Date:         Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:56:03 -0400
Reply-To:     Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Re: AM/FM/CD/MP3 Radio with Weather Band that fits Vanagon
In-Reply-To:  <CACthtkjN2D8f6OD1kA961vku30N-Np5NxFgmoFuxDpRjgQWatw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII

Let's be honest. Unless you live in South Africa, the original speakers are 20 (or more) years old, and were cheap to begin with. Any replacement is likely to sound lightyears better. I know in one of my vans, when I finally yanked the old speakers out, the paper cones were disintegrating. No wonder why they sounded like crap.




On Apr 30, 2012, at 1:19 PM, Tyler Dann wrote:

> I just installed a Sony CD player and Boston Acoustics speakers into my
> van, I can see the display fine and the sound is fantastic. Head unit was
> Sony CDX-GT565UP and speakers Boston Acoustics SE45, all fit in stock
> locations.
>
> Pics of my stereo:
> https://picasaweb.google.com/tylerdann/NewSoundSystemForTheVan?authuser=0&feat=directlink
>
> Sorry for the flash.
>
> Big improvements for me were new speaker wire and changing my stock power
> wiring from always powered to both constant power (clock and presets) and
> switched power (stereo is off when I pull the key). The grey/black wire off
> the seat belt warning relay on top of the fuse panel is where I tapped the
> ignition power into. I found this described in this samba thread:
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=260304&highlight=stereo+wiring
>
>
> While I had the door panels off I installed some fatmat. Not complete
> coverage, but the door sounds much less tinny now and it wasn't too
> expensive. I bought 20 square feet for ~$28, used maybe a quarter of it for
> both front doors and plan on using the rest in back. I plan on adhering
> stock grills over the new speakers using the method described in this
> thread:
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=495155&highlight=speaker+stock+grill
>
> So far I am really happy with this set up, but now I wish I had weather
> band!
>
> Cheers,
> Tyler
>
> On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 5:08 AM, Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Many of you have asked for more specifics on the radio.  For a more
>> detailed description, see: Big Rig
>> Stereo<http://www.bigrigstereo.com/details_5920e.html>
>> (However, their price is much higher than purchasing factory direct from
>> Custom
>> Radio <http://customradio.net/us_en/products-page/truck/>).
>>
>> And yes, the radio display panel is easily read from the drivers seat.
>>
>> Harold
>> --
>> __________
>> Harold Teer
>> 1991 Westy
>> Harrisonburg, VA
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 6:42 PM, george jannini <georgejoann@gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>> Can you actually see the dial/screen/front of the radio from the
>>> drivers seat? <<
>>>
>>>   I'd venture that it depends on the radio.  Before the Dual I had 2
>>> Sonys, both had the same type of display and neither could be easily
>>> read from the driver position in the daytime.  The Dual, for whatever
>>> reason, is much easier to read.  All of the displays if left on at
>>> night were brilliant enough to be annoying in the loft when I'm a
>>> little restless...not the kind of night light that I'm looking for.
>>>
>>>  And one more caveat:  The Sonys' parasitic drains were negligible
>>> _if_ their displays were switched off, whilst the Dual draws .30 amps,
>>> even with its face plate removed;
>>>
>>>   It needs to be be wired to a switched hot lead, either through the
>>> ignition or an operator operated one like I use.  A rocker switch in
>>> the blank position at the lower right of the dash binnacle works for
>>> me.
>>>
>>> Geo/ATL
>>>
>>