How to play music from a new device to an old-style stereo

[Reverend Conehead]

I have an old stereo. It's a receiver, a cassette deck, and some big speakers. If I wanted to, I could go out and get a turntable for it. I imagine it's possible to play music on it from a phone, an mp3 player, or a tablet easy enough. You could probably put it on "auxiliary" rather than on "phono" or "tape." Does anyone know how I could hook that up? There must be some adapters that would work. Both my phone and my mp3 player have an output jack that plugs into my car's system. There must be some way to make that work with the stereo.

I'm betting there's an audiophile here who's already done this.

 

[Vtwin]

I want to do the same thing and my tiny bit of research so far indicates that BT receivers you can plug into your old receiver are inexpensive.

You can get adapters to go from the small output jacks to the larger input jacks on your receiver. I'm pretty sure that would work.

I'm no expert but I've always found the BT connection to my car stereos worked much better than a cable connection.

 

[Runwildboys]

I looked into it earlier this year, and as inexpensive as the BT converters are, it makes me wonder about the quality. There are higher prices ones, but I don't know if there's an actual difference in quality, and if the difference is enough to warrant the cost. I assume it can be hooked up to the auxiliary jack in the back of the receiver.

 

[nobody]

Your fastest and cheapest possibility? Cassette to aux adaptors. I think even Walmart still carries those. They yield a pretty good sound quality and are fairly cheap. Is it the best option? No.
They even have cassette to Bluetooth adaptors. If you can't find them at Walmart, Amazon has them. Or someone here will give you a much better option.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Your fastest and cheapest possibility? Cassette to aux adaptors. I think even Walmart still carries those. They yield a pretty good sound quality and are fairly cheap. Is it the best option? No.
They even have cassette to Bluetooth adaptors. If you can't find them at Walmart, Amazon has them. Or someone here will give you a much better option.

You're right. That would work. I even have one plugged into a boom box. But I'm looking for better sound quality. I was hoping something would plug into the receiver's auxiliary jacks.

 

[dsturgeon]

I am not sure if it would work out, but you could try going from your phone to the speakers


https://www.amazon.com/Ancable-Fema...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584138866073943&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/Fancasee-Rep...rds=aux+to+speaker+wire&qid=1668776043&sr=8-3
https://www.amazon.com/CERRXIAN-Terminal-Headphone-Converter-Adapter/dp/B06Y5YJRPD

 

[Vtwin]

I looked into it earlier this year, and as inexpensive as the BT converters are, it makes me wonder about the quality. There are higher prices ones, but I don't know if there's an actual difference in quality, and if the difference is enough to warrant the cost. I assume it can be hooked up to the auxiliary jack in the back of the receiver.

I'll be able to give you an opinion on my experience with an inexpensive one in the not to distant future but honestly, at this point my hearing might be the limiting factor on just how crisp those highs are and rich those mids come across.

 

[Runwildboys]

I'll be able to give you an opinion on my experience with an inexpensive one in the not to distant future but honestly, at this point my hearing might be the limiting factor on just how crisp those highs are and rich those mids come across.

Well, I want one so I can listen to Sirius/XM on my house stereo or my little basement stereo. I don't know how good the sound quality would be, going through my phone to the stereo. I assume the music is compressed, in which case you lose some of the nuances, but I use my phone app with the BT in my work truck and it's not horrible.