Crutchfield Radio.

[Keycor]

Has anyone put a Crutchfield radio into their C body? Specifically this model: Redondo RTM2B. I believe this will fit in my 1970 Chrysler 300. I would like to find someone that has put any Crutchfield radio into your car. I have several questions. For example do I need to also purchase the DIN kit? For those of you that can give advice, thanks for your reply.

 

[Big_John]

Has anyone put a Crutchfield radio into their C body? Specifically this model: Redondo RTM2B. I believe this will fit in my 1970 Chrysler 300. I would like to find someone that has put any Crutchfield radio into your car. I have several questions. For example do I need to also purchase the DIN kit? For those of you that can give advice, thanks for your reply.

I don't think that's going to be a bolt in replacement. They look to be for A or B-Body. A DIN kit won't help.

Crutchfield is a good seller, but they are usually more money than other places.

What I did with my '70 300 was send it to Aurora FMR Stereo Conversion for conversion to modern internals. A bit more money, but I think in the long run, you'll be ahead of the game. I've had them do 3 radios now and love them.

 

[CBODY67]

A few things which might not be apparent on the Chrysler C-body radios 1969-1973 include . . . The panel the radio fits into is slanted away from the front seat. That means . . . the "dial" (with the numbers on it) is appropriately slanted such that it is flat and better seen by the operator.

Another issue has to do with the push buttons. All push buttons have a recess on their bottom side to assist in pulling the buttons out to set the station pre-sets. One the Chrysler C-body radios, to keep the radio looking "normal", the push buttons are flipped, with the recesses unseen on the top side rather than on the bottom side.

On instrument panels where the radio mounts vertically (as in 1970 Polara/Monaco, E-body cars) the dial is normally vertical and the push buttons have the recesses on the bottom side of the pushbutton (as normal).

"DIN" refers to the height and width of the "hole" in the instrument panel the radio faceplate indexes with. I suspect the OEM Chrysler radios are "single DIN"?

Take care,
CBODY67

 

[Lefty71]

I dont know about the fit for your specific car, but i bought a radio from Crutchfield relatively recently. As far as reviews went, it was a toss up for the best between Kenwood and Pioneer.....i think Sony was right there too. I was incredibly disappointed with the quality of the Kenwood i got, as far as being an FM reciever, as compared to any new OEM radio in a modern car.

 

[MoPar~Man]

Wow. This is good information. A reproduction thumbwheel radio!

How were they not thinking about '67 - '68 Monaco / Polara when they came up with that!

I bought a lot of stuff from Crutchfield from '85 to '90. My Akai tape deck, CD player, Akai receiver, a couple of car radios, 6x9 car speakers, radar detector. I remember getting a kick out of seeing the Blaupunk car radios in their catalogs - krazy expensive!

 

[Justin Plant]

Like stated above, they aren't cheap. But, they are based and work solely out of Charlottesville VA. When you call, you speak to a Virginian. If you have any issues, they are handled on the spot. Their customer service is second to none. I'd rather pay a little extra and talk to a human I can understand, then send emails back and forth or deal with a severe language barrier.

 

[Keycor]

Wow. This is good information. A reproduction thumbwheel radio!

View attachment 743323

View attachment 743324

How were they not thinking about '67 - '68 Monaco / Polara when they came up with that!

I bought a lot of stuff from Crutchfield from '85 to '90. My Akai tape deck, CD player, Akai receiver, a couple of car radios, 6x9 car speakers, radar detector. I remember getting a kick out of seeing the Blaupunk car radios in their catalogs - krazy expensive!

The top photo is the Crutchfield radio that I am considering. So my hope is that I can find someone who has replaced their factory radio with the radio. Model: Redondo-RT M2B. This will go into a 1970 Chrysler 300.

 

[Keycor]

I don't think that's going to be a bolt in replacement. They look to be for A or B-Body. A DIN kit won't help.

Crutchfield is a good seller, but they are usually more money than other places.

