Improving Carrera Audio without cutting holes or ugly head units

[r-mm]

(sorry, posted this in for sale by accident)

For the first 6 months I owned my 87 coupe I didn't turn the radio on. Love the sound of the car, always had the sunroof open. Now I'm doing some longer drives and finally got around to replacing the disintegrating original speakers with Pioneer replacements (their top of the line series D in the front and the so-so A's in the back because the D's weren't available in 4x6.) . Still, just 4 speakers in their original sizes. Original Blaupunkt Reno. Sound is really not so great. Using a tape adapter to play the iPhone sounds even worse than the so-so radio reception. What are my options?

I REALLY like the retro vibe of the Blaupunkt and there is no way in hell I'm cutting any additional holes for speakers anywhere, or suffering aggressive teenage looking grills or the like. Don't care about bass. Really don't want to add an amp or anything like that. Is there any hope for better sound? I guess this just leaves the headunit, or maybe even better 4x6's in the rear?

I think some of you here had a pretty good looking Nakamichi head unit with sympathtic illumination. Would this make much of a difference?

Also, is there any way to adjust the f/r balance with the stock setup? The headunit just has L/R fader. I installed the front speakers first, and when turned up they sounded very good. Then I added the rear speakers and noticed that they overpower the fronts and don't sound as good, plus its sort of odd to have more volume from the back. Does the stock setup have an amp? I though I recalled seeing pics of a Reno + Amp for sale and wondered if this is a std setup.

[yazhound]

Often the over powering factor depends not just on speaker placement but also on the efficiency of the speakers themselves. If the rear are more efficient you will need to adjust fade to give more power to fronts. I have same issue myself but will be adding head and smaller sub to better accomodate the need for better dynamics.

If unit does not have f/r fader you have limited options.. swap the unit or swap the speakers with ones with better efficiency. And fronts owing to placement below ear level will need to have a reasonably greater efficiency than those in rear.

[Justin@Athens]

There should be a measly 15w amp under the passengers seat from the factory. It probably no longer functions, and if it does you wouldn't know it. I would look to put a small sub under the passenger seat for bass. Here is the unit I used.
Amazon.com: Kenwood KSC-SW10 5-Inch x 7-Inch 150-Watt Max Powered Subwoofer with Remote Control: Car Electronics Or you may find something better.

You can run it off the 12v that went to the factory amp. I think your biggest problem is probably the head unit though--maybe look at some new Becker or Blaupunkt units, RPD-435 maybe. You can use the 3.5mm line in to the sub for your ipod instead of the head unit as most of the ones you are going to find that look period correct won't have an aux port.

[christiandk]

Bought the new Bosch (Blaupunkt) Dover unit. Very subtle and classic looking.

Audio :: Truck Radios :: Bosch Dover USB40 24V -

[Justin@Athens]

Originally Posted by christiandk

Bought the new Bosch (Blaupunkt) Dover unit. Very subtle and classic looking.

Audio :: Truck Radios :: Bosch Dover USB40 24V -

That looks nice! Me likey!

[wwest]

Other than the F/R fade issue all you need do is add a 4 channel amplifier that has a MOSFET DC-DC upconverter. Legacy/(obsolete) systems used only the 12 volt base battery supply to drive the speakers, even in the best "bridge" speaker drive configuration the 12 volt limit would over result in "flat-topping" higher level waveforms. The higher the frequency, the worse the effect gets, less time of the low voltage to overcome speaker inductance and back EMF.

In my '78 Targa my amp is bolted to the bottom of the passenger seat with a heavy duty power supply wire (an fuse, inline) directly to the battery.

I liked the "retro" look of the factory original radio but finally caved to get "direct" CD capability, multi-cd player. Kenwood head unit, one that isn't such a "show-off", gaudy, out of place in our cars.


Those of us being a bit more mature, musically speaking, upgrading to a good set of speakers, STRONG MAGNETS, will more than suffice BASS wise.

[r-mm]

Christian - That Bosch Dover is good looking - but runs on 24v? How did you make that work in a 911? EDIT - i see it comes in 12 or 24v. Wonder why I can't seem to find it advertised on a US website. Maybe Bosch doesn't distribute AV in the USA?

Wwest - do you have a link to the type of amp you're recommending, or some models I can check out? I truly do not know what I'm shopping for when I look at this stuff.

[hesmart]

You are quite lucky that no one has cut the factory wiring for the stereo system. To avoid having to cut any wires you can get this from Crutchfield:

Model number: 120701822

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_120701822/Receiver-Wire-Harness.html?showAll=N&search=120701822&avf=N&skipvs=T

That wire harness will allow you to install almost any receiver. However, there are also some Blaupunkt DIN to RCA adaptors you can find on Ebay if you want to maintain your Reno, but are looking for clean power out of an external amplifier.

[r-mm]

I might have understated the degree that I don't know about car audio.

So the Reno has DIN output, either directly to the speakers or to a lousy amp then to the speakers.

Options are:

1. Get a better amp or add one. Does this require going DIN>RCA because most amps are expecting RCA input?
2. Replace Reno with sympathetic looking head unit, use wiring adapter mentioned above to avoid cutting.

[hesmart]

You don't necessarily need the DIN->RCA connector. You could run a "high-level input" directly into an external amplifier. That would mean running the speaker wires from the head unit directly to the high-level input of the amplifier (instead of using RCA wires).

You might be better off taking out the stock Reno head unit and installing a nice aftermarket unit. You can get a pretty good ones with usb, bluetooth, and cd for about $150. You can always re-install the Reno if you go to shows or for resale.

