I’m the guy who bought the silver on silver 75 C3 convertible from BAT last week. Concerned about maintaining the integrity of the car, but would like a Bluetooth compatible stereo that my iPhone will integrate with. Arizona is an Hands free cell phone state, our economy is driven by Ticket revenue…
Any ideas on the best solution?

-replace the AM/FM with a modern vintage looking stereo?
-use a simple APPLE car play plug in device?

I’ve been out of the corvette world since I sold my 1984 silver on silver C4, so I have lots of dumb questions!

thanks

 

I had a DIN Sony "X-Plode" unit in my 72' with the aftermarket DIN console bezel......it has a CD player which no one uses anymore and makes the stereo larger in length so I bought a Sony receiver with no CD.....it is about 5" shorter and doesn't crowd the wiring and area behind it.......
The bezel is available from the Vette vendors and fits well......Amazon has dozens of different receivers with bluetooth,.....USB, whatever you want.......
I have an Alpine Apple Play stereo in my Ricer Honda CR-V project......it is cool as hell but way too large for a Vette console IMHO.......I use a Soundstream amp, four Kicker 6" speakers and DD Audio 8" Sub.......all I need......
There are aftermarket companies that make **** style stereos that have mini USB, Aux....Bluetooth......just get the right cord and plug your iPhone into it.......
My 13 year old Silverado has the factory stereo and has either USB in the center console or Aux jack up front.......and it has iPhone capability on the old "****" head unit with LED.....it will even skip songs from the steering wheel with the Amazon Music app.......I ma surprised at what the "old" unit will do......
Lot of flexibility and options these days.......

 

Don't cut up your dash. A modern radio will look out of place, and you'll hate it.

Use stand-alone BlueTooth speakers, or a bluetooth amp. You'll need new speakers anyway.

This might be all you need to listen to podcasts and music from your phone;

Bose Soundlink SE

Here's another option, use this with 1/8" to RCA splitter for a traditional amp, or find an amp that takes 1/8" input.

Bluetooth Headphone Amp

 

If you decide to go modern vintage stereo, you might try giving these guys a call. New modern stereo radios that look and fit just like your old AM/FM radio but that have all of the modern bells and whistles, including hands free calling.


https://www.radiosforoldcars.com/

 

I have an original 73 and dealing with the same problem. I decided to build my own solution with a small Bluetooth amp and a small custom speaker cabinet that I am in the process of designing now. I considered the battery powered Bluetooth speakers so that might be an option for you.

 

is this the car you bought?
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...t-corvette-92/

 

I have three old cars with the ISimple interface (around $ 100). You keep your old radio and the interface goes between the antenna cable and your existing radio. The unit has blue tooth, has a microphone, and you can receive calls “hands free.” Take a look at their web site.

 

Nice! I’m looking at these suggestions as well. In the 1980s someone installed an Alpine am/fm/cassette in my car. It works but I’d like a Bluetooth setup, and also something that looks more original. I still have the original radio. I don’t listen to the radio when I drive, but Bluetooth would be nice.

 

There are a number of workable solutions which will allow you to have your vintage stereo and bluetooth. No dash cutting. Probably the first thing is to pull out the radio to see if it has audio input jacks. That'll dictate how you go about things. You already know about new & vintage-looking stereos, so let's cover some alternatives.

1) Car stereos w/o input jacks can be modified with an inexpensive micro B/T board similar to below installed inside the space in your Alpine stereo or on the outside (and a small power supply). Not that tricky. There are plenty of videos that show how this is done. Probably some whiz kids on ebay or online which can convert your car car stereo w/o loss of capability. Guys install them in vintage receivers too. The former owner of my H3 modified the car stereo with a micro-board, but it has a usb cable, not a B/T ..but same concept. (I've thought about swapping to the B/T board). Send your stereo off and get it modified. Avoid the guys who tie B/T into the internal cassette input. That's old-school and not the 'elegent' way to do it. Cassette amplification is often lower grade. If done right into the radio's main amplifier, you can keep cassette capability to 'wow' your old-school friends with a cassette now and then, and have the best frequency range.

