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Old 12-11-2016, 09:52 AM
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milano maroon
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Default Bluetooth Speaker

Just curious, I have always been a Bose fan (please don't hold it against me) and was wondering if anyone has tried any of the bluetooth speakers in their coupes? Something like a Bose Soundlink Mini. I believe they charge off of 12v, maybe leave one in the back area ready to play off of an iphone or other bluetooth player.

Just looking for an option to the stock AM/FM and dash speaker without cutting holes and mounting a bunch of gear.

Thanks for any opinions or ideas.
Old 12-11-2016, 10:02 AM
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Twan Sloot
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Personally I am not a fan of bose headphones and such but I do like their portable speakers a lot. I have multiple bose portable speakers the mini,soundlink III, and the sounddock portable. My advice: the soundlink mini doesn't have enough power in the car when your engine is running I think you should get the soundlink III.

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/...eaker-iii.html

Last edited by Twan Sloot; 12-11-2016 at 10:04 AM.
Old 12-11-2016, 10:14 AM
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Twan Sloot
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Btw if you have sidepipes don't bother to buy one probably aint gonna work
Old 12-11-2016, 10:20 AM
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milano maroon
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I have rear exhaust and am going to try OEM mufflers.

Thank you for the reply.
Old 12-11-2016, 10:25 AM
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Frankie the Fink
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All day long...just be sure to buy the optional rubber case for it so it doesn't move around or scratch anything....on the dash or in the rear; works good. They have a long-lasting, rechargeable internal battery but getting it out of the rear of the coupe is a bit of a pain when its time for a recharge.
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Old 12-11-2016, 11:37 AM
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John A. Petrarca Jr
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Originally Posted by milano maroon
Just curious, I have always been a Bose fan (please don't hold it against me) and was wondering if anyone has tried any of the bluetooth speakers in their coupes? Something like a Bose Soundlink Mini. I believe they charge off of 12v, maybe leave one in the back area ready to play off of an iphone or other bluetooth player.

Just looking for an option to the stock AM/FM and dash speaker without cutting holes and mounting a bunch of gear.

Thanks for any opinions or ideas.
I use a Harman/Kardon One bluetooth speaker. It works great in my coupe.
It has a 5 hour playtime and has speakerphone, interphone capabilities.
John
Old 12-11-2016, 12:12 PM
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If you put it in front of you up on the dash like Frankie it will probably be enough volume. But if it's comming from the rear I doubt it will be enough. But Frankie can better assess that. I can only refer from a sidepipe car and that is incomparable.
Old 12-11-2016, 01:39 PM
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milano maroon
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Thanks for the pictures Frankie. Is the speaker secured with a suction cup or something? If not does it move around a bit? Do you have a loud exhaust?

John I'll look your unit up. Is it located in the rear? Is your exhaust loud or can you hear the music OK?

My thought with the auto charger was that I could remove the cigarette lighter plug, splice it into 12v with a switch, run the wire under the carpet to the rear and keep it plugged in - switched off when not in use. I'm sure there are other ideas too.

Thanks again.
Old 12-11-2016, 04:16 PM
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Originally Posted by milano maroon
Thanks for the pictures Frankie. Is the speaker secured with a suction cup or something? If not does it move around a bit? Do you have a loud exhaust?

John I'll look your unit up. Is it located in the rear? Is your exhaust loud or can you hear the music OK?

My thought with the auto charger was that I could remove the cigarette lighter plug, splice it into 12v with a switch, run the wire under the carpet to the rear and keep it plugged in - switched off when not in use. I'm sure there are other ideas too.

Thanks again.
Didn't move at all...those little BOSE speakers are pretty heavy and the rubber optional case prevents it from moving...didn't cause the speaker to rattle either. For shows/cruises you just pick it up and remove it...

My lil ole 250hp original, base motor midyear sounds like a cat farting.
That's with original exhaust system and that's just how it is...too bad, as the car doesn't sound very mean at all...

Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 12-11-2016 at 04:18 PM.
Old 12-11-2016, 05:40 PM
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Brian VH McHale
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I use the Bose Mini in the 67 Coupe and 66 Impala Conv. works great.
Old 12-11-2016, 06:25 PM
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I have a Bose Mini, along with a couple of other ways to play tunes. I put the Bose on the dash and can hear it fine in my side pipe convertible with the top up and pretty good with the top down.

My side pipes are pretty mild in my small block car compared to some but I still think you might be OK with a mini in a side pipe coupe unless you have a big block.

There's a cigarette lighter adapter you can get for the Mini. I don't think it would reach to the rear if that's where you end up putting the unit but I'll measure the cord if you want.

Steve
Old 12-11-2016, 06:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Twan Sloot
Btw if you have sidepipes don't bother to buy one probably aint gonna work
even with wired speakers and a decent power amp you can't hear anything. In mine I can't even have a conversation with my passenger. Love it!!!
Old 12-11-2016, 08:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Twan Sloot
Personally I am not a fan of bose headphones and such but I do like their portable speakers a lot. I have multiple bose portable speakers the mini,soundlink III, and the sounddock portable. My advice: the soundlink mini doesn't have enough power in the car when your engine is running I think you should get the soundlink III.

