Installing A New OEM-Style Radio
I had to wait several months for delivery of the new radio so I fixed the Kenwood's problems in preparation for the install. The driver door trim was pulled and the silent speaker fixed, which was cable connectors that had jarred loose from the speaker terminals. These speakers are only rated at 20-watts RMS so they're probably too small for the new radio, but I'll try them first before buying new ones.
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Originally very small gauge speaker wire was used and was spliced in three places, so it was replaced and grommets were installed in the holes through the metal body where the cable passes through. The passenger side wiring was updated, too.
To improve reception the hidden antenna was pulled from under the metal dash and reinstalled on the edge of the windshield, which helped immensely.
To improve reception the hidden antenna was pulled from under the metal dash and reinstalled on the edge of the windshield, which helped immensely.
I installed a set of 6.5" Pioneer coaxial speakers rated for 70-watts RMS as the "rear" speakers behind the bench seat. I made the wooden boxes to mount them in, painted them blue to match the truck, and attached them with velcro to the back wall above the gas tank. The speaker mounting rings were just screwed to the fronts because they aren't visible once the seat is reinstalled.
The first test of the new radio confirmed that the front speaker's wattage rating was too small, so they were replaced with 5-1/4” Pioneers rated at 50-watts RMS. |
I'm also adding a Kuerl 10" active subwoofer under the seat. There's only about 5" clearance underneath so it has to be a thin unit especially made for under-the-seat installs. It's not real expensive, as a matter of fact, it was almost the cheapest 10" active sub I could find, but it's more than adequate for my 'ol ears and it's actually of reasonable quality.
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Initial tests revealed an issue with the radio's volume control. As the volume is increased, the set will quite suddenly go from a moderate volume level to full blast distortion. I talked to the manufacturer's tech support and they suggested there might possibly be a broken carbon wafer in the control, so the radio is going back to the factory for testing.
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The factory claims they've tested the radio and nothing is wrong and it goes into distortion at 3/4 of turn by design. You can't make this stuff up. The tech I spoke with gave some reason that it was changed to be like this because of prior complaints of low volume, or something like that, but I didn't really pay much attention to their excuse. If this is on purpose it's a pretty stupid design decision.
The radio is back from the factory and reinstalled, and it's no better than it was before. The best I can say is I like that it has the look of an original, and it's about the only way I can get that look in this truck since during its rebuild the radio was relocated to the speaker grille.
I also had to make custom spacers for the controls in order to mount the radio at the correct angle for the grille, because the curve of the grille is different from the curve in the original location in the top of the dash. But I am definitely not happy with the sound. The volume control action is terrible. I have to be very careful turning up the volume or I get blasted with distorted audio at about 3/4 of a turn. It's like a switch, go too far and bam, it'll make your ears hurt. |
As a test I installed a Sony two-channel amp I already had and it allowed me to separate out the radio issues from any possible speaker problems. And it mostly solved the volume control issue when using the CD player on the Aux input, because I can turn down the CD volume to prevent overdriving the radio's preamp amp while keeping the volume control at maximum. Then I can compensate for any reduced preamp output by turning up the Sony amp's gain to get back to full volume again without the distortion. But, I can't do this for AM and FM audio, so even with the external amp the volume action still sucks on AM/FM.
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I also found that Pioneer was fibbing when they said the rear speakers were rated at 70-watts RMS. I think I'm going to replace them with something better, and maybe the door speakers, too.
After thinking over the test results, I don't see any way to completely solve this distortion issue except by modifying the radio. I hate to have to do this since it will probably void the warranty, but I don't see any other option.
So my solution to fix this mess is a 4-channel amp and larger speakers, plus modifying the radio to lower the audio gain which will prevent the radio's preamp from distorting.
For the 4-channel external amplifier I purchased a Rockville RVF-2 that's rated at 55-watts per channel. I'm still looking for new speakers, but at least with the external amp I can set the gain so it doesn't over drive the Pioneers, and I can use them until I find better.
I cut out the radio wiring I had previously installed and started all over again, rewiring the radio to be a head unit only. The speaker cables were rerun and routed under the bench seat where the amp and active subwoofer are installed. RCA cables for the radio's line outputs, and the subwoofer output, plus the radio's accessory output wire, were also run under the seat.
Power for both the amp and subwoofer comes from the battery compartment under the cab floor. Plus, a piece of plywood was installed on the floor under the seat as a base for mounting everything on.
So my solution to fix this mess is a 4-channel amp and larger speakers, plus modifying the radio to lower the audio gain which will prevent the radio's preamp from distorting.
For the 4-channel external amplifier I purchased a Rockville RVF-2 that's rated at 55-watts per channel. I'm still looking for new speakers, but at least with the external amp I can set the gain so it doesn't over drive the Pioneers, and I can use them until I find better.
I cut out the radio wiring I had previously installed and started all over again, rewiring the radio to be a head unit only. The speaker cables were rerun and routed under the bench seat where the amp and active subwoofer are installed. RCA cables for the radio's line outputs, and the subwoofer output, plus the radio's accessory output wire, were also run under the seat.
Power for both the amp and subwoofer comes from the battery compartment under the cab floor. Plus, a piece of plywood was installed on the floor under the seat as a base for mounting everything on.
I pulled the radio out of the truck for at least the fourth time now so I can see about modding it. In my phone conversations with the factory tech it was mentioned that the volume pot is an analog control with a carbon track, basically just like a vintage radio pot except much smaller, so I think I have an easy, minimally intrusive fix.
I'm adding a resistor inline with the high side of the pot to in effect lower the audio level. This will only involve removing the cover from the volume control to access the pot, so I won't have to open the actual radio chassis. The resistor value was determined by setting the control at the 3/4 of-a-turn point where the volume suddenly goes full blast, and measuring the resistance from the center wiper to the top of the control. The value was ~4KΩ and this is the value of the resistor I inserted inline with the 20KΩ pot. I meant to take pictures, but completely forgot until everything was already back together. |
First tests after the modification went well, and it appears the volume control problem is finally solved, no thanks to the factory.
Well, it's the middle of May and I've finally achieved what I set out to do way back in January: simply upgrade the radio to something that looks correct for this model truck. I had no idea when I started what an expensive debacle it would turn into. I never would have imagined how someone selling an expensive radio like this could possibly think such poor audio quality could be acceptable to customers. I don't know what other's experiences have been with this radio, but I absolutely would not recommend it to anyone, at least until they fully understand the issues with it. Who would have thought I'd have to go to so much trouble just to get the volume to operate like any other normal radio?
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Although I'm seriously annoyed by all this, I am still happy to see how cool the radio looks in the dash, and now it sounds really good, too.
Page created 4/29/2024
Last update 5/17/2024
Last update 5/17/2024