Pure nostalgia: In car entertainment 1980s style
Discussion
I bought a Pye "Search Machine" car stereo back in the day, a mate used to work in Halfords and got it on a decent staff discount, still got it somewhere in the garage. I had a "Sparkomatic" stereo that was great - powered tape eject instead of a big spring was a really nice feature - but someone pinched it out of the car one night. I always used to remove the front on stereos that allowed it, but I'd usually just stick the front in the glove box rather than carry it around.
Nowadays in the classics I like Sony stereos of a certain age, because they can have a wired remote control stalk that I can stick to the steering column surround. In my cars there is no place in the dash for a stereo, so it has to be mounted very low down, and changing anything is too much hassle. I buy from car boot sales, sometimes paying as much as a fiver for the DAB version I bought last year.
Nowadays in the classics I like Sony stereos of a certain age, because they can have a wired remote control stalk that I can stick to the steering column surround. In my cars there is no place in the dash for a stereo, so it has to be mounted very low down, and changing anything is too much hassle. I buy from car boot sales, sometimes paying as much as a fiver for the DAB version I bought last year.
In the mid 80s I had this in my Mk1 Astra GTE with a speaker box the full size of the hatchback containing 2 x 15" subs, 2 x 10" mids and 4 x 2" bullets. The 6 x amps were mounted on the rear of the speaker box.
It was all on quick connectors so I could remove it all every time I went out with it as I lived in South London and it would have been robbed if left in the car overnight. The speaker box took 2 people to move it. I'll try and some pics of it.
It was all on quick connectors so I could remove it all every time I went out with it as I lived in South London and it would have been robbed if left in the car overnight. The speaker box took 2 people to move it. I'll try and some pics of it.
ingenieur said:
Downside of the Sony head units is that stupid beeping noise when you get out of the car and leave the facia on the stereo.
Yes, I'd forgotten about that as I've had a JVC in there for a few years which I can never remember how to take out of "demo" mode. I seem to recall I just used to unhook the front panel and then leave it in place, or just try to ignore it. For years I didn't have the non-switched power connected, in case it drained the battery while parked, so it didn't do it then.I recall having a Pioneer of some sort which was another Halfords bargain from my mate - it was cheap because it was their ex-display model, but he still got his discount which neither of us were expecting.
ingenieur said:
Downside of the Sony head units is that stupid beeping noise when you get out of the car and leave the facia on the stereo.
I remember that. I had an A class with one fitted and there was the beep-beep beep-beep noise when you turned off the ignition. And you had a plastic box to put it in.I think I also had a car where there was a handle built in to the unit that you pulled up from the bottom and the whole thing came out in a quick release style and you carried it around in the pub or something daft like that. Was a long time ago through so might be a bit hazy on this.
KTF said:
I think I also had a car where there was a handle built in to the unit that you pulled up from the bottom and the whole thing came out in a quick release style and you carried it around in the pub or something daft like that. Was a long time ago through so might be a bit hazy on this.
Oh yes, I had one of those as well, I can't remember what make. Only ever put that in the glove box, too. Having that Sparkomatic head unit stolen from my car made me paranoid for years to come.All this talk of Blaupunkt, Alpine, Pioneer and such like - Pah!
The first car stereo I ever bought: An Audioline 426 for the win!
If I remember correctly, it pumped out something like a whopping 12 watts RMS (advertised as 25 watts peak to peak!), and the graphic equalizer mean't infinite sound adjustment, from tinny transistor radio sound, right the way to tinny transistor radio sound with a bit more bass!
The first car stereo I ever bought: An Audioline 426 for the win!
If I remember correctly, it pumped out something like a whopping 12 watts RMS (advertised as 25 watts peak to peak!), and the graphic equalizer mean't infinite sound adjustment, from tinny transistor radio sound, right the way to tinny transistor radio sound with a bit more bass!
A blast from the past, 8 track tapes early 70s
Anybody remember a high street store called Tandy electronics , their own brand was Realistic . I had a Realistic radio coupled to an 8 track tape player fitted in my Mk 1 Mexico , and to provide content on the tapes I had a Realistic 8 track recorder on which I could transfer music from black vinyl ,
Anybody remember a high street store called Tandy electronics , their own brand was Realistic . I had a Realistic radio coupled to an 8 track tape player fitted in my Mk 1 Mexico , and to provide content on the tapes I had a Realistic 8 track recorder on which I could transfer music from black vinyl ,
MXRod said:
A blast from the past, 8 track tapes early 70s
Anybody remember a high street store called Tandy electronics , their own brand was Realistic . I had a Realistic radio coupled to an 8 track tape player fitted in my Mk 1 Mexico , and to provide content on the tapes I had a Realistic 8 track recorder on which I could transfer music from black vinyl ,
They're still going. We have a couple of stores in Cardiff.Anybody remember a high street store called Tandy electronics , their own brand was Realistic . I had a Realistic radio coupled to an 8 track tape player fitted in my Mk 1 Mexico , and to provide content on the tapes I had a Realistic 8 track recorder on which I could transfer music from black vinyl ,
2172cc said:
Very similar setup to what I had in my Sunbeam Ti Series 2 back in the mid 80's, along with a pair of Pioneer speakers on the rear shelf.
I kept the shelf and Pioneer speakers after I sold the car, as I was buying the Sunbeam-Lotus, and I fitted a Kenwood head unit into the Lotus, although no idea what model it was now, some 30+ years later!
Zener said:
The Sharp with the APSS (auto programme search system) IIRC were pretty solid units (cassette in length ways) inc Pioneer Alpine etc Blaupunkt were over rated and basic didnt sound great even if they was the German car brands preffered fit 
I had one of these in 1984/5 remote control and everything! Paid about £300 for it which was six times more than the car I fitted it to! 
droopsnoot said:
4rephill said:
All this talk of Blaupunkt, Alpine, Pioneer and such like - Pah!
The first car stereo I ever bought: An Audioline 426 for the win!
I've just acquired an Audioline 403, not sure what I'm going to do about it but it was a freebie.The first car stereo I ever bought: An Audioline 426 for the win!
(As I recall, the dials were plastic, but the cassette buttons were solid metal!)
Zener said:
Ah yes advertised peak/max output power Vs RMS what a rip of that was
Yes - The car stereo equivalent of stage amplifiers going up to 11! 
Forgive me if it has already been mentioned , but how curious to have a curvaceous , quintessentially Sixties car , the 275GTB , to plug 80s audio . A blocky Quattro or Lagonda would have been more in keeping with the zeitgeist - and who the hell listens to any tune other than the V12 symphony in the Ferrari ?
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