Any reason I shouldn't buy German Blaupunkt?

LeeH · 03-04-2005, 05:23 PM

All the Blaupunkt Frankfurts I see on Ebay seem to sell for $150-$200. It looks like the same thing from Germany would cost around $75 shipped. Any reason (ie bands/frequency differences) not to buy one from Deutschland?

aigel · aigel's Garage

The frequency range is the same over there. I can not see a difference between FM for sure. If you need that Blaupunkt, go for it.

George

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

You can download the manual (in English) from the website, so no problem there...

pwd72s · 03-04-2005, 06:15 PM

Frankly, it depends on whether or not you wish to remain loyal to the fatherland. When it comes to factory installed sound systems, the Japanese have it all over the Germans. And yes, I'm talking newer cars...read all the gripes about radio reception among the 996 owners. So, if you're not hung up on original, I'd suggest you shop around. Bell is our sounds expert here...you might send him a PM. Or, hopefully, he'll weigh in. I've never been in a Porsche that the factory sounds impressed me. Lexus is another story. Riding in a friend's year 2001 400 Lexus, I was blown away by the sound system...it rivaled $10,000 and up home systems I'd heard 1/2 decade before...On the other hand, this Lexus drove out like a high powered Toyota...go figure.

bell · bell's Garage

fm in europe is slightly different.
we have 107.9 or 101.7
they have 107.8 or 101.8
we got odds they use evens.
some radios will tune both and some have a small dip switch to switch between us and europe tuning, check the specs on the blau for the capability.
or
just get a sirius satalite tuner.....i haven't listened to fm in over a year

LeeH · 03-04-2005, 09:32 PM

I'm definitely sticking with original on this car. I wouldn't say I'm "hung up" on originality in general... I let the car take the lead. This car needs something close to factory. It might not be the exact radio that came in the car, but I want it to look reasonably close. The mid-late 70's aftermarket cassette unit's got to go!

aigel · aigel's Garage

bell:

To clarify, I was talking about the frequency band. Germany is 87,5-108 MHz. The US is 88–108 MHz. I did not know or think about the odd / even problem you describe. I would think that an analog radio shouldn't care? I have no clue if that's what LeeH is looking for tho.

George

LeeH · 03-04-2005, 09:59 PM

Yep... analog. This is what I'm after:

SIR70T · SIR70T's Garage

Hi - so what would be the standard radio supplied for a 1970T ? I would really like to buy to get back to original - I nearly bought a Mexico but wasn't sure if it was the correcvt model for that year.

Thanks

Shane

SIR70T · SIR70T's Garage

LeeH

Is that your radio - looks fantastic!
Shane

Dutchie · 03-04-2005, 10:18 PM

Lee as long as it,s analog you won,t have problems. Bell allready said it we use 101.6 and 101.8 for digital radio,s. Range is from 88.0 to 108.0 I,m not sure about the 75 dollar shipped. I have a few old Blaupunkts but i paid a lot more then that. The radio in the picture would go for +- 150 euro,s here. I think for 75 $ it will be broken or it will need cosmetic work.

KLR · 03-05-2005, 05:48 AM

I had an original blaupunkt radio in a german market 1967 BMW 2000cs. It worked fine over here.

LeeH · 03-05-2005, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SIR70T
LeeH

Is that your radio - looks fantastic!
Shane

I wish... that's what I'm looking for.

kellzey · 03-05-2005, 06:27 AM

LeeH... there is a company in the U.S. that restores and sells original Blaupunkt radios for Porsches...

I'll try and find the link.

LeeH · 03-05-2005, 07:11 AM

I've yet to find a comprehensive list of all the radios that might have come stock. Even Oldautoradio.com doesn't have such a list.

Shane - I've got the Brookland Books book that has all the magazine road tests compiled for 1970-1972 911s. The photos aren't very clear from the old magazine articles, but there sure seems to be a lot of chrome on the 1970 European radios. Could be Becker Europa's or Becker Grand Prixs.

pwd72s · 09:20 AM

Here's a good reference link for what radios came in which early 911's, by model year.

http://www.nosubstitute.org/911/radio/default.asp

(Edit) This one's mine!

http://www.nosubstitute.org/911/radio/72blaupunkt_frankfurt_amfm.jpg

LeeH · 03-05-2005, 09:28 AM

Great link! Thanks. Very interesting... I thought the Koln pictured for '72 was from the late 70's.

bell · bell's Garage

old auto radio is a us supplier of old stock radios and midwest electronics is the us distributor/repairer for blau (been a few years since i had to call them though)
if it's an anolog radio you shouldn't have any problem with tuning.
i have a few old shafted alpine and pioneer cassette players laying around......unfortunately i'm in the middle of a rear wheel bearing replacement and currently the hub is winning

let me know if you need me to dig them out.

gavinlit · 03-05-2005, 02:08 PM

wrt the lexus mentioned earlier, apparently the interior design group asked the sound engineers BEFORE they designed the interior, what the optimum design would be for quality sound reproduction & then built around the answer. Exactly the reverse process for most car companies

6 Shooter · 03-05-2005, 03:07 PM

FWIW, there is a difference between the US and Euro FM band width... US goes to 108MHz , Euro stops @ 104MHz. HTH.