Tech: how can I connect jukebox to an external receiver

Hi all,

I just picked up a Rowe Berkeley CD 100. Works great, but I am
interested in connecting the CD player directly to an external
receiver that is connected to my speaker system.

can someone explain to me how to do this or where to begin? I assume
there might be some way to wire the cd player output, out, to the
receiver.

thanks very much!

On Feb 10, 3:49*am, Max Pinball wrote:
Hi all,

I just picked up a Rowe Berkeley CD 100. Works great, but I am
interested in connecting the CD player directly to an external
receiver that is connected to my speaker system.

can someone explain to me how to do this or where to begin? I assume
there might be some way to wire the cd player output, out, to the
receiver.

thanks very much!


In reality, you could just take the leads from out of the CD player
(in the juke) and plug them into your stereo system's CD input.

You might need to buy RCA extension leads to achieve this if the juke
isnt physically close to the stereo system.

If you do this, it might be an idea to disconnect the internal amp in
the jukebox, as it will just waste electricity if it isn't being used.

Pull the 2 x 5 way plugs out at the top.

Contact your local Rowe distributor's parts department. Order #
26694704 Amplifier Accessory Kit. It allows you to safely patch all
sounds systems to and from the jukebox. it has tons of RCA jacks and
volume controls on it too.

On Feb 9, 10:44*pm, Ken Layton wrote:
Contact your local Rowe distributor's parts department. Order #
26694704 Amplifier Accessory Kit. It allows you to safely patch all
sounds systems to and from the jukebox. it has tons of RCA jacks and
volume controls on it too.

Listen to Ken - he knows his stuff and then some!

Originally Posted by Max Pinball

Hi all,

I just picked up a Rowe Berkeley CD 100. Works great, but I am
interested in connecting the CD player directly to an external
receiver that is connected to my speaker system.

can someone explain to me how to do this or where to begin? I assume
there might be some way to wire the cd player output, out, to the
receiver.

thanks very much!

Hello,

On the amplifier in your jukebox you will see an auxiliary (Aux) connection with five connection on it marked IN, OUT, Ground, OUT, IN.
For your use use the two out connection and the ground.
If you required an alterative music input you would use the two inputs plus ground.
It is that simple.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

guys, great. thank you very much. seems like I now have 3 answers and
being the jukebox newb I do not know what is the best idea...

1) okay I get the concept by kreed and would have to buy an RCA female
to female connector so I could then connect the RCA extension lead. I
also think its a good idea to unplug the amp. I guess this will save
my amp for down the road when/if I ever need to use it.

2) I will look into this part # suggested by Ken. thanks ken!

3) I saw these In, Out, Ground, Out, In connections and was not sure
what they are for. Is it better to use the out here rather than just
take it direct from the CD out and skip the amp assembly altogether.

What does the In connections do. Could I plug in an ipod??? would it
override the In feed if the cd player is running???

thanks. very excited. the thing is so unbelievable beautiful. can't
believe I never owned one before...

Max

On Feb 11, 1:12 am, Max Pinball wrote:
guys, great. thank you very much. seems like I now have 3 answers and
being the jukebox newb I do not know what is the best idea...

1) okay I get the concept by kreed and would have to buy an RCA female
to female connector so I could then connect the RCA extension lead. I
also think its a good idea to unplug the amp. I guess this will save
my amp for down the road when/if I ever need to use it.

2) I will look into this part # suggested by Ken. thanks ken!

3) I saw these In, Out, Ground, Out, In connections and was not sure
what they are for. Is it better to use the out here rather than just
take it direct from the CD out and skip the amp assembly altogether.


Using the out here will give you 2 extra features over my suggestion
of going direct to the player's RCA sockets

1 it will still allow the Automatic Level Control to function (this
keeps the volume level of all CD's approximately the same, regardless
of recording levels. (note - home CD / stereo's dont have this
feature, so you probably wont miss it.).
This was essential in some ROWE models, so as when the sensitivity for
flashing disco lights was set, it would remain constant for all CD's
and recording levels.


2 it will allow the "mute" function to operate - this will kill audio
output from the jukebox amp when the jukebox CD isnt playing, this MAY
help prevent electrical "click" noises from the mechanism parts
switching on and off.

It is possible that the CD player already does this internally, most
home CD and CD-Rom drives (with audio output) already mute
themselves.

On the downside,

1 The amp in the jukebox still needs to be connected for this to
function, and will draw idle current all the time. This will waste
power, but how much this will cost I don't know off the top of my
head.

2 You will have to make up an adaptor for this socket to 2 Female RCA
line sockets. This is easy if you have the ability to do this, but
could be a pain if you dont.


You don't really need a female RCA lead, just buy a M-M RCA lead that
is a few metres long, (or as long as you need to reach your stereo)
and plug it into the "mech control" board (has standard F RCA sockets)
or the "true dimensional sound" module if fitted - and the other end
into your stereo system.

if you find problems with great variations in volume, or annoying
noises when the machine changes CD's, then you will have to reconnect
to the "out" header as suggested elsewhere.


