Wiring Modern Speakers with Stock Head Units (in Classics)

Classic cars are great, classic sound can be great, classic speakers are far less likely to be great.  Even worse is when you need to replace classic speakers – but hey, that’s where we’ve got you covered. 

Not only do we offer a wide range of replacement and premium speakers for your ride but we also offer solutions that will help ensure these upgrades will work efficiently with your stock radio.  One of the most common issues that we experience in the classic car audio market is that of high impedance components when it comes time to upgrade your audio system.  Classic cars historically featured higher impedance components because at the time the power driving these pieces was far less than today’s standards and therefore the thresholds were much different.  Today, especially in the aftermarket world, manufacturers such as Retro are able to produce much higher quality audio components that greatly improve the listening experience in your ride.

If you haven’t noticed, most if not all replacement speakers are rated at 4-ohms while many classic stock radios came from the stock rated at 8 to 10-ohms.  This is because we’ve taken the time to fine-tune our audio components to provide you the best, balanced sound for your ride.  This is especially true with respect to our dual voice coil “stereo” speakers.

These speakers are specifically designed to create the quality stereo sound within your vehicle’s dash replacing the mono 8 or 10-ohm can that came from the factory all of those years ago.  As you’re probably aware, modern technology has made it possible to produce audio components that both supply and receive greater power and produce a cleaner and more crisp sound.  While these improvements are great for your listening pleasure they can, unfortunately, jeopardize your original audio components such as your stock radio because of its original power output and limited capability. 

While we obviously recommend upgrading your stock deck to a RetroRadio by RetroSound option for functionality and sound quality we also understand that some enthusiasts might prefer to keep their original radios for one reason or another.  To help with this, all of our dual voice coil speakers now include an 8-ohm wiring kit that allows you to install our 4-ohm Dual Voice Coil speaker to function as a single 8-ohm and subsequently making it compatible with your 8 to 10-ohm stock radio.  This is especially useful for those customers that want to replace their factory dash speaker but retain their original working radio.  These wiring kits feature properly terminated and insulated wires with appropriate connectors and are also compatible with chassis ground and radio ground OEM radios.