911 Radio/Amplifier Question

I am trying to install a new Kenwood CD/radio into my 1988 911 which currently has an amplifier from the factory that is located under the passenger seat. I need to get my hands on the wiring diagram for the amplifier. It uses a 5 pin DIN cable from the old radio to the amplifier. I can figure out which of the wires are for the speakers. The problem is there are 2 extra wires (red and blue) in the cable and I don't know where they should be attached. The amplifier has a separate power supply with a ground so I don't think they are for power. Does anyone have any experiance with connecting a new radio to the Porsche amplifier? Any help would be appricaited.

Are you sure you need to hook up those wires at all. there are usually several wires that don't get used. They could be high level output wires that wouldn't be used if you are using the RCA cable (low-level outputs) The blue one could be for a remote switch. Where did you get the unit? If you buy from Crutchfield they include very detailed instructions and have excellent customer support. Anyway, try hooking it up without using those two wires.

I installed a Blaupunkt Nevada, JLAudio MicroSub, and a Zapco amp under the psgr seat that powers the sub in 133W mono. I did a bit of research that may or may not help you, since you are doing something a bit different.

First of all, consider bagging the Porsche amp. I understand that it is less than or equal to the average output of today's high-quality head units. In other words, you may be better off just wiring the speakers directly to your head unit. However, I can see how you might wish to keep the amp, since the speakers are already connected to it - no rewiring necessary. In my case, the PO had already put in an Alpine cassette unit and dismissed the factory amp.

As for the extra wires, it is likely that one of them (blue is, I believe, the standard DIN color) provides a voltage to the amp that powers it up when the radio is switched on. The other wire... dunno.

You need a dedicated +12V (red) and a ground (black) to your head unit, and the speaker wires are various brown permutations, with the positive side of each speaker having a thin red stripe. If I can help you identify anything else by peaking under my dash, just ask.

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Roger
'85 Carrera 3.2 Coupe aka "Sputterbug"
http://www.rogerplacer.net/911/

You might want to think about taking that amplifier and giving the no look back toss into the garbage. Joking aside, I totally replaced the system in my 89 last year and have seen where your at. You have to remember that the stereo is 1980's technology and there have been BIG improvement since. You new reciever may actually put out more wattage than the amplifier. The OE amp is only 20 Watts per channel Maximum power. For example the Blaupunkt Toronto receiver is 25 Watts per channel alone! All you have to do is reroute the speaker wires to the back of the receiver and get some adapters for the plug type speaker wire terminals, (Crutchfield). I rerouted the speaker wires to the trunk and mounted a four channel amp with 75 watts per channel. If it was me, I would get a cheap amp and avoid the headache of trying to rig rca preamp outputs to din outputs to use the existing. It will sound better also. Best of luck, Michael

Roger, What is this micro sub? I've installed Infinity Kappa components in the doors and Kappa two ways in the back. I liked these because they can handle 120 watts. These are powered by a Rockford Fosgate 4 channel amp under the hood (trunk, bonnet, whatever). Because of heat and size, under the passenger seat was a no no. That wiring harness can be relocated to the front fairly easily though. I love my system but have been looking for a place for a sub. And no, I don't want to use all the back seat footwells. Got to know, need the info.

Check out www.continentalimports.com. They have wiring diagrams for the Blaupunkt din connector. If they don't list your amp, check their listing for the "BEQ-65", this an equalizer that connects to the Blaupunkt amps, and this link definately shows the schematic for the Blaupunkt din connector

Michael,

The MicroSub 8.1 is a cool little 1x8" subwoofer made by JLAudio. See it at:
http://www.jlaudio.com/enclosures/microsub/

As you read in my post above, I drive it with a dedicated amp that has an adjustable crossover for bass. The Nevada drives my four speakers, which are Kicker Impulse up front and ? in the rear (PO put them in; they look like high quality dual driver coaxials with a red diamond logo).

