17 replies to this topic

[Shooter63]

OK, if this is simple stuff and should know better I apologise, but here is what I want to do.
In the near future the Mrs and I will be embarking on a multiple thousand mile jaunt in my Mk1 and although we get on brilliantly and natter away all the time there are bound to be some quiet moments so I'm starting to think about music, all I really want is to be able to stream Spotify or play music from my phone, what I need to know is what is the minimum equipment I will need ie will I need a aerial, what speakers will I need, will I need a head unit. At the moment I have bugger all apart from a fag lighter socket and a hole where an aerial can go.

Cheers

Shooter

[KTS]

possibly the simplest solution is to use a bluetooth speaker in the car;  no wires and the sound quality on some of them is very good

[stuart bowes]

I would definitely lean more to having a suitable number of tracks / albums / playlists downloaded to a phone or ipod or something (at least as a backup)

 

streaming is all well and good but as soon as the signal drops out (or your data runs out..) you have nothing at all or even worse jumpy music with pauses every 20sec while it loads the next chunk

 

I actually don't stream anything at all, the missus does but I have like 30gb of music on a microSD card in my phone which is plenty to keep me going pretty much indefinitely

 

in terms of hardware an aerial is only used for FM or DAB, I may be wrong but I'm not aware of any such thing to boost mobile phone signal (?) at least not a portable version for the car 

 

KTM's advice makes a lot of sense - I reckon something like this would be more than enough for a mini https://www.amazon.c...2,aps,75&sr=8-5 just bear in mind really cheap ones will sound absolute dogturd and it needs a bit of oomph to be heard over the everyday sounds of an old car

 

obvs make sure you have a usb charger adaptor (which presumably you would already have for the phones anyway ?)

Edited by stuart bowes, 10 June 2023 - 07:07 PM.

[Quinlan minor]

One of these will provide your entertainment needs http://www.pioneer-c...products/stub-3

Other makes are available.

[Stevie W]

Hi Shooter,

 

Is your Mk1 still wired positive earth?

 

Cheers, Steve.

[humph]

I’ve gone bluetooth amp route in my 69 Elf, all it needs wiring wise is a switched live and earth, plus speaker wires obviously. My phone becomes my streaming service, radio (bbc sounds or tunein app), phone (not tested yet) and sat nav (google maps).

 

https://www.ebay.co....FxoCjaQQAvD_BwE

 

under dash mount for it here

https://www.thirdshe...p=false&q=false

 

speaker wise i bought some 6 inch speakers and some tweeters and built a home made one of these out of 12mm mdf. They sit under my seats.

 

https://www.classicc...-pair-120w.html

 

although you can buy the in uk too

 

https://www.classicc...y/hidden-audio/

 

phone is mounted in one of these.

 

https://www.retro-co...s/phone-holder/

Edited by humph, 10 June 2023 - 09:36 PM.

[IronmanG]

I’ve gone bluetooth amp route in my 69 Elf, all it needs wiring wise is a switched live and earth, plus speaker wires obviously. My phone becomes my streaming service, radio (bbc sounds or tunein app), phone (not tested yet) and sat nav (google maps).

https://www.ebay.co....FxoCjaQQAvD_BwE

under dash mount for it here
https://www.thirdshe...p=false&q=false

speaker wise i bought some 6 inch speakers and some tweeters and built a home made one of these out of 12mm mdf. They sit under my seats.

https://www.classicc...-pair-120w.html

although you can buy the in uk too

https://www.classicc...y/hidden-audio/

phone is mounted in one of these.

https://www.retro-co...s/phone-holder/

I bought those speakers and sent them back. Not enough bol*x

[Shooter63]

Thanks for all the info it's much appreciated, the car is negative earth so I presume a USB charger in the fag lighter port will do the job, if I'm honest I hadn't even thought of loading a micro sd card into the phone so again many thanks, it seems a lot simpler than I had thought and trust me when it comes to electrics ( I'm colour blind) the simpler the better.

