Andy S Posted May 30, 2020 Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 Thought I would share my solution to the conundrum of wanting modern sounds with period looks. My aim was to try and keep everything period looking, but have Bluetooth connectivity. I also didn’t want to have to cut holes for speakers. Obviously this meant sound quality was never going to be great, but would deliver a nostalgic charm. I started by fitting a 5x7 dual voice speaker that fits very snugly where the original dash speaker was. No modification or cutting required. Next I fitted one of those cheap retro looking Bluetooth Stereo head units from eBay. Cheap and easy to fit, but was never happy with the fake look. Also the sound it produced wasn’t great. Costing less than £20 and having built in hands free it’s a good cheap option though. This retro copy just wasn’t the look I was after so next I went for a converted original Grundig Weltklang radio. A great looking period radio that is converted to pickup FM and has an Aux cable so you can connect your phone. This option has several downsides. It has no Bluetooth connectivity (can be added, but gets expensive), it still only has a low mono output and actually looks out of place in a Stag interior. I ended up putting it in my Alfa Spider where it would have been a Dealer fit option originally. Finally I decided that to get the right look for a modest outlay I would need to get more creative and some compromises were required. BL cars generally didn’t come with radios as standard and were expensive dealer fit options. Looking on eBay I eventually found a Unipart radio which is a rebadged Motorola Model 114. This is the type of radio that would have been offered at BL dealerships in 70’s. It cost me £10.50 and works. It came in it’s original box. Next I purchased a Caliber CA75.2BT. This is a small 2 channel Bluetooth Amplifier. This cost £44 on Amazon. The Amp is small and easily hidden behind the scenes and connects to the dual voice speaker providing stereo sound with sufficient power so it can be heard with the top down. The Unipart Radio is the window dressing and is wired in to merely light up when switched on. I just need to fix the mounting plate properly once I’m confident everything is working as expected. Andy S 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted May 30, 2020 Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 You got your amp a LOT cheaper than this one, then: 17 sold.... wonder who to? Nice idea though! Some of the converted period radios sell for huge amounts, so it's an inexpensive workaround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy S Posted May 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 I can’t imagine anyone paying that for one. Beware of the cheaper non-Bluetooth version. Andy S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixasStandard Posted May 30, 2020 Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Andy S said: I can’t imagine anyone paying that for one. Beware of the cheaper non-Bluetooth version. Andy S Hello Andy, This is the solution that I have also opted for with my Vitesse, with my Radiomobile 1085X in the console for purely aesthetic purposes, and in my case a 4 speaker Bluetooth amplifier under the dash feeding 2 speakers in the kick panels and 2 in the rear quarter panels. I currently intend to go for this unit: Hidden Audio :: Hidden Bluetooth Amplifier A bit more expensive, but quality is very good from what I've heard. It also has the added advantage of limiting your risk of having an expensively upgraded period radio pinched. Period radios can still be picked up cheaply (as you found).......so it's a no-brainer for me. Regards, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy S Posted May 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 Hi Ian, Never thought about the security side of it. Having a 70’s mono radio worth just over a tenner will be less attractive to thieves. Please post some pictures when you’ve got it all setup. Andy S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted May 30, 2020 Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 How's the volume adjustment on the headless bluetooth set-up, that's the only thing that's made me wary about going that route in the Dolomite - I''m still on the low-quality "retro style" bluetooth unit, but can't say I'm impressed with it. (It works, but volume and audio quality are poor to say the least) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted May 30, 2020 Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, SixasStandard said: Hello Andy, This is the solution that I have also opted for with my Vitesse, with my Radiomobile 1085X in the console for purely aesthetic purposes, and in my case a 4 speaker Bluetooth amplifier under the dash feeding 2 speakers in the kick panels and 2 in the rear quarter panels. I currently intend to go for this unit: Hidden Audio :: Hidden Bluetooth Amplifier A bit more expensive, but quality is very good from what I've heard. It also has the added advantage of limiting your risk of having an expensively upgraded period radio pinched. Period radios can still be picked up cheaply (as you found).......so it's a no-brainer for me. Regards, Ian Hi, 150 quid for BT connectivity & 15w x 4 RMS is very expensive. to connect to it without BT you will need an aux output. Most period radios do not have this connector. For that sort of money, you could buy a 60w x4 amp and a BT transmitter/receiver. Cheers, Iain. Edited May 30, 2020 by SpitFire6 x wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixasStandard Posted May 30, 2020 Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 1 hour ago, SpitFire6 said: Hi, 150 quid for BT connectivity & 15w x 4 RMS is very expensive. to connect to it without BT you will need an aux output. Most period radios do not have this connector. For that sort of money, you could buy a 60w x4 amp and a BT transmitter/receiver. Cheers, Iain. Hello Iain, I'm not planning on connecting the period radio to anything........it's just there to give a correct period look. I would play music or radio from a smart phone or Mp3 player, either via BT or direct AUX connection. I'll take your comments about VFM under advisemment. Regards, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy S Posted May 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2020 13 hours ago, yorkshire_spam said: How's the volume adjustment on the headless bluetooth set-up, that's the only thing that's made me wary about going that route in the Dolomite - I''m still on the low-quality "retro style" bluetooth unit, but can't say I'm impressed with it. (It works, but volume and audio quality are poor to say the least) Volume control is done on your phone. The Caliber comes with setup instructions for setting volume. Essentially you set it up so it starts to distort at 3/4 of the maximum on your phone. Andy S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy S Posted May 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2020 11 hours ago, SixasStandard said: Hello Iain, I'm not planning on connecting the period radio to anything........it's just there to give a correct period look. I would play music or radio from a smart phone or Mp3 player, either via BT or direct AUX connection. I'll take your comments about VFM under advisemment. Regards, Ian As Ian said the head unit is there to give an authentic period look. I wired mine up so it lights up when it is switched on. Totally unnecessary to do this because all music and radio come from my phone via the Bluetooth Amp. Andy S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted May 31, 2020 Report Share Posted May 31, 2020 41 minutes ago, Andy S said: Volume control is done on your phone. The Caliber comes with setup instructions for setting volume. Essentially you set it up so it starts to distort at 3/4 of the maximum on your phone. Andy S Thanks Andy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahebron Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 TPA3116 chip An amp with one of these should work in a car as a bluetooth player. I just fitted an in my workshop to play bt from my phone or surface and line in from the internet radio. Also has a usb and sd slot. They are dirt cheap and worth a play with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 Hi, I bought similar at a petrol station. Built-in Li-ion as well. No 7 segment display on mine but who cares. I did run it in the car and it worked fine being charged from a USB port. Not loud, a few watts maybe, but for the price a bargain. It's now used on my sons Amazon input that was also a bargain at 20 quid. Cheers, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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