what modern radio in a plus 2

[billwill]

I like the hidden Bluetooth amps, as you European folk have FM over your cell phones I believe.

Do you mean Internet Radio?

I guess you could select an Internet Station on a mobile phone and then make it sound over Bluetooth to one of these 'radio/Bluetooth Devices'.

If that's what you meant, I doubt that it is restricted to Europe.

~~~

Ah, I just remembered you can pick up real FM on most mobile phones here (?) but you have to plug the earphones in so that the wires act as an antenna. Is that a Europe only thing?

[Lotus 50]

What radio came with the Plus 2. I have an old radio with missing knobs that came with the car. It was non functional. I had a shop pull it out and replace it with a then current radio/CD unit. Yes my heater box was sacrificed. Sometimes I think something more original would look better in the dash, even if it was driving hidden modern sound

[Baggy2]

Please see attached copy of the radio page from the Lotus manual. Both the top illustrations are Pye radios - the bottom one looks a bit generic to me but someone may know better.
It so happens that there is a Pye Major on Ebay at the moment.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303329288470

If you're really keen on originality this may help but these radios only have long and medium wave capability. In my opinion there arent many radio stations left on these bands that are worth listening to. FWIW I have a period Blaupunct in my +2 w hich has FM and I have a Pure DAB adapter which is very unobstrusive and gives access to a huge range of stations in great quality.

+2 radios.pdf

(653.23 KiB) Downloaded 136 times

[Sea Ranch]

I bought and installed this unit referenced below (it is sold by many online - ebay and amazon). The feature set and price are staggering. Thought it was worth a try.

My analysis: the display is so dim that it cannot be read during daytime hours. In or out of the sun. You'd think that could be accommodated, but because of the feature set, it is virtually impossible to use it in a satisfying way (until nightfall, which is generally when I don't drive).

Secondarily, it eventually developed an audio "tick".

I reluctantly removed it and re-installed my car's original Philips push-button radio, which is a 9/10 cosmetically but does not work. Always wanted to get it repaired (especially since this Philips has an aux input around back which would be great for accommodating phone, etc) but missed that window by a couple years (all the old-time radio repair techs are retired). You can still get old-school radios repaired in north america but it's very expensive.

I now use a tiny, cheap digital switchmode stereo amp with bluetooth input (available on amazon), wired directly to the stock speakers, and use our phone (which has an FM radio feature, too) to play anything we want.

But still miss being able to turn the knob on my radio and have it fire up, push the station select buttons, etc.

There is this on eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313786191696?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D86588814e12f4f4d84b61b6c3fb9514f%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D313786191696%26itm%3D313786191696%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A3ef5e7ef-00ef-11ed-a6bf-9643088c68c0%7Cparentrq%3Aec4449331810aaf00aeecb9bfff475da%7Ciid%3A1

Doesn't look as good as the retrosound unit, but at a 1/10 of the price it might be worth trying.

I keep meaning to buy one to try it out. This thread has prompted me to pull my finger out and buy one.

[Breezehill]

Just seen the post by Andy8421 and his eBay link. Bought one of these from another supplier £15, size is perfect though wasn’t sure on quality. However it’s been perfect, interference free sound quality great and operates the electric aerial.

[Steve Brooks]

Hello chaps, I have just fitted a cheap Chinese radio £13 eBay ( comes with an sd port, usb and b/t) in my car for the time being as I was fed up with looking at the heater.Insructions are a bit of a guess but it works well and sounds pretty good,most new radios these days are only 2-3 inches deep and are supplied with a cage.Also connectors seem to be universal now.Regards Steve