SPEAKER/RADIO HELP?

[Chip Flor]

Greetings Registry folks,

I am in dire need of some advice installing my Blaupunkt Radio with speakers in my 1956 Coupe 57143 august of 1956.


As pictured below.

-It came with a radio and power supply.
-It also came with the speaker grills.

I was assured this was the CORRECT radio for my car.
Question:
1) is this the correct radio for my car?
the tags on the side that tells what it is were removed.
To this day I have no idea what model or what radio this is.
Does anyone know what model this is?

2) are these racetrack speaker grills the correct speaker grills for a Blaupunkt?
From what I can tell Becker radios used these grills and Blaupunkt used the Ovals.


I really don't know what is correct. It would be nice to know the truth.
CAN ANYONE HELP.

Thanks
-chip

[Chip Flor]

Speaker questions:

Speaker mount (on car) question.
I am attempting to make a bracket that hold the speakers and mount to the car speaker location.
Question:
-does anyone have the bolt hole measurements (from center) AND SCREW SIZE for the car speaker location?see pic: NEED BOLT PATTERN and pic: 2976
I would prefer to have these parts fabricated and in hand before I cut up my installed carpet.


I bought the same speakers that I believe come with the current Oval speakers.

-are 4 ohm speakers going to work?
-do I need two sets of Blaupunkt compatable plugs to connect into the power supply (as shown in pic Blau speaker connector and My Blau power supply).
or
-do I splice to one connector or connect both wires to a pigtail (pic: 2972)?
-what is the correct size speaker wire? 18 gauge x 2?
-can I purchase the speaker wires already made up with the blaupunkt connector?
-which + or - connector on the power supply goes to what + or - connector on the speaker? See pic: My Blau power supply and pic: 2970

Power supply question:
Do I need to ground this to the car?
ASSUMPTION???
I WAS ASSUMING THE POWER SUPPY WENT UNDER THE FLOOR BOARD ON THE PASSENGER SIDE.
-IS THIS WHERE THE POWER SUPPLY GOES?


Fuse Question;
I am currently connected to the ignition switch #54 without a fuse going to the radio.
I was hoping someone could pic the correct fuse for this application.
-is there a correct amp fuse to use for 6 volts?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again,
-chip

[Mike Wilson]

Chip: two sites to check for info: Charlie White's and Radio Museum.

Mike

[Chip Flor]

I checked Charlie's site. The Blaupunkt faceplate is incorrect of a '56.
It resembles a '57-'58 Frankfurt but I am again only guessing.

The car came without a radio on the Certificate of Authenticity. It would be reasonable to have a radio installed after the fact in '57 or '58.
The power supply appears to be from that era. However, without the Model/ID markings on the side of the radio I am just guessing.

Regardless, I am going to utilize what I have purchased. It will make me happy to have it working (if it works).
thanks for the responce.
-chip

[Mike Wilson]

Chip: most radios are set up for either one or two speakers. I see you have a splitter connection that would drive two speakers. On the power pack, there should be some lines etched betwen the speaker wire ports. Two lines indicates the set up for two speakers.

On my '63 B, I also used #54 on the ignition switch which powers the radio only when the ignition switch is on. I protected the radio with an 8 amp fuse. The Bakelite fuse holder is sometimes available on eBay or The Samba but any fuse holder will do. Ground is accomplished through the attachment nuts at the dash with the radio stems and face making contact with the backside of the dash.

I found 18/2 ga. wire at my local ACE Hardware. It looks more correct than brown lamp cord. Once in a while, the correct banana clips show up on eBay. The ones I've seen lately are for later cars. As far as polarity, I haven't figured out the + and - on the radio. On the speakers, it is easily seen. You could use the the splitter to drive both speakers and yes, the 4 ohms are correct. There should be existing mounting points in the kick panels for the speakers unless someone has butchered them like they did on a friend's car. CAUTION: don't try to power the radio without the speakers. You can damage it.

The power pack goes in the passenger side foot well. There should be a bracket for it there. The radio, too, should have a Y bracket that attaches to the rear of the radio and hangs from two tabs below the dash top. I use small grommets to insulate the ends of the Y bracket from the tabs to eliminate squeaking.