[nineball]

the headunit is the source of your audio, so that is the main limit-setter if you will as to what you can achieve. while it may look nice as a period-correct unit it is still ~30 years old. there are lots of new models that are not obtrusive, you just have to hunt around for one that you can live with. even a basic $99 model will most likely sound better than what you have.

head over to crutchfield or sonic electronix and browse their selections. sonic is generally cheaper but no one, and i mean no one, can touch the customer service you get from crutchfield.

[r-mm]

Any other recommendations for vintage looking headunits with Aux input, preferably available in the USA?

[darrin]

I primarily listen to tunes stored on my iPhone when I deviate from the joys of my flat six symphony and rarely listen to the radio. As a result, while I still have a period correct radio in place, I've installed a power amp under the passenger seat and feed my front speakers from the power amp. Most power amps have rca-type inputs (these are typical home audio connectors) that accept a line-level signal -- I bought a cable from radio shack that runs from the headphone jack of my iPhone to the power amp's rca inputs and can feed my tunes directly to the power amp. I extended the front speaker wires under the front carpet so they terminate at the power amp and have found that I get the best sound leaving the rear speakers out of the iphone>power amp setup. I did, however, leave the stock radio connected to the rear speakers so I can listen to the radio that way. One day, I may mess with adding a switch that will let me choose between the radio and my iPhone, but for now I'm happy with my setup as0is

[shipfaced]

My '80SC with the factory option 4 speaker set-up was wired funky so I would check this first. The original Blaupunkt 2-channel head was wired: Left chnl=left front; rt chnl=rt frt, rt rear, left rear in series. Had to run new wire to rear speakers to get true 4 channel when I updated head (yes, this was a major PITA). Just something to verify while you are at it....

[rusnak]

Porsche did have several different head units available, and indeed sometimes wired in a F/R fader in the center console. There was even an equalizer on a gooseneck in some 911s that were dealer installed. And as some have said, there were amplifiers too. So there is no holy grail of stock purity to cling to.

I would definitely cut holes in the door cards for better speakers. No cutting of the sheetmetal is necessary other than the obligatory hole for sheet metal screws on the bottom speaker holes in the doors. The rear may be more tricky. I would re-upholster the rear deck to allow for proper speakers.

The limiting factor is power, as has been already said. You've got to be at peace with a separate amp and a upgraded head unit. The choices are very slim aesthetically here. That Bosch Dover unit is very handsome, so you may go that route.

I've got one of the very last, and I mean last quality units manufactured by Blaupunkt. It's a Blaupunkt MP74 Seattle with an external tuning mic and separate RCA input jacks. I've looked at buying a spare used unit but they can go for $1,000 now on the second hand market. I've recommended the old school Soundstream Reference 500 amps, which have been re-introduced. They are the only good ones that I've found still available.

This is all assuming that you really in fact do want quality audio. It's more difficult than ever to get good sound in a 911 but that's due to the fact that the audio market has all but vanished. A lot of useless garbage is being sold, and the collective wisdom is very slim nowdays.

[Concept2]

I just installed a Blaupunkt head unit in my 87 3.2. Looks way better IMO than the previous JVC that was asymmetrical w/ colored buttons. It does have a blue light behind the knobs which I could do without but the overall style is much more in line with the factory unit. Plus, you get Bluetooth hand free calling and streaming. I fit the external microphone right behind the wheel.
http://www.amazon.com/Blaupunkt-Toronto-Receiver-Control-Bluetooth/dp/B008FYFBVG

[KTL]

I have an amp that may interest you. It's a rather old Denon DCA-800 6 channel amp. I built a custom carpet-covered wood panel that holds the amp and screws it to the floor on the passenger side, utilizing some existing threaded holes already present on the floor. Very clean installation. Only caveat is you need to raise the seat a bit with some rail spacers. I luckily already had a set of factory seat rail spacers.

I used a basic Blaupunkt Miami Beach single CD head unit that looks period correct. Gray LCD display with orange backlight. Ran the wires from the head unit harness to the amp via RCA convertors (has to be something more modern than that nowadays?) and ran speaker wires from the amp to the door speaker wires w/out having to fish them into the doors themselves. Rear shelf speakers were able to have new wires all the way from the amp to the speakers.

I used a pair of separates for the door speakers with external crossover. The door speakers benefit from separate tweeter & woofer since that speaker is buried down at the bottom of the door with the door pocket also blocking it. The rear deck speakers were some 5x7 coaxial ovals with tweeters that pivot. Worked out pretty good. Nothing super high end. Just some decent components to make it sound way better than just a plain head unit powered system.

[PCA7GGR]

Check out the Sony CDX-M630 CD/CD-R/CD-RW or similar head unit. DIN unit with AUX input to connect your iPod or similar MP3 player. It's a flip out display faceplate that is dark when not activated via the wireless remote. Usually one or two are listed on EvilBay.

[nickyclyde]

I love the looks of my nakamichi cd 4000 and I consider myself really old school. But I am an audiophile and there are very few head units that don't sound screechy and don't give me audio fatigue VERY quickly. In my vw vanagon I have Macintosh head unit , zed amp and dynaudio and Macintosh speakers . Around $4500 worth. Porsche system not as nice but way less expensive and no audio fatigue. Very pleased and very good looking

[nitram]

I just recently installed a Blaupunkt Los Angeles CD01 in my '86 930 and I absolutely love it. It was a "new old stock" item that I stumbled across on ebay. It requires an external amp but was well worth the trouble. While it is not factory original, it looks period correct.