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How to connect an iPhone 6 to vintage receiver?

JMiP

JMiP

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I was hoping that connecting my iPhone 6 to my Harman Kardon 330c was as easy as using an RCA cable to connect the phone into the AUX in the back of the receiver. I hear the music, but I have to crank the volume on the iPhone 6 all the way up and have to crank the volume of the receiver way up as well. Is this what a DAC is for? Is there a solution that doesn't cost so much? I'm just looking to stream an online music service through my home stereo.
 
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You could go the route I did, which was suggested to me by one of our other members.

A Teac CD-P650
TEAC_CD-P650__B__N9999x9999.png.jpg


It's a CD player with a USB port on the front that extracts the digital audio from the phone and converts it using its own DAC. It also plays media files from USB drives. From what I understand, the internal DAC chip is supposed to be one of the better ones out there.

I've had mine just about a year now, and use it on almost a daily basis for streaming Spotify/Pandora/iTunes all from my phone.

Very nice piece of equipment that can be had for about $120 + or -.

Mine, in action:
C0DA49F3-A3BA-48CB-9531-751431E52CBF_zpshqfhqyxa.jpg


EDIT:

There's one right now over on Amazon Prime warehouse deals, open box but like new for even less. Exactly how I ordered mine. It was BNIB and only the box had been opened for some reason or other, but everything still perfectly sealed in the Teac bags on the inside - untouched, but because someone along the lines sliced the tape on the box, $30 off regular price.
 
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I have a cable that plugs into the headphone jack on my iPhone 6 plus and the other end is rca jacks. I plug mine into a input on my p5 preamp. Also make sure the volume on the phone is turned all the way up.
 
That cable should work; I use that method for my Note 4 in the car, at work and in the garage.
But a slightly more elegant soution is to get a Bluetooth receiver and hook that to the Aux inputs and pair it to your iPhone. Then you can wirelessly select the music from up to 33' feet away.

Something like this is inexpensive and should do the trick. I'm getting a smaller version for my car receiver.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitec...lack/5294033.p?id=1219118247499&skuId=5294033

5294033_ra.jpg;canvasHeight=500;canvasWidth=500
 
Andyman said:
That cable should work; I use that method for my Note 4 in the car, at work and in the garage.
But a slightly more elegant soution is to get a Bluetooth receiver and hook that to the Aux inputs and pair it to your iPhone. Then you can wirelessly select the music from up to 33' feet away.

Something like this is inexpensive and should do the trick. I'm getting a smaller version for my car receiver.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitec...lack/5294033.p?id=1219118247499&skuId=5294033

5294033_ra.jpg;canvasHeight=500;canvasWidth=500
Click to expand...

No offense intended, but the issue with Bluetooth is that for iPhone, it will only stream analog signal, so no hq digital audio. Basically, no different than the audio straight from the headphone jack. *disclaimer- this may not apply to the apple air port*

I went through this back in January, and almost got an arcam, but then fellow member, BMWCCA, directed me to the Teac P650. It does exactly what I was expecting it to do, and very well at that.
 
Using the Teac idea, I should be able to figure out how to interface through my Sony blu ray player, which also acts as my CD player.
 
JMiP said:
Using the Teac idea, I should be able to figure out how to interface through my Sony blu ray player, which also acts as my CD player.
Click to expand...

How do you mean 'interface'?

That USB port on the front will read Android/iPhone audio, USB flash drives, and maybe an entire media library on a large external USB hard drive (unconfirmed, but probable). But passing USB signal from Sony bluray into that port is doubtful, if that's what you mean.

From experience, the Teac is a great component. The digital audio that passes from my iPhone 5s through its DAC is noticeably better than through the iPhone headphone jack. It also keeps the phone charged while playing. And Pandora-iTunes-Spotify-YouTube are controlled by the screen on the phone, or by the remote control.

I was debating/deliberating a few different options at the beginning, and am very glad to have been made aware of this one.

As an added bonus, it also has an internal headphone amp, 1/4" headphone jack, and volume control for times when you'd rather listen through those. It's even got enough power for my orthodynamics.
 
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You would take the RCA out of the Teac and plug it into Tape/Amp Aux - the same place you're plugging in the RCA headphone cable.

I've been looking for an owner's manual to see what 'monitor' is, but IDK. Maybe it'll work through there too using the 'monitor' button on the front.
 
Plug the RCA into the phono jack on the receiver.

I do that to get a test tone from an app to drive woofers that I am reforming.
 
'monitor' is a switch, not an input, on older integrated amps and receivers that passes signal through to outputs and on to speakers that allows you to hear in real time source material that you are recording to tape
 
JMiP said:
I was hoping that connecting my iPhone 6 to my Harman Kardon 330c was as easy as using an RCA cable to connect the phone into the AUX in the back of the receiver. I hear the music, but I have to crank the volume on the iPhone 6 all the way up and have to crank the volume of the receiver way up as well. Is this what a DAC is for? Is there a solution that doesn't cost so much? I'm just looking to stream an online music service through my home stereo.
Click to expand...
Does the streaming service have a volume level as well? Might be something to look into.
I use your method with a few different iphones, and they act pretty much the same as a CD player, DVD player, etc when it comes to volume.
 
The only problem for the Teac solution, for me, is space. The place where I have all of my home stereo gear is all filled up with what is in there already. I could replace the blue ray player with the Teac CD player, but that ain't going to happen because reasons. Too bad, too, since it sounds like a nice solution.
 
KrisM said:
Does the streaming service have a volume level as well? Might be something to look into.
I use your method with a few different iphones, and they act pretty much the same as a CD player, DVD player, etc when it comes to volume.
Click to expand...

Huh. Good question. I'll look into that when I get home tonight.
 
Interesting to see....I have been using an iPod Touch for this, playing files and streaming music. Here is my issue.
I have a Belkin dock connector that goes to line out.
The 30pin port on the iPod seems to be showing some wear so I have to wiggle it a bit to get both channels to play.
My daughter plays with the iPod sometimes, so it gets plugged in and removed frequently.
Ideally I'd like to have something that will play FLAC, MP3 and stream files by wifi.
Curious about this CD player deal since the Squeezebox is no longer available...
 
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