Shooter

[humph]

 

I’ve gone bluetooth amp route in my 69 Elf, all it needs wiring wise is a switched live and earth, plus speaker wires obviously. My phone becomes my streaming service, radio (bbc sounds or tunein app), phone (not tested yet) and sat nav (google maps).

https://www.ebay.co....FxoCjaQQAvD_BwE

under dash mount for it here
https://www.thirdshe...p=false&q=false

speaker wise i bought some 6 inch speakers and some tweeters and built a home made one of these out of 12mm mdf. They sit under my seats.

https://www.classicc...-pair-120w.html

although you can buy the in uk too

https://www.classicc...y/hidden-audio/

phone is mounted in one of these.

https://www.retro-co...s/phone-holder/

I bought those speakers and sent them back. Not enough bol*x

 

interesting. It was the lack of reviews/feedback on quality that lead me to my decision to build my own boxes. What I have found, because the boxes are under the seat, the bass travels but the treble is just damped by soft seat base. To resolve this Ive mounted tweeters into the side of the box pointing toward the rear of the car. Not ideal tweeter positioning, but generally happy with the results now.

[IronmanG]

I’ve gone bluetooth amp route in my 69 Elf, all it needs wiring wise is a switched live and earth, plus speaker wires obviously. My phone becomes my streaming service, radio (bbc sounds or tunein app), phone (not tested yet) and sat nav (google maps).

https://www.ebay.co....FxoCjaQQAvD_BwE

under dash mount for it here
https://www.thirdshe...p=false&q=false

speaker wise i bought some 6 inch speakers and some tweeters and built a home made one of these out of 12mm mdf. They sit under my seats.

https://www.classicc...-pair-120w.html

although you can buy the in uk too

https://www.classicc...y/hidden-audio/

phone is mounted in one of these.

https://www.retro-co...s/phone-holder/

I bought those speakers and sent them back. Not enough bol*x

interesting. It was the lack of reviews/feedback on quality that lead me to my decision to build my own boxes. What I have found, because the boxes are under the seat, the bass travels but the treble is just damped by soft seat base. To resolve this Ive mounted tweeters into the side of the box pointing toward the rear of the car. Not ideal tweeter positioning, but generally happy with the results now.

https://www.classicc...y/hidden-audio/

Ye I got these speakers and the little Bluetooth amp. Quality was rubbish and volume was poor. Plus it picked up a buzz from the engine revs somewhere so I just sent them back

[nicklouse]

You say multiple 1000 miles. Crossing borders? Then be careful with the phone. But if a phone and just stored music any head unit with a connection for the phone will do. Or a Bluetooth speaker. I like the JBL ones as you can link them for left and right.

[mini13]

the play time is pretty good on a lot of bluetooth speakers 6-8 hours or more, also i think most will charge while playing, but that's worth checking. I know  the JBL Flip6 will charge and play. so if you've already got a cigarette lighter fitted then you can just get a double output USB adaptor and you can charge that and a phone at the same time.

in terms of spotify, just make a bunch of playlists or albums and you can down load them to listen to off line, you can always get some more stuff downloaded when you have wifi at a hotel or something so you don't have to use data abroad.
 

[Shooter63]

You say multiple 1000 miles. Crossing borders? Then be careful with the phone. But if a phone and just stored music any head unit with a connection for the phone will do. Or a Bluetooth speaker. I like the JBL ones as you can link them for left and right.

Yup the plan is to drive up as close as we can get to the artic circle so we can see the northern lights as its something I want to do before I die, a bit strange I know but it will be one off the bucket list.

Shooter

[mini13]

that sounds a pretty cool thing to do!

Ive spent a bit of time in Norway... and i'd suggest not doing it in the winter unless you like night driving!

[Chris1275gt]

You say multiple 1000 miles. Crossing borders? Then be careful with the phone. But if a phone and just stored music any head unit with a connection for the phone will do. Or a Bluetooth speaker. I like the JBL ones as you can link them for left and right.

Yup the plan is to drive up as close as we can get to the artic circle so we can see the northern lights as its something I want to do before I die, a bit strange I know but it will be one off the bucket list.

Shooter

Can’t you just go to Blackpool I hear they are pretty good from September 1st and are consistently seen every night and the beers cheap.

Edited by Chris1275gt, 14 June 2023 - 08:13 AM.