The Kardex for my car does not list a radio but, I think a lot of radios might have been installed by a dealer or owner after delivery.

I hope this helps. If I have erred in my advice, someone PLEASE weigh in and correct me.

Mike

[Mike Wilson]

There is a banana clip currently on The Samba for $50. Search "speaker wire".

Mike

[Chip Flor]

Mike many thanks quite helpful.
To review:
-18/2 speaker wire
- 8 amp fuse
-bracket for power supply in footwell.
- Y bracket for radio (already installed that way)
-4 ohm speakers OK (not clear if only 4 ohms is used only with a splitter or not)
-*discovered the screw size to attach speakers is 4M.

Still don't understand which of the power supply 4 holes to use with speaker wire banana clip
Nor sure on the + or - on power supply ports (to hook up speakers + or -).

Also the power pack says J-844 - Z. V 6/12 serial #933622

Which leads me to ask: HOW CAN I BE SURE THIS POWER SUPPLY IS SET FOR 6 volts?

[Mike Wilson]

Chip: I don't have an older radio to check. Hopefully someone else does and can answer your question about speaker polarity and 6 vs 12V power. My thinking, however, is that 6V was the norm.

As far as the speakers, you can always set up the radio outside of the car hooked up to a 6V power source and antenna and try the various speaker hole options. It's possible that two banana connectors were needed, one for each speaker.

Mike

[Chip Flor]

Today I purchased two original Blaupunkt speaker wires with Blaupunkt connectors along with an original fuse holder.
Mike thanks foe the response.
As far as guessing polarity from the power supply to the speakers. Is there a noticible sound difference if the current runs reverse than intended?
Will this damage the speakers?
Food for thought.

Hopefully someone can come up the correct orientation.

[Mike Wilson]

As far as I know and have experienced, incorrect polarity won't damage the speakers and my old ears couldn't tell the difference. Good find on the wiring and fuse holder!

I'll see if I can find more info on the speaker inputs to determine polarity.

By the way, whereabouts are you located, Chip. It's not noted on your profile.

Mike

[Mike Wilson]

Chip: Google "speaker polarity". There is a lot of info about it. If you have more than one speaker and they are not matched in polarity, they will be out of phase.

Mike

[Martin Benade]

As long as the speakers are in the same polarity, which way they are connected makes no difference at all as far as polarity. Series or parallel connection is important, to make the impedance (similar to resistance) match what the amplifier prefers.

[luc verschueren]

If you remove the powerpack cover you can see if it is connected to 6 or 12 volts

[Randy Cook]

I had to tear into a Blaupunkt Koln, circa 1964, to fix a problem recently. Not sure what their reputation is, but they are not very well put together. I am far from an expert here, but I do have a bit of experience with older home audio equipment.
Tube and very early transistor stuff use audio transformers to feed the speaker jacks. In Koln radios, they are very small and look quite fragile. And, while tubes were robust, early transistors are not. If speakers are not connected properly transformers and/or output transistors can be destroyed.
The AC 'impedance' (analogous to DC resistance) that the radio 'sees' from the speakers cannot be too low, as the current draw would be too high. If the radio wants to 'see' a 4 ohm impedance, one 4 ohm speaker is fine. But two in parallel would result in the radio 'seeing' a 2 ohm load (result of two 4 ohm devices in parallel). If the radio is not set up to handle 2 ohm loads, bad things can happen.
My Koln has two jack options. One jack set is used for a one 4 ohm speaker setup. The other jack set is used ONLY in a two 4 ohm speaker setup, with the two speakers wired in parallel. Internal wiring assures safe operation.
I had to replace the existing speakers, and found a pair of 4 ohm Panasonic that fit into 'sort of round' grills with minor trimming. They cost under $20 and sound fine to my old ears.

Randy
64C Cab

[Chip Flor]

Here are my new/old Blaupunkt speaker wires/connectors and fuse holder I purchased yesterday.
Many kudos of Tony Apcar for selling me the prized old pieces.