ajwoodtransport

Probably already been covered before but wanted to share my radio experience.

My car is a former police car so it's pretty bare bones on the inside and just had a cassette player. I've still got all my old cassettes but couldn't find any new blanks to record new music for my son and mine's vacation next month.

So, I bought a Factory CD player from oemcaraudio on ebay. After shipping it came out to be $140.

Installation was easy and took my about 15 minutes. Hardest part was getting the wire harness out of the old radio...it was in there pretty good and the little black tab that hooks it together wasn't releasing it very easily. Pulled the front bezel off, unscrewed two small bolts, pulled the antenna and wire harness from the old and plugged back into the new...put the bolts and bezel back on. Turned it on, tried a CD, checked the lights, and everything worked perfect. The sound level and quality is about an honest 50 to 75% better. It seemed a little pricey, but the seller says they go over it real good and tune it up before selling them. Not only does it sounds much better then the factory cassette player, but the finish, lights, and displays all look almost brand new. Overall pretty happy and it will make our long road trip much more enjoyable.

That's all I wanted to share. For you guys that are really into audio stuff, it's probably not that great but for a guy looking to upgrade his cassette player and still keep a factory appearance, it was a good investment. Again probably a little pricey and you could probably find one at a junkyard or off of here for much less money, but based on my experience with this purchase, the seller I listed above seems to sell quality replacement radios. Take care.

slowpoke96z28

iTrader: (2)

Fwiw, where did you look for blanks? Best buy has them and most pro and semi pro audio places (guitar center, etc) have them. I think I even saw some at walmart

ajwoodtransport

I live outside Kansas City and I looked at both Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Walmart and couldn't find any. I didn't ask any employees at Best Buy and Walmart, which maybe I should of, but I looked where they have the blank cd's and didn't see any...in fact they don't carry many blank cd's any more. Radio Shack said they could order them, but they don't carry them in the stores since even personal recorders are all digital anymore. Maybe I didn't look in the right area. I found some at a local music/nolstagic shop but the packaging was all faded and dusty and looked like they had been exposed to sunlight for years, plus I was looking for metal tapes since they sound better. I found some blank metal ones on ebay but the seller only wanted to sell in bulk quantities and that's when I thought I'd just change my stereo out. Thanks anyway...I might look again someday because I'd like to have a few blank cassettes just for the heck of it.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

FYI, my walmart carries the blank cassette tapes, but they are not by the blank CD's there over with the digital voice recorders and portable CD players, because they sell 1 of those old school recorders. You can check Amazon, they have same cassette tapes.

ajwoodtransport

Cool, I'll keep that in mind and check over in that area next time I'm in Walmart.

Blownbayou

iTrader: (7)

love my cassette player..... people always point when I am at shows. Nostalgia for sure.

ajwoodtransport

The first Saturday of every month they close our downtown so people can park their hot rods, classics, muscle cars and just about anything anybody wants to bring new or old. My car is pretty clean for an old patrol car but far from perfect....nonetheless since downtown is only two blocks from my house we take it up there...and yes sure enough someone mentioned the cassette player one time.....lol. I like the new CD player because it's factory but I'm still keeping the old cassette player just incase anybody down the road would want to put the car to 100% original.