I leave the bass control on the head unit at 0, or unity (no gain, no attenuation). I set the crossover frequency to somewhere in the neighborhood of 200kHz, and adjust the amp volume to balance the bass from the sub with the two front speakers. I blend in the back speakers just a bit.

I am not interested in BOOM, I wanted tight and punchy and palpable even WITH the engine noise. I have the sub behind my seat; it is just about a perfect fit so it's not actually attached to anything. Believe it or not, it's a tight and safe fit. I am VERY satisfied! It's probably the best-sounding system I've had in a car. Once you solve the bass problem, the 911 becomes a simple, compact space for good sound.

Some might think it silly to trick out a 911 for audio, but it's my FUN car - a fun car means being able to listen to tunes and have 'em sound good!

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Roger
'85 Carrera 3.2 Coupe aka "Sputterbug"
http://www.rogerplacer.net/911/

Whoops, make that 200Hz. That's one heckuva subwoofer that can reproduce 200 KILOhertz!

OK, I felt compelled to take a couple of pics for you guys. Check out:
http://www.rogerplacer.net/911/microsub.html

[This message has been edited by Sputterbug (edited 06-23-2000).]

Did anyone ever try mounting a sub in the front compartment? Does much, if any, bass make it through. I'm not talking anything silly here in terms of size. I am more curious as to whether the bass infiltrates through the many holes etc, or is wasted providing a subtle booming to passersby.

Thanks,

Cam

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Cameron Baudinet
1975 911S

IN the front you have a metal firewall. Unless you can direct the bass through a duct, the effect will be greatly diminished. In front engine cars, the trunk usually has just the back seats as a obstruction which bass can penetrate.

I had a JBL 8" tube sub in my front trunk for a long time. It definitely added some 'boom' but was quite muddy and very non-optimal. And, my car is an early one that has a few more openings in the firewall and possibly less sound deadening than the later 911s. If you have a >73 car you'd be way better off doing a Rod Birch sub in the rear floor area (assuming you don't use your rear seats...does anybody?) or a rear-deck 6x9 or 8" speaker conversion.

Believe it or not...I have completely torn the stereo out of my 911 now, and am installing a pristine original Blaupunkt Frankfurt running to a replacement Blaupunkt mono speaker in the dashtop grille. Needless to say I count on most of my music coming from the rear part of the car, not the dash...

Chris C.

In my opinion, the easiest way to get bass in a 911 is with an 8 inch passive Bazooka tube behind the passenger seat. It costs less than half what the Birch system does, and is removable. It straps nicely to the metal cargo holddown loop on the vertical surface beneath the rear seat. Feed it 200 watts and it will boom if you want, or turn down the bass on your deck for nice, tight, clean bass. A friend of mine removed his back seats and replaced them with a sub box holding a 12 inch sub, and my Bazooka hits almost as hard.

I assume some of you have seen my MicroSub in the URL I posted above??

It costs under $200, fits snugly, can be moved from one side to the other if you need to adjust a seat, is totally removeable, and sounds GREAT. It is tight and I feel the right amount of punch from the driver's seat. An amp with crossover allows for loads of adjustment to your taste.

The Bazookas are OK, but this is a high-quality wooden box with a tuned port and a better company heritage (JLAudio).

I'll stop mentioning it now. ;-)

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Roger
'85 Carrera 3.2 Coupe aka "Sputterbug"
http://www.rogerplacer.net/911/

FWIW the JBL tube sub I had would not fit on the floor behind the seats...it was only an 8" driver but I guess the tube was bigger than the 8" Bazooka. I have a 6 1/2" Bazooka "EL" in my 914 passenger footwell, where it fits perfectly and is not a problem since I rarely have passengers anyway.

The JLAudio products are quite good quality. They make custom sub "adapter" boxes that put 8" (or larger) subs in vehicles w/ trunks in place of the rear deck fill speakers. Didn't know about the microsub box though. Cool!

[This message has been edited by campbellcj (edited 06-25-2000).]

