RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

[swisscheese]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

and much less desirable for anyone who really know audio.

A real audiophile probably wouldn't choose a ty...
too much hassle to solve all the little rattles and squeeks and have to put tons of sound deadening material and probably other windows and stuff.
For me it sounds ok. I was never really interessted in throwing big money into dozens of speakers and amps into one of my cars.

 

[stlSY]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

For anyone looking for a feature packed deck that is an easy install I would look for a Parrot Asteroid. The single din version is about half the depth of a standard head unit so no need for dash mods to make it fit flush.

 

[Typhoon#747]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

A real audiophile probably wouldn't choose a ty...

As a former custom car audio installer and IASCA competitor I disagree with your statement. Here in the states, the 1st gen S10/Sonoma/Blazer/Jimmy/Syty trucks were quite popular amongst audiophiles and auto sound competitors. In the late 80s and early 90s, there were more of these trucks with custom sound systems than you can shake a stick at. Back in high school most of my buddies would have killed for a slammed S10/Blazer with a couple of 15s and a nice amp.

Some famous auto sound competitors come to mind:

Mark Fukuda - Blazer
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...scussion/156623-pics-os-rf-yellow-blazer.html
Gerald Kirkland - Blazer
http://faculty.tamuc.edu/jdavis/phantazm/trey.htm
Greg Cassis - Typhoon
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...ll-articles-including-many-horn-installs.html
Tim Maynor - Blazer
https://www.google.com/search?q=tim...GMyATYgoLYDQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=661
Jeff Pitman - Blazer
Grant Schermer - Typhoon

There's also Tom's Syclone from Athens, GA.

...Just to name a couple

 

[Quickstop [UK]]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

I think I'll split the thread in a few posts as I can see where the direction is going.. :lol:

Personally, car audio is a nice-to-have. I just don't get why you would spend $1000s on speakers and amps in a car but then those same people that do would probably laugh at my attempts to make a box shaped SUV fast; to each their own.

What is it about a Blazer or Ty in particular? The power generation capacity? Or the space? The styling?

I've seen a few shows where people compete to have the loudest sound inside the car which again, seems bizarre as you can't actually sit in it when it's that loud. Its not just loud, you can be injured. It's just not my thing and I wish I was more magnanimous to those that do it.

I wouldn't call any of those guys audiophiles though. An audiophile is someone that in my mind at least appreciates the music and wants the best clarity possible. I don't see how that can be done in a truck. (I have steered away deliberately from the choices of music employed as well!)

 

[stlSY]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

I wouldn't say that a Ty or Blazer are the most ideal platform for an audiophile system, but they can be made to sound good. With the new generation of audio processors you can really dial the audio system in much better and compensate for the less than ideal speaker placement. Stay tuned as I will be building the audio system in my Ty over the next few months (right after the K40 built in radar / laser detection system)

 

[Audio Man]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

As a former custom car audio installer and IASCA competitor I disagree with your statement. Here in the states, the 1st gen S10/Sonoma/Blazer/Jimmy/Syty trucks were quite popular amongst audiophiles and auto sound competitors. In the late 80s and early 90s, there were more of these trucks with custom sound systems than you can shake a stick at. Back in high school most of my buddies would have killed for a slammed S10/Blazer with a couple of 15s and a nice amp.

Some famous auto sound competitors come to mind:

Mark Fukuda - Blazer
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...scussion/156623-pics-os-rf-yellow-blazer.html
Gerald Kirkland - Blazer
http://faculty.tamuc.edu/jdavis/phantazm/trey.htm
Greg Cassis - Typhoon
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...ll-articles-including-many-horn-installs.html
Tim Maynor - Blazer
https://www.google.com/search?q=tim...GMyATYgoLYDQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=661
Jeff Pitman - Blazer
Grant Schermer - Typhoon

There's also Tom's Syclone from Athens, GA.

