Open Operator Station Stereo's - what are you using? Anyone tried a bluetooth amp?

[Jim Timber]

I've been giving serious though to adding a stereo to the tractor and found they have Bluetooth amplifiers which pair to your phone and skip needing/using a head unit at all now. :thumbsup: The issue is what kind of range do they get and how durable are they in a rough environment? Most seem to be catering to boats, bikes, and atvs, and there are some water resistant offerings. Bikers and boaters aren't likely to stretch the range like I would skidding trees.

My intention is to carry my phone and have it streaming Pandora to the tractor while I work. If the pairing is lost, I don't know what Pandora will do (it pauses if the headphones are unplugged). So if I end up out of range and it needs to be opened up to resume playing, that'd get annoying real fast. The Toyota camry I rented a few months back had automatic pairing and Pandora would start as soon as I got in the car - that'd be pretty slick.

Boss has a couple offerings for around $100, but when I was involved in high end stereo's in the 90's they had a less than ideal reputation. The biggest complaint on the reviews is lack of power, so it appears they still over-state their output.

Kenwood has at least one amp with Bluetooth that's around $160, so that might be another option. The only complaint seen on the one I looked at was lack of tone controls and lacking bass. Playing music in open-air is going to be hard without gobs of power and big bass speakers. I don't expect "good" sound, but having something to listen to other than the diesel drone would be nice.

Anyone have experience with these amplifiers?

 

[woodlandfarms]

You said open air? So no cab?

I am NOT being the safety police but I would strongly suggest a set of headphones and bluetooth to them. I use my cell phone as a song player and can still answer my phone while working (playing, OK but I have to tell everyone I am working).

I am 50, and recently the tinitus is kicking in. My doc says welcome to many years of aural abuse.

 

[Rustyiron]

JHD 910 Stereo
I have one of these^^^, not sure about that blue teeth thing. :laughing: My cell phone is so simple it has a rotary dial on it!
Cheap speakers but it seem's to be completely sealed and looks to be rugged.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

The ones I have used have a range of 25 to 30 feet. They were fairly cheap ones so I would imagine better ones would have more range. I actually saw them demoing a waterproof one on the Today show this morning for a fathers day gift idea segment. They are nice little units but I don't how well you will be able to hear it over the tractor.

 

[Jim Timber]

Bluetooth v3.0 range is like 300' line of sight. I don't know if anyone's making amplifiers with that technology in it yet though.

Headphones is an option, but they're hard to use with my forestry brain bucket (I've stuck some speakers in those muffs too, but they don't stay put well, and the cord still snags). My cordless set is good for about 8 hours, but was $200 and not something I'm willing to chop up and integrate into the muffs.

I can use the stereo on the tractor while not wearing anything - that's a plus. Yes, I should be wearing ear-pro more often than I do.

When I wear my earbud headphones it helps cut down on the diesel drone, but I still catch the cord on everything, even tucking it in my shirt.

 

[Jim Timber]

You said open air? So no cab?

I am NOT being the safety police but I would strongly suggest a set of headphones and bluetooth to them. I use my cell phone as a song player and can still answer my phone while working (playing, OK but I have to tell everyone I am working).

I am 50, and recently the tinitus is kicking in. My doc says welcome to many years of aural abuse.

No cab = OOS

RE Audio has a BT900.4 that looks interesting as it has an external antenna. Which means I can extend that connection and mount it up on the roll bar. Tests have shown 100ft range on these amps so I think I'm gonna snag one and see how it works. If I don't like it on the tractor, I can wire it into my truck.

 

[Fawken]

Personally, I wouldn't like it. I need to hear my machine and want to know immediately if something doesn't sound right. I'm the guy that has to repair it. But to each his own.

 

[Jim Timber]

If you think you can drown out a diesel with anything short of an open air stadium 100,000w wall of sound - you're nuts.

I don't drown it out with ear buds either, I'd get a headache right quick.

I'm just looking for something other than diesel hammer to listen to.

 

[Sysop]

Bluetooth v3.0 range is like 300' line of sight.

In a lab perhaps. Real world devices, especially battery powered devices, are lucky to make 50' with line of sight reliably (short of the variants that use an 802.11 transport for high bandwidth applications).

 

[Jim Timber]

The youtube video tester guys said the RE Audio one exceeded 100', so that's a good sign. It also exceeded the rated power output on the amp dyno. I'll hook it up to a battery at home and test it before I wire it up in the tractor. I need to scrounge up some speakers to use with this now too.