In regard to the amp with the din plug. It has been a while since I have seen one of those. The din plug was used by Blaupunkt, Alpine, and Concord in the days past. The wiring will be the same as two rca jacks with the power "on" line for the amp to power up. About 15 years ago, when I was installing stereos and phones in cars (good college job), we used to put a lot of those in the higher end systems. A plug to change it to two rca's and an amp lead should be easy to find. You might not want to get rid of it, depending on how it sounds. It is always a plus to take some of the power requirements away from the head unit. The head unit can generate a lot of heat(think like aux. oil cooler), while pushing four speakers.
In regards to all of the bass questions out there. If you have a mono sub (all you really need as far as I'm concerned), you should set the x-over below 120 hertz. At over 120 you get into the range of the stereo "discernability". This is where the music starts to draw you to notice the prescence of exactly where the bass is coming from. The stereo "effect" is lost. The subwoofer should be invisible!! Most component systems, or even good co-ax speakers can go below 100 hertz easily, so you won't have to wonder if your losing areas of the audible spectrum. Those smaller speakers aren't going to satisfy you with their impact for the really low end sounds. That is why, once you have good bass, you always have to have it.
A good low end is not only for the hip-hoppers. Classical music afficionados should really look into it. The effect can be mesmerizing.
The problem with stereos is like a fast car, how fast do you want to go... I have had over 12 really nice component systems in various cars. When I buy a car the first thing I picture is how I'm going to fill it with sound, how many speakers, where to put the amps, etc., etc...
On porsches' the bass placement is tricky. Bass tubes are nice, and you can move them around (or take them out) easily. The trunk is not a bad idea. The guy who said his was muddy, did not have his system set up properly. He had the x-over too high up into the audible spectrum. There should be plenty of bass coming through from the front trunk. The only problem would be adding a little more volume than normal. His main speakers should probably be upgraded to handle the mid-bass responsibilities.
My only recommendation to anyone putting together a good system is do it one piece at a time. First, buy a good head unit. Don't be cheap. Mid to high end Alpine, high end Kenwood, Sony ES are the only real choices. I'm partial to Alpine because they are the only really durable product(remember how short their warranties are).
Speakers are up to you. Their are pretty good speakers in most price ranges.
Amplifiers, like engines, take research. You have to pick the right one for what you need to do. Talk to the pros. If you are at that level, you probably already have a good relationship with the local car stereo shop(just like your mechanic).
The funniest thing for me is that in my 911 I have never put a stereo in it. I have the original am-fm radio that has never worked. And I don't care!! I've always been absolutely enthralled with the music coming out of the tail pipe. Ed

downer22,

You might of already did what you needed to do, but here is what I did if you haven't.

Recently installed a Pioneer head unit and speakers. The Cruchfield people neglected to tell me that the existing unit was plugged into the amp. After some choice phrases, I preceeded to trace the cable from the head unit to the amp and the cable from the amp to the speakers. I ripped the cabling out from the head unit and basically junked it and just used the cabling from the speakers as well as the power wires and connected the head unit directly. It was an easy connect following the wiring diagram supplied with the head unit.

I consider my setup a low end setup as I just wanted something that doesn't distort and I want to hear some music; and an high end setup would just make the car a target for scumbags.

Hope this helps if you haven't installed it already.

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DW

89 Targa

Your car came with the premium stereo upgrade, an option. You probably have tweeters in your front door also. The point is that this is not the standard set up for 911's. You can reroute the cables like you did back to the back of the receiver or to another location to connect to an amp.

The post being all about sounds I have a question if anyone can help.What size speaker can you put in the back of a 911? I have a 88'911 and want to upgrade the rear speakers. Have a Kenwood head unit. Can you get 6x9 to fit with a spacer? I have a good set from another ride.I would like to use them but not chop up the car too much. Thanks in advance!

BTW 88'911

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Regarding the din plug- different manufacturers sometimes used different pin configurations (same plug, different wiring to the pins), so be sure you follow the Blaupunkt configuration for a stock Porsche 1980s Amp. If anyone needs a schematic of this, I have it printed out and would be glad to fax it.