1970s 1973 Coupe Deville music options

[34837]

Hello my unit has the optional working  8 track AM FM player. When new the dealer installed a aftermarket CB player. (Realistic brand) This was non working and was fed by one power cord and an antenna cord.
According to the owners manual a "tape player"could be dealer installed for vehicles with a standard radio. It would seem that  under dash wiring junctions would have been there to make that a easier installation I just want a basic CD player installed, my local car stereo outfits are mystified and don't seem too interested. Does anyone have experience with this situation or ideas? Thanks, A.

[TJ Hopland]

I don't think any factory radio had an 'aux' jack back then, those were only a thing in the later 90's for a bit.   I'm sure there was some factory radios (again in the 90s) that had a proprietary expansion port where something like a factory option in trunk CD changer could plug in but that only worked for the official optional unit.   

The antenna wire is the clue as to how it works.  Basically its got a small radio transmitter in it so when you turn the unit on it disconnects the external antenna and connects itself then you tune to a specific station (usually on the very low end of the dial) and that is how it gets into the stock system.  In the 90's this was still a popular method to add a CD player and you could buy such systems from the major aftermarket radio brands. 

When MP3's came out it was kinda a thing again but in a more crappy way where there wasn't an actual antenna wire that had to be installed it was just a transmitter.  I suspect those are still available from the usual import junk online sites.  Problem with those is since they don't disconnect the external connection and have a direct connection to the radio that the transmitter has to be powerful enough to reach the external antenna which is still picking up regular stations as well as possibly the car next to yous crappy little mp3 transmitter.

The other option that was popular for an 'add on' tape player was where the add on unit had its own volume control. On this type the factory radio speaker wires would feed into the add on unit and the cars speakers would then connect to the add on unit.  If the unit was off the factory radio was connected to the speakers and worked normally.  When it was on it just disconnected the factory radio and connected itself, this is why it had its own volume control.  The volume control is the clue in this case how it worked. 

I believe there are still some people out there that can add an 'aux' jack to factory radios as well as basically gut them and install more modern guts with modern features like bluetooth.   There are also places like custom auto sound that make somewhat vintage looking radios that have the modern features.   I don't think the guy is still in biz but had a good idea where he built a center console sort of thing that sat on the hump that had a modern radio in it as well as cup holders. 

     

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

If there's such a thing as a CD player with Bluetooth connectivity, all you need is a Bluetooth converter to enable listening to the player through the stock radio without the need to modify anything. These days, many people seem to just use their cell phones to listen to music in their vintage cars. Bluetooth to FM converters are inexpensive.   

[Big Fins]

Hello my unit has the optional working  8 track AM FM player. When new the dealer installed a aftermarket CB player. (Realistic brand) This was non working and was fed by one power cord and an antenna cord.
According to the owners manual a "tape player"could be dealer installed for vehicles with a standard radio. It would seem that  under dash wiring junctions would have been there to make that a easier installation I just want a basic CD player installed, my local car stereo outfits are mystified and don't seem too interested. Does anyone have experience with this situation or ideas? Thanks, A.

Let's back up here. In 1973 there was not yet any such thing as a CD player. In your second sentence you are indicating a CB was installed aftermarket. As in Citizens Band radio. It too connected to the power antenna, only it had its own dedicated type of antenna. Not sure what year the AM/FM/CB in dash unit was first offered on Cadillac, but I think it was 1976. A CD player wouldn't need an antenna at all. It would need power, ground and speaker connectivity.

Cadillac offered an 8 Track player mounted under dash in previous years similar to the earlier tissue dispenser. But CD's didn't make the market until the 90's. You had, 8 Track, cassette, CD, MP3, then Bluetooth.

If you want to mount an under dash CD player, you need to get the electrical schematic for that year and decide which outbound wires of the CD player correspond with the audio wiring harness of the car, then butt them together.

[34837]

Thanks all, food for thought. The car was apparently bought off the lot, loaded with most options including the stock 8 track am-fm setup . The original bill of sale denotes the only change wanted by the buyer was the addition of the under dash Citizens Band radio, a Realistic Radio Shack unit the dealer probably went down the street to buy. The units antenna may or may not connect to the stock radio antenna. I did find a magnetic base CB antenna in the trunk, hard to tell if it had been used. A.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

There was no factory CB option in 1973 therefore a separate outboard CB antenna would have been absolutely necessary. The factory antenna does not have the coil needed for transmitting RF signals. Attempting to splice into the factory antenna would compromise AM/FM reception at the main radio, increase noise/interference and the CB would not be able to transmit, only receive. Nobody ever installed an aftermarket CB radio without including a dedicated CB antenna specifically designed for RF transmitting. The wear marks in the decklid confirm a CB antenna was used just as would have been necessary.

Keep in mind the factory accessory underdash 8-Track tape player had its own self-contained amplifier with its own volume control.  There was a special circuit that disconnected the speakers from the main radio and connected the speakers to the 8-Track unit when it was powered on.  I don't know whether it would be possible to use such a circuit with a modern CD player unit, in fact I doubt it.  Most likely, in order to install a CD player, the speakers would have to be disconnected from the factory radio and all listening would then be done from the new unit. 

The most elegant solution is to buy a a Bluetooth to FM adapter which is simply plugged into a cigarette lighter socket allowing music listening from a IPhone/Smart phone through the stock sound system without the need to modify anything in the car.

[34837]

Thanks, Eric, your solution may be the best option (Bluetooth) in the short term, I'll have to get a grandkid to show me how to download music to lphone. It's just I have an amazing cd collection I'd like to utilize,maybe down the road a solution will be found. As I had said my local stereo shops are clueless,will have to travel if I go that route. For what it's worth the am-fm-8track is a combined unit from the factory(cost $250 option)although I've read the under dash unit was available also. I'm not sure where the deck wear you mention is on my car and still haven't figured out where the  CB antenna lead came out, it goes up into the wiring and disappears. No matter, I've been told these CB units are collectible so maybe a buyer will come along. Thanks again, Arch

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I'm not sure where the deck wear you mention is on my car and still haven't figured out where the  CB antenna lead came out, it goes up into the wiring and disappears. No matter, I've been told these CB units are collectible so maybe a buyer will come along. Thanks again, Arch

You're welcome. I only mentioned the underdash 8-track because it was brought up above but obviously it doesn't pertain to the system in your car. I only wanted to point out the potential difficulties in getting a modern CD-radio unit to function in the same way as the factory accessory 8-track (underdash) player would have. 

 

[Big Fins]

If you have a laptop/desktop with a CD tray in it, simply rip the music from the CD's and copy it to a mini SD card. You can get the lighter plug in Bluetooth receivers with the regular SD and mini SD slots in them. Align the receiver with an FM frequency not being used in your area, place the SD card in the slot and enjoy your music.

I have hundreds of hours of music all loaded on to 3 mini SD cards. Or, copy the ripped (downloaded) music from your laptop to you phone and use that to play the music into the Bluetooth receiver. I had a 10 year old teach me!

[35-709]

    And that's who would have to teach me!