CONGRATULATIONS!
You have one of the most unique and sophisticated radios ever built! It is designed to preserve the original fit,
functions and appearance of your radio while providing the best of the latest digital technology. The modern features that were not
available when your vehicle was new are cleverly disguised so that they are functional and easily accessible, but are not visible. The face,
knobs and pushbuttons are designed and manufactured to look and feel just like the original. The dial scale looks like the original. The FM
dial scale is added in the background. There is a tiny indicator in the center of the dial. It is Red when in the AM band, Green in the FM
band, and orange when locked on a stereo signal. In the Bluetooth
®
mode this indicator has multiple uses. Please take a few minutes to
read this manual and familiarize yourself with all of the features of this radio. Although this radio is considerably smaller than the
original, it will fit in the dash without any alterations. The radio is designed to work well with the original antenna.
Do not use the
original speakers.
They will not handle the power or the frequency range of this radio.
Before you begin installation:
Be Safe! Disconnect one battery terminal and leave it disconnected until installation is complete. Make
sure you are familiar with the options and features programmed into this radio. Locate the antenna jack, the auxiliary input, line outputs
and other options you may need before you mount the radio. If you want to “bench test” the radio use a fully charged battery.
DO NOT
operate this radio directly from a battery charger. Serious damage may result! This radio has several protection circuits to help prevent
serious damage from wiring errors and power faults in the vehicle electrical system. Never use a fuse rated for more than 10 Amps!
Speakers:
See our new line of Dual Voice Coil speakers designed specifically for this radio. Use only 4 ohm speakers. A quality full
range speaker with 30 or 40 watt RMS ratings should be sufficient. The higher the SPL rating of the speaker, the better it sounds. Look for
an SPL of 88 or better. A good full range speaker should have a frequency range from less than 40 Hz to at least 18 kHz. Pay attention to
polarity! Speaker terminals will be marked with a + and - , or a red dot on the + terminal. If all speakers are connected to the proper
polarity, they will operate in harmony. If they are not properly phased, you will not hear the full fidelity of the radio. This is especially
important when using dual voice coil speakers. Note: - does not mean ground! This is a high power radio in which both speaker lines are
driven with high currents!
Never
allow any speaker lead to become grounded when the radio is on!
Operating Your Radio
Band selection:
The leftmost pushbutton was the On/Off button on original radios. It is now marked FM. Each time you push the FM
button the radio will toggle between AM and FM. The radio will be on the last station you were listening to when power was turned off.
Tuning:
The dial scale is made to look like the original. It is illuminated when the dash lights are on. Turning the tuning knob will move
the dial pointer up or down the dial scale. The radio is digitally tuned for stability, but has the look and feel of an analog radio. The dial
pointer is positioned with a stepper motor.
Note: the dial pointer and pushbuttons will only function when the radio is turned on.
Tone:
The tone control (behind the volume control) provides full bass and treble near the center position. Turning the control clockwise
reduces treble, and counter-clockwise reduces bass. When streaming music in Bluetooth mode an equalizer is also available.
Balance:
Your radio has a balance control behind the tuning control. Turning the balance knob will shift the audio between the left
speaker(s) and the right speaker(s). In a stereo system, the audio information sent to the right channel is often different than the left
channel. When you set the balance to the extreme left or right, the radio will automatically switch out of the stereo mode and all of the
information for both channels will be present in the speaker that is selected (Mono mode).
Note: The balance control is not operational
in a 1 speaker setup.
Fader:
In order to allow adjusting the front/rear speakers without adding visible controls, your radio has a software control that is shared
with the balance control. To access the fader, tune to an FM station and set the balance control for the best sound. After you’ve listened for
a few seconds, tune to the top of the dial. The last station you were listening to will start playing again. Use the
balance
control to adjust
the front/rear fader. When you tune away from the top of the dial, the radio will resume normal operation, and the balance control will no
longer affect the fader function. Once you readjust the balance control, the fader settings are permanently stored (until you change them).
Every time you turn on the radio, the fader values you last set will be re-loaded.
Note: The fader is only operational in a 3 or4 speaker
setup.
Setting pushbuttons:
Your radio has 5 presets for FM and 5 presets for AM. A major difference between the original radio and this one is
the way the pushbuttons are set.
Never
attempt to pull out on the buttons! When you push a button, the radio will start playing the selected
station, and the dial pointer will move to the selected location. To set a button to a different station: (1) Tune in the desired station. (2)
Press and hold the button you want to set. The tuner will move to the previous setting. (3) After about 2 seconds, the radio will begin
playing the newly selected station. The dial pointer may cycle to locate the correct position. This is normal. The dial pointer will stop at
the new station. (4) Release the button. Be aware it takes a couple of seconds to write the new pushbutton data to permanent memory. You
can continue to set other buttons or tune other stations, but if the radio is turned off before the write cycle is completed, the new stations
may not be saved. In the Bluetooth
®
mode the pushbuttons have several different functions and will not change the dial pointer position.
Bluetooth
®
:
To connect your phone, it must first be “paired” to this radio. Make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone. Search for
available devices. Turn your radio on. “AARInc.BTvx.x” should be visible for a few minutes after the radio is turned on. Select it to pair.
You can pair up to 4 devices with this radio. The radio will attempt to connect with the last paired device every time the radio is turned on.
To activate Bluetooth
®
, tune to the low end of the dial in any band (we suggest you set the leftmost pushbutton to this position). If your
phone is paired, it will connect automatically. The stereo indicator in the dial will turn bright blue. To exit Bluetooth
®
mode manually tune
the radio away from the low end of the dial. When listening to the radio (AM or FM band) an incoming call will switch the radio into
Bluetooth
®
mode to allow you to answer by briefly pressing the center button. To reject the call press the rightmost button. See the
illustration on the cover for all of the alternate button functions. To end the call, press and hold the center button. If the radio was not in
Bluetooth
®
mode when the call began, the radio will return to the station you were listening to when the call is ended. If another call
comes in during an active call, you may put the current caller on hold and answer the 2
nd
one, or reject it. During an active call you can
raise or lower the caller's volume by pressing the <VOL or VOL> buttons. When the call is ended, the volume will return to the normal
setting. For detailed Bluetooth
®
instructions go to www.radiosforoldcars.com/bluetooth.
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