Jump to content

Retrosound Car Stereo for the 260z


stevo_gj

Recommended Posts

Hey guys,

 

I'm looking at getting one of these retrosound head units for my 260z, they cost 250 US from MSA. I am also considering getting the speaker panels they sell to replace the rear kick panels which cost 150 US.

Does anyone have any experience with these head units? I'd love to hear how they perform and operate from another S30 owner.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

post-931-14402349449_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I am thinking about one of those. I found this one on ebay, it may be good with your blue black theme, plus it has a cd player in it.

 

 

08 PIONEER DEH-P5000UB CAR CD/MP3/USB PLAYER+IPOD CABLE

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350098942222

post-930-144023497823_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Hunter, yeah thats a nice head unit.

 

I may be contradicting myself here, but I want the head unit to look as original as possible, so I'll most likely get the retrosound one. Also seeing as I would only use my ipod the cd playing function is unnecessary. Not to bag on that pioneer one thought, it's just not my style  ;D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I mainly play from cd's so I would need a 6 stacker if I were to buy the retrosound unit.

 

http://www.retrosoundusa.com/

 

The Retro Sound plays from a sanyo cd stacker of up to 10 cd's

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_mzGzriNBY

 

http://www.retrosoundusa.com/video

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Well I took a risk and bought it without hearing anyone elses experience with the unit. Many thanks to sexual_sushi for his help and tools for this job.

 

The install was pretty straight forward.

 

Assemble Retrosound Stereo. The paper template they give is pretty good for the 260. Probably the hardest part of the whole install is taking the square faceplate that they supply and modifying it, as instructed, to be the shape of the 260z one.

 

Remove Center Console and then remove old stereo.

 

I then detached the wires to the electric motor for my aerial because I'm pretty sure theres no way to make the Retrosound unit integrate it. I plan to plug this into one of my switch blanks in the future.

P261008_1555.jpg

 

The U bracket that fastens to either side of the centre console needs a hole drilled in it so that the 'backstrap' part of the head unit can be attached to it. This just provides a bit of extra support for the rear of it.

 

Mount the head unit into the center console using the supplied screws. The kit I had only contained 6 of 8 nuts of this special american electrical thread. Big f*ck around trying to source these. I found some at Jaycar. Wasted a day visiting supercheap, bunnings, autobarn and a private specialist nut and bolt store. To their credit the private store 'The bolt shop' at enoggera knew what the thread was and told me that Jaycar would have it.

 

Wiring is pretty straight forward. The unit needs 2 12V supplies, one special independent of ignition to keep the memory and the other is just the standard one that I attached to the old wiring.

 

I attached the wire to the light above the air vents for constant 12V. Using voltmeter none of the other wires that were easily available had 12V when ignition was off.

P261008_161702.jpg

 

Here is the wire I cut and tagged that was the 12V for the old power supply. I found it using a voltmeter easily enough.

P261008_1634.jpg

 

I still have the stock speakers so I connected both channels to the two wires that I had available from the Mono setup. I intend to get a local car audio store to make a copy of sexual_sushi's speakerbox to put into my own Z. Should be cheaper than the ~$500-600 from the states

 

Mmmm stereo -> mono

P261008_1643.jpg

 

Here is a pic of me testing the setup with a local FM station.

P261008_165102.jpg

 

Anyway, once the unit is mounted onto the console, get it almost into position, plug everything in, then bolt it up. Easy

 

All of this can be seen done by the company in an example 280z here:

 

I haven't got any pics of the completed setup yet, I'll get on it and post them here when I have some good light and remember to do it. My initial impressions of the setup is that it is exactly as described, and several people have commented on its authentic style.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i dont think i have your screw driver :S

 

had a random dream u were letting me drive your z around the city last nite :S couldnt get my foot to the break haha. very scary

 

Hahaha, I hate those dreams! I had a dream I was driving my zed last night, it had an exhaust system on it for some reason. Sounded mean  :P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...
  • 5 years later...

I was thinking about getting a Retrosound unit for my 240z specially this unit:

http://www.retrosoundusa.com.au/index.php?l=product_detail&p=362

 

I'm not too worried about the install should be fairly straight forward.

Has anyone installed this model? Any feedback on how it performs?

Are there many other units out there which are good quality which have this retro look?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you like to stick to original (I do) here's a suggestion, it's what I have in my Zed. If you haven't already got one, get a factory am/fm tuner. Now, my Zed is a late 260z so I am not sure if 240z's got the am/fm tuners. Then just buy one of these for ten bucks and you're all good:

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Car-Kit-MP3-Player-FM-Transmitter-Modulator-LCD-USB-SD-MMC-Red-Light-Remote-/281432192856?pt=AU_Electronics_Portable_Audio_Accessories&hash=item4186aa7758

 

cheers, Mike.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

If you like to stick to original (I do) here's a suggestion, it's what I have in my Zed. If you haven't already got one, get a factory am/fm tuner. Now, my Zed is a late 260z so I am not sure if 240z's got the am/fm tuners. Then just buy one of these for ten bucks and you're all good:

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Car-Kit-MP3-Player-FM-Transmitter-Modulator-LCD-USB-SD-MMC-Red-Light-Remote-/281432192856?pt=AU_Electronics_Portable_Audio_Accessories&hash=item4186aa7758

 

cheers, Mike.

 

 

That's pretty cool, have you tried it with an Android phone as the USB device? Reason I ask is that my head unit in my rx7 has a USB port but it can't read the MP3s on my Google Music (Android) device. Which is a pain, driving from Sydney to Melbourne is a long trip. I was looking for something that can transmit from Android (via FM frequency) so that the head unit in my Jimny can pick it up and that way I won't run out of songs to play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't tried with my android phone, just with a usb stick.

 

That's pretty cool, have you tried it with an Android phone as the USB device? Reason I ask is that my head unit in my rx7 has a USB port but it can't read the MP3s on my Google Music (Android) device. Which is a pain, driving from Sydney to Melbourne is a long trip. I was looking for something that can transmit from Android (via FM frequency) so that the head unit in my Jimny can pick it up and that way I won't run out of songs to play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I have used a FM modulator in the past they can work alright but you do lose a little bit of sound quality, but it really depends on the person.  The car has already been modified so it doesn't have to be original but something that suits the era.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...