[Floobydust]

I saw this on one of the G-wagen forums, but it looks like it might make a great, period correct looking option for W124 owners also. Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB Digital media receiver (does not play CDs) at Crutchfield Seems like a better option than the disco-esc, light show options that most head units are today. Please forgive if already posted.

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

everything I've heard has suggested the modern blaupunkt branded car stereos are junk

from Wikipedia: "The 2011 take-over effectively left Blaupunkt as a managed brand name with all production outsourced to China, with virtually no 'Bosch era' products still under production. "

 

[tigerhunt2011]

Lefty that would certainly explain why I can’t see the backlight on my Blaupunkt Toronto 420BT in modest daylight. Sound is good but the details are lacking

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

Whats left of the original Blaupunkt is now Bosch's OEM-only stereo division. They make factory stereos for VW and such.

 

[slow_3.2L]

I remember a user recommended me this exact stereo and said he had a good experience with it, I went to check it out, looked at the price and just decided to get a modern Bluetooth jvc head unit. But there are better period correct high fi systems out there worth checking out.


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[plinker17722]

The first owner fitted this Blaupunkt Sevilla cd player come radio . Most enjoyable .

 

[Real1shepherd]

It's true.....you need to be really cautious about present made HU's...even at higher prices. They mostly are Chinese made and so issues long term abound. The old Blaupunkt name is just a shell.....like so many other good marques before it.

In my old TE, I was talked into a high-end Kenwood that eventually gave me all kinds of trouble with amps going out. It was a true 'Boy Racer' HU too, complete with moving images like dolphins swimming and elephants marching....it even calculated acceleration times from launch. I had to make a cheat sheet (kept in the dash), to remember what all the buttons did. Even had a Gen z kid in the car once good with modern electronics and he couldn't figure out some functions.

Some yrs ago in here we had a thread on some period looking HU's I think from Germany....I think there were two basic models and one without CD play.

Kevin

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

I've been using mid range Pioneer single DIN stereos in my cars, 2 of our Mercedes, and my F250 have DEH-X6900BT, which I'm fairly happy with. The display colors are customizable so I can find a faded amber-white that goes well with the rest of the dash, and I can turn off all the silly light show stuff. I usually leave it in BT Audio, so whatever I last listened to in Spotify on my phone resumes when I start the car.

Next time around I'll probably skip the CD and just get a media player, as its been a few years since I've messed with any of my collection of 1000s of CDs.

 

[Floobydust]

I ripped my collection of many CDs to Apple Lossless Format files and have them on an 8 TB drive, whole house iTunes server which works great if I'm home. The CDs themselves are upstairs performing a long term stress versus strain test on my attic rafters so I definitely don't need CD in the car. I can't deal with the low bit rate, Lo-Fi noise stream from Spotify, Pandora, and Satellite radio, especially via a Bluetooth connection, so I have always opted for some sort of direct connection in the car. Indeed, the ability to do this was one of the things I liked about this head unit. At some point, I'm going to look into some of the HD streaming services, because the convenience of a "curated" playlist in enticing (I used to use Apple Genius on iTunes, but the song collection is now so large it just blows up when it tries to update from Apple), but my current setup is serving me well, so I'm just not motivated yet.

 

[slow_3.2L]

I ripped my collection of many CDs to Apple Lossless Format files and have them on an 8 TB drive, whole house iTunes server which works great if I'm home. The CDs themselves are upstairs performing a long term stress versus strain test on my attic rafters so I definitely don't need CD in the car. I can't deal with the low bit rate, Lo-Fi noise stream from Spotify, Pandora, and Satellite radio, especially via a Bluetooth connection, so I have always opted for some sort of direct connection in the car. Indeed, the ability to do this was one of the things I liked about this head unit. At some point, I'm going to look into some of the HD streaming services, because the convenience of a "curated" playlist in enticing (I used to use Apple Genius on iTunes, but the song collection is now so large it just blows up when it tries to update from Apple), but my current setup is serving me well, so I'm just not motivated yet.

I heard about an app called tidal which streams lossless quality hifi songs. I am pretty sure it is a subscription service. I wish Apple Music streamed higher quality too as its $10 a month. It uses the AAC codec.


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[Real1shepherd]

It was my understanding that through iTunes you can get quality lossless songs, but at a dollar a pop. I know on the old iPods you could go into settings and make brilliant lossless music albeit at the expense of huge files.

That's what I like about CD's; those huge wav files you could make for music if you had a good sampling rate.

Kevin

 

[Floobydust]

Apple Lossless in just a lossless compression algorithm (like a ZIP file) for a PCM WAV file. The end result is full 44.1 Khz, 16 bit playback just like the original WAV file. And yes, it does make for large files. And I, in fact, use an old 60 GB iPod as my car music "shuttle". I also take it with me when I travel.

