This is for my '59 pickup that gets driven around town, and I like having my radio mounted permanently in the dash. I like to listen to the radio- I'm not concerned about Bluetooth, Aux inputs and the like. I just want the best radio reception possible, both AM and FM. I live in an area where radio reception (especially AM reception), even in a modern car with a good factory radio, isn't great, but it is way better in my modern cars than in my truck. I am currently running a 1970-ish Clarion aftermarket AM/FM stereo that I bought new in the box last year. My antenna is a typical fender mounted 3-part extendable stainless steel mast about 40" long. Would a Retrosound Laguna (or similar) get me better radio reception? Did radio manufacturers figure out how to get better reception in the last 40 years? https://www.crutchfield.com/S-AQcXF1emyxo/p_068LAGUNAB/RetroSound-Laguna-Black-buttons.html
I'm in the same boat. My wife's new ('96, ha!) Chevy gets great reception, both bands, with it's stock radio and fender antenna. My old Chevy with aftermarket Sony radio/CD barely pulls in anything. Pisses me off, missed the Giants comeback win yesterday, and that is a rarity indeed.
Reception is the same for all radios/stereos. Some people try antenna boosters and swear that they work. I tried one and didn't notice a difference in reception. Clarion is one of the top stereos. I prefer Alpine with cd/am/fm because of the look. The good cheap models don't have all of the crap of bluetooth and other attachments. I'm like you, I don't need Bluetooth except that I have to have inputs for a subwoofer. I'm that obnoxious guy at the red light who likes my rock and roll very loud and who has to feel it in my body as if I'm standing next to a band. If you want to stay with the look of old, there are new stereos that sound good with the nostalgic look. But the reception is all the same.
Radios have technical performance specifications just like computers, cars, coffee makers etc etc.... They are usually in the back of the user manual that most people never get to. You can easily learn the meanings of those numbers by reading on Wiki and other sites of that type.
I have found a lot of variation in radio reception with different units. I recently replaced a vintage cheap Panasonic with a similar era (mid 1980s), more expensive model Panasonic AM/FM. The reception was vastly improved. As far as new compared to old; my mid ‘80s Clarion has much stronger reception than the modern AM/FM reproduction I tried in my ‘64 Comet. I thought it was defective and it was replaced on warranty. Nope, just not as good. New one back in the box - old Clarion back in.
This is the HAMB. We have already proven countless times that there has been absolutely no technological improvements in the last 60 years. Points, bias plies, lacquer, drum brakes, mechanical fans and fuel pumps and if you have to have one of them newfangled radio receivers it better have tubes!
I am going to make an assumption here that by old radio you mean circa 1959 old radio? As in 1959 Tube radio verses modern solid state digital radio? Of course the modern radio is going to beat the old tube radio and take it a couple of steps farther and compare the modern digital radio compared to the solid state of the later '60s and it is still a better radio. When did Santa Cruz become a radio desert? Seems like the radio was OK the last time I was in Santa Cruz. Granted that was when we buried my ol' man so maybe 10 or 15 years ago?
I have an aftermarket unit in my 40 with am/fm. It pics up as many stations on FM as my wife's 19 Denali-am not so good. Has stock roof antenna and an auxillary as well (insulated wire in the front fender welting)--works great. Just did a 39 woody for a guy with a similar setup--works well around here-he is enroute to Santa Cruz now for woodies on the wharf-will ask him how well it's working.
Radio reception in the MOUNTAINS of Santa Cruz sometimes got a little 'hazy'...but from Aptos (Seacliff, where I lived...right above the 'Cement Boat'...) KRML came in like I said, from Aptos past Davenport, loud and clear. Mae Brussels' show every afternoon, and in the evening...'Dusty Rhodes', the blonde beauty that spun Rythm and Blues, late into the night. Do I miss Aptos, Santa Cruz...and the ex wife? Yep, both...'cept the ex wife! I had an OLD tube radio at home, and a Blaupunct in my '52 Porsche roadster. KRML was the radio station used in the movie, "Play Misty For Me." Right there in Carmel, practically in Clint Eastwood's back yard! Radio reception here is terrible. So is the 'selection'...I'm in a remote California vacuum. I get some good old fashioned bluesy jazz, thanks to my computer...'KCSM', Los Altos.
I like the new radios with the retro look and additional capabilities especially bluetooth. I have Retrosound in all three cars so that I only have to learn one set of instructions.
This is the 21st Century using old AM/FM radios is like using chisels on stone. Use an IPOD or IPHONE where you can store thousands of quality tunes of your choice and play then through high quality Bluetooth wireless speakers. No wires or butchering modifications are needed to be made to your car for excellent listening. Bought a car once that had an Americn Auto Sound Radio what a POS.
Beaner , You and I are usually on the same page BUT I gotta take a different path hear (pun-get it). Tubes give an abundance of even order distortion that the ear finds pleasing. The AM/FM tube recievers of the late 50s and early 60s are still the best sound reproduction machines going. Dont know if an AM/FM tube based automobile radio was manufactured but I think I would explore a machine like that for the ULTIMATE in sound quality. The real limiting factor in automobile radios is the recieving circuitry (antenna electronics). Digital transmission has done away with the need for sophisticated,elaborate reception circuitry. It has also done away with quality audio. Oldmics
It's not the radio per say but the station. AM stations have cut their power. Some of this is by federal mandate. FM, always short range...there's really so many now they bleed over. Radio reception was better when I was a kid especially for AM since it was the big kid on the block. FM started in earnest in the 40s and surpassed AM in the 70s-80s.
