremen-SQR-46-DAB.html?XVINQ=BI4&XVVER=E7M&awcr=77584416292325&awdv=m&awkw=blaupunkt%20sqr%2046&awmt=e&awnw=s&awat=&awug=97231#&gid=1&pid=1

Which from a style point work well, but spendy.

So, what are you using and why

Gsmblue wrote

What are all doing for radio/music?

I have been using Pioneer units, i have 2 of these (Bronco and F150)

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/CD-Receivers/DEH-7300BT

It works well but the display is poop and you can’t see it properly when the sunnis behind you.

Also, not a great style fit for these older trucks, so now I have 2 of these

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-NxlPA9WTX3Z/p_423BREMENS/Blaupunkt-Bremen-SQR-46-DAB.html?XVINQ=BI4&XVVER=E7M&awcr=77584416292325&awdv=m&awkw=blaupunkt%20sqr%2046&awmt=e&awnw=s&awat=&awug=97231#&gid=1&pid=1

Which from a style point work well, but spendy.

So, what are you using and why

Im using OE for the stock look.  I do need to send mine out to have the tape deck fixed, the rubber band drive broke so tapes only play for a moment then eject thinking its at the end of the tape.  I had a sub box from a late model ford truck that got thrown out at work that still bugs me since it was behind my toolbox out of sight, but I was going to try and fabricate that sub to work with the OE radio through a small amp to try and get a little more punch out of the OE radio.

Wish they would make good quality modern radios that look just like the OE one and I dont mean the custom autosound garbage, I installed one in my elcamino and it sounds like trash, its supposed to be a 200w ratio but my Pioneer 220W radio I put in my Mercury hits harder than that radio does.  There is a company that makes OE looking radios for the 52 - 54 Ford cars I dont know the company but been wishing they would expand to cover my 56 as well as my flareside.

With the talk of radios I did a quick little look up and found the company that makes those OE looking radios, they have them listed on Macs but not on their website but I did find a listing for our trucks and its Sat ready which is a plus cause I kind of wanted Sat radio in my truck but I still hate the thought of losing the OE radio.

https://www.retromanufacturing.com/products/1980-84-ford-f-series-truck-long-beach-radio?rq=yr_1982~mk_ford&variant=28581146755

Still looks like the junky custom autosound which I know from experience dont sound that great.

Back in 1985, if that is the vehicle you're talking about, the aftermarket stereo radio industry had some kind of ability to be able to install stereo systems in new cars so that new car buyers wouldn't be forced to by dealer stereo systems.

Back then, when we got our '85 150, we installed a high-end Pioneer system with a CD player, M/N DEH-750. Also back then there were a lot of vehicles being broken into for sealing the systems. This unit had a removable front panel so once removed, all that was showing was a plain metal face.

I don't remember what was in the radio slot in the dash when new but it was either nothing, or the bottom of the line OEM unit.

For one of the local car clubs, the requirement is that the vehicle be original from the time it was made, therefor, for us, this works. There has been a great deal of improvement in stereo since '85 but, fortunately, this plays the the CDs of the day just fine.

Guess I should mention that my screen name will change as soon as I resolve my fuel problem.
Oh, and I didn't need to post the large picture, should have edited it to show the stereo install. Next time.

I'd been using Supertuners since the '80's but last year my latest gave up after only a couple of years, and like you said the display is horrible.
I started a thread and ultimately went with the Sony GS80.
It does what I want, with 45W RMS on four channels and output for a sub, a volume knob and not a lot of flashing, fancy lights.

George (of* Nick and George) had mentioned that Nick was willing and able to upgrade the guts of a stock Ford radio and that the electronics they came with were actually quite good.

Gary bought the DSX-GS80 for Big Blue as well, but he found the short chassis difficult to support in the rear.
I'm sure there are pictures of that installed in a Bullnose dash.

Yes, I did go with the Sony DSX-GS80, and I really like it for a number of reasons.  First, there are a gillion ways to tune the output, including with an app on a phone, in order to make it sound the way you want.  

Second, it can monitor two phones at a time, so instead of being like our "new" vehicles where it connects to the last one used, this one connects to both my phone and Janey's so whichever rings can be answered.

Third, you can adjust the display color and brightness so it is visible in most conditions.  I say "most" because I suspect that you'd have to run the brightness up really high in order to see it if the sun were coming directly in from the back.  But it can be done.

As for the support at the rear, the little radio was held nicely in the bezel by bending the tabs over on the mounting cage, but I thought for a truck going off the road as BB is to do it needed more.  Let's just say "it can be done" and if you want to know how I'll give you some links.

Atoto S8 Pro (android).
Lots of reasons but ultimately I wanted something 'smart' with the ability to run Torque if I ever get sensors setup for it.
Not plug and play physically - especially in an a/c truck.

Scott -
That really looks classy!

