I installed a Restrosound Hermosa radio in my ’68 Cutlass with HEI. Everything works great until I start the car at which point the radio cuts in and out. After several back and forth emails, the tech assured me it was RFI (radio frequency interference) and that I needed to install ferrite filters on the power feeds. This improved the situation, but did not fix it. Here is a list of everything I tried:

1. Two sets of ferrite filters on accy power, constant power, and ground at radio.
2. Replaced spark plug wires with Taylor Spiro pro brand that are supposed to reduce RFI.
3. Triple checked grounding to the radio.
4. Pigtail-twisted power lines and ground (online recommendation).
5. Wrapped adhesive copper foil around the power and ground.

None have totally remedied the problem. Can anyone provide some insight?
Thanks,
Dave

 

Do you have suppression condensers on the alternator, regulator, and coil?

Are the speaker wires twisted as well?

- Eric

 

You don't have the radio's battery and ignition power wires tied together do you? Normally the only time you'll see this is on AM radio, not FM.

And make sure your alternator has its own ground strap. Externally regulated alternators are prone to noise issues when not grounded properly. And jumper that to a new engine ground strap to the frame and/or battery.

 

retrosound SUCKS. They took the cheapest chinese radio and slapped a retro face and high $$$ sticker price on it. I've had one in my chevelle, bluetooth worked for about 3 days, I could never tune in the fm stations to be clear, after 2 weeks no more signal to rear speakers.
Ended up yanking it out and installing Alpine in the glove box.

Their customer service/tech department don't have a slightest clue about basic car stereo functions.

 

I have the RetroSound 2 and things were fine for me until I recently upgraded the dist cap and wires. The radio started cutting out and could not hold a station. I went back under the hood and re-routed the new coil wire as far away from the antenna connection to the windshield (embedded in the windshield in my vert) and moved the close plug wires away as well. Once done it resolved this issue completely. Not sure it is the root of your problem but certainly something to check.

By the way, no issues with my RetroSound 2 per 70cutty's note. Seems to be working fine. I did notice that the FM stations are never pulled in that strongly, but I assume that's the wimpy windshield antenna. I'm on Bluetooth or USB most of the time anyways.....

 

By the way, the Spiro-Pro wire is basically a dual-core wire. The spiral winding which is supposed to be insulated from the inner core to absorb RFI isn't insulated. Its bonded to the inner core, and that winding acts like a copper core plug wire. Magnecore is the only wire I've seen that allows you to remove a section of the spiral wrap before crimping so that it can't be used as a core wire and its allowed to absorb RFI and EMI as intended, plus there is a thick layer of insulation between the spiral winding and the core. If they are assembled wrong (shorted together), they do the same thing - emit EMI and RFI. But a major downfall, Magnecore's core wire has WAY too much resistance. Its forces the coil to overheat in some situations and restricts power to the plug in all situations. That's why I've gone to the Moroso BlueMax whenever possible - the least number of issues.

 

All,
Thanks for the input. I'll try some of the suggestions. 70cutty, I agree with your thoughts about it being cheap Chinese crap. You know the mark up is probably huge on these units. I am really trying to get this to work having invested a lot of time getting it to fit. I may have to return though if the suggestions don't work.
Thanks,
Dave