...Just to name a couple

Just because it was being used alot doesn't mean it was a good platform for audiophiles.
The vast majority of those you just mentioned were hardly audiophile set ups. There was only one that I clicked on that came close to audiophile sound quality set up and he was still bouncing the tweeters off the glass. The rest were pure SPL setups which the only reason you choose a Blazer for was the fact that you still have a mini truck but have plenty of space to put a bunch of subwoofers. I have done many Blazers like that and they choose this platform because of the amount of interior room you have to put in more subs not because it is a great platform for an audiophile who enjoys high sound quality. The last one I did like that had 8 12" subs in it walled in. It was of course very loud....very loud! But it was also not something you would want to sit there and listen to. It was an SPL system and SPL systems are good for one thing, being loud.
Any/most vehicles can be modded to sound good. It is more of a matter of whether the customer is wanting to mod there car to put speakers in it and how much modding they can put up with. The Blazer platform is not a good platform for sound at all in stock form. Bouncing sound off the glass from a 4x6" is hardly audiophile material. Having larger 6x9" speakers behind you taking away from your front stage is also not a great set up for sound quality. No door speakers for midbass drivers. Etc. Oval speakers in general are hardly great for sound quality. So the Blazer platform in stock form is not a great platform for sound at all. Again, the appeal of it is the amount of room you have and the fact that most blazers were a dime a dozen so you can chop them up all you want to mod them for different speaker locations to make them sound right. Door panels were pretty easily modded to put midbass drivers in. Relocation of the tweeters and mids to the A pillars can be easily done.
So technically it was not the Blazer being a good audio platform that made it appealing. It was the fact that you could mod it pretty easily and had tons of room.
So no a real audiophile probably wouldn't/ shouldn't choose a Ty unless they were going to mod the heck out of it and if that were the case I hate to see that done to a rare vehicle since there are so many other vehicles out there that are better platforms for SQ setups and SPL. Why chop up a rare truck and especially one that is so performance oriented.

 

[QuinnSY]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

Just because it was being used alot doesn't mean it was a good platform for audiophiles.
The vast majority of those you just mentioned were hardly audiophile set ups. There was only one that I clicked on that came close to audiophile sound quality set up and he was still bouncing the tweeters off the glass. The rest were pure SPL setups which the only reason you choose a Blazer for was the fact that you still have a mini truck but have plenty of space to put a bunch of subwoofers. I have done many Blazers like that and they choose this platform because of the amount of interior room you have to put in more subs not because it is a great platform for an audiophile who enjoys high sound quality. The last one I did like that had 8 12" subs in it walled in. It was of course very loud....very loud! But it was also not something you would want to sit there and listen to. It was an SPL system and SPL systems are good for one thing, being loud.
Any/most vehicles can be modded to sound good. It is more of a matter of whether the customer is wanting to mod there car to put speakers in it and how much modding they can put up with. The Blazer platform is not a good platform for sound at all in stock form. Bouncing sound off the glass from a 4x6" is hardly audiophile material. Having larger 6x9" speakers behind you taking away from your front stage is also not a great set up for sound quality. No door speakers for midbass drivers. Etc. Oval speakers in general are hardly great for sound quality. So the Blazer platform in stock form is not a great platform for sound at all. Again, the appeal of it is the amount of room you have and the fact that most blazers were a dime a dozen so you can chop them up all you want to mod them for different speaker locations to make them sound right. Door panels were pretty easily modded to put midbass drivers in. Relocation of the tweeters and mids to the A pillars can be easily done.
So technically it was not the Blazer being a good audio platform that made it appealing. It was the fact that you could mod it pretty easily and had tons of room.
So no a real audiophile probably wouldn't/ shouldn't choose a Ty unless they were going to mod the heck out of it and if that were the case I hate to see that done to a rare vehicle since there are so many other vehicles out there that are better platforms for SQ setups and SPL. Why chop up a rare truck and especially one that is so performance oriented.

This is a true Audiophile setup!
The Magic Bus

 

[stlSY]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

Vehicles in general are something an audiophile wouldn't consider. Speakers up high put your first order reflection points at the glass. Put the speakers down lower and you may be able to alleviate that but then there is height of stage. Unequal pathlengths for the speakers. Its just a bad environment for audio. That being said I have experienced some terrific sounding cars over the years.

As far as modding a sy or ty for sound isn't any different to me than engine or body mods. Of course if my truck were a flawless 20k mile example I may feel differently. I just know that I love to crank up a good tune on a badass system and enjoy the drive. I know that the 4x6 dash speakers off deck power aren't going to get me there.

