Classic Style Head Unit

[jeremy]

Was comparing the Year One head unit - link  To Retrosound's Long Beach - Link

Does anyone know who manufactures the Year One unit?  It would be nice to get more info on it.  Any reviews anywhere?  I found a few YouTube videos on the Retrosound Long Beach and was just about sold on it.  But the 4 X45 rms watts X 4 channels of the Year One unit sounds better than the 4 X 25 rms watts X 4 channels of the Retrosound Unit.  But the Year One only claims 180 watts max output whereas the Retrosound claims 300 - how can that be?  How many watts is a good car stereo anyway?  Not competition winning audio thug level, but something a guy who wants a car-with-a-stereo and not a stereo-with-a-car would have.  

[DynoDave]

I sure like the look of the Year One unit better, but I don' know who makes it. It's not Custom Auto Sound it does not appear.

RMS is constant output....think of the until with 45 watts RMS as having a knob that goes to 11 Vs. the 25 watt RMS unit that only goes to 10. Max output is PEAK output. How much reserve does the amp have to accurately reproduce "peaks" in the music which place high demand on the amplifier for a split second (and reproduce the peaks cleanly, without distortion). Think of trying to reproduce the cannon shots at the end of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Reproducing those loud, low peaks of sound takes a lot of amp power, but just for a moment. So one has more steady output, the other more peak. If you like your music even moderately loud, you will probably find NEITHER to be satisfactory, and you'll want an additional amplifier.

I have a RetroSound unit for the Trans Am, but I have not installed it yet. It's an older design Newport (there is a newer revamped version), and the quality reviews I have read (for the older design) are spotty. Some love it and have no issues, others have multiple control issues. It's a mixed bag. I also have the matching RetroSound amp to go with it.

What did the reviews YOU read say about the RetroSound unit?

What's a good level? That's tough to say. First, you have to realize that audio manufacturer numbers have always been suspect. There is no ISO standard for the testing that I know of. Also, all the other variables (how clean is the amp section? How clean is the pre-amp? What are the acoustics of the vehicle it's going in? What speakers [different brands/models reproduce sound differently]? What is the efficiency of the speakers? What is the speaker placement?) have a big impact. It's sort of an art putting together a "good" system.

And as you say, there's old guy muscle car good (that's me), then there's audio competition good. You can spend a couple of grand just on a digital processor which will help you tune the sound of your stereo in a given vehicle. I have no desire to go there.

[hanks73340]

I have to go with the Year One unit. Like the classic look. I think the Year One unit comes from Custom Sound. I've been looking at them for a while now.

[jeremy]

I watched a few videos about the Retrosound head units on YouTube. They were all positive. No one got heavy into the specifics. Retrosound appears to specialize in easy-to-install systems for the general user, not the extreme high-end audiophile that will drop multiple thousands of dollars into a system.

Custom Auto Sound's best head unit looks like a rebadged Retrosound Long Beach - Link

I can't find any info at all on Year One's head unit, other than the tiny catalog entry.

Speaking of speakers for a moment, I've got a pair of Focal 570AC Access Series 5x7's for the rear deck. The specs say "2-60 watts RMS power range (120 watts peak)," it sounds like the Year One head unit can't power these speakers and the Retrosound head unit can't halfway power these speakers. Without an amp. Since both need an amp, does the Year One unit really have any advantage over the Retrosound? Maybe if you want the period correct look, but it seems like that would limit the useability of the head unit.

hanks73340 - I can't find a "Custom Sound." Did you mean "Custom Auto Sound?"

[DynoDave]

All else being equal, I'd go for the Year One piece for the more factory look.

Throw one in your Year One cart, and try applying this code, and see what you get.

Year One Show Discount

[jeremy]

It's "discount exempt" and currently unavailable.

For $300 more, it needs to be $300 better than the Long Beach. I'm sure I can use $300 somewhere else on the car.

[hanks73340]

hanks73340 - I can't find a "Custom Sound." Did you mean "Custom Auto Sound?"[/quote]

Yep. They look decent and priced nicely.But then there is this one that I'm liking even more. Its on www.classiccarstereos.com 1971-1973-Plymouth-Roadrunner-Radio

[jeremy]

It looks like classiccarstereos.com sells a couple of Custom Auto Sound's models - Link

The head unit you're referring too is probably the O.E. Replica - which looks (and is priced) like Year One's AMF52 I bet they're the same thing. Well, before you pull the trigger check out the one and only review, which is negative. At least Classic Car Stereos is gives us more info about the radio than Year One. Now I know the manufacturer (Antique Auto Radio) and have a product name ( 1955 Chevy Wonderbar Radio), and there's a downloadable manual and a video.

I don't see any USB ports, so that's another point against it.

Altogether it sounds like this head unit is for those for whom the original appearance is more important than functionality as a stereo - but I'll research more on it.

Edit - It looks like this Facebook page is all Antique Auto Radio has for a site - Link

"1955 Chevy Wonderbar Radio" may be a mistake on ClassicCarSteros.com's website. That is an actual Chevy head unit from '55. Most likely AAR is using the same internals across all their head units though.

[Nacho-RT74]

I have known the Radio replicas are hard to for handling and programing. I got one from a member here nicelly priced because he didn't liked. I got the older/first version from him which is not BT or USB or whatever but just hardwired with RCA provisions on back for an aux input. However I can't talk about my experience with it yet since my project is really STUCK at this moment, but just after I read the owners manual can say It seems really tricky to use and program.

[DynoDave]

Jun 15, 2022 16:20:22 GMT -5 jeremy said:

It's "discount exempt" and currently unavailable.

I was afraid of that.

Jun 15, 2022 16:20:22 GMT -5 jeremy said:

For $300 more, it needs to be $300 better than the Long Beach. I'm sure I can use $300 somewhere else on the car.

Hard to argue with that.