Anyone have a secret audio sys.?

Put one in a 57 chevy this year, completely hidden which is cool but the performance ****s. Poor FM reception and even an I Pod plugged into it is not all that great. Do I have a bad one or is this just the way they are. I've heard some complaints but never knew what exactly the problem was. For 450.00, they are not worth it.

 

if it's kraco or roadmaster, yes you have a bad one. I just all depends on the quality of the pieces you put in there.

 

My secret audio system is turned on my mashing the gas pedal down quickly.

 

Put one in my Dads 38, it worked for about 5 minutes and never again. Checked every wire and it turned out to be something internal in the unit. With no wires attached it would pop a fuse the minute 12 volt was put to it. I will use something else now.

 

IMO do a cd player in the glove box... or build a consol if you got the floor space

 

I agree, the secret audios are secret turds.
Here's a suggestion. Do a search for stereo remote controls that they use on yachts and such. Pioneer makes one and I use it in my '36. I mounted the control head in the overhead panel where the speaker went originally and the 6 disc cd and am/fm units are all in the trunk. The control head has an attached ground wire then two detachable wires running from it for the light to the panel and the actual input wire. Works good lasts long time.

 

We are building a system comparable to that Secret Audio thing. We will have a working protoype by April. It's small (4.3"x3.2"x1.7") and in an extruded aluminum box. 58w RMS per channel,4 channel, 2 aux inputs,Sub pre-out, fader, balance, etc. etc. Uses a USB flash drive for music. Mono input to run your AM radio through the amp portion.

There will be quite a few more features added once we get the basic system going. Like an internal clock and the ability to setup certain times for certain songs, old-time commercials, or radio programs. ex. like at 6pm every evening Buck rogers comes on..


It uses the same basic MP3 decoder and processor core as we use to build some of the Bose displays in stores. We've built 30k of those and they have proven to be very reliable and have very good sound quality.

It is also designed and completely built in the USA.

We have a site BEIautomotive.com, but there's nothing on there at the moment since it is not ready yet.

 

Well like everything you buy these days..there are good and bad..its kinda the "you get what you pay for " deal.
Ive got a decent set up in my 53 and it plays my MP3 player too..it rocks..but my speakers are ****..for now

 

I am going this route in my 55 chevy truck...amps under the seat with a wire coming up where the seat belts would go through the seat for me to plug an ipod into.

sub/speakers behind the seat there the original gas tank would go. a couple other speakers hidden in the front kick panels.

****...i wonder if I still have my stock gas tank. I wonder if that would make a decent place to put a few speakers in...seems a metal speaker box would be ok if it was insulated.

 

For $450 you should get something pretty good. Still under warranty?
Do a search, plenty of related info covered before.

 

Oh and i forgot..your system is only as good as your speakers..if you have a great system and **** for speaker quality..your system will ****..get a good system and pay for the best speakers you can afford, or save for the best ones you can get..trust me it makes all the difference in the world.

 

I'm building the system Lotus is talking about above.
I went with a 5 channel amp so i can run VERY SMALL hidden speakers in the 4 corners and the 5th runs a sub for the bottom end. The amp is powered by an ipod through a male headphone to rca connection. Sub and amp are in a box a come out of the trunk while at the track.

 

If I told you about it, then it wouldn't be secret anymore...

 

We put one in Daves 40 coupe and one in the wagon,,,but work great,,,,

Dave had a tuning problem at first,,,,he called the company and they sent him a new system,,,

He was told to install the new pieces when he got a chance and return the defective piece,,,,,HRP

 

thanks Ill try that

 

I did this exact set up in my '50 Ford. I used all Kicker components. A 6' speaker behind each of the front kick panels, 2 6x9's under the rear deck, and a 12 sub in the trunk, all powered by one of their 5 way amps. I only have an iPod hooked up to the amp where the wire comes out from under the front seat. Unless the truck is opened, you can not see any of the stereo equipment.

I got the idea and help from Saoutlaws Gotti.

