Single stereo-input dash speaker for vintage car owners
The RetroSound specialty
If you've ever tried to install a modern car stereo in a pre-1960s vintage automobile, you've probably run across the problem of getting stereo sound in a vehicle with only one center dash speaker. When I owned a '56 Studebaker Hawk, I faced two not-so-great choices: modify the car by installing speakers in the doors or keep the car stock by putting clunky speaker boxes on the back deck. We just got in a new product that gives vintage car owners a much better option.
Retrosound is a California-based company that makes modern, Bluetooth®-equipped in-dash receivers that'll fit in vintage cars without modifications. Now, they've branched out into speakers. In addition to the usual speaker pairs for different size openings, they also offer three models designed to fit into your car's single dash speaker opening: a 5"x7", a 4"x8", a 4"x10", and a 6"x9".
Retrosound R-69N Single 6"x9" speaker with dual voice coils
Dual voice coils make the difference
And here's the "why-didn't-I-think-of-that?" idea from Retrosound: each single speaker has a dual voice coil woofer and two Mylar dome tweeters, with each voice coil connected to its own tweeter. All you need to do is connect the right and left speaker outputs of your receiver to the two voice coils and presto — you can enjoy beautiful stereo sound from one speaker location.
Now, you won't get the big stereo spread that you'd get from having speakers on each side of your car, but you won't have to cut up your dash or doors either. That's a beautiful thing for many old car fanatics.
Low-profile design means maximum versatility
Another plus — Retrosound understands that older vehicles usually don't have a lot of room for speakers with big honkin' magnets, so these speakers use neodymium magnets to keep a low profile — they're all less than 1-3/4" deep. So a pair of these speakers will even work well in vintage cars with two speaker openings. They'll fit in most doors, they'll handle plenty of power, and you can connect both voice coils together for 2-ohm impedance to get more power out of your outboard amplifier.
Meet Charlie Pastorfield
My mission in life: cool guitars, Asian food, and helping you build a great car audio system.
I played rock'n'roll professionally from the 1970s up to 1995, and had a great career travelling up and down the East Coast playing clubs and opening shows for bands like The Kinks, The Beach Boys, James Brown, George Thorogood, Little Feat, Bob Weir, and lots of others. The time came for me to get off the road in 1995, and I'd heard that Crutchfield loved to hire musicians. I came straight here to apply for my very first job at the age of 44, and I've been happy working here ever since.
I first worked as an Advisor here at Crutchfield. Spending time on the phones, I soon learned that our customers trust us to give them accurate info and to recommend the right products. My experiences assembling PA systems for my bands put me in good stead when it came to helping people put together systems for their cars.
After a couple of years, I started writing for the Crutchfield catalog, where I learned the value of getting to the point quickly. Our web site really started taking off, and I was offered the job of writing about our products online.
I still play music frequently so I get to hear the latest pro audio gear on a regular basis, including a lot of the products we sell. I haven't been able to live with the stock sound system in any of my vehicles since I started at Crutchfield, and I've learned a lot by putting new systems in all my cars. And I have also put together a really nice home audio setup that has rekindled my love affair with records.
My life has always been about music, and Crutchfield allows me to continue that passion. We literally think, talk, and write about audio and video products all day long — and that's a good thing!
More about Charlie
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