How to Stream Music Through an Old Stereo System

Teaching a Vintage Hi-Fi or Boombox New Tricks

For many years, I was perplexed by a great mystery: how do you connect a computer to a stereo? As technology progressed, the question became: how do I connect my MP3 player to a stereo? Now, the question has become: how do I connect my Nook Color tablet to an old stereo? Fortunately, the answer is easy. Here is how to connect nearly any personal music playing electronic device to a stereo.

Nearly every personal electronic device has a jack for earbuds or walkman-style earphones. You can generally take advantage of that jack to port your outpit ovet to external speakers, a boombox, or a stereo. While some modern compact stereos make it easy to plug in an external sound source, vintage systems weren't designed with the idea that all of your favorite music might be stored on your phone. However, many were designed to accomodate auxiliary sound sources like reel-to-reel tape decks, phonographs, eight tracks, and the like.

To stream music through an old stereo, you have two basic options:

1. RCA Adapter.Real stereo systems use RCA jacks to get sound from external sources. You'll want to get what Microcenter calls "3.5mm Male Stereo Plug to Dual RCA Male Plugs." It's a cable that runs from you earphone jack and splits into two male plugs that plug into the back of your stereo. This cable is only $7.99 at Microcenter.com. However, you should be able to get it at your local Best Buy or Radio Shack. Plug the RCA plugs into the AUX jacks, select your sound source as AUX and start playing your music on your device. You can also order the cable you need from Amazon.com right here:

2. Audio Cassette Adapter. If you have an old compact or bookshelf stereo, there
may not be any provision for an external sound source. Many lower end systems and boom boxes were closed sysems. In these cases, you may want to try streaming your tunes via an audio cassette adapter. I recently bought one at my local RiteAid Pharmacy. The iEssentials Audio Cassette Adapter that I bought fits into a tape deck like a conventional audio cassette, but a cable runs out of the back and connects to your device.

I was amazed to see how simple it was to pipe music from my Barnes and Noble Nook through my older bookshelf stereo. There's no reason to kick a nice vintage stereo system to the curb. It can still play good music in a very twenty-first century way.