Belkin’s Bluetooth Music Receiver is the Ultimate Music Extender from your Bluetooth Device to Your Stereo

On the way home from picking up my daughter from an activity, I decided to do some Pandora streaming in my car via a Bluetooth connection. As the Pandora station was playing a lot of great songs, when I got home, I wanted to continue hearing the song selection that was playing, so I was thinking of the best way to keep the music going. I tried to connect it to a speaker that has an iPod/iPhone dock but my iPhone’s case was obstructing the connection. Then, I remembered that I had a Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver still sitting in its box, waiting to be reviewed. Without a second thought, it was out of the box and streaming my Pandora station in less than 5 minutes!

This is really a great little device. Many cell phones now have the ability to stream music via Bluetooth. This gadget connects to your cell phone via Bluetooth and then you connect it to a stereo or speaker system. Within literally minutes, you are streaming audio from your cell phone (e.g., iPhone or Blackberry or Android phone) directly to your stereo. It uses Bluetooth v2.0 with EDR.

Setting up the Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver takes just about a minute. You plug it in to the power and then fire up your iPhone or other Bluetooth connected device. You can connect up to 6 devices (not simultaneously) to the Belkin which it remembers. When your phone discovers the Belkin, you need to pair it. The code is a default “0000” (I guessed without reading the documentation – I actually didn’t read the documentation until well after I was using it!). The Belkin will show up as “Belkin Y##” where Y is a letter and # a number. The Y## actually is printed on the bottom of the device. Mine is H59, for example, and it shows as “Belkin H59” on my iPhone. Once paired, you don’t need to go through that process again.

The Belkin comes with a:

• 3.5mm-to-RCA stereo cable
• 3.5mm-to-3.5mm stereo cable
• Power Adapter

In my tests, the stream starting cutting out at about 20-25 feet, which is pretty decent. The documentation says up to a 30 foot range is the maximum and then you will have some interference and the blue light that shows when a device is connected will go out. Once you bring your phone back within range, it will reconnect and the blue light will come back on.

This little gadget is incredibly useful. It is very small and portable. In fact, the power adapter is larger than the Bluetooth receiver itself. Because of its small size, you can throw the whole thing in your pocket or a bag and bring it with your iPhone, for example, to a party or your dorm room or simply hook it up in your living room. And remember that you can use any Bluetooth device as the “music host”. This could be a cell phone (like an iPhone, Blackberry or Android phone) or an iPod Touch or even a computer. Just pair the device and start streaming your music!

The MSRP on the Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver is $49.99 however you can grab it for $29.99 currently on Amazon which is about the price of a physical cable that could connect your iPhone to your stereo. But with the advantage of being able to stream your music from a distance, why deal with cords? You can sit comfortably on in a chair band become an armchair DJ.

Disclosure Text : I have a material connection because I received a gift or sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period. More information can be found in my About page as well as here.

HTD says: The Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver in my mind, is one of those essential accessories to have, especially if you want an easy way to stream music to any stereos you come by. Plug in, connect and play, that’s it!