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Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:08 pm

I recently purchased a 72 standard and ordered a retro sound radio for it sense the radio it came with didn't work.
the install seemed simple enough, just the basic constant,ground , Acc, ect.
but then after i programed the radio i turned it to a local channel and noticed it wasn't putting out any sound at all!
at first i though t it could just be that the speakers are bad , so i took a speaker out of my 73 baja that i knew worked, but it also put out no sound.
does anyone know what i could have done wrong to cause this or how to fix this problem?!

Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:36 pm

I have the same radio you are going to have the positive to the battery or a wire that is live when the ignition is in the on position if you want it to turn off when you turn the car off, negative to chassis(ground), antenna connection, then you are going to have + - on each of the speakers i.e front right, front left, back right, back left... Make sure you have it set to FM. Set it to a local radio station that you know the channel of, the retro sound will not lock onto stations as it acts like a old radio... you have to be specific i.e 105.1, 96.1, ect... otherwise you will get static...

Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:53 pm

racoonfrenzy wrote: I have the same radio you are going to have the positive to the battery or a wire that is live when the ignition is in the on position if you want it to turn off when you turn the car off, negative to chassis(ground), antenna connection, then you are going to have + - on each of the speakers i.e front right, front left, back right, back left... Make sure you have it set to FM. Set it to a local radio station that you know the channel of, the retro sound will not lock onto stations as it acts like a old radio... you have to be specific i.e 105.1, 96.1, ect... otherwise you will get static...
i have the wires hooked up correctly just as you've described. Thats whats so troubling to me! the deck is on, it shows the clock and you can search through channels, but there is zero sound coming through the speakers, not even static, i even bought some new speaker wire and rewired to make sure . I also set it to fm and local. still nothing, i don't even get sound when i put it in the Aux mode

Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:14 pm

robertraiter wrote:
i have the wires hooked up correctly just as you've described. Thats whats so troubling to me! the deck is on, it shows the clock and you can search through channels, but there is zero sound coming through the speakers, not even static, i even bought some new speaker wire and rewired to make sure . I also set it to fm and local. still nothing, i don't even get sound when i put it in the Aux mode

This is a 4 channel radio right? Are you running all 4 speakers or just 2? Just wondering if maybe you have the fader set to the wrong position. Otherwise sounds like a blown output transistor.

Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:17 pm

sb001 wrote: robertraiter wrote:
i have the wires hooked up correctly just as you've described. Thats whats so troubling to me! the deck is on, it shows the clock and you can search through channels, but there is zero sound coming through the speakers, not even static, i even bought some new speaker wire and rewired to make sure . I also set it to fm and local. still nothing, i don't even get sound when i put it in the Aux mode

This is a 4 channel radio right? Are you running all 4 speakers or just 2? Just wondering if maybe you have the fader set to the wrong position. Otherwise sounds like a blown output transistor.
yes it's a 4 channel radio.

Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:23 pm

well i sent an email to retrosounds support staff so we'll see yhat they say i guess.

Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:44 pm

Sounds like it might be faulty...

Do you have to all 4 speakers hooked up? You may have to have all 4 hooked up to complete the circuit....

Sun Feb 26, 2012 1:03 am

The speaker wires the unit comes with are very thin. I used a connector to hook mine up, and when i crimped them I cut right threw the wire..... the plastic was still in the connector so it looked like it was hooked up. Took me a few minutes to figure that one out. I ended up pulling the metal part of the wire after the sheathing was stripped, and pulled it back over the sheathing, and then crimping it together. If that hadn't of worked I would have soldered the wires together.

Sun Feb 26, 2012 6:30 am

Simple test - disconnect all but one speaker - even better - just connect 2 of the speaker leads from the retrosound to a speaker you have sitting there. (make sure the speaker is good - put an ohm meter across the leads and you should see around 3-10 ohms - do this without anything connected to it - you also may hear a soft "pop" when you connect the meter.)

