Need a BT audio unit for older car stereo

April 12, 2019 3:01 PM

As the title says but I have specific needs. When I have used BT receivers in the past which input through the "aux in" on my older car stereo, the sound was anemic and weak. I'd like something better.

Perhaps what is needed is a BT converter with an audio pre-amp. Or maybe some are better than others and a "good" one would be all that I need. However I really don't know much about car audio and trying to find what I want has been fruitless. Maybe such a thing doesn't exist. I have experimented with the iPhone audio settings and it hasn't helped much.

If you know of such a device or can help please chime in! Thanks!

posted by Rad_Boy to Technology (6 answers total)

I could be wrong but I believe that because BT is digital any unit should sound about the same as any other.

(there are quality differences between BT releases/versions but they are not earthshatteringly different to the average ear)
posted by Cosine at 3:36 PM on April 12, 2019

What make, model, and year? Check out Crutchfield’s model-specific guide.
posted by Seeking Direction at 3:38 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

I use aux-in, sometimes with BT, and it sounds anemic when the phone's volume is less than 100%. Maybe try that and use the head unit's volume as the master.

Other than that, I'd suggest a new head unit. Even the Scosche Motormouth (which is what I have seen recommended the most) needs USB power, which always always results in alternator whine due to grounding mismatches that aren't a problem with head units.
posted by rhizome at 6:32 PM on April 12, 2019

Have you tried directly plugging in another device with a headphones-out output? Like an old portable radio or stereo or an Android phone?

This test seems pivotal to narrowing down the issue. At odds with your experience, I've found that two different BT receivers, one lighter-outlet-powered and one battery-powered, actually put out a stronger signal than connecting my low-end phone directly. (In my case it's for an ancient computer speaker I use in a bathroom while I'm shaving in the morning.)

If you can find one of the battery-powered ones I use, from Walmart's BlackWeb electronics store brand model BWA18AV003, it was on clearance for seven bucks apiece recently and I bought a bunch of them because they're simple and well-engineered. They seem to be getting rid of them because some have a manufacturing defect where you can't plug the headphones plug into the jack completely, so just bring a pair of earbuds to check with.
posted by XMLicious at 12:57 AM on April 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Does it still sound bad with your current setup if you turn the volume up all the way on your phone/bluetooth audio device (meaning you control the volume with your car stereo instead)? The way devices decrease the volume over bluetooth could cause the audio quality to degrade somewhat.

Also seconding XMLicious that it'd probably be worthwhile to test with the device hooked up directly to the aux-in port to see if it has the same issue; a new receiver won't magically improve the quality of a bad aux-in sound.
posted by Aleyn at 3:28 PM on April 13, 2019

So my wife made this fix in her 2004 Suburban, which was easy and tacky-ish at the same time. She bought a bluetooth speaker (think Bose Soundlink but a lot cheaper) and a strip of velcro. Now there is a bluetooth speaker on her dashboard right above the radio and she can listen to podcasts and such. Not pretty, and not the best sound, but it works.
posted by Snowishberlin at 9:48 AM on April 14, 2019