MP3 player connection to 90's era amplifier?

[Ratherbfishing]

I am the first to admit that I have not kept up on current technology.  I'm not quite a dinosaur but I'm certainly one of the earliest mammals.   I just "hooked up" my girlfriends older component stereo system.  It has a separate CD player, turntable, and tape deck and they all play fine.  But wanting to move into the 21st century, I hope to connect an Mp3 player to the 90's era amplifier-perhaps through an auxiliary jack.  Is this easily done or are the technologies simply incompatible?

[deaknh03]

I would buy a cheapie cable off ebay, make sure both ends are correct and try it out. 

[Ratherbfishing]

Actually, I've been informed that an MP3 players is just BARELY getting into the 21st century.  I don't have a smart phone as morbid curiosity has kept me wondering how long my current flip phone will last.  (It has a hand crank on the side for making calls).

[Senko lover]

Bro there's a nice iphone 7 coming out this month

[deaknh03]

Here's your upgraded phone.

this HTML class. Value is https://www.etsy.com

[Scott F]

Get a cord that has the red and white RCA connectors on one end and a 

1/4 inch stereo plug ( like a headphone jack) on the other. Plug the RCA plugs into an unused INPUT on the receiver. Don't use one marked Phono. Plug the jack into the headphone connector on the MP3 player. That's it. 

[Glenn]

8 minutes ago, Scott F said:

Get a cord that has the red and white RCA connectors on one end and a 

1/4 inch stereo plug ( like a headphone jack) on the other. Plug the RCA plugs into an unused INPUT on the receiver. Don't use one marked Phono. Plug the jack into the headphone connector on the MP3 player. That's it. 

I agree with this, however you may have several "inputs", depending on your amp.  So you may have to experiment a bit to see which one(s) work.  Try "aux" first, if there is one.  But don't be afraid to try "phono", "tape", etc.  They're different impedences, and designed for different signal levels.  So trial-and-error is necessary.

 

[Scott F]

As I said, don't use the phono input. There is an extra pre-amplifier on that input meant for phono cartridges that also changes the equalization. It won't sound right. If you use a tape input, you might have to push a tape monitor button on the receiver to hear your MP3 player. 

[Ratherbfishing]

So, there will be a split cable (white and red) on one end and a small "male" mp3 plug on the other?  If so, it seems pretty easy to me.  Thanks for the help.

[tholmes]

 

22 hours ago, Scott F said:

As I said, don't use the phono input. There is an extra pre-amplifier on that input meant for phono cartridges that also changes the equalization. It won't sound right. If you use a tape input, you might have to push a tape monitor button on the receiver to hear your MP3 player. 

If the output voltage from the MP3 player is too high, you'll also blow the phono pre-amp. It's strictly for phono cartridge level input, which is about 1% of line level voltage from a CD player, tape deck, etc. 

Tom