I've just done the first leg of a trip around southern NSW. The new radio set up works well. I was able to listen to 702 all the way to Nowra and even a little south of that although it got a bit sketchy in the hills between Kiama and Berry (to be expected).

Before heading off from Sydney I pulled the radio out again and got rid of the jumbled mass of wiring ****e left there by some previous villian - that made a big difference to the whining noise. I also added a Mobile 1 AM/FM antenna and made sure it had exellent earthing to the body and chassis. Lastly I put in the 4" Kevlar Coax speakers from Jaycar.

The speakers aren't working that well at high volume because I assume there is not enough oomph from the old-timey tuner unit to drive them. Otherwise the system is a gem - got what I wanted in terms of increased AM reception, quietened down the static noise and fixed the crappy thudding base from the old worn out speakers. Ipod line in working well too.

Anyone want to tell me how I can get the old radio to drive the speakers properly? From looking on the net it seems I need an amplifer with speaker line inputs - does that sound right?