 

[canadian]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

Richard Clark seemed to do OK with his system

http://www.usdaudio.com/sw/cars/buick/

 

[Windedv6]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

Hmmm...

John Gerber seemed to do ok with his IASCA Pro class and USAC Expert class Typhoon back in the day. On stage at the finals most every year. Plus a number of regional wins across the country and even stole the best of show in the Canadian IASCA AudioThunder. If one looks really close there is a First Place IASCA Pro Class World Final trophy in the mix. Hint: It's the six foot tall one...

I competed only in Sound Q. This was not a SPL setup.

The point is there were a lot of blazers and some Typhoons in IASCA and USAC and most were in SPL setups as Sound Q was very difficult in our trucks. The main reason for my success was I was one of the few that had the Premier ODR fiber optics digital system from Pioneer. I was on the Pioneer competition team in those years. We had twin (R-L) 31 band EQs with time alignment, fully adjustable db slopes, fully programmable center channel, class A digital amps with a channel for every speaker. I used Imagine Dynamics Horns, DyneAudio, Canton and ID speakers, with twisted pair silver speaker wire that was like $40 a foot. I also was sponsored by Phoenix Gold and had the PG Cyclone sub, if anyone remembers those.

John

 

[Windedv6]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

Just because it was being used alot doesn't mean it was a good platform for audiophiles..

You are correct. The Blazer body style was most popular at a time when car audio was peaking. It was not the best platform, but there were a lot worse platforms for SQ.

The vast majority of those you just mentioned were hardly audiophile set ups. There was only one that I clicked on that came close to audiophile sound quality set up and he was still bouncing the tweeters off the glass.

I knew Greg's Ty. It's setup was not as you may think it is by looking at the pictures. The tweeters are cut off extremely high just to add emphasis to cymbals, etc. The sound stage height, depth and placement were controlled by the wave guides built in the bottom of the dash. It was a top competitor in SQ.

The rest were pure SPL setups which the only reason you choose a Blazer for was the fact that you still have a mini truck but have plenty of space to put a bunch of subwoofers. I have done many Blazers like that and they choose this platform because of the amount of interior room you have to put in more subs not because it is a great platform for an audiophile who enjoys high sound quality.

True on the space for an SPL setup. The Astro vans and some of the larger SUV seemed to do better by the end of the 1990s as more room was needed for the big boys for needed amp and battery space.

Any/most vehicles can be modded to sound good. It is more of a matter of whether the customer is wanting to mod there car to put speakers in it and how much modding they can put up with. The Blazer platform is not a good platform for sound at all in stock form. Bouncing sound off the glass from a 4x6" is hardly audiophile material. Having larger 6x9" speakers behind you taking away from your front stage is also not a great set up for sound quality.

So true. The Blazer stock setup is so lame...to GM, Blazer audio system was an after thought...and a bad one at that.

So no a real audiophile probably wouldn't/ shouldn't choose a Ty unless they were going to mod the heck out of it and if that were the case I hate to see that done to a rare vehicle since there are so many other vehicles out there that are better platforms for SQ setups and SPL. Why chop up a rare truck and especially one that is so performance oriented.

Because at the time Typhoons were the popular eye catcher for magazines, sponsors, etc. We didn't know that they were even going to be rare back then. GM was hinting on doing a Gen II Typhoon. If done correctly and with some thought you don't have to cut one up to much. I purchased and addition set on doors, carpet tail gate cover, etc to have as stock replacement.

Performance was not as big as car audio back in the mid nineties for most kids. There was some SYTY performance experimenting from Kenny Bell and ATR soon came out with their GN cross-referenced to SYTY parts, but for the most part the turbo thing was still a step child in the go fast crowd back then.


John

 

[stlSY]

Re: RetroSport 1.5 DIN Head unit

A lot of cars were and still are built because first and foremost the owner liked the car. Mark Eldrige's latest car build is in a retired 2005 sprint cup racecar. Still no real interior to speak of but I understand it sounds amazing. Unfortunately I don't think I will ever fit through the window to listen to it.