Connecting an ancient hi-fi to bluetooth

[ItsOnlyWordsInnit]

We have a fairly ancient but decent quality entertainment system - an Onkyo amplifier and speakers from the 90s, non-smart Sony TV attached to a Firestick so it can get Netflix etc, plus a Dvd/CD player and simple record player for my small vinyl collection. It all works fine via the speakers. But I’d love it to work with my JBL headphones, paired to my phone using bluetooth. I bought a bluetooth converter on Amazon (screenshot below) that I hoped would do the trick, but can’t work out where to stick the red and white cables (or aux cable) into the amp. We’ve tried all the different options and nothing is working through the headphones, although it’s definitely paired with the Bluetooth device.
Does anyone know if the device in the picture is designed to work with headphones, and how I should be connecting it to the amp or cd player? Or a nice hi-fi forum where I could ask this without being laughed at for not knowing the techie details?

I think you have the wrong thing. That is for picking up Bluetooth from a phone or similar so you can play in through the hifi speakers. If you want to listen on Bluetooth speakers you need something that plugs into the headphone jack and sends out a Bluetooth signal. Your phone won't be part of the setup, you will pair your headphones to the thing that goes in the hifi headphone jack.

I'll find a couple of examples.

Ah no, I tell a lie... the one you have can be set to receive or transmit.

You won't use the red and white connections to transmit, just the jack lead.

There's a diagram here:

www.amazon.co.uk/Giveet-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Streaming-Headphones-BTI-018-2-1-TX-RX/dp/B07198BBZN/

There should be a switch for TX and RX. You need it on TX. Then you can pair your headphones. Hopefully there's a manual that has instructions, but if not shout and I'll find them.

Thanks Ooo (love the username and now need to stick the kettle on for a cuppa!).
I also wondered if I had the wrong thing when I saw the description kept on mentioning soeakers. I’ll try out the config you mention.
Dopey q: with jack lead you mean the single 3.5 mm cable that connects to the bluetooth round thing? And I connect that lead to the single headphone socket at the front of my Onkyo? ( I would connect the 3.5 to a larger adaptor thingy, which we have here, so it works on the amp)
will look at the link now…

Dopey q: with jack lead you mean the single 3.5 mm cable that connects to the bluetooth round thing? And I connect that lead to the single headphone socket at the front of my Onkyo? ( I would connect the 3.5 to a larger adaptor thingy, which we have here, so it works on the amp)

Yes that should work.

Also if you have a line out or audio out that shoukd work. Might even use the red and white connectors after all! Key thing is you need a connection that sends audio out from the hifi, not one that takes it in to the hifi from another source like a tv, cd player etc.

(None of the red/white pairs on your photo are audio out btw)

The only button on the device itself is for pairing - nothing about transmitting and receiving. The instructions were ridiculously sparse. There was far more info on the Amazon page of the product you linked - although they look identical on the surface, I do wonder if the one you linked to can transmit AND receive, but the one I got can only receive. (To complicate matters I’m not in the UK so might have a slightly different selection of products offered. There was one that looked quite good but would be sent from the UK and be subject to import duties thanks to Brexit, so obviously I didn’t buy it).

And comparing the two descriptions it’s now very noticeable that the Blackhorse says only ‘receiver’ and the Giveet says ‘transmitter receiver’). I hate sending things back to Amazon etc because it’s wasteful, but in this case if I knew that I just needed to buy the Giveet or some other model that also transmits, it should work in principle, right?

There isn’t anything as simple as ‘audio out’ on the Onkyo. And it doesn’t work with the front headphones jack like the Giveet says it should, so I really do think I have a receiver only model ☹️.
The Giveet would cost me an eye-watering 74 euros instead of 29 quid, that’s a bit more than I was hoping to spend
But this dongle-style thing in the screenshot should work, right? Only 20 euros and clearly plugs straight into the headphones jack. If you think that might work I could order one to check it out.
And I’m hugely grateful to you getting me on what seems to be the right track.

Oh bother :( I'm sorry to have lead you up the garden path - so often these things come from lots of different companies but are the same unit underneath.

So ignore everything before my first post - you need a transmitter unit instead. We have a Taotronics one that seems ok. I can't say I recommend it particularly as nothing to compare it to but it does the job. (I am also a fan of upgrading old audio tech rather than throwing it out 🙂).

Looks like you know what to look for now, but do give me a shout on the thread if you have more questions.

But this dongle-style thing in the screenshot should work, right? Only 20 euros and clearly plugs straight into the headphones jack. If you think that might work I could order one to check it out.

Yep that should work - check the reviews obviously cos all sometimes quality control on the random brands is not great. You'll need a usb cable and adapter to power it I think but that's pretty much the case for all, they need to have power to do the BT conversion.

I don’t think you led me down the garden path at all, you got to the core of the problem straight away that had completely eluded me: the distinction between transmitter and receiver. I should just have asked before buying the thing.
And it’s lovely to find someone else who makes their tech work hard for years rather than constantly adding to the huge pile of electrotrash from people buying new every year.
I’ll order the dongle thing and see if that works when it arrives on 3 Jan - it’s so satisfying when it does all function.

And of course you can always use the one you bought to play music from your phone through your nice hifi speakers :)

Oh, complete side comment..

Do you know you can use Bluetooth headphones with your firestick? So if you are only wanting them for something you get through the firestick you don’t need to involve your stereo at all 😃

Yes they are - the video and tape settings have an input and output section - the output section will be off by default unless you enable the tape-loop from the front of the amplifier...