DIY bluetooth speaker with a vintage radio

Last month I was at my aunt’s and I found a vintage radio. I switched it on to check if it stills worked but it didn’t. Radio receiver wasn’t working fine and music had interferences, but I still wanted to do something useful with this radio because I liked its outside design. That’s why I decided to convert it into a Bluetooth speaker.

Buying parts needed

I removed everything from inside and I left only the twitter because I was going to use it in the new speaker. Apart from that, this is what I bought:

• Another 2W speaker (2€): Existing one had 0.25W. I bought it in a local store.
• A Bluetooth audio receiver TDA7492P 50W (9€): I looked on the internet and many people build the circuit themselves. I found this circuit on eBay with everything integrated.
• A switch (1€): A simple switch from a local store.
• A 9V adapter (Free): I use one from an old Polycom.

Building the Bluetooth speaker

The process was quite easy because the most difficult part is usually building the circuit. My circuit included everything, so I just needed to pull everything together to make it work:

1. I opened the radio and remove everything useless, I need space for my new circuit and 2 speakers.
2. I attached speakers to the radio with screws.
3. I weld 2 pairs of cables in the speakers to connect them to the circuit.
4. I fixed the circuit to the back of the radio with silicon glue.
5. I made a hole in the back of the radio to locate the interruptor and I connect cables from the adapter.
6. I finally connect speakers to the Bluetooth circuit and that’s all!

Final result

Bluetooth speaker works fine with my iPhone 7 and I have also tested it with some Androids and it works too. It is easy to use, you just have to switch it on and the bluetooth receiver creates a network. You can use your phone to connect to the speaker and play some music from any app, for instance, Spotify.

I’ve used 2 speakers with not too much Watts but it sounds great and I it is enough for a room, actually, I’ve placed it in a big living room (50-60 square meters) and it has enough power to hear music even with people talking.

As you can see process is quite easy and with almost 12€ you can do it yourself a bluetooth speaker in a few hours. I know there are a lot of speakers in the market, I’m owning an Aeroskull XS too, but doing it, yourself makes you feel better 😊

Here you can find some pictures of the process and the radio placed near the fire in my village. Perfect place!