And the phone setup (good comment) is very handy if one is driving. Get caught in an accident while the phone is activated and it's "heads you loose, tails you loose", so having your wife on the phone is a good way to go.

(plus, women use the phones more than guys do. But don't quote me on that!)

Very nice looking setup!

kramttocs wrote

Atoto S8 Pro (android).
Lots of reasons but ultimately I wanted something 'smart' with the ability to run Torque if I ever get sensors setup for it.
Not plug and play physically - especially in an a/c truck.

If I could find a black basket weave bezel like that for my truck I would consider getting something more modern like you did.  I really would like to have Sat radio due to all the unique channels they have compared to local radio that has no real variety.

Scott nice install. I WAS planning to go back to the old Two-knobber, but you started  the gears turning, with the double-din look I have to admit it fit-in pretty well in the dash bezel. I too would be looking for the grey-black basket weave for mine, as someone has already chopped up a wood grain bezel and put it in there.

I have exclusively used Pioneer. My daily had a DXT-4869BT and my 79 has a DEH-5010BT and now I am looking for another. Both have a built in MOSFET 50w Amp. I have 6.5s I the doors and 6x9s behind the seat. With loudness up and playing with the EQ it gets way louder than I'll ever need...windows down I'll use it to DJ parties over bluetooth. Absolutely love them.

I installed a Kenwood media player (No CD). The unit is quite small and light, I think only about 3" deep. I used a 1985 grey weave radio bezel, and painted the edges silver to match the factory 1984 bezels. I mainly listen to Podcasts via Bluetooth, but I have been doing a little bit of Spotify lately as well. I almost never listen to the actual radio. My truck was a factory radio delete, so there was nothing...not speakers, no antenna, no wiring, just nothing.

I have stock AM/FM radio and some Amazon speakers.   It had Kenwood speakers that were very crinkly and didn't work.   I thought about trying something newer but really wanted to keep the original look.  I have enough nostalgia for that era that I wanted to keep it with a double knob radio and the OEM worked.   I learned to drive in a 78 Granada with same radio and 4 speakers.  So basically the same.   Kinda my homage to that era.   It's not very loud, not very awesome.  But it works and takes me back to my youth, so I'm keeping it til it quits working.  

No point having a lot of quality in there since the normal truck noises cancel out any "quality" sounds.   We have a local AM/FM/internet station that plays "gold" from 50/60/70/80s.  Perfect for my radio and riding around in the county.

Thanks all. There are steps/photos in the Camano thread (sig) if interested in how I went about it.
It was a tough decision between the factory 2 knob and this since it's hard to beat the factory look.
The nice thing is that no matter what one goes with, nothing is permanent.

The truck came with an Alpine 7803S (being an 86 with the Burlwood single din) and that fit well with the 80's look.

Tons of choices (new and used) out there depending upon the looks and feature set one wants.

Corey, I believe I have the exact same stereo that you have. I didn't want a CD player, Bluetooth was more important. It is as you said, superlight and does not take up a lot of room behind the dash. So far, very pleased with it.  

I really want my interior to be as stock as possible, but I also like a good audio system.  Bluetooth would be nice to answer calls and play podcasts etc.  I have a nice OE radio/cassette unit - I'm thinking of putting that back in with a bluetooth amp under the seat (hopefully with USB charging too) so basically tinny sound for the radio/cassette, and better audio quality via the bluetooth amp.  

Does anyone else have this setup, or recommendations whether this works out ok or not?

I also wanted something that was as close to factory looking as I could get and found this radio on Ebay for a good price.

A set of speakers I had sitting around makes up the system.
Its not a great sounding system but as someone said the noise the truck makes its good enough.
I dont care it does not have all that fancy stuff the new radios have if I did I would be driving a newer truck.

The only complaint I have with it is the stations tend to drift and I need to "dial it" back in from time to time. I think it needs a good cleaning from other signs I have with the radio.

The tape deck dose play but the sound is really low so you need to crank it up and even then if driving its hard to hear. Being the truck dose not have room for a lot of tapes I dont carry but a few in the truck so not a big deal.

I do have other newer 2 knob radios, 2 are NIB, I could install but I dont think they would look factory and why I did not go with any of them.
Dave ----

I remember that radio as well, my grandparents had an Crown Vic LTD with a similar one.

You wouldn't believe my kids faces (14 and 12) when I explained how to save presents on these radios via the "pull out push in" buttons.  You would have thought we used stone tablets (compared to now, that's not far off though!)

Well i have autosound us 230 and it looks  and sounds great in my truck

This unit has potential if you’re looking for a modern large screen in a 1x din. The screen can sit proud of the bezel, you can adjust the tilt, then retract for a clean non-bezel-destroying look.

Pioneer DVD Receivers: AVH-3500NEX

I wonder how much tilt it would need since the bezel juts out at the top and if it'd still be easily visible.
And one that tilts down (if exists) would block the hvac.

I like that idea though for getting a full screen with a single din.