Now test your unit. If you have sound, then you have shorted wires going to one or more of your speakers or they are wired wrong, which is loading down the power amp.

Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:52 am

Have you tried to use any if the other input options (USB or AUX) ?
Is the radio set for US or European reception? If the clock is in 24 Hr. mode, the radio is set for European reception.
Chris Peterson is a good guy at Retrosound Tech Support; he'll fix you up.

Once you get that sorted, wire the power to your radio through a standard Bosch type relay like this:

The radio will operate with the ignition switched off, as long as the key is in.
When you remove the key, the radio will switch off.

Good luck, Mondshine

Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:35 am

i'm just gunna wait for a replie from the support staff from retro sound, if they don't replie in the next couple of days then i'm just going to send the unit back.

Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:09 pm

robertraiter wrote: i'm just gunna wait for a replie from the support staff from retro sound, if they don't replie in the next couple of days then i'm just going to send the unit back.

Good plan. The ONLY "easy-fix" things that would cause the radio to power up and show display but not put out any sound at all with the speakers connected, are running a 4 channel radio with only 2 speakers and having the fader set to the wrong position, or the mute button being on. Having speakers cross-wired would still cause sound out of the speakers; they would just be wired out of phase and sound wrong.

And there is no reason to wire in an extra relay switch- you sound like you know what you are doing.

My guess is you just got a bad unit. It happens- just like in 1981 when I got an Atari 2600 for Christmas that I had wanted for years, only to find out there was a bad chip inside. :D

Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:35 pm

Ok the support staff was very prompt with a response, which i was very impressed with, they sent me this
No Speaker Output Problem.

Our units do not suffer from “No Output” or “Low/Weak/Distorted Output”. More often than not, it is a simple issue with a speaker wire or the way the radio was wired up to speakers. With the way that the amplifiers are put together inside of our units, all it takes is one wire to have one issue and it will shut down the entire amplifier section. This means if you have a wire shorting to another speaker wire, arcing across a speaker terminal, pinched below a piece of sheet metal or running board, insulation that has been shredded back and wire touching body metal, or a speaker that is far below 4 ohms, these things will cause the amplifier to go into protection and shut off all output. By removing the issue, the amplifier will immediately resume play.
Please note that when the radio is in this state, it will appear to function, just there will be no output, you will even be able to adjust the volume output, but there will be no sound

This makes sense because i was using the wires that where already in the car when i bought it, so when i have time of work i'll buy some new speaker wire and rewire everything. thanks for all the input guys and i'll post up if it works or not

Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:08 pm

retro sounds rocks,.. i love mine,. i also ran into a slight problem when i installed mine and the got back to me quick and helped me get it going.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:12 pm

ok, finally took out the old speaker wire and got some new 8 age in there, radio works great, i was actually pleasantly surprised that it picked up stations so well, being as it was made in china.
preddy neat radio, i defiantly recommend it, special thanks to Chris Peterson being so helpful.

Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:17 am

Wow - what a great idea that tech support gave you.......Wish I had thought of that :roll:

andk5591 wrote: Simple test - disconnect all but one speaker - even better - just connect 2 of the speaker leads from the retrosound to a speaker you have sitting there. (make sure the speaker is good - put an ohm meter across the leads and you should see around 3-10 ohms - do this without anything connected to it - you also may hear a soft "pop" when you connect the meter.)

Now test your unit. If you have sound, then you have shorted wires going to one or more of your speakers or they are wired wrong, which is loading down the power amp.

Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:14 am

Speakers really cheap and the kick panels fit leave something to be desired. I sould have gone with an original VW radio.
After driving the car today I have to say I am completely unhappy with this radio. The dial is impossible to see in the daylight. Sound sucks. Dialing the stations are a pain. Watch for me to put this thing up for sale on the samba. I will be installing a VW radio with the single speaker soon. Live and Learn.