Maxell P-13 Stereo FM Transmitter

• Compact stereo FM transmitter for iPods, MP3 players, CD players, and more
• Compatible with any audio device with a 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Transmits high-quality stereo sound to one of 4 FM channels
• Runs for roughly 24 hours on 3 AAA batteries (not included)
• Lightweight and compact

I'd give this thing 5 stars for the price, but the lack of useful instructions & operating tips with the unit made me take away a star, & is probably the reason for some poor reviews here.

First, the unit does not have 4 "bands". It has 4 frequencies to choose from between 88.1-88.7mhz. If you have a crummy radio that only picks up strong stations, or picks up bits of a strong station on more than 1 place on the dial, most FM transmitters will give you problems with those basic & cheap radios.

I have not used this unit in a car yet (got it primarily for the laptop & mp3 player), but if you follow my tips, it shouldn't give you a problem.

When you open the battery cover, you'll find a black wire around the circumference inside. This is the transmitting antenna. If you grab the black tip of it, it extends out & through the hole in the battery cover when you replace the cover.

With the antenna wire not extended & remaining inside, I was able to listen to my music perfectly throughout an entire 2 bedroom apartment on my Eton E5 & Realistic DX-390 radios. On my Grindig Mini 300 & GE SuperRadio* I was only able to get good reception no further than the next adjoining room.

With the wire extended out through the battery cover hole, I was able to get perfect reception on all my radios through the entire apartment, the attic above, & the floor below me... in a metal frame building. With the E5 radio, I was able to pick up the transmitter from the ground floor, 3 floors below.

I tried to twist a couple feet of wire to the transmitter's antenna wire to extend it. No need to strip off the wire's insulation... radio waves easily pass right through it. I was able to pick up the transmitter on the ground floor with any radio, & on the E5 form across the street, & down the street a few doors.

It looks like someone handy could just loosen the screws inside & permanently solder a slightly longer antenna wire in it.

The instructions do warn to keep your player volume low or you'll overdrive & distort the transmitter. I find the transmitter input is sensitive enough to be overdriven with the volume set at under halfway on most players & laptops. So start off with the player volume on a very low setting, & the radio's volume at average or higher to get a very clean sound.

Since I have a lot of radios with built in speakers, from the size of a cigarette pack to a boom box, I couldn't see investing in amplified speakers for a player or laptop & still be somewhat portable & mobile. With the transmitter, any decent radio can serve as a wireless amplified speaker system... small enough to fit into a shirt pocket or a large loud box.

Blue & white LEDs require at least 3.6 volts to light, unlike older red, orange, yellow, & green LEDs than only require 2 volts. The transmitter probably uses 3 AAA cells for enough voltage to power the blue LED. The 3 rechargable AAA cells I'm using in it have lasted over a month so far, & are still going strong.

*Everyone seems to praise the GE SuperRadio as very sensitive. It is not, & is only a little more sensitive than any cheap radio you can buy from your drugstore. It is cheap though, & if you do pick up a good signal onit, it has excellent sound for a portable, rivaling many bigger & more expensive boom boxes. With the transmitter, I use it as a super great & loud, wireless powered speaker. It takes 6 "D" batteries, but they last months.

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This little piece of worthless plastic trash does absolutely nothing. Batteries are in, iPod is on, doesn't work on any radio in the house, on any frequency, and does not work in the car. Oh, correction, it worked for about 2 seconds in the car, but was immediately overcome by static, and did not work again. Please do not waste your hard-earned money on this. Maxell, please stop ripping off America. Thanks.

Read Best Reviews of Maxell P-13 Stereo FM Transmitter Here

I just bought this and am now listening to my iPod through my home stereo. Unlike the previous reviewer, I had no difficulty selecting a radio station (all four stations, 88.1, 88.3, 88.5 and 88.7 appear to work fine), or getting static instead of music.

The sound is good, and the only time I get any significant static is when I move the iPod a few feet away from my stereo receiver. Considering the low price of the item, I am very pleasantly surprised.

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I bought this since it was the cheapest transmitter I could find. Maxell usually makes good accessories, but this one was not one of their better products. Although I could listen to music on my mp3 player, I couldn't put the player down while driving. I had to hold it while driving with one hand to get the best possible sound! Otherwise all I heard was static. Also, why does this small device need 3 AAA batteries? Kind of odd in my opinion. There's an on/off switch that you shouldn't forget about either or the batteries will drain. I'm probably going to buy a new one soon.

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Products works well, hope it has more frequencies rather than only 88.1 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, generally is a good stuff.