Introduction: Transforming Vintage Hi-Fi Into a Bluetooth Audio System

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About: I am a maker-designer.

Recently I revived my vintage audio system. For more than 10 years, these 1980s amplifier and speakers were just standing under the dust.

These Inkel brand are still famous for its vintage audio components in South Korea. In the 1980s, Inkel produced a lot of beautiful hi-fi audio systems. I bought these products at the local flea market in the mid-1990s.

And in 2015, I found a good quality - low price Bluetooth receiver board, Sure Electronics AA-AB41136.

I have used this board for some projects. Bluetooth V4.0 and APT-X makes a clean sound. And finally, I transformed the vintage Inkel amp and speakers into a Bluetooth audio system.

The sound quality is good enough to enjoy my favorite music at high volumes.

Step 1: What You Need

If you already have some kind of an audio system, a full hi-fi system or a PC speaker set, you can use the bluetooth receiver as the main music source.

Followings are what you need for this project.

  • Sure Hi-Fi Bluetooth receiver board. (Sure Electronics AA-AB41136)
  • 3d printed Bluetooth receiver board case. (Top and Bottom part)
  • m3 bolt (flat Phillips head)10mm~16mm * 2 and m3 nut * 2
  • a pair of stereo RCA cable
  • 9volt or 12volt or 15volt DC adapter (1A output is good enough)

Step 2: 3D Printing the Parts

Download the STL files.

You can also download these files from the Thingiverse site, here.

If you want two-tone colors, print one part and another separately. I printed the bottom part with blue color filament and the top with white color.

Attachments

Step 3: Assembling the Case

The following video includes assembling process.

At the end of this video, I provide a recorded real sound of this Bluetooth audio system.

  1. Prepare the 3d printed parts, bolts and nuts.
  2. Put the Bluetooth board on the 'Bottom' part of the case.
  3. Insert the m3 nuts inside the slots on the two legs of the 'Top' part.
  4. Fasten the 'Top' and 'Bottom' using two M3 bolts.

Step 4: Completing the Bluetooth Audio System

For the input terminal, I used the 'Tuner' terminal. You can also use the 'Aux' terminal.

After powering up the Bluetooth receiver board, make a Bluetooth connection between your smartphone and the board. (You can use any kind of device which has Bluetooth output. Tablet PCs, laptop PCs, or desktop PCs)

Find the 'Sure Hi-Fi' on your smartphone's Bluetooth setting menu.

When the connection is done, the green LED on the Bluetooth receiver will stop blinking and stay on.

Now enjoy your music!

Please feel free to leave your comments and questions.