I had the same idea as you last year, managed to pick up an almost mint Gamma 4 radio for a bargain as the seller couldn't find the code. Had to carefully solder green LEDs in place of the blue & red ones which was touch and go for a bit as the screen pins all need to be bent out of the way. Bought a Connects2 audio in adapter for the CD connection and plumbed a bluetooth audio dongle into that, the sound is fairly good, but now I can have my old Tubular Bells II cassette back in use yay!

I love the stock look, radios today are far too shiny and I think there's a market for matt black OEM look bluetooth stereos, odd that no-one makes one for a low price.

 

That Blaupunkt looks very nice though, just the sort of thing I'd go for but I'm too cheap!

 

Yeah, damned expensive, but after a very frustrating week trying to sort the dash out (started off just fitting a dual USB "switch" plate), fighting the airvents to change the hazard switch and then trying to tidy some wiring, I was fed up!

Working on plastic clips/parts at minus degrees is always a delicate job......but resorting to a lump hammer and piece of wood to smash the old hazard switch out was a little OTT I think!

Sun is out, it's +2C now, so I can finally change the bleed off pipes on the injectors....dash can wait a few hours.

 

I do not envy you working with plastic in freezing temperatures, the "percussive maintenance" did make me lol though

 

Very nice Gaz, love that style! That would look superb on my matt black dash

'Retro style' back from the 80's! ................. 80's? that was only a few years ago!



TURK

 

Was gonna send you a mail Paz......
I knew you'd like the idea of a "Cassette/Radio" with DAB+ and USB/Memory card.
Not sure I'll ever use the "Mobile connectivity" as I still have a 'phone with buttons on it!

Shame Scruffy is not around....HE would maybe go for something like that.

 

my van is from 1996, radio from ~2002....

Alpine TDA7592R in the t4

actually have a few (~5!) as they're a great hu and can connect to Alpine's 'AI net' so plenty of addon options

TDA = Tape headunit, run a seperate cd multichanger in the back of the van (6 disc at moment as the 12 disc is going to be repaired)
normal 4 speaker outputs but 60w (advertised) as opposed to the normal 45w but it can go loud so
3 x rca outputs (front, rear & sub) that I run to a few Kenwood KAC PS sterio & mono amplifiers (have several of these also)


and yes, I know the dash is dusty...

Rich.

 

Yeah, we all know about "claimed" outputs from the units.
Same with speakers!

The simple fact comes down to good old Ohms law.
12 volt supply can NOT give more than 6-7 watts RMS into a 4 Ohm speaker, unless it an inverter in it to up the voltage!

Blaupunkt are at least honest enough to give TWO power ratings.....the "peak" at 4x50W, and then the "Sinus" (sine wave) at 4x24W. (Din)
Converting that to RMS gives 8.7W....which I still doubt! (BUT....they DO state at 14.4 volts.)
IF it gives 4W of clean sound, that will fill the front of my van.

My Sony had a 10 CD changer behind my seat, but it started to give problems....so it was binned.
Have a USB slot in the front, that takes a "thumb-nail" size 32Gb gizmo.....so no more CDs for me. (What do I do with the 2-300 CDs I have?!?!!?)

With the SDHC card, I can get the same number of tracks, and close the Cassette flap.

I "was" a Hi-Fi buff...listening more for noise and scratches than the music!
These days....even 128k MP3s sound good enough in a 20 year old van.

 

The simple fact comes down to good old Ohms law.
12 volt supply can NOT give more than 6-7 watts RMS into a 4 Ohm speaker

Whilst the theory is correct, it's not the whole story Gaz...

Since the early 80's most car audio products (including Blaupunkt) use the good sounding TDA2005 output IC configured as a bridge tied load (inverting inputs, output not referenced to earth giving twice the voltage swing of class B); this gives an output of 12W RMS into 4Ω, peak 20W. Upping the supply voltage / lowering the speaker impedance yields more power (big heatsink required).

https://www.st.com/resource/en/datasheet/CD00000124.pdf

HH

 

Very nice looking but a tad expensive !!

I've got this VW Rhapsody cd/radio in both T4's. The sound is very good and a snip at 40€. Plus the red and blue lights match nicely.
I believe you can add a connector at the back to get bluetooth.

 

As FM has been "shut off" in Norway, I was looking for something with DAB+.
Looked at Chinese double din units to mount on top of the dash in a "pod".....but all were AM/FM....none with DAB+.

 

As FM has been "shut off" in Norway, I was looking for something with DAB+.

God, I hope it’s better than UK dab...it’s awful. Poor reception in and around my home and the expensive dab radio in my house didn’t last 18 months! Added to that the quality is lower than FM, I dread the day they remove the only radio stations I can get. Thankfully, I can get internet radio in the house (which blows dab into the weeds btw). Never understood the investment in dab..reckon BBc bods had sgphares in the radio vendors 😀

Your new radio looks great 👍🏻

 

I've got half a dozen of those in a drawer in the garage somewhere. (From when I had a shop selling/repairing car stereos and CBs).
Even though you get twice the voltage swing as a class B amp, you still stuck with a 12 volts peak to peak output.

