Harman Kardon BTA-10 External Bluetooth Adapter

I've tried a number of these Bluetooth solutions and for the price, this unit is not bad at all. Of all the less expensive options I have found that sound quality and volume were way off and connectivity was sporadic. The HK did a great job, sound quality was close to my components after you dialed in the adjustments of bass,mid, and trebble, and volume was about 10% lower (just make sure your mobile device is set at max volume). I think you can fix this by using a line driver like the PAC LD-10 but that uses a 12v power source and the HK uses a 5v so you will need to use two different power supplies. But as long as you remember to turn the volume down by a hair on the receiver before switching inputs, it should be fine and even if you don't, the volume difference is not that great. I also tried a direct cable from my phone to the receiver, a 3.5mm male to 2 RCA male plugs. Volume was way higher even compared to my component inputs but sound quality fell off like a brick, very muffled. And there are a myriad of other solutions from auto and marine bluetooth devices to much more expensive units upwards in the $200-300 range. But I like the HK, good sound quality, easy to use, good range, and even when I was outside my house, it did not lose connectivity. But most of all, it looks integrated with my vintage system. Not obtrusive, no array of wires everywhere, simple plug and play, simple connect with you mobile device, and it works every time. I'm using it on my Marantz 2285BD with Klipsch 160m speakers (phenomenal speakers BTW). Put the power supply plugged into the switch outlet on the back of your receiver and it powers up soon as the receiver is turned on. Connect to the HK bluetooth signal on your phone (you only have to do this once and it will connect every time automatically) , and turn on your music app and enjoy. It doesn't get any simpler than this.

I'm old. When I was in high school in the 70's, it was every kid's dream to have an awesome home stereo. I don't walk around with ear buds hanging from my head.I have an Yamaha receiver from the 90's, and I had an old Yamaha 5-disk CD changer, and some old ADS speakers from the 80's. Now THOSE are awesome, but I digress.Well, the CD changer quit working. Now what does an old guy do? Buy a new one, of course! How much could they be? They must be like $89 now for a great one, what with advances in electronics. NOPE. It seems that CD changers are almost extinct, and they're anything but cheap.So I thought well, it seems that everyone now listens to music from their phone. I wonder if I can get a bluetooth device to receive the music from my phone and send it to my stereo? And that's what this is.I tried ripping some CD's with my new computer, and I can rip one to a flac file (lossless compression) quite fast - only a few minutes at most. And then put it on my phone, and send it via bluetooth to this thing, which is plugged in to my Yamaha receiver, and by golly, I'm listening to music on the real stereo! I have a pixel 3 phone, and it doesn't have any problem sending the bluetooth from the living room to the kitchen. And I'm actually kind of liking it. I have instant access to a lot more CD's, and don't have to mess around with loading only 5 at a time into the changer. Who knows? Maybe some day I'll even listen to pandora.

I ordered this Harman-Kardon BTA-10 External Bluetooth Adaptor to replace an aging SlimServer Squeezebox, which has long since been abandoned by Logitech, to play Pandora, Prime Audio, etc through my Yamaha receiver. I was skeptical, but the reasonable cost convinced me it was worth a shot...Let me just say that this product is truly plug-and-play! My Echo Dot - which is approx 15 feet away with lots of obstacles between it and the BTA-10 - connected via bluetooth very quickly, and I just tell Alexa what to play, and it plays through my receiver. If I don't want to listen through my receiver, I just say, "Alexa, disconnect bluetooth" and my Echo Dot toggles to the internal speaker; if I want to toggle back to listening through the receiver, I just say, "Alexa, connect bluetooth" and that she does. Brilliant! The BTA-10 goes into a sleep mode if not communicating after a while, but simply telling Alexa to connect brings the BTA-10 back on pretty quickly. The BTA-10 is very small (about 2" x 2" .75"), so it doesn't take up any significant space and it is very unobtrusive. Sound quality - through its RCA output plugs - is every bit as clean and enjoyable as it was through my Squeezebox. There are other product options out there (Audioengine B1, for example) which give you the choice of RCA plugs or Digital Optical, but not sure it's worth the triple price that you would pay to have the digital optical option. All in all, I highly recommend the Harman-Kardon BTA-10 External Bluetooth Adaptor.