Anyone know an installer they would trust in Baltimore/Washington area? - previous owner had nonfunctioning modern headset. I got rebuilt unit from Becker, but it doesn't seem all that clear.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Europa II installation in Balt/Wash area
- Thread starter gkb
- Start date
texcarguy
Active Member
Becker installation
There's not much to it... the one single wire coming out the lower part of the back is for power .. Battery Plus... the speaker requires the special plug in the upper righthand corner... the double male spade connectors is for a power antenna out signal (usually this would go to the yellow wire on your power antenna if you have one)... plug in the antenna, and you're good to go!
On most Beckers, there is also an "iPod" input, believe it or not! It uses a 5 pin round DIN connector. On a whim, I just bought the cable from Becker ($50.. ouch!).. it comes complete with the DIN connector attached for the radio, and a nicely enclosed standard mini-jack at the other end, which you can just mount or lay in your glove box. It also includes a male-male cable for connecting any sound output device (iPod, port CD player, any MP3 player, etc).... The function is extremely simple... any time you place a plug in the mini jack, the Becker automatically disables the radio reception and sends your mini music output through it's amplifier, and out the speakers... Amazing those Bavarians planned for the iPod some 30+ years before its inception!
There's not much to it... the one single wire coming out the lower part of the back is for power .. Battery Plus... the speaker requires the special plug in the upper righthand corner... the double male spade connectors is for a power antenna out signal (usually this would go to the yellow wire on your power antenna if you have one)... plug in the antenna, and you're good to go!
On most Beckers, there is also an "iPod" input, believe it or not! It uses a 5 pin round DIN connector. On a whim, I just bought the cable from Becker ($50.. ouch!).. it comes complete with the DIN connector attached for the radio, and a nicely enclosed standard mini-jack at the other end, which you can just mount or lay in your glove box. It also includes a male-male cable for connecting any sound output device (iPod, port CD player, any MP3 player, etc).... The function is extremely simple... any time you place a plug in the mini jack, the Becker automatically disables the radio reception and sends your mini music output through it's amplifier, and out the speakers... Amazing those Bavarians planned for the iPod some 30+ years before its inception!
I know this is an old post - Just looking into a new radio for my E9. I would like to have it be a older Becker unit. Not only to keep it looking original but avoid someone ripping it out of the console some day.. Things like that happen when you least expect it.
I wanted to know if anyone has been successful at using an old Becker (70's era like the Mexico) with an IPOD connection. I have seen several sold on Ebay, but wants sure about quality. My next question is what is the sound quality like? Can you still use amps to power 4 speakers.. Any input would be appreciated..
Gary
I wanted to know if anyone has been successful at using an old Becker (70's era like the Mexico) with an IPOD connection. I have seen several sold on Ebay, but wants sure about quality. My next question is what is the sound quality like? Can you still use amps to power 4 speakers.. Any input would be appreciated..
Gary
mark
Well-Known Member
madman
a becker europa with an amp and ipod can work.
i looked into this a copuple of years ago with another car - ending up with 2 europa IIs still in the garage - that ultimately both didn't work and haven't yet got round to renovating them.
there's an easily available ipod plug from ther back of the becker. i wanted an amp and quality sound. the advice i received was that the becker sound quality was too poor with a reasonable sized amp. the solution was to put an electronic filter in line (can't recall what it was called) that would first detect the distortion and then somehow electronically neutralise it - if I recall correctly the standard set up procedure was to to play a "tuning" cd in the head unit as part of the distortion detection process. to get around this the cd would need to be copied top the ipod and then played through the ipod connection in the becker).
sorry foer the poor memory.
a becker europa with an amp and ipod can work.
i looked into this a copuple of years ago with another car - ending up with 2 europa IIs still in the garage - that ultimately both didn't work and haven't yet got round to renovating them.
there's an easily available ipod plug from ther back of the becker. i wanted an amp and quality sound. the advice i received was that the becker sound quality was too poor with a reasonable sized amp. the solution was to put an electronic filter in line (can't recall what it was called) that would first detect the distortion and then somehow electronically neutralise it - if I recall correctly the standard set up procedure was to to play a "tuning" cd in the head unit as part of the distortion detection process. to get around this the cd would need to be copied top the ipod and then played through the ipod connection in the becker).