I've still got some of my old testing gear, and tested a "600"W amp I bought.
MAXIMUM output was 65W RMS into a 4 Ohm load, before clipping started at 1khz. (Oscilloscope method)
This was into a 4Ohm 250W resistor.
Couldn't measure THD, as I sold most of my test kit for 3 grand....nearly 40 years ago!

Tests were done at 14.4 volt, using a 100A variable PSU.

I was in "good contact" with the place I bought it from, and told him when it arrived I test it and let him know.
(It was he who advised me that this amp would be perfect for my purpose.)
When I gave him the figures, his reply was something like "Yeah, sounds about right. They always like to claim PEAK power."

PLENTY to power the 2x10" woofers in the back though. (2 Ohm load)

I've got a class D amp in my workshop....must get around to firing that up sometime and test it out.
About the size of a cig packet (but needs a heatsink) and "supposed" to be 2 x 100W...

 

I've got a class D amp in my workshop....must get around to firing that up sometime and test it out.
About the size of a cig packet (but needs a heatsink) and "supposed" to be 2 x 100W...

Here's a new Kenwood 4 channel class AB amp - couldn't resist having a fiddle:

Claimed max power: 600W, but I measure 32W RMS per channel; to be fair it's a true 32W full frequency with distortion below 0.1% - it might produce 600W if the output stage goes S/C

 

When I worked for LGI hospital, I "discovered" a 100 watt amp stored in the basement.
VERY surprised to find it had a spec from DC to 100Khz ?!?!?!!?

Never managed to "liberate" it as it just went missing one day

I think the "Max Power" often quoted was for a few milliseconds spike when the drummer does a rim shot...LOL

That Kenwood, with my OCD, I'd want to square up each of those clamps for the heatsinks....

 

That Kenwood, with my OCD, I'd want to square up each of those clamps for the heatsinks....

Luckily I don't suffer from OCD but did I feel compelled to straighten the clamps & all the capacitors

HH

 

OK....
BluePoint (?) radio arrived yesterday
HISSING down with rain, but today managed to plug it in.
NO problem with swapping red/yellow wires around. (Original loom worked fine)

As expected, NO FM signals....Norway has close FM down... (windscreen antenna with the genuine "booster"), poor AM. but at least 30 DAB+ channels found in 2 mins.....with the antenna on the FLOOR of the van!!!???
Seems like mountains in Norway "improve" the DAB+ signals?!?!?!
As it is....I'm just gonna "test" it before running the stupid mic cable for my "DUMB" 'phone, to connect via BlueTooth.
Last time I used BT, was when it was still a Danish specialist thing.....lump like a 1970s hearing aid in my ear connected to a 20 year old Nokia unit.

I think I'm too old. (Comments welcome ), but I have a "phone" mounted on my dash 24/7...one with buttons!
OK, it's "only" 3 months old now (NEW Nokia 8000 G4) but I still use it ONLY for making calls and the odd SMS (NO comments on my "odd" statement please!)

Have to go through all the "menu" system to set it up.
At the moment, setting it to FULL volume does not distort on the front speakers....have to sort that! (Normally HALF volume is enough to rattle the doors.....)
4 x 50 Watts.....have to laugh!

About 50 pages in the manual about settings....that's tomorrows job.

Display is GREEN (as std).....YUCK....but there are settings to get "over 265 colours" ?!?!?!?! (I want blue)

So far, I'm "happy" with my 600 quid purchase.....but needs a LOT of "tweaking" before I fully slot it in!
Gotta route the mic cable, and the rear USB input/charger out to my 'phone mount and really can't leave the antenna on the floor! (Supposed to be screen mount....so have to get that cable through the dash and up a side pillar to the top of the screen.)

I'll post pics when the dash convert and installation is complete.

 

OK, so after using it for a week, quite happy with it.
Problem getting my old 'phone to couple with it...but I don't care about that. (New 'phone works, but I don't leave that in the van like my "old" one.)
Good thing about my service, they allow up to 3 SIM cards with the same number.

The SD card is always "read" on startup...so defaults to the 1st track on it to play....a little annoying as I've heard it 12 times now...but easy to skip past and then the "mix" function works to play random tracks.
My old Sony used to remember which track was last played, and resume from that. (On random)

Would I buy it again?
Probably, 'cos I'm usually as drunk as when I bought it anyway

 

UPDATE...

Seems the wiring in a German van is NOT the same as that for a German head-unit.
After 5 emails with Blaupunkt.....it seems the switched and constant "live" still needs swapping over.
(Like the common red/yellow wire switch over with built in "bullets" on the cables.)

Took me a couple of hours (in the cold, dark and rain) to cut and solder the 2 wires correctly.

NOW, all is good....after almost 2 years!

Not only does it look good, it also works well now.

OH....and the BlueTooth actually connects to my 'phone (that still has buttons on it!)
Mutes the music, and allows me to take a call......never had that before!