You can go out and buy the optional in/out board that was recommended,
will do the same job as the other 2 suggestions, will need the amp
powered up, and it won't be cheap to buy (based on Australian AMI
distributor prices). In this case it is not needed.


What does the In connections do. Could I plug in an ipod??? would it
override the In feed if the cd player is running???

This will allow any other audio (such as I pod) to be fed into the
amp. Note that this isn't of much use to you unless you plan on using
the jukebox amp to drive the speakers. Even then it isnt much use, as
unless you disable the mute circuit, there will only be sound produced
from these inputs when the juke is actually playing a CD.

This "input" feature seemed to be only used in 1980's combo machines
where you had both CD player and record changer in the one machine.
(this was very likely used in the mid 80's machines that had a VCR in
them as well - but I have never seen one so cant be sure if the audio
came from off the VCR soundtrack, or it was from a record that had the
same song on it as the video on the tape. When being told of these
machines by our local distributor in 1985, He gave me the impression
that the VCR was only used for the video content, and the record
provided the sound as the video sound quality was crap compared to the
quality of sound from the record. In practice, I think this
arrangement would be clumsy at best. )

In this case, the computer controlled the mute and would activate it
when either was legitimately being played.


thanks. very excited. the thing is so unbelievable beautiful. can't
believe I never owned one before...


They are. And still hard to find and expensive too.


Max

kreed, thx fo the detailed response... it all makes sense.

Regarding the input and mute circuits. I get what you are saying that
the ipod wont play if there is no CD selection. I even read that the
amp is not powered on when no selection is playing. I am hoping the
amp accessory board will override this.

see page 4 in the instruction manual about the board, title Background
music. I am lead to believe here that when no selection is playing my
ipod input would kick on and play. am I mistaken.

http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Jukeb...(Rev_3-93).pdf

thx Max

On Feb 12, 7:58*am, Max Pinball wrote:
kreed, thx fo the detailed response... it all makes sense.

Regarding the input and mute circuits. I get what you are saying that
the ipod wont play if there is no CD selection. I even read that the
amp is not powered on when no selection is playing. I am hoping the
amp accessory board will override this.


The amp IS powered on all the time that the jukebox is plugged in and
switched on.
The "Mute" only grounds out the audio outputs to the preamp to silence
and sound from the system (this is the same as winding a volume
control on a regular amp to "0" position.)

It also sets the "control voltage" that is used for the AVC circuit to
a pre-determined level during mute.
This prevents the AVC from winding itself up to "full" volume due to
no audio input.

Failure to do this (ie, by disconnecting the mute plug) will result
in an annoyingly high volume level for a few seconds every time a CD
starts to play after a period of silence between discs.


see page 4 in the instruction manual about the board, title Background
music. I am lead to believe here that when no selection is playing my
ipod input would kick on and play. am I mistaken.

http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Jukeb...plifier_Access...

thx Max


The Accessory board would simply switch the audio signal input over
from the juke box CD player to the ipod audio signal input after a CD
finishes playing (depending on a user-set delay period by the look of
it). this delay should be set to the time it takes for the record rack
to do a full cycle, and also the time it takes for the transfer
mechanism to go up and down, this would be to prevent the background
music cutting in between CD's, and to only come on after enough time
has elapsed to be sure that all the selected CD's have finished
playing and the jukebox is idle.

This Accessory board will NOT start the ipod, the Ipod will have to be
already constantly playing (providing audio) ALL the time ready for
when the accessory board switches it over, the accessory board will
just switch over to it once the juke box is finished playing the
selections.

The I-pod will most likely be halfway through a song at this time, and
it will then play through the juke box sound system.

This will also mean that the jukebox will have to be switched on at
all times that you want to play the I-pod - if you are using the
inputs on page 4. The juke's power will be needed to allow K1 relay
to operate and turn the audio across to the I-pod. Note also that if
you use these 2 inputs specified (on page 4) your Ipod audio will be
MONO not stereo. As well, the Graphic equaliser and AVC in the juke
will not function for this input as it feeds this mono input through
the microphone circuit.

From memory, the juke volume control will not function for this source
either.


If this is what you want to achieve (auto switch over) and you are
going to leave the juke on all the time , then the accessory board is
the easiest way to do this.


It should also be noted that the 4 holes in the amp chassis referred
to in Fig 2 (of the document you posted a link to)
these holes do not exist in 2 amps I have here, that are used in these
wall boxes. You will have to remove the amp, remove the cover, mark,
drill and deburr these holes as required.





Again, if you want to run it through an existing stereo system in your
home, feed the juke into the CD input and feed the Ipod into the AUX
input and use the control on the amp to switch between them. This will
save a lot of bother.

kreed wrote:
On Feb 12, 7:58 am, Max Pinball wrote:
kreed, thx fo the detailed response... it all makes sense.

Regarding the input and mute circuits. I get what you are saying that
the ipod wont play if there is no CD selection. I even read that the
amp is not powered on when no selection is playing. I am hoping the
amp accessory board will override this.


The amp IS powered on all the time that the jukebox is plugged in and
switched on.

Aren't those amps hot as soon as the juke is plugged in, doesn't need to
be turned on? They plug into an unswitched outlet.

Tony