sorry foer the poor memory.
thanks for the reply mark
I will look into this and see if there is more info about hooking up an amp to an old school becker radio.. Glad to here there is an working Ipod interface
I will look into this and see if there is more info about hooking up an amp to an old school becker radio.. Glad to here there is an working Ipod interface
texcarguy
Active Member
External amp to Becker radio
There's not much to it. Just go to Crutchfield.com and get the line-level output device $20
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?search=line+level+output&i=142SLC4
This will hook right up to the speaker(s) output on the back of your Becker.. stereo if you have a stereo receiver, otherwise, mono
However, to be honest, I'm not sure why you want to do this. The Becker has very adequate output on its own (I'm running my mono Becker through a dash speaker and 2 others in the rear parcel tray). Let's face it, with the noise level of cars from this vintage, no amount of amplifier power is going to give you concert hall sound.
My suggestion: Enjoy the music of the engine, and listen to the news on the radio when you have to!
There's not much to it. Just go to Crutchfield.com and get the line-level output device $20
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?search=line+level+output&i=142SLC4
This will hook right up to the speaker(s) output on the back of your Becker.. stereo if you have a stereo receiver, otherwise, mono
However, to be honest, I'm not sure why you want to do this. The Becker has very adequate output on its own (I'm running my mono Becker through a dash speaker and 2 others in the rear parcel tray). Let's face it, with the noise level of cars from this vintage, no amount of amplifier power is going to give you concert hall sound.
My suggestion: Enjoy the music of the engine, and listen to the news on the radio when you have to!
texcarguy
OK - I'm probably going to try hooking this up without an amp. Have you been able to find another source for the IPOD cable other than Becker? Unless its special -sounds like a lot for a cable...
Thanks for your help.
OK - I'm probably going to try hooking this up without an amp. Have you been able to find another source for the IPOD cable other than Becker? Unless its special -sounds like a lot for a cable...
Thanks for your help.
texcarguy
Active Member
Becker iPod cable
I agree... $50 for a "cable" sounded like a lot to me, but I couldn't get the pin-out diagrams for the 5-pin din plug for the rear, so bit the bullet. After I received the purchase, I didn't feel so bad... the cable is nicely molded, and, on the other end, the 1/4" mini-jack is pre-mounted in a nice little compact housing, suitable for mounting unobstrusively under the dash (I decided to just drop mine in the glove box,running the wire from behind. It also included the separate male-to-male 1/4" cable to actually connect the Becker jack to your iPod...
all in all, I figure I would have wound up spending a good $30 at Radio Shack for individual parts, if I could find them, and then futz around for an hour or more getting it all together... then the $50 seemed like a pretty reasonable deal.
I've been astounded at both the clarity, fidelity, and volume of sound the Becker can output from the ipod source. My system has modern but low-power consumption speakers, but no external booster amps...With the cabin noise level, I wouldn't be able to discern stereo separation anyway!
I agree... $50 for a "cable" sounded like a lot to me, but I couldn't get the pin-out diagrams for the 5-pin din plug for the rear, so bit the bullet. After I received the purchase, I didn't feel so bad... the cable is nicely molded, and, on the other end, the 1/4" mini-jack is pre-mounted in a nice little compact housing, suitable for mounting unobstrusively under the dash (I decided to just drop mine in the glove box,running the wire from behind. It also included the separate male-to-male 1/4" cable to actually connect the Becker jack to your iPod...
all in all, I figure I would have wound up spending a good $30 at Radio Shack for individual parts, if I could find them, and then futz around for an hour or more getting it all together... then the $50 seemed like a pretty reasonable deal.
I've been astounded at both the clarity, fidelity, and volume of sound the Becker can output from the ipod source. My system has modern but low-power consumption speakers, but no external booster amps...With the cabin noise level, I wouldn't be able to discern stereo separation anyway!