Hi there. My '83's old aftermarket radio (installed before I owned the car) recently broke and I'm looking for a replacement. However I have noticed that very few cars still have the stock radio. Are the stock ones just prone to breaking, or is the sound quality poor etc? Why are most FB Series 1 and 2 radios removed?

I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to buy a new aftermarket radio or an old stock radio. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Go aftermarket.
The original radios that came from the factory weren't anything special.
I'm keeping my stock '79 radio right where it is and having an aftermarket one installed underneath my glove box. My radio works like new, but the rubber band that is in side the radio isn't efficient causing you to not find the exact channel for the best quality.

 

Go aftermarket. 50-300 anywhere. Go to bestbuy and pick 1, have installed, and be out in 20min

 

Thanks for the info. May I ask why you are installing the new one under the glove box instead of in the console?

 

1. The stock Clarions were 1st rate radios back in the day.
2. They use an older mounting hole from newer stereos, so replacing usually requires hacking the existing surround.
3. If you just get new speakers it makes a world of difference with the stock radio.
4. These are 30 year old radios and are analog, not digital like the ones today. Its like comparing EFI to Carbs.
5. You can patch in mp3/ipod connections even to the old radios just by making a cable.

 

I love the older look and would hate to hack up something that works.

 

If you wanna stay period correct I've got a working Alpine cassette deck I recently pulled from my '85. Yours for the price of postage.

 

Thanks for the offer, but I believe they changed the dash and console style in 84 (Series 3) so I don't know if it's compatible with Series 1 and 2 cars. I could be mistaken though.

 

Um, the '83 and '85 were the same car if I am correct, electronically.
If the the cassette deck worked in the '85 it will work in the '83.
For the price of postage, that's a fair deal.
They only changed a couple minor details.

 

own a 84 and 85 gslse both have stock systems still sound great i use a cassette adapter for my ipod works fine both cars

 

Shiftn2gear. I think your confused at thinking a radio only fits certain cars. Any aftermarket regular radio will fit with minor trimming in most cases. Electronically aspect thats why they make adapters. If you stay original thats fine. Or go to a bestbuy or stereo shop and have one installed. A great radio can be had for 150. Im a fan of alpine head units.

 

Just get a S3 radio. EQUALIZER!!!1

 

I got my radio installed under the glove box today.
I'll post some pictures tomorrow with possibly a video of the setup.
It looks pretty damn stock, and people fit.

 

yea if you can wire it up and fit it in the car it will work. i do have to say the FB speaker placement sucks majorly i mean seriously why would you put such in-significant little speakers in a foot well? 4'' speakers blasting into your shins is not going to sound good. and 6.5's at the very back of the car. the PO of my car decided to hack honking 6x9'' holes in the bin lids. because we all know we have ears in the middle of our backs. Fb's have to be one of the worst layed out cars ever made speaker placement wise. it would of been better if they put the 6.5'''s in the b pillar. also look for a deck that has a proper EQ because unless you spend lots on your mid range speakers you will be left wanting. unless your 17 and like the sound of LPF farts.

 

... because the real music comes from the engine bay!

 

+1 You got that right rotordave.

You don't buy a sports car to listen to the stereo!

 

I used to install car stereo professionally. 14 years worth. Can't speak for all best buys but NEVER TAKE YOU CAR THERE. Not to mention they are seriously over priced on everything! www.sonicelectronix.com I order from there all the time! Cheap as hell, super customer support, they take clean and still complete returns, actually replace stuff under warranty and quickly! And here's the shocker , they have people on the phone that actually speak English and you can understand! No outsourced calls to India!

Now don't hack an already cut dash panel. Plenty of cut ones out there in the world. I have several and about 5 or 6 uncut.

Back in the day I had a pretty slamming stereo in my rx7. You need an audio system that's riches the car

My 40,000 mile 83 is staying with a stock head unit and EQ. The original speakers got tossed for infinity tho.

 

Here is the new setup.
No cutting or anything nasty and screwy.


So this sony radio is the cheap one and has the removable face. The housing we used once was a 3 gauge pod for a Volkswagen rabbit from the same year.


The passenger has plenty of room unless they are huge or are a dick and want to destroy other people's property.


Used an ebay special power antenna.


Power this set up are two 4 inch speakers with a tweeters in them.

 

I like the setup, but I can't imagine messing with the radio while driving because it's so far away.

 

Remote control. I use on in my '93 Suburban for that very reason.

 

The tiny remote that come with it is very simple and is easy to use. Never would have thought about doing this with out one.
Oh, all thanks goes to Frankenrex.

 

Factory head unit FTW.

I havent fully tuned / equalized my setup, however I'm running the factory 3-stack premium Clarion into a 5-channel, 700w RMS amp. It is the cleanest, clearest, and LOUDEST sound system I've heard in a car. Its seriously louder than I can bear to hear with no distortion whatsoever, all from a factory headunit.

Its the stock speakers / amps that are lacking.

Step 1) Upgrade speakers
Step 2) Build a 6-pin DIN - to - RCA for the headunit
Step 3) Build a 6-pin DIN - to - Remote +12v turn-on lead (pin 5 i believe).
Step 4) Use a 4-post relay to tap the turn-on lead from head-unit into 12v ignition (blue wire with stripes, runs to the factory amps and has brown female plug, these cables are already run one on each side to the factory amps.) NOTE: if you dont use a relay you will blow the internal fuses on the Clarion.
Step 4) Hook those 2 cables up from the amp outputs on the Clarion to aftermarket amp.

Enjoy

I also tapped in two aux inputs into the tape deck, so I can have powered iPhone connector and standard headphone jack.

A tip for equalizing (in general, but doubly relevant on older stereo equipment) - ALWAYS use subtractive equalization, NEVER additive. It's far cleaner for a circuit to absorb / remove sound than boost its voltage.

So, for example, rather than turn the "bass" **** up, turn the "Treble" down, then master volume up. Rather than maxing out the bass frequencies, lower the mids and highs and again turn master volume up.

End result is a far cleaner sound.

 

And BTW - for everyone that bitches about the front speakers being ***** - sure the sound field they create is not optimal. I've noticed that whatever side of the car you're on, it will sound louder from the other side.

At first I thought my driver's speaker was busted, the wiring wrong, something. However, if you place your head dead center, above the shifter you will hear the sweet spot - both are in fact working.

I suspect this is due to the phase of the speakers. I'm going to try flipping the wires on one side and see what happens.

The stock solution was to add the fader joystick to override the acoustic setbacks via sheer volume compensation.

I can live with it though, the fronts become filler and the rears offer the main sound stage.

 

I don't know about the '83 one, but the one in an SE in '84 and '85 is pretty good (no CD player though). Replace both amps and all speakers and inform your passengers that touching that oh so tempting joystick in the console could kill them and it sounds good and if you're cheap and lazy like me, you can buy one of those cassette to CD/MP3 player adapters.