2) As an alternative, an amplifier can be installed in your car downstream of your stereo, and a B/T board unit like THIS (below image) or a cased-unit can be installed before an amplifier too. If your radio doesn't have inputs. And ya don't have to do any car stereo modifying. A car stereo place should be able to help you out there. A lot of people want B/T nowadays. Either way there's a fairly simple path where you can keep your vintage stereo and have B/T too.

3) An inline antenna transmitter (you tune your radio to a certain frequency). These sound pretty good, but not sound quite as good as the direct-solder boards you solder to your car stereo's internal amplifier. But the good ones sound pretty decent I've read. They're inexpensive, easy and quick to install, easy to use, and might work just fine for your needs.

4) Something like this Kenwood Media Controller?? Esp if your Kenwood has input jacks. (the board below will work for that too). You might want to visit a car stereo shop. Of course they'll probably direct you to a much more expensive solution (they don't make much selling $30 parts).

5) Cassette adapter. This is old-school and low-tech. I would avoid these as 1) they don't sound very good, 2) They wear out the cassette mechanism of your Alpine stereo. 3) They're fussy. It's probably the least good solution. IMO.

6) The first thing would be to pull out the radio and see if it has external input jacks. If so, that opens up a lot of easy solutions for you. And you can use a simple solution like .

 

This is what I want to get because you keep your original radio. They pull the guts out of your radio and install a small card with chip. You then have solid state am/fm stereo that uses your original radio, buttons, face, etc. The best part for me is that you can then throw away the convector/heat sink gizmo.

https://www.tech-retro.com/aurora-design/home.html

 

Have the original converted with Aurora Digital .

 

Install double din console

 

Yes, and I’d like to keep the integrity of the car!

 

Nice car, lots of luck with it. FWIW there is plenty of DeVoe dealer items on ebay like original license plate frames and keychains from that dealer if you're interested in that sort of thing. Enjoy.

 

Twinpack,
Does the Aurora setup work as advertised? You get it with the BT option as well? Still trying to decide if it's worth 500.

 

From member “pig farmer”

Single dash speaker or kick panels ? I'd probably look for an original not one of the repros.

I had a thread somewhere in here (that I now can't find). I hate to look in a classic car and see something like a cell phone or GPS unit sitting there so I had my original Delco Am-FM Stereo refurbed and it works good as new. But when I want some real music I use the hidden Bluetooth amp, sub and two speakers. Turns out that handheld wired remote with buttons and a big **** on it are very handy when cruising - I can do it all easily by feel. Works great, sounds good in a 'vert with sidepipes, it was easy to install and is virtually invisible.

This is what I used:KAC-M5024BTCompact Bluetooth® 4 Channel Digital Amplifier





KICKER - CS Series 6" x 9" 3-Way Car Speakers



1968-1975 Corvette Convertible Custom Rear Speaker Cabinets






I have asked a similar question on a different thread. The information above was from member “pig farmer”. I myself have been out of the car stereo part of the hobby since about 1980.
”Pig farmers” info educated me enough to move accordingly. I was looking for a simple solution. I am more of a gear-head than the audio performance part of the hobby.
My 68 has a Blaupunkt system circa 1980s 90s. I have removed the amp and now waiting to remove the radio itself after I find a nice enough stock non functioning radio to fill the space.
I am looking to setup a low technology functioning sound system
based on the idea of a simple Blue tooth speaker that I use with my phone in the garage.

I found this compact amp Blue tooth receiver.
There are quite a few options available. I will probably choose the path of least resistance.


There’s a YouTube video review I viewed. It looks like it’s going to be a low effort upgrade that will meet my needs for my quick cruises.

 

Yes BT works flawles. I BT my phone and XM radio off my phone through the radio.. i also had the USB and sub out options installed.. All works as advertised.. i never installed a sub.. i installed JA Audio speakers.. sound is awesome for me, even with the top down. For me, it was worth the money. Good luck. I'm sure whichever way you go, will be fine, but I like the look of original. It just look right.

 

Thank you, those look easy to use for sure, they are out of stock now, maybe soon!

 

Installed this under the center console, fits behind parking brake. Hooked to Corvette soundbar speakers. Clipped microphone behind my head to trim. Works great.

 

I kept my original 8 track and stereo and sent out for aux..
then found a good Bluetooth for aux.. hooks up to phone automatically and doesn’t switch to phone unless you play something or call..
still works perfect even power antenna.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...8-track-2.html