AFAIK, the highest quality you could get through the iTunes store was a 320 Kb, AAC file. The AAC codec is quite good, so the quality isn't too bad. I have a number of songs in this format because they were available in no other way.

 

[chuckh0308]

I put one in my 300D a couple weeks ago. It is, indeed, made in China, but seems well made so far. There are some odd things about the functions, but overall it is easy to use and sounds great. And it looks great! I have a 5 channel amplifier running Rainbow speakers in the dash and rear deck and a 10 inch sub in the trunk, plus I wired some inexpensive Fosgate mid/bass speakers in the doors to the built in amplifier. I would not recommend this head unit without external amplifiers, as the bult in amp is pretty weak, but it is good enough for the extra fill I wanted from the doors.

I should add that it replaces a Pioneer DEH-PRS80, so it had some pretty big shoes to fill in terms of sound quality. It definitely doesn't have the ultimate SQ of the Pioneer (not much does) or the adjustability, but it is also about 100 times easier to use. It gets a lot closer than I expected it would, though, and I am still playing around with adjustments. And there was nothing wrong with the Pioneer, I had just been itching to get something that looked more period correct.

 

[slow_3.2L]

I have messed around with my car and have had three different head units and can tell you most are made in China. Always go with name brands such as JVC, Pioneer, Sony, etc. if you care about sound quality definitely add an external amp, the difference in clarity and quality is unreal. Also all w124s severely lack bass. I recommend adding a sub to handle the lower notes in the door, trunk, or somewhere on the rear dash. Don’t expect a head unit to drive your system and sound really good. My setup is a little overkill for some of you.


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[Real1shepherd]

If you're not running subs, there's no need for a separate amp. On the facelift models they got away from separate amps and used the amps in the HU.

In my old white TE, I used a separate amp/crossover and all new speakers. For the effort, I wasn't impressed. On my present TE, a PO had put in a system with a sub in the back with a big capacitor, . Another owner ripped all that out down to the rather expensive Jensen HU unit and the door/dash speakers. Plenty of power and the Jensen is not a 'Boy Racer' HU with marching elephant displays.

Only problem I have is with the left channel....go over a bump and it goes out, another bump and it's back in. Twist the volume gain up rapidly and the left channel also comes back on. I think if I clean the gain control, that might fix the problem. To me, it's yet another expensive HU that has issues long term and is figured to be disposable by the people who made it. Companies like Crutchfield convince you that you should periodically upgrade your HU.

The Jensen has a 30+ page Owner's Manual online. I printed the 'cheat sheet' and put that in the glove box for quick refernce. Smoke & mirrors with these HU's....should just concentrate and put the money into the basic music part and be done with it.

Kevin

 

[Robert Glotzer]

The first owner fitted this Blaupunkt Sevilla cd player come radio . Most enjoyable .

Is the Blaupunkt Sevilla similar to the Blaupunkt Kiel RD 126? Will this fit a 1995 320E as a plug and play installation? I still have a lot of CD's.

 

[slow_3.2L]

If you're not running subs, there's no need for a separate amp. On the facelift models they got away from separate amps and used the amps in the HU.

In my old white TE, I used a separate amp/crossover and all new speakers. For the effort, I wasn't impressed. On my present TE, a PO had put in a system with a sub in the back with a big capacitor, . Another owner ripped all that out down to the rather expensive Jensen HU unit and the door/dash speakers. Plenty of power and the Jensen is not a 'Boy Racer' HU with marching elephant displays.

Only problem I have is with the left channel....go over a bump and it goes out, another bump and it's back in. Twist the volume gain up rapidly and the left channel also comes back on. I think if I clean the gain control, that might fix the problem. To me, it's yet another expensive HU that has issues long term and is figured to be disposable by the people who made it. Companies like Crutchfield convince you that you should periodically upgrade your HU.

The Jensen has a 30+ page Owner's Manual online. I printed the 'cheat sheet' and put that in the glove box for quick refernce. Smoke & mirrors with these HU's....should just concentrate and put the money into the basic music part and be done with it.

Kevin

I don’t listen to crutch field for advice anymore, I just experiment, I guess some people listen to music that doesn’t require a lot of power so in that case these older style head units can power the speakers without amps fine. There is this really clean factory looking head unit I found it’s called the Continental TR74212UB-OR. Looking at the connectors I think it might be plug and play.


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[Robert Glotzer]

I thought the W124's had factory amps some where?

 

[slow_3.2L]

I thought the W124's had factory amps some where?

Active bass systems have a very aggressively tuned eq for the door speakers only. The head unit had a built in amp in the active bass system. And the premium sound system has two amps one for the doors and one for the rest of the car system. The speakers are much better 3 ways in the rear and two way in the front for the premium sound system. I believe door speakers are the same.


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[slow_3.2L]

I thought the W124's had factory amps some where?

They are located on the right passenger side behind the trunk linear. You can pull the right rear trunk linear back and you will see this metal structure and the amps are mounted on it facing the fender.


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