Keep Original Stereo's & use modern Bluetooth Amp./Speakers

[GolfBavaria]

I thought I would share this for people looking to keep your original AM/FM or LMKUU Blaupunkt etc. but have modern technology. I wanted to keep the "original look" although I realize my Bav wasn't Euro delivery, I came across a really nice Euro Blaupunkt in working order. I also needed to find a Hirschmann to complete the look. Well, after searching for some functional used ones, I didn't have much luck. Then I found out that they make new ones with the "classic" look. See attached pictures for make/model numbers.

I never liked the stereo's that are out that are retro and made to look old but have Bluetooth etc. capabilities. Well, after talking to my stereo guy, he mentioned that amp's have built in Bluetooth now. So, I thought, great idea. I snapped some pictures of the install. I didn't want any holes drilled in floor nor have it be seen. So, we came up with an idea where it is attached through the carpet by lifting up carpet, and attaching some brackets without drilling through anything. On top of that, they made a custom bracket that mounts to existing bolts under seat. See pic., that control is needed for it to work. Just turn volume all the way up and you never have to touch it again. So if I turn on radio, the antenna goes up, the light comes on, but then the Bluetooth kicks in on AMP and I am able to stream Pandora, all controlled through the iphone.

No new holes were cut for speakers, they were already cut years ago and had old 4" Blaupunkt's. I bought some fairly reasonable Audison speakers to replace old ones and kept original speaker covers. It works great and completes vintage "look". Nice thing is you can have antenna down while driving and streaming music. Even with stereo powered off, once car is on it will play through amp. Its pretty cool. The only thing you lose is the AM/FM. You can have the AM/FM work, but you will have a whine and I didn't want that. I can get traffic updates through phone as we all know. If anyone has any more detailed questions just ask. Hope this sparks an idea or helps somebody. - GB

 

[Markos]

Great job! I have considered the same. I might not run any radio at all though. Now that I have spare sheet metal the plan is to weld up all of my speaker holes. My rear shelf is like Swiss cheese. Looks like more amps are coming out with BT. Even if your favorite amp doesn't have BT you can buy a tiny receiver with RCA outputs on it.

 

[Stevehose]

Looks great. For my Becker I bought a stereo input adapter that plugs into the tape in jack on the back of the receiver. I then plugged a bluetooth dongle into that. I hid a power amp under the rear seat to help drive the 4 speakers. Because Beckers have a separate power amp box located in the passenger footwell, hooking up a power amp is tricky. I had to buy adjustable attenuators for the line outs to the amp to keep distortion at bay. I replaced the original speakers with ones from Retrosound/Crutchfield and sound great, keeping the original grills. It's great being able to stream music, most am/fm stations can also be streamed through Tunein Radio et al. And still looks 100% stock.

 

[adawil2002]

Excellent.

My Blaupunkt Frankfurt has an accessory plug that goes to the glove box where I have a small iLive blue tooth receiver. Works great and completely invisible.

 

[vladkuk]

Mine still has 8 track player inside. Will keep it as it is. Just bought Bang and Olufsen portable bluetooth speaker - that will do the work.