Old Speaker & Bluetooth

October 25, 2016 9:47 AM

I have an old school speaker, and I would like to be able to hook it up to my phone via bluetooth. I thought I had this solved, but is there a new way to do it?

I have an old speaker that has sentimental value (my grandfather made it), that I just adore the sound from and love using in my gym. For a while I was using The Vamp which seemed to solve my problem, but it just died on me. I went to order a new one, and its now not available in the US, and with shipping from the UK...its getting a little pricey.

Is there another product that does something similar? I don't even really know what to google. Basically I just want a really minimal receiver- just bluetooth or USB. It doesn't have to be battery operated, being plugged in is fine. If the consensus is to just order another Vamp thats fine, but I want to see if there are any other options.

Thanks!

posted by zara to Technology (9 answers total)

Best answer: It looks like you need a small bluetooth-enabled amplifier, like the Bluetooth Audio Receiver/Amplifier - Model 300 on Amazon. That one just has the spring push release speaker connectors on the back. If you google 'amp with bluetooth' you can find more results.
posted by Huck500 at 10:09 AM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

If you really want to keep the budget down, you can likely find an old but functional stereo amp at a thrift store for $10 or less. Add a $10-15 Bluetooth adapter and you're set.

One thing to keep in mind due to only having one speaker is that if you're listening to stereo music, you're going to lose parts of the signal (e.g. if you're feeding the single speaker the left side of the mix and there's a guitar that's only in the right side, you won't hear it). You can address this by using a music player that collapses the audio to mono but that can also result in strange results if it wasn't mixed to be mono compatible, as parts of the mix may end up canceling each other out. It's probably not the end of the world if you're just putting on music to exercise to.
posted by Candleman at 10:26 AM on October 25, 2016

Does the Chromecast audio do what you want?
posted by Ftsqg at 10:28 AM on October 25, 2016

Response by poster: Oh these answers are super helpful.

I think Huck500 is totally on the right track, I love Ftsqg's idea of a chromcast audio but my speakers dont have an aux imput... but here is the back of my speaker... is there an adapter?

Also, Candleman, I do have the pair, but the Vamp only worked with one speaker....now you are giving me ideas about bringing the other one down, would just have to figure out how to keep the wires out of the way.
posted by zara at 10:38 AM on October 25, 2016

I like the idea of the Chromecast audio and still use mine because of higher quality audio, but it's not a great product. I get connection and playback problems from both Android and iOS devices and you can't send it YouTube audio.

Regardless of whether you use a Chromecast audio or Bluetooth adapter, you'll still need some kind of amplifier.

As far as using both and keeping the wires out of the way, you can try putting them side by side. There will be some phase issues with the two interacting with some music, but many people won't notice it.
posted by Candleman at 11:44 AM on October 25, 2016

You can use whatever type of audio receiver you want (Chromecast, Bluetooth, etc.) You just need to hook it up to a pre-amp that you can connect your speakers to. I bought a pre-amp recently for a similar purpose on Amazon for about $15.
posted by bradbane at 11:50 AM on October 25, 2016

You can't use an adapter from Chromecast to your speaker, or from a preamp. You need a power amplifier, which is part of a "receiver." The Vamp contains a tiny 4 watt power amplifier. So Huck500 has the right idea, plus with the unit he linked to you could use both speakers and get stereo.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:09 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It's a little hokey, but unless you can find an old, working amplifier/receiver cheap, I'd go with a Lepai 2024+ and a Bluetooth receiver. The Lepai sounds great for its size and price. I don't have any experience with Bluetooth receivers, but this one and this one have good reviews, and you'd obviously want to leave them plugged in.
posted by cnc at 1:28 PM on October 25, 2016

Hey, cnc, I was just going to suggest a little Lepai amp, too. :7)

The only caveat is that it'll need wall power or USB, of course, but the Bluetooth adapter will also want some kind of juice. Many of the smallest, cheapest BT units have a tiny internal battery and recharge via USB, so if you go this route consider finding one with a plug and not just a USB connector.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:32 AM on October 26, 2016