What I did with my '70 300 was send it to Aurora FMR Stereo Conversion for conversion to modern internals. A bit more money, but I think in the long run, you'll be ahead of the game. I've had them do 3 radios now and love them.

Thank you Big_John. I sent the radio conversion service an email. There was a comment in their pricing link that said they would not work on radios which have a tape player at this time. Mine has an 8 track player as part of the factory unit. Perhaps they have changed their policy and might work on my radio. It is pricey as you said. The fee for the radio is $450. If I want Bluetooth and a USB port that is an additional $220. I may just bite the bullett and consider it as part of the expense for restoration. They seem to know what they are doing and your recommendation helps. Thank you for your reply.

 

[MoPar~Man]

Regarding that Redondo radio, I wonder if the thumbwheels are dummy and just there for looks. That would not be cool.

 

[CBODY67]

Does it say it comes with a remotge control?

 

[WissaMan]

I dont know about the fit for your specific car, but i bought a radio from Crutchfield relatively recently. As far as reviews went, it was a toss up for the best between Kenwood and Pioneer.....i think Sony was right there too. I was incredibly disappointed with the quality of the Kenwood i got, as far as being an FM reciever, as compared to any new OEM radio in a modern car.

Yep I recently put a Kenwood in my car and am pretty disappointed with the FM reception. I researched a lot of single DIN units and almost all have reviews with people angry about their stupid design and control decisions. The Kenwood seems to be the least-stupid but it still has really annoying features. I still haven't figured out how to manually tune in radio frequencies and it's pretty ridiculous I'm going to have to read the manual to figure that out. But who knows, maybe that's not even possible ?!?

The CD player and bluetooth work well though and they were the other important items for me. I haven't tried the USB yet.

 

[MONC440]

Regarding that Redondo radio, I wonder if the thumbwheels are dummy and just there for looks. That would not be cool.

I have not bought one but have researched them. I plan on using one for my fury. The thumb wheels don’t turn all the way around like the originals. They rotate up and down just a bit. So they are functional but not like the original.

 

[jww427]

I like sending out my factory radios and having an FM chip put in.
You can have a stereo speaker in the original hole.

 

[Carmine]

I would just do this before I dropped real money on a crummy aftermarket interface.

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/diy/a1852466/add-no-hassle-no-static-bluetooth-connectivity-your-factory-fm-radio-about-50/

(you can skip the whole power antenna part)
Then just play whatever I wanted from my phone.

 

[MoperDan]

Like stated above, they aren't cheap. But, they are based and work solely out of Charlottesville VA. When you call, you speak to a Virginian. If you have any issues, they are handled on the spot. Their customer service is second to none. I'd rather pay a little extra and talk to a human I can understand, then send emails back and forth or deal with a severe language barrier.

Over the last 35 years I have bought a lot of car stereo equipment from Crutchfield in fact I bought the 1st one from the owner, Bill. Anyway they are very knowledgeable and helpful. When it is time for a stereo for my Sport Fury, I'll be talking to them.

 

[Blusmbl]

I would just do this before I dropped real money on a crummy aftermarket interface.

http://[URL]https://www.autoweek.co...-connectivity-your-factory-fm-radio-about-50/

[/URL]

Not sure if it's a better or worse solution, but I wired in a bluetooth amp to speakers on the package tray and a dual channel center front speaker as well. There is a little control unit that I hid on the floor, and I can adjust volume from there or my phone itself. If you want to listen to radio as a source you'll have to go with either a modified or aftermarket head unit, but if you are just looking to stream music from your phone it's easier to not use the factory radio at all. Have been pretty happy with it overall.

 

[bnz84]

Related you can download the free app to your phone called "Radio Garden" and listen about a million radio stations from across the globe. U dont have to know the call letters you can search all over the globe by using your fingers to hover over existing found stations. Finds 82 stations around Kyiv. They are playing Britney Spears in Nuuk Greenland which is unfortunate. Right now it finds 6 stations in Round Rock Texas