In terms of sensitivity and selectivity a modern IC or solid state radio of is going to easily surpass the old tube radios. But, AM radio is kind of an afterthought these days and they don't always use high quality units. A good Motorola car radio from the 50s will work really well and it will pull in just as many distant stations. I know that some DXers use them at home. DXing is a hobby, trying to log as many distant radio stations as possible. Here in Iowa I can pick up (at night) as far west as Salt Lake, east to Boston, and south to Shreveport, sometimes Cuber, north to wherever that Canadian oldies station on 740 is. I like the Grand Old Opry on 650 WSM for a "real" radio station. Old tube radios work good, and sound excellent, they need new power supply components and capacitors like any vintage electronics for like new reliability and performance. Remember when they were sold, plenty of people lived in more rural areas, they needed sensitive radios and TVs. If you can find someone to perform an alignment on your original radio that will perk them up quite a bit. The radio should also get the AM antenna & radio peaked up together when installed in the car, too. This matches the antenna length to the radio for best reception. There's an RF trimmer for it with access on the back of the radio most likely. Find a weak but steady station during the daylight hours around 1400 and adjust trimmer screw for maximum volume.
All I Know is this. Back when I was a kid we could pick up WVOK out of Birmingham Al for 150 miles. When I was in high school I could barely pick up WVOK 20 miles away. What changed? https://www.sheridanmedia.com/commentary/am-powerdown-explained https://www.wshu.org/post/vintage-radio-life-decline-and-possible-rebirth-am#stream/0
Dude. Hide a better radio with Bluetooth and run an app on your cellphone through it and have any radio station in the world in your truck.
I used to listen to the “ superstations “ like WWL, WLAC, WGN, WLS, etc at night when I was a kid. When I started trucking in the mid 1980’s, most trucks had only AM radios, so again, At night I listened to the superstations that had big power and could be heard over 500 miles at night. By then, FM was starting to take over, and the AM stations started losing listeners. When they started putting AM/FM in the trucks, it started getting harder and harder to get the superstations in the trucks, and in the daytime, even local stations got harder to pull in. I think they purposely cut the reception on the AM side to push the up and coming FM stations. I don’t have an AM radio in anything that will pick up a station over a few miles away unless you’re sitting still, and even then it fades in and out.
I bought a new Custom Auto Sound for my 1957 Nomad in 2012. The radio has never worked as it should from day one. It however looks great in the dash and I would rather listen to the exhaust than what they call music today.
Global warming? I really can't back that up but I hear it blamed for a lot...on the radio...when I have a signal.
Radio's worked great until Disco. Disco killed radio and everything else. Then came Rap which is not music.
Let me expand on my previous post. “It's not the radio per say but the station.” “AM stations have cut their power.” A FEW have, usually only at night though. Almost all AM stations have always reduced power at night. This is true of even some clear channel stations and some of those have always had to go directional at night. “Some of this is by federal mandate.” All rule changes are handled by the FCC. “FM, always short range…” Depends on what the definition of short is. Most FM stations of today will cover more area than a clear channel AM station during the day. This is due to the antenna height, usually on a mountain top. “there's really so many now they bleed over.” There will be no bleed over with a quality receiver. “Radio reception was better when I was a kid especially for AM since it was the big kid on the block. FM started in earnest in the 40s and surpassed AM in the 70s-80s.” If AM reception was better in “old days” then you had a receiver with an RF stage, a better signal to noise ratio and steeper IF skirts, NOT because AM was popular. I will grant that the 7.5 kc bandwidth sure didn’t help the popularity of AM. By the way, the stories in those links left out s few important details.
a quote for those who didn't take time to read the original post. He is NOT running a 1959 truck radio. He is NOT running a new Chinese radio. He IS running an old japanese radio, it was new in the box, but that means it's 40+ years old. Electronic components degrade over time, whether or not they are being used. Face it, anything electronic from the 1970s that still works at all, let alone at peak performance, is a rarity. I've been fighting that battle for a long time. But yeah, modern stuff that's built to meet a tough performance spec will work great. Modern stuff that is built to meet a price point will probably not work very well. Not much about that has changed. Old car radios worked well with old radio stations. But time has made it so that now I only listen to recordings of old stuff, usually played on modern equipment. Or if it's the right car, I just listen to the motor, the wind, the gears, the tires on the road, the rattles, etc.
You have to stick to the old radio, and when I say old, I am writing about radio's with tubes, as they came on old cars. Now here is the deal. You go out and start your car up and turn on the radio, are you with me on this? I know what you are thinking; the key is on the right side and the radio is on the right side, which one is first or does the passenger turn on the radio as you start the car (can't do that, she is putting on her make up). You are thinking far too deep here. Start the car with your right hand, then and only after the car is at idle (high idle, low idle, does not matter, just as long as it is at idle) reach over and turn on the radio. I know some of you guys are thinking, "hey, I never shut off the radio, just shut down the car." well that might work for some of us, but for others leaving the radio on will kill your battery over night, because it is still playing, "In the Still of the Night" while you are inside drinking beer and watching TV. OK, stick with me here and the next part is important. As the radio warms up, you can hear the DJ talking and "Wipe Out" starting up, your speakers are bouncing (especially the loose one under your seat) and you goose the throttle for good measure, then and only then can you put the car in gear (that would be first gear, left and up towards the dash and ash tray) or drop it into D for you automatic girls (that would be going from P to R to N to D) and move it. The theory, as my Father figure it out, is that the motor should be warm up, the oil circulating before moving it. The warm up period for the radio (remember with tubes) is about the same in time as it take for the motor to warm up getting the oil to all parts before placing a load on it.
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