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Best period audio

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:04 pm
by randall977
My personal preference for car restoration is factory spec, with some exceptions. I've removed all of the audio equipment which was retrofitted to my car and have bought new speakers which fit in original positions etc. My everyday cars have subs and loads of speakers as standard so I know the 6 isn't going to compare sound wise but that's fine.

So I'm interested to hear from others what head unit they think bests suits an early 80's 6? I've found two (see below) which I think would suit the car for about £100, also thinking about a used Becker Grand Prix - I have some old cassettes, there's FM radio...


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Re: Best period audio

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:39 pm
by ron
I have a selection of period Blaupunkt radio/cassette units.

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:10 pm
by randall977
Thanks Ron. I sold one of this (with manual etc) a few months before getting my project just to clear it out of the loft - I had it repaired and adapted to take an input - £60!

Blaupunkt-2.jpg
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Re: Best period audio

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 7:29 am
by Pod
randall977 wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:10 pm Thanks Ron. I sold one of this (with manual etc) a few months before getting my project just to clear it out of the loft - I had it repaired and adapted to take an input - £60!


Blaupunkt-2.jpg
Isn't it amazing how often one sells a part which has been hanging around for years - only to need it a few weeks later!

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:51 am
by olympia57
I considered that Continental unit after seeing a post on here where it was fitted to an e23 , got a good review too.

Can I ask who did the aux in adaptor for you Christian ? I'd only fit a RC with the ability to play MP3 through it ,all those CD cases sliding and rattling all over the place is soooo 1990's ......
I had a BMW business head unit fitted ,looked great but as I say above I got fed up with all the detrius that went with it.
Up in my garage loft, deep in a pile dusty boxes I knew I had a >30 yo Goodmans RC with cd input on the front . I thought I'd give it a try , found it and wired it up and was surprised by a more than acceptable sound from my phone files. I little tweaking of the phone sound mode and it was just as good as the cd player fitted. I changed it over and with the fitting of a little bluetooth receiver I had a clutterless system with all the advantages of modern equipment.
The Goodmans unit ,although working fine, was a little worn on the facia so when this popped up I snatched it for £20 . :D
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Goodmans-GCE ... 2749.l2649
It's now fitted and if anything sounds better than the other one .
I'd fit a period Blaupunkt but only if it was discreetly adapted for aux in .
Don

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 1:24 pm
by brickwhite
I am really happy with my VDO/Conti unit with bluetooth. It installs well and sounds great. No preouts if you want a Amp and sub but I don't go that far into Audio tech stuff. I removed my old premium amp and bypassed it, this unit has more power than the old unit with the amp to power 6 speakers.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-vdo-parts/r ... ub-or~con/

I put one in my wife's e30 Vert too.

I've bought old period correct units in the past, they have always needed work or sounded static laden. I did want to add a slider radio to my m635 with cantalope update.. but those are $180 + what the slider radio costs $$$.

https://cantalouperadio.com/collections ... trofit-kit

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 2:34 am
by bpoliakoff
You guys might take a look at a Nakamichi CD400. Very 80s and super quality and very ,very appropriate looking. They pop up rebuilt on Ebay from time to time. I put a wanted add on Craigs List and after 3 months, a guy called me with a new one and only wanted $200 for it. There are no crazy fluorescents or graphics and the neat thing is you can switch the panel colors to orange to match the dashboard lighting

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:07 pm
by randall977
Thanks for the replies, really interesting to hear peoples views and experience. I joined the vintage-radio.net forum to get advice on an early 60's Motorola 808 a while back and a member called 'Livewire' repaired it and the Blaupunkt - he added the adapter (just a 3.5mm jack) - but all for a very reasonable price.

The Nakamichi does look nice, found one on eBay for £350. I am tempted to get a period Becker, but as you say the sound quality's not going to be great, also only 2 channel output on the ones I've seen. I think I'll probably go for the conti one - looks right - also handy to have Bluetooth!

I'll write up the installation when I get to that point...

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:17 pm
by ron
randall977 wrote: Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:07 pm I am tempted to get a period Becker.
I've got a couple of Becker Mexicos as well.

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 7:45 am
by jps635
I have the conti. Is light, shallow, simple to use and sound ok. I run through a nakamachi amp and polk speakers front and rear. Ran the remote mic up the a pillar and under the front headlining trim, installed in the pop out panel. Can answer the phone with the window down and Fritz exhaust.

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:12 pm
by Tommys 89 635
I've used many different brands in different cars but I love my old Alpine single CD indash. They don't look retro to BMW one's like Blaupunkt and Nakamichi. Nowadays, there are many different upgrades, bluetooth, satellite radio, etc. Good luck in your decision.

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 6:36 pm
by Brucey
IMHO the single biggest impediment to a period correct (or at least period correct-looking) audio system which actually sounds half-decent is the loudspeakers. Modern speakers are just so much better than old ones! However even the best 6x4" units lack real balls, and that is if they fit the mountings, which between problems at the front (which can often be cured with spacers) and problems at the back with magnet clearance etc meant that many don't fit at all, or require a bodge too many for comfort. Once you get them in there, the sound is limited by the acoustic properties of the enclosures which are lamentable.

Things are better if you have 'premium audio' rear speaker pods but the OEM speakers in them are nothing to write home about, and as an enclosure the pods are less than perfect anyway. This means that even if you upgrade the speakers in the premium pods, the sound isn't anywhere near as good as it could be with the same drive units properly mounted. You can seal the pods onto the parcel shelf, but then you lose the originality and the storage beneath.

BITD this was a problem just the same and given that the 'premium' speaker pods were rather costly and not a perfect solution anyway, a popular 'dealer fit' option in the UK was to have decent sized Pioneer speakers (Pioneer must have had a deal with BMW UK; they fitted many more Pioneer head units and speaker in BMW dealers than anything else, BTID) mounted in the rear kick panel. Mine had that from new. Not realising that it was an 'original feature', when the speakers were shot, I hogged the holes out and fitted 6x9" speakers. The improvement in sound was immeasurable.

It doesn't require genius electrical skills to route the audio from a period correct head unit via a source selector switch (which can also accept a 3.5mm aux input) e.g. mounted on the dash just below the radio slot, to an amplifier that is hidden away somewhere, and can drive some modern speakers fairly well.

You can get half-reasonable sound even with 6x4" speakers by adding a subwoofer somewhere (I am told that a very small one can fit beneath one of the front seats, but there is also a good space behind the rear armrest....). I have good 6x4s in the front and 6x9"s in the back, and I am happy even without a sub.

cheers

Re: Best period audio

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:20 am
by randall977
Thanks for the really interesting and useful replies. I've gone for a Continental head unit and have x4 new 6x4 speakers which I want to fit in the original locations - these are from the US and appear on paper to be pretty good and fit the holes etc. I think you're right that I will need a sub to get decent sound. On my Mini the sub is below the passenger seat - I'll look at this location on the 6, but it's going to be tight...