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Although my stereo has xm installed I really wish the previous owner had added bluetooth instead because I want to stream Apple Music , so anyway I just ordered an aluratek bluetooth cassette adapter to hold me over, it’s pretty cool, no wires, you just have to charge it ever six hours of use, so here is my question, although reviewers say this thing sounds great, the main complaint is when the music is not playing the plastic gears are very loud, remedy’s vary from lubing them with lithium or actually opening the case and removing the auto reverse gears, but some decks need that little auto reverse gear to operate so just checking o see if anyone has any experience, some decks work supposedly if you take out the gears entirely, that would be the best option
[img]blob:https://www.clublexus.com/ebf6cc50-5647-4adf-a6ee-2d26efe7f25b
I use a similar adapter but with the ability to charge while using. It also can play music stored in an SD card. Unfortunately it is currently unavailable on Amazon.
I can hardly hear any gear noises while it’s playing. In fact it’s more quiet than my regular cassettes. I never had to do anything with the auto reverse gears.
Sorry for delay, I have stock radio, previous owner had xm installed and I am not sure what brand or where, the xm antenna is located on the driver side dash next to windshield in the corner. I may spring for a mod at some point for bluetooth, the cassette trick is just something to hold me over til I decide, it was 38 but just went with it because the company gets high ratings for their bluetooth chips, the other amazon has is less than 20 made by ion I think.... anyway it will be here tomorrow so I’ll report back....but yes, as far as audio quality a direct connect is best, fm modulation is worst, cassettes fall inbetween
I’ll definitely write tomorrow after I check it out, on a side note, I chatted with the xm folks about getting a free trial but they said they did not allow that for aftermarket add ons, I have told myself I would Not pay for radio lol.... but he offered to hook me up for a year at 6.48 a month including tax and everything so I went ahead and said yes .... it is pretty cool, they have several classic rock channels that pretty much mimic my playlist
Btw, I found the manual in the glove box, the xm tuner is a vais , it does not display text, just the channel number, you memorize the channels by pressing the rpt button 4 times real fast, it beeps and then you just cycle through the memorized stations by pressing 2, works on steering wheel too
Just to add to the xm thing, I guess I can see how it has a certain attraction, you just start up the car and it plays without having to pull your phone out, I think I would like it even more if they had more artist centric channels, they have a few, Beatles,Springsteen,Elvis, but that’s mostly it, you would think big groups like Fleetwood Mac, Bowie etc would have one, anyway even though it’s been out forever this is the first time I’ve had it
They do offer specific artist on different channels. Just go to their website for a channel line listing as it does change from time to time. Right now several different artists or groups are available. Back around Xmas time Billy Joel was on channel 30 for a couple of months, sometimes live, 24 hours a day.
Ok, so I have some great news, the alura cassette works fantastic, at least on par with xm, I am using Apple Music so I have complete voice control over the tunes, so here is the deal with the plastic gears, they were noisy so I unscrewed the case and took the auto reverse gears out, put it back together and noise reduced 60%, took it back apart and removed all gears, this does not work for the sc so I replaced those and added some gear oil, it is now completely silent. So although it would be nice not to have to modify it, it does work very well, touchdown, I actually called xm and cancelled the service I signed up for last night
I’ll have to report back on battery life, it does appear to shut off by it self in 5 minutes or so once the phone is not present, so you will have to press the button to get it going again, the button is on the end that ejects though so you don’t have to remove it
I have a transmitter type blue tooth ($15 on amazon) in mine. Has a microphone and with the top down and windows up i can be understood. As long as i pick my playlist before hand the phone stays in my pocket (i have a few really large playlists and some times set my phone to randomly play all my songs). Sits in the lighter outlet up front. Sticks out a little but can easily use the controls and can slip in the center console so it's out of sight. Sound is not bad, the stereo is all original ML but my expectations for a convertible is low. With the top up its not bad (but not as good as the base radio in my 2011 ES.
I actually had low expectations when I started shopping for an sc because I had read of stereo issues, but I was pleasantly surprised, it does rock really well, bumped bass, treble and midrange about plus 2 and faded to rear a couple too and it suits me
06-06-19, 05:06 AM
Bluetooth cassette question
