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Amazon have a good returns policy even without prime, i sent it the cassette adapter back and that same day i got an email to say i will get a refund within 3 or 5 days.
That item in your link is great but i would prefer bluetooth. I would get fed up having to plug and unplug my phone when i want to play music.
Slightly different solution, but I fitted a DAB receiver that runs through the exisiting head unit, and has an AUX in (wired rather than bluetooth). I have the aux-in emerging in the centre cubby box, and can plug any device in. The sound is excellent, plus I have DAB radio too. This is the device I used: Kinetic digitizor DAB, DAB , DMB-A add-on car radio
Great idea but i really want to connect without a cable as it would be too much hassle and i dont fancy seeing a cable dangling either. Dab radio would be wasted on me as i hate adverts and tend to listen to radio 2 which is on fm radio anyway.
If you just want bluetooth music, then a simple solution would be to buy a Bluetooth audio streamer and connect that to the audio L-R connections from the CD player in the boot. Something like this one:-
You would lose the ability to play CDs and instead get Bluetooth when you select CD on the head unit. To do this you need to splice into the audio lines in the cable that goes from the CD unit, leaving the other connections intact (so the head unit can still "see" the CD player). A car audio installer should be able to do it.
The cable you need to splice into:-
Pin out for the connector:-
This is what i think i will end up doing. The bluetooth receiver you linked to is not for car use though. I reckon if you find a good car Bluetooth receiver then you could splice that into the cd changer cable no problem.
Thanks for posting the picture of the cable, it enlightens me now. It does not look too challenging to do as a diy job. I just need to find an Bluetooth receiver that can be stashed in my boot near the changer.
A while back I decided to dedicate my cassette player as the input for phones, etc.. I also wanted a solution that does not require removal/charging of the adapter. I am halfway thru the process.
First I "hard wired" the cassette adapter into the unit so that the 3.5mm jack is not dangling out of the front of the cassette flap.
Wire is routed out the back of the unit and into the console. I disabled the auto eject of the cassette so the flap stays down and hides the adapter entirely.
All that is left for me to do is purchase one of these small bluetooth receivers that will output to 3.5mm and plug in my hidden wire. I plan to hide the BT receiver since it will be always powered when key is on.
Many thanks for your reply. This idea is genius indeed. I wish i hade the time and knowlege to do this kind of thing. Im very impressed. You should take this up as a side line and sell them or modify peoples head units.
Was there a reason you did not want to splice into the changer cable in the boot of the car?
Amazon have a good returns policy even without prime, i sent it the cassette adapter back and that same day i got an email to say i will get a refund within 3 or 5 days.
That item in your link is great but i would prefer bluetooth. I would get fed up having to plug and unplug my phone when i want to play music.
I know what you are saying. When I first got the ION I also noticed that you can slightly hear the turning of the cassette (just like a real cassette) but that was only if I had the volume extremely low and the noise did not transmit through the speakers. The very slight mechanical noise was not noticeable once I turned the volume to normal listening. Also, not sure why you would be fiddling around with the cassette once it is in and operating. I have had others in the car when streaming music from my phone to the ION and everyone had thought it sounded just like bluetooth that is built into most cars these days.
Doug
Not that im expecting super quality sound from my oem head unit but i am fussy when it comes to sound, any type of unusual noises or interference would annoy me and i would stop using it.
Having had tape many many tape decks in my car over the years, the tape heads become clogged up or the alignment is out, if you shove your finger in and wiggle the tape you find a sweet spot when it sound just right, that is one of the down sides to tape decks, you can of course clean the heads and get the head alignment done if you wish.
This is what i think i will end up doing. The bluetooth receiver you linked to is not for car use though. I reckon if you find a good car Bluetooth receiver then you could splice that into the cd changer cable no problem.
You don't actually need a car specific bluetooth receiver. The one I linked to is a good brand name, rather than Chinese rubbish and runs on 5v, so it would be easy enough to replace the mains adaptor with a car 5v adaptor.
I would consider putting it in the armrest console and run the wires back to the CD changer in the boot - that would be a neat, cheap and simple way of adding a hidden, but easily accessible, bluetooth connection.
which, although it doesn't have quite as elaborate a display as the Perbeat, does mostly the same except it's smaller, and one of the USB ports will accept a memory stick, so no need for the phone. It does, however, also allow streaming from the phone via bluetooth.
Only minor gripe is battery voltage display resolution is only to the nearest volt, but well impressed for less than a tenner.
Last edited by michaelh; Oct 28, 2018 at 05:04 PM.
