I'm the only one in the family that listens to the radio any more. Everyone else in the family uses their phone for all listening. It's occurred to me that my car doesn't even need a radio any more, it just needs an amplifier that can connect through bluetooth and pass that info on to speakers. So I'm thinking, could one use something like this board from ebay wire up the 12V to come on with the car, hook it to speakers, tell my phone to connect automatically and rock and roll? Or am I thinking about this all wrong?
The output power seems pretty low to me. It might be worth testing. The other concern is making sure you get "clean" power to the board. Variations in electrical current could give you static or the whine that you don't want for you music.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Absolutely!
Several years ago, I remember someone who did something fairly similar with a small 12vdc amplifier with just an aux-in port. Seemed to work well, sounded good, and it was like $40. If the link you listed has the balls to drive four speakers (or even just push a signal to an old-school four channel amp), it would probably work just as well.
T.J.
MegaDork
8/17/18 10:15 a.m.
I have a similar setup in the mini. Small amp under the rear seat. Only input is a bluetooth dongle. Works well. No headunit, nothing visible but the speakers. I can post up details on the amp and bluetooth dongle when I get home if interested. Both were cheap things I bought of Amazon about 3 years ago.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Talk to RallyX/AutoX Brian, the one who used to own an M3.
he put one of these in his NA miata RX car.
T.J.
MegaDork
8/17/18 10:22 a.m.
The only improvement I may like is to have hands free calling as well as ability to listen to music. My car is fairly loud, so it probably would be of limited value for me.
One of these is being hidden under the rear seat of my mini. The speakers and sub are hidden under a panel on the rear deck.
I have yet to plug it in and test for audio quality so I cannot give a review as of yet.
Within the last few years, ive done multiple installs using lepai motorcycle amps and a 3.5mm plug. I know my iPhone doesn't have a 3.5mmjack, but android does. Wired the power for the unit from switched hot so it would come on with the car. Their power specs may be slightly optimistic, but their built in noise capacitor works well to eliminate whine. Systems in their complete form (spea kers, phone, wiring, amp) weighed about 5lbs.
Ordered a $20 amp board off Amazon. I could do it for more like $3 if I wanted to use a 3.5mm jack and was ok waiting on them to ship from China. I'll play with the leftover speakers I have, but it looks like speakers from China are also suuuuuper cheap. This is going to be fun. Thanks for the input.
I installed a small "500 watt" amp in the trunk of my Miata to replace the blown Bose system. Connects to my phone via Bluetooth and has a wired 6 button remote which I installed in the ash tray slot. Connected it directly to the original speaker wires and replaced the door speakers. It's simple and works great for me. And now I have a full double din slot open for anything I want to add. Probably GPS or phone mount.
I'm following with interest as I have absolutely uttered the third sentence in this post several times over the past few years. I'm just not all that interested in inventing this particular wheel ;) (nor do I have the skillz, yo). Very happy to implement what others have pioneered.
Lately, when going for a ride in one of my "special interest" vehicles, I just throw the Bose bluetooth speaker in the passenger seat and fire up pandora. I'm pretty much just looking for a permanently-integrated version of that
Like SpaceCadet says - I have the whole set up for my miata -The speaker in the miata were shot, so i never made it work completely. I'll bring it to the next AutoX. Mine is a marine amp, with a bluetooth receiver
Vigo
UltimaDork
8/17/18 2:05 p.m.
And now I have a full double din slot open for anything I want to add.
Boost, wideband, fuel pressure, egt gauges. That was easy!
Guys, you are missing the "easy button" on this.
Mini Jambox (get it now before they are gone!)
https://www.amazon.com/Jawbone-Wireless-Bluetooth-Speaker-Graphite/dp/B00DVKORXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534533288&sr=8-2&keywords=mini+jambox
12VDC to USB power adapter (switched) plus a little cord
Screw a piece of aluminum or heavy plastic to your dash/somewhere with two heavy O-Rings underneath it, use the O-rings to secure it.
Light, great sound, portable, looks good, runs on battery or USB power, aux in, hands free calling if you don't have extreme background noise.
If I ever get a classic car, this is what I will be installing in place of a proper stereo unless I want boom boom boom. I travel with mine just in case I get a car without bluetooth radio, which is shockingly common on a few year old service trucks.
^thats what I have in the Miata now - a bluetooth speaker velcroed to the ceiling of the hard top. Its OK with the windows up, but thats about it
bdashrian said:
Like SpaceCadet says - I have the whole set up for my miata -The speaker in the miata were shot, so i never made it work completely. I'll bring it to the next AutoX. Mine is a marine amp, with a bluetooth receiver
How do the two of us go from driving grown up cars to hacking together sound in our hoopties?
I have a hidden amp in my Miata with a 1/8" input jack. No need for Bluetooth. Better battery life, better sound, compatible with my click wheel iPods or my phone or whatever. I always have a 1/8" patch cable with me because I'm always jumping from car to car and that works on almost everything.
I own 12 cars, one of which can play music through bluetooth.
In reply to ClemSparks :
Actually sleepyhead got me thinking with his initial attempt to do this in the One Lap car this year. Bluetooth speaker on the seat is the easy button, but there must be something a smidge more elegant.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Using a wired jack is the easy answer, its just that kids these days and their bluetooth things. I had two different kids and my wife who each wanted to play their music in the truck this summer. In order for that to happen they had to either sit in the front middle seat or hand their device up to us in the front. Bluetooth might not work, but I've been impressed with how well it works with the aftermarket stereo in my wife's truck.
I did something similar.
Link
If you want, I'll give you my impressions later, when I have more time.
Suprf1y
UltimaDork
8/17/18 2:39 p.m.
psteav said:
Several years ago, I remember someone who did something fairly similar with a small 12vdc amplifier with just an aux-in port. Seemed to work well, sounded good, and it was like $40.
I did that in my Swift GT lightweight project. It was a Lepai amp and it worked fine. Look on the PE tech forum for info on decent inexpensive amps.
93gsxturbo said:
Guys, you are missing the "easy button" on this.
Mini Jambox (get it now before they are gone!)
https://www.amazon.com/Jawbone-Wireless-Bluetooth-Speaker-Graphite/dp/B00DVKORXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534533288&sr=8-2&keywords=mini+jambox
12VDC to USB power adapter (switched) plus a little cord
Screw a piece of aluminum or heavy plastic to your dash/somewhere with two heavy O-Rings underneath it, use the O-rings to secure it.
Light, great sound, portable, looks good, runs on battery or USB power, aux in, hands free calling if you don't have extreme background noise.
If I ever get a classic car, this is what I will be installing in place of a proper stereo unless I want boom boom boom. I travel with mine just in case I get a car without bluetooth radio, which is shockingly common on a few year old service trucks.
I've had one of those for sevral years. Unless the sound quality and/or power (volume) have increased 100% recently (and it very wall may have...mine is an early version), this is not a viable option for me. It's fine for casual listening around the house, but not good for listening in a car while driving. That's my personal experience.
Now...the Bose version that the wife bought that is a little larger (and a lot expensiver) works quite nicely. But I'm also looking for something a little more elegant.
