Category: Audio

Classic Auto Sound Becker tribute radio part 1 2

Classic Auto Sound Becker tribute radio part 1

I have been wanting to change the radio in the 250SE since I have owned the car.    It was a basic Clarion unit that looked totally out of place.   The dashboard in my car has been cut to DIN size, meaning going back to the original Becker wasn’t really an option.    Unfortunately many W111’s had their dashboards cut up in the 70s...

W123 Radio Upgrade – bypassing the factory fader 0

W123 Radio Upgrade – bypassing the factory fader

The 280CE was back today to get a radio installed.   When I purchased the car, the previous owner had removed their radio, so there was a great big hole in the dash.   Luckily, my brother who purchased the car from me already had a Sony radio he had removed from his previous 280CE.  The W123 radio is a standard DIN fitting.  Unfortunately...

Retrosound radio in the DS almost complete for the second time 0

Retrosound radio in the DS almost complete for the second time

Previously, I had been working on a nicer faceplate solution for the Retrosound Model 2 radio in the Citroen DS. I am happy to say that this is now almost complete and back in the car.    There are a few more adjustments to do, but overall it is a much better solution to the one I had before. With the rear knobs cut...

Retrosound model 2 knob adjustment 1

Retrosound model 2 knob adjustment

Previously I had started re-looking at the faceplate of the Retrosound Model 2 I have installed in the DS.    The biggest issue is fitment of the secondary knobs.   In my first attempt, I had tried to file away small holes in the side of the cubby housing for them to fit, but I found that they jammed easily and interfered with the...

Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS – Revisited 5

Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS – Revisited

Last year I installed a Retrosound Model 2 radio in my Citroen DS.   Overall, I was happy with the result, but there were one or two small things that were not working as I expected.   This was mostly down to so little space for the unit in the DS, as it is hard to get the radio face and knobs to fit inside...

Retrosound Model 1 re-installed 1

Retrosound Model 1 re-installed

after checking all the connections, the Retrosound Model 1 is now back in the E-Type and I also replaced the cigarette lighter while I was at it.    The cigarette lighter had rusted internally and was no longer working – and on longer drives the battery in the GPS was not cutting it.   Replacing the cigarette lighter was fairly easy, although the replacement...

Troubleshooting the Retrosound Model One 0

Troubleshooting the Retrosound Model One

The Retrosound Model One I have in my Jaguar had stopped working – symptoms were that the display was lit up in every possible place (i.e. like a digital watch showing 88:88).   This had happened before, and the cause turned out to be one of the 12v lines was not connected.   The Model 1 uses two 12v and a ground – one...

Troubleshooting the Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS 3

Troubleshooting the Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS

The Retrosound Model 2 is finally working in the Citroen DS, and working well! The issue if you recall was that the unit would reboot any time I turned up the volume, used the bluetooth, etc.     I had wired up the radio to the accessory point behind the dashboard, however on closer examination of the DS manuals, this is rated 10A and...

Rebooting Retrosound 0

Rebooting Retrosound

While I had completed the Retrosound Model 2 install in the Citroen DS a while ago, the radio was rebooting, at times when it appeared that it was trying to draw a lot of power.   (e.g. higher volumes). I had connected it to the accessory point behind the dash, however I don’t think it was getting enough current. Therefore, I have now removed...

Polishing day 1

Polishing day

Today spend more time working on the paintwork of the DS.   I finished wet-sanding the car, and the lower panels have all been polished with both stage 1 and stage 2 of the Auto Glym Paint Pro I have been using. Overall the car is looking much better.  Despite going through the paint in a few places where it was very bubbly, there...

Citroen DS radio upgrade almost complete 3

Citroen DS radio upgrade almost complete

The Radio upgrade on the Citroen DS is almost complete.   It’s taken over a month (albeit only a few hours a week).   Today I properly installed the speakers.   The DS front speaker is a 3″x7″ size which is not very common.  Der Franzose carry a drop in replacement, but it is an original paper style speaker and I wanted to go...

Citroen DS radio/instrument cluster update 0

Citroen DS radio/instrument cluster update

This evening I was able to make good progress on the DS.   First, I was able to fix a few of the issues with the instrument cluster, where the illumination wasn’t working for the gauges and the light for the heated rear window wasn’t working.   (The heated rear window doesn’t work, but at least the light does!) I also spent a bit...

Installing the Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS 4

Installing the Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS

I’ve been working on getting the Retrosound Model 2 radio installed in the Citroen DS.    As this website points out, the DS does not provide a lot of options to install a decent radio.   The little ‘cubby’ in the dashboard is too small for most radios, and the original ones are expensive and not particularly good. I’ve been a fan of the...

Retrosound Model One install 1

Retrosound Model One install

The one thing about my E-Type Jaguar that stuck out like a sore thumb after I bought it in 2010 was the 80’s cassette deck that has been installed in place of the original radio. This looked like an easy thing to update.   I first looked at Ebay to see if I could get an original radio but even broken radios were going...

Classic Jalopy