Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB is Back in Stock at Crutchfield

[staceybsnyder]

For others looking for this Blaupunkt Bramen, it has been very difficult to find over the past couple years.
It's back in stock at Crutchfield and at a decent price:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_423BREMEN ... 6-DAB.html

[staceybsnyder]

Question for any stereo experts out there as I purchased the above mentioned Blaupunkt Bremen for my 86 Carrera 3.2.

The new Blaupunkt is a 4 channel receiver (LF, RF, LR, RR). My car has 4 speakers, but is only a 2 channel (2 speaker outputs on the back). The front and rears are hooked to a fader in the center console.

Give this, is it safe to assume that I should only use the LF and RF speaker outputs on the new radio? Or perhaps it is best to bridge them together? (LF/LR and RF/RR).

Any suggestions?

[Tom]

My '86 951 also has a fader wheel (probably the same one), but the original owner had a (then) fancy stereo installed by the world-class technicians at Circuit City (i.e., total hacks). They did what most people seem to do and just ran their own wires to the rear speakers, so that they could drive all 4 speakers with their own channels. You then use the headunit for balance and fader functions, and either put a blank in for the factory fader, repurpose it for something else, or leave it there (like my car) so it looks factory without actually doing anything. My '85 3.2 was set up the same way, but by a much better stereo shop.....

I don't think bridging your outputs will help, and may attenuate the audio signal, but not all headunit amps work the same inside. But I am without question not a stereo expert, so consider the source.

[staceybsnyder]

My '86 951 also has a fader wheel (probably the same one), but the original owner had a (then) fancy stereo installed by the world-class technicians at Circuit City (i.e., total hacks). They did what most people seem to do and just ran their own wires to the rear speakers, so that they could drive all 4 speakers with their own channels. You then use the headunit for balance and fader functions, and either put a blank in for the factory fader, repurpose it for something else, or leave it there (like my car) so it looks factory without actually doing anything. My '85 3.2 was set up the same way, but by a much better stereo shop.....

I don't think bridging your outputs will help, and may attenuate the audio signal, but not all headunit amps work the same inside. But I am without question not a stereo expert, so consider the source.

Thanks for the reply Tom. While I could do something like you mentioned, I would prefer not to so that I can keep the existing wiring in place. I'm currently rebuilding the stock Blaupunkt Montery unit with hopes of getting it working fully. I've fixed some of the bulbs that burned out, have all the buttons working again, and currently working on trying to get the tape deck operational again.

The goal being that at some point, I can put the factory radio back in to be as close to original as possible. While bluetooth and phone is nice for now, there is something nostalgic about playing my J Geils Band and Tesla tapes.

I suppose for now, i'll simply use the front channel outputs on the new unit (RF / LF).

[staceybsnyder]

Finally got some time to install the Bremen into my 86. I think it looks super awesome. Has that nice original Blaupunkt look but functions as a more modern radio with Bluetooth audio, phone. Also really like the custom color settings. I was able to get the color to match almost perfectly the standard yellow-ish interior lighting.

Overall very pleased with this radio:

[Tom]

That looks perfect in that dash! How did you end up doing the speaker wiring, and how does it sound?

Here's mine. The receiver is great, but I seriously need to work on my speaker situation. Just one small speaker in each door gives it an AM-radio quality.

3d bezels.JPEG (782.02 KiB) Viewed 1731 times

[staceybsnyder]

That looks pretty darn great too. In an earlier post, you mentioned the fader. You are correct, I think that is the exact same fader that I have in my center console.

As for the speakers, I ended up just using the RF and LF outputs on the new radio. That way I can go back to my original Monterey (which i'm rebuilding now) at some point rather easily.

It sounds ok but certainly better than the old radio with broken cassette player.

[stitch2k1]

I put a Bremen in my 91S2 a few months ago, and I like it (in this car, considering how well it fits), but I am never buying another. I'm not impressed with the build quality considering the huge price tag. The volume knob has a ton of slop in it (seriously?), and every single knob (volume, fader, two EQ knobs) are digital instead of analog, and they have a weird click back deadzone. I have the radio's zone set to the USA and the DAB channels also still show up which annoy me when I try to go from FM1 to Bluetooth.

So it's a great looking radio, works fine, but it's just annoying for the build quality for being just over $500 -- compounded by the fact I'm in the US and DAB is useless. Why not make an HD Radio version at the least?

[chester]

Agree. It should look retro but have HD

[stitch2k1]

Agree. It should look retro but have HD

And be half priced for the quality. It's cheap Chinesium.