stevo_gj Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo_gj Posted September 20, 2008 Author Share Posted September 20, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo_gj Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 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. 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. 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. 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 Here is a pic of me testing the setup with a local FM station. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo_gj Posted October 29, 2008 Author Share Posted October 29, 2008 Well here it is: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_sushi Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 tidy cant even see your fail marks haha how did the wet and dry go? help out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo_gj Posted October 29, 2008 Author Share Posted October 29, 2008 Worked out well, thanks for the tip. Do you have my short handle screwdriver? I can't find it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jospef Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Looks great . Good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_sushi Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Sexual-Sushi, did you get my PM regarding the dels, sorry for the off topic. not sure weather the PM things are working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jospef Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 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 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombat2509 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Hello I am Just visiting I am looking at buying one of these radios and i am wondering what the sound quality is like are they worth the money ? just happened to find this thread thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo_gj Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 Hey Wombat, I am still running the stock 260z speakers, so the sound quality isn't amazing. I'm pretty sure that if they were combined with a good speaker/amp setup the sound can be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombat2509 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 thanks for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z Guy Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydney mike Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted February 1, 2015 Administrators Share Posted February 1, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydney mike Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z Guy Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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