Refreshing a Vintage Jukebox with Apple CarPlay

Aug 24, 2023

While people today tend to favor almost disposable Bluetooth speakers, music players used to be built like high-end furniture and were intended to last for decades. Most often, we see these kinds of vintage stereos and record players in the form of consoles, which are large standalone devices. But like bookshelves, they were sometimes designed as "built-ins." Such devices are semi-permanent and are usually mounted to a home's wall or even inside a wall. YouTuber Grensom bought a house with a built-in jukebox in the basement and he refreshed that jukebox with CarPlay.

CarPlay is Apple's in-car entertainment solution for iPhone users. A car stereo head unit with CarPlay support will let the user access their apps (like Apple Maps and Spotify) through the infotainment screen, which is quite convenient. Grensom wanted that same convenience in the vintage jukebox.

While CarPlay is an Apple product, it can work with stereos running Android operating systems. In fact, most aftermarket stereo head units that support CarPlay run Android. This fact led Gensom to a simple hardware solution for this project: Android running on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ single-board computer. Gensom paired that with a CarLink adapter for wireless CarPlay connections. The Raspberry Pi boots Android and then displays the CarPlay interface on a massive 15" touchscreen LCD when Grensom connects his iPhone to the CarLink adapter.

Grensom could have simply pumped the audio from the Raspberry Pi to a powered speaker, but chose a different setup to enable some more features. The Raspberry Pi sends audio to Grensom's existing stereo system through a Bluetooth adapter. The Bluetooth adapter also outputs audio through another auxiliary cable to facilitate equalizer-style lighting effects built into the jukebox.

This jukebox has seven hollow glass tubes on its front for decoration. Grensom ran strips of WS2812B individually addressable RGB LEDs through those tubes. An Arduino Nano board controls those LEDs according to seven frequency ranges, which it detects using a module that receives the audio signal from the extra auxiliary cable. Grensom also added a light strip around the entire jukebox where it mounts to the wall.

Finally, Grensom converted a decorative panel on the jukebox into a motorized drawer. It uses a linear actuator kit which can respond to commands sent from the Raspberry Pi via USB. It moves to two preset positions, which correspond to the drawer being open or closed. Grensom can tell the Raspberry Pi to toggle positions using a simple push button.

The refreshed jukebox looks fantastic and is very usable, thanks to the CarPlay interface.