I have been tossing around options for updating my 98 LC non-nav stereo, and something about the dual CD cassette deck has grown on me quite a bit. I upgraded speakers to Morel Maximo components in the front, and to be honest it sounds quite good for my tastes. I had been doing Bluetooth with a cassette adapter, but those require recharging and I get paranoid about the player going out eventually.
I discovered this cheap “Yomikoo” Bluetooth adapter that hooks up to the old style 5+7 connector. For $55, worth a try. Has Bluetooth 5.0, does hands free calling, and aux in. Went in seamlessly, and I was able to route a 1/8” audio cable up through the passenger a-pillar to the headliner light console. I have no idea if the mic they send with these units is any good, and this way I can do swaps in the future without taking everything apart again. I also imagine that these units would work as well as the BT45-TOY that I have seen posted, and they are available for newer stereo pinouts as well. At $100 cheaper, worth checking out.
For anyone trying this in the future, I did zip ties for cabling where I could and used double sided tape to stick the Bluetooth unit on the back of the stereo. Plenty of room back there to hide everything away.
It all went back in without issue, and pairs seamlessly with way better sound quality than the cassette adapter. Hitting track up/down cycles songs through Spotify, if you don’t want to grab the phone to change songs.
I also wanted a wireless dock, and installed a Peak Design one in the blank on the bottom right. The one caveat to this is that the power on the Bluetooth unit, or the cable I used, doesn’t seem to be working 100% of the time, so will need to sort that out in the future. There are a couple of convenient workarounds for now until I get back in there and mess with power behind the dash.
The end result is as clean as I could have hoped, keeping the interior almost entirely stock. Maybe one day I will upgrade to a CarPlay system, but for less than $300 between speakers, Bluetooth, and charging dock I’m quite happy with the setup so far. Will have to get more time with calling to be sure it’s worth using, but I’m not on the phone a lot on my commute so won’t be upset to pick up on occasion. Forgive the last bits of wood grain that haven’t been pulled off yet in the photo!
I discovered this cheap “Yomikoo” Bluetooth adapter that hooks up to the old style 5+7 connector. For $55, worth a try. Has Bluetooth 5.0, does hands free calling, and aux in. Went in seamlessly, and I was able to route a 1/8” audio cable up through the passenger a-pillar to the headliner light console. I have no idea if the mic they send with these units is any good, and this way I can do swaps in the future without taking everything apart again. I also imagine that these units would work as well as the BT45-TOY that I have seen posted, and they are available for newer stereo pinouts as well. At $100 cheaper, worth checking out.
For anyone trying this in the future, I did zip ties for cabling where I could and used double sided tape to stick the Bluetooth unit on the back of the stereo. Plenty of room back there to hide everything away.
It all went back in without issue, and pairs seamlessly with way better sound quality than the cassette adapter. Hitting track up/down cycles songs through Spotify, if you don’t want to grab the phone to change songs.
I also wanted a wireless dock, and installed a Peak Design one in the blank on the bottom right. The one caveat to this is that the power on the Bluetooth unit, or the cable I used, doesn’t seem to be working 100% of the time, so will need to sort that out in the future. There are a couple of convenient workarounds for now until I get back in there and mess with power behind the dash.
The end result is as clean as I could have hoped, keeping the interior almost entirely stock. Maybe one day I will upgrade to a CarPlay system, but for less than $300 between speakers, Bluetooth, and charging dock I’m quite happy with the setup so far. Will have to get more time with calling to be sure it’s worth using, but I’m not on the phone a lot on my commute so won’t be upset to pick up on occasion. Forgive the last bits of wood grain that haven’t been pulled off yet in the photo!
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