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/...eaker-iii.html
Over the past summer I used the Bose Soundlink III in my coupe with side pipes. Now it won't take the place of a high end system with sub-woofer but it was adequate for cost involved. My thoughts are that the custom car stereo business might be at a bit of a crossroad with the high quality Bluetooth speakers that are out there. Just my 2cents
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Old 12-12-2016, 08:03 AM
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I thought headphones while driving were illegal as you need to hear car horns and first responder sirens but who knows ? Yeah, what we need are more inattentive, distracted dillweeds driving around... I wouldn't enjoy a car that was so loud I couldn't have a conversation with a passenger, my '61 was close at speed with the top down and off road pipes. IIRC the Bose device says it works best when placed somewhere near a vertical surface at the rear so I don't know if the windshield counts (on a dash mount) and doubt if the carpeted rear of the coupe works well either (rear mount)... It still does alright though...
Old 12-12-2016, 09:38 PM
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Thanks for all of the discussion. What I was looking for when I started the thread was a simple and relatively inexpensive (given the potential costs of a complete car stereo system installation) way to increase the sound quality of the stock AM/FM radio and dash speaker.

So here's what I think I learned. If you have a loud exhaust it will be difficult to find a bluetooth speaker with the volume necessary to overcome the exhaust. And, my opinion only here, even if there is one powerful enough maybe that kind of volume would make for an unenjoyable listening experience. So in my case, where I plan on installing an OEM rear exhaust it sounds like the bluetooth speaker might work and at the very least be an improvement over the stock radio and speaker.

Maybe another thread but it would be interesting to hear opinions from owners who only have the original radio and dash speaker. Are they happy with just the radio and mono speaker?
Old 12-13-2016, 07:21 AM
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I had the original dash speaker and radio in my '63 coupe with regular exhausts when I bought the car and no I wouldn't say I was 'happy' with it.
Old 12-13-2016, 07:32 AM
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Originally Posted by milano maroon
Thanks for the pictures Frankie. Is the speaker secured with a suction cup or something? If not does it move around a bit? Do you have a loud exhaust?

John I'll look your unit up. Is it located in the rear? Is your exhaust loud or can you hear the music OK?

My thought with the auto charger was that I could remove the cigarette lighter plug, splice it into 12v with a switch, run the wire under the carpet to the rear and keep it plugged in - switched off when not in use. I'm sure there are other ideas too.

Thanks again.
I keep it the rear, but it would fit on the dash. I have off road exhaust and even with the windows closed it's not a issue.
John

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Old 12-13-2016, 10:20 AM
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ricks327
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Originally Posted by milano maroon
Thanks for all of the discussion. What I was looking for when I started the thread was a simple and relatively inexpensive (given the potential costs of a complete car stereo system installation) way to increase the sound quality of the stock AM/FM radio and dash speaker.

So here's what I think I learned. If you have a loud exhaust it will be difficult to find a bluetooth speaker with the volume necessary to overcome the exhaust. And, my opinion only here, even if there is one powerful enough maybe that kind of volume would make for an unenjoyable listening experience. So in my case, where I plan on installing an OEM rear exhaust it sounds like the bluetooth speaker might work and at the very least be an improvement over the stock radio and speaker.

Maybe another thread but it would be interesting to hear opinions from owners who only have the original radio and dash speaker. Are they happy with just the radio and mono speaker?
No problems hearing my stock radio and mono speaker in my 67 sidepipe convertible. I use my Ipod through the radio.
Old 12-13-2016, 11:03 AM
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Originally Posted by ricks327
No problems hearing my stock radio and mono speaker in my 67 sidepipe convertible. I use my Ipod through the radio.


Same here. I don't know if my radio and speaker are original but the sound quality seems good to me and the volume is way more than I need (disclaimer: my ears are 70 years old and I am not an audiophile).


I have around 600 oldie goldie tunes on a thumb drive that transmits by FM signal to my car radio with this:


https://www.amazon.com/Soundfly-Play...techi+soundfly


If I want to play tunes on my iphone, I have this device that receives tunes from my iphone by Bluetooth and retransmits them by FM to my radio. This device also does hands free phone and plays Google maps directions through the radio speaker (which I can't hear at all directly from the phone):


https://www.amazon.com/Refresh-Your-...ds=artchros+fm


If you're looking for living room quality sound, these might not be for you but I'm happy with them because they are inexpensive, don't require any mods to the car, and sound fine to my ears.


Steve
Old 12-13-2016, 12:19 PM
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I have been considering one of these for a while as well. I was afraid it would not be loud enough in a sidepipe convertible. Anyone know the output specs of the Bose mini 2? I found one spec on the net for 50 Watts RMS. That sounds like allot for a small battery operated speaker! Is the output higher when plugged to a power source? That would explain 50W.

Thanks
Tom


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