JH57Z06

gotta' 57 driver that needs replacement stereo with am/fm; blue tooth or CD. Ecklers has one for $759.99. checking to see if that's best price.

68hemi

In my 1957 I recently replaced my original Wonderbar radio with the following system.

I bought this through Corvette Central. The Retro Sound 2 AM/FM stereo radio, kick panel speakers, dual dash speakers and through Crutchfield a 8” amplified subwoofer.
The radio fits the original radio opening without modification and has a nice chrome bezel and allows the use of the factory radio ***** & wings, to look as factory as you can expect. It comes with look-a-like ***** & wings but they looked a little to shiny for me.

The kick panel speakers are replacement kick panels that come install ready for the supplied speakers. They come black but paint ready and I painted them red to match my interior. Thes are not high quality speakers and are not very well heard.

The dual dash speaker fits nicely behind the original speaker grille but i believe I will replace it with a single dual cone speaker for hopefully better sound.

I also installed a Retroound Quad four amp between the radio and the speakers and a thin 8” amplified subwoofer from Crutchfield and mounted it in the convertible top well over the gas tank cover. It fits nicely here and does not effect the top operation. The subwoofer has a separate volume control that I mounted under the dash.

This system is far superior to the original radio at 55-65 mph but due to space limitations for speaker placement and the lower quality speakers that came with the kick panels and the replacement of the original speaker, with the top down at freeway speed it is hard to hear and if you turn it up too far the speakers distort. I may try some type of Bluetooth speaker to place on top of the dash for freeway speeds.

Here are links to the items I bought and the specifications of the components.

Link to radio
https://www.corvettecentral.com/c1-5...f%3fcount%3d18

Link to kick panel speakers
https://www.corvettecentral.com/c1-5...f%3fcount%3d18

Link to dash speakers
https://www.corvettecentral.com/c1-5...-62%2fradio%2f

Link to base amp
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_068QUA...RoCmEMQAvD_BwE

Link to suboofer
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_20611H...ker-11HS8.html

DAN70

I just upgraded my Wonderbar in my ‘54. It’s everything you’d get in an aftermarket radio and it looks and functions like the original, for about the same price.

SDVette

68Hemi's links aren't working.. but I also went with a Retrosound head unit.
Just the radio unit.. not the amps and extra speakers..
It has AM/FM and USB. I think they now offer bluetooth as well.

It's not as nice as the one you linked; they are plastic, not real chrome... but they work fine and are about 1/4 the price (around $200).

68hemi

I fixed the links

jtkirk

I know I am digging up an old thread, but was wondering who did the upgrade on your radio Dan.

DAN70

I had it upgraded at Retro Radio Restoration in Elizabethtown Pa.
I don’t have an address or phone #.
I’m happy with their work.

DAN

Plasticman

I also have a Retrosound unit like SDVette's system, AM/FM with USB input.

Problem is the speakers (and my inability to find an effective location for additional speakers), since C1 Vettes have very limited location options for additional speakers, in a large enough size to produce good quality sound throughout my current auditable freq. range (50 hz. up to 2000 hz.). I have just the dual speakers in the original dash speaker location, and while they are far from OK (good sound only with the engine off), they are almost useless with the noise that the car and exhaust make at anything above 30 mph...

Plasticman

68hemi

The best thing you can do with a C1 with the top down is get the speakers up in your face. Some bullet type speakers on the dash at the corners of the windshield is really about the only way to over come the road and wind noise at freeway speeds. I spent a lot of money on my system with minimal results.

Plasticman

I completely agree, but hate adding the speakers somewhere they would need to be removed every time I "show" the car (I would probably forget them until it was too late).

Plasticman

68hemi

A little Velcro on the windshield and speaker and a razor blade will fix that. If it is anything but an NCRS type show I would not bother to remove them anyway.

jtkirk

Thanks Dan. Found their site.

Do you like the unit? I am thinking of pulling out the original and holding onto it, then replace it with the Retrosound unit. I am not putting the '54 into any judged competitions or anything. Would like it to look close to original but be able to do AM/FM and Bluetooth.