PM me if you would like to see some pics of the installation.

Todd

 

We are going to go with the marine sys as mentioned above and mount the panel in the console outasite. It ****s that you have to spend that kind of money(450.00) to find out it's sub par at best. This is a pretty high dollar car in fact the rest of the stereo sys..amps, speakers ,etc came in at around 2500.00. I feel bad that it was my idea to go with secret audio but now I know. Guess I should've asked here first!!!!!

 

I keep Pavarotti's body stashed under the front seat. It was cool when he was alive, but now none of the controls work.
I'm gonna have to switch it out.

 

All you have to do s run an iPod to a pre-amp, to your amps, to speakers. No deck at all, you do everything from the iPod. All you need it one cable coming up between your seats.

 

i put a Clarion CD player in my 70 Chev truck, and I have a Sony CD player in the 50 Chevy, both installed in the glove box.
the sounded good, you have to spend some $$$ for good sound.
However, I prefer listening to the motor most days.

 

I work at a car stereo shop & we have installed a few of those units.
Never impressed. They're pretty ****py.
Your best bet, if you want to hide it, is to get a regular am/fm/cd that's capable of
an external remote. Like for marine use. Pioneer makes a good one...Clarion too.
They make a remote that has a display on it, so you can see what radio station
your on, or waht CD track your on.
We've done this numerous times for hot rods & customs. You can mount the stereo
under a seat or in the trunk, glove box, etc. & have your small control up front.
I think we have a couple of pictures on our web site.
www.sunvalleystereo.com

 

There are several threads about this very subject, do a search and you'll find lots of good info.

 

I hate my secret audio. I would never recommend them to anyone.

 

Ditto

 

I've installed some Secret Audio systems in cars at the shop, and like everyone says, they're a POS. Customers always ask about them, but I refuse to use them now. I put 3 in, and all 3 had the problem of never keeping memory. Of course Custom Auto Sound wouldn't do a swap, they wanted the unit sent in for repair. Not to mention the quality isn't that great for what it costs and the remote is pretty hard to use. I just got tired of the trouble, plus I was afraid of getting a bad rep as the installer.

I've got some buddies with Custom Auto Sound's factory replacement units, and those seem good.

 

If your 57 has the glove box in the middle of the dash just put a modern radio in it and it will be easy to reach,that is what I done on my 53 olds and it worked great. If you using the original 57 antenna get rid of it as they dont work good with modern radios,I found that out with the 53. What I done when installing a system in my 55 ford convertible is to use a marine remote and mounted the radio under the seat,the marine remote fit in a factory block off plate and I did not have to butcher the dash. I mounted the radio under the drivers side of the seat so I can still use the CD function without having to get in the trunk,the remote has a long enough cable so it can be mounted in the trunk if there is no place else to mount the radio. Jeff

 

i put a pioneer cd player in the glove box in my 57. i cut the back of the factory radio off to clear some space, i made a bracket so that the radio will move up and down with glove box door. i did all this so that the radio wouldn't be so far back in the glove box hole. my radio has built in xm and mp3.

i'm going to mount 1 12" sub under the rear package tray with 6x9's on each side. it will also have two component speakers behind the kick panels up front. with the proper amplifiers this should do the trick. and you won't see ANY of it. will look like bone stock 57 chevy.


dose any one know if there are any options to xm antennas? i don't want to mount one on the outside of the car. will it work if i put it on the package tray inside the car? i'm hooked on xm like a crack ***** on crack. i'm convinced that xm is a conspiracy program. i just don't from who or why. he he.

 

see the factory radio? thats nothing but a face plate and knobs.

 

On a buddies 54' we made an original radio into a hinging faceplate with the head unit hidden behind it. Just looked like original AM radio until you flipped it down.

 

On my very long list of things to do is hide head unit etc. and use one of the wired remotes with readout such as the ones found at Overtons.


http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/catalog.cgi?cname=Marine-Stereo-Accessories&r=browse&aID=17F