deep_uv

I had finally had enough and decided to replace my stock Blaupunkt stereo head unit with a modern Alpine CDA 9885 head unit.

I know, I know, listen to the flat 6 music. Well, on long drives to the track it would be nice to have some decent tunes so I'm making a change.

I have already replaced my speakers:
Fronts with Infinity Reference 5010CS 5-1/4" components detailed in the following thread started by Megatron-UK:
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...light=infinity
Rears were replaced with JBL GTO6426 4x6 speakers using "The dutchcrunch Procedure":
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...light=infinity

I did some research on Rennlist and in Adrian's book and learned about green wire syndrome. Decided to check my current draw before embarking on this journey to get my baseline. I have about a 110 mA draw. Disconnected everything - alarm, stereo, every fuse, every relay, still have the 110 mA draw. Annoying, but not catastrophic and at least I have a baseline. I'll save it for another thread....

I Pulled the stock Blaupunkt "Stuttgart" stereo no problem. Notice the 2 green wires, one in the stereo wiring harness and another one that plugs into the stereo mounting bracket. Both of these wires, used in the factory alarm circuit, carry voltage (I measured 5.5V on both). If not properly insulated and cared for, they can short to ground causing a major battery drain. I taped them up good and stowed them away. Here's a related thread started by Garrett376 with regard to "Green Wire Syndrome" that helped me:
https://rennlist.com/forums/964-forum/253928-radio-green-wire-questions.html

deep_uv

My next challenge involved the factory amplifier. I know, I know, It's crap according to everyone... I wanted to keep the factory amp and not have to install a new one and run new wires from the head unit. Crutchfield claimed they'd send me the all the wiring harnesses I needed for that with the new head unit, which was BS. In fairness I'm a big Crutchfield fan, but Porsche ain't their bag. I called their tech support and was told "Sorry Charlie" no way to make the cable you need.

Luckily, I happened to spot a thread on Rennlist by Rennlister adamfogerty:
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ight=amp+cable in which he'd coincedentally found a guy in
Hongkong to build him a custom blaupunkt amp cable which mated an 8 pin DIN plug to the RCA inputs needed for the new head unit along with an amp wake cable. Thanks Adam!

I tracked down the ebay member cosmicshopone by finding one of his auctions on Ebay and sending him a message asking for a cable like Adam's. He obliged and made me one for $43 US shipped. His email is cosmicshopone@yahoo.com.hk . Works great.

I then figured out all my electrical wiring - see my custom diagram and got set to go.

deep_uv

The only thing left electrically was to tie into the dash lighting so that the unit would dim at night when the headlights are on. I decided to use the ash tray lamp. It was the easiest dash light to tie into due to it being low on the dash.

As an aside, I also decided to install a Radar Detector power cord for my Passport 8500 while I was splicing wires (I promise, I never speed. It's just for observation ;-) ). I drilled a hole in my glovebox to pass the wire through as detailed in this thread by TR6:
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...radar+detector

As detailed in that thread the power cord resides coiled up in the glove box and can be brought out to plug into the radar detector while the glove box can be closed on the wire. When not in use, just it can be coiled back up in the glove box out of site.

I had lots of help from my apprentice!

deep_uv

After lots of soldering, heat shrinking, electrical taping and tie wrapping etc... I got everything stuffed in there and tidied up. For the Ipod cable, I just ran it out the bottom of the dash instead of cutting a gigantic hole in the glove box to pass the cable. If you run the cable up through the generous sized bottom crack the glove box door it fits fine with the wiring out of sight. No need to have the Ipod out in the car as it can only be controlled by the head unit in this system. Just plug it in and hide it and you can conrol it all through the head unit.

I had the unit tested by a master abuser of equipment.

The sound is fantastic compared to the old unit. Everything works and I didn't smoke anything. Miracle!



Regards,

Steve

adamfogerty

Hi Steve,

Excellent write up and glad you got it all working! Looks good!

Although I swapped out my head unit, I left the speakers stock - I think I might have to change them now too!

Adam

adamfogerty

Before I go buying new speakers I should ask - what do you think of the bass response of your system?

I can turn mine up LOUD without any distortion, etc and it sounds great...but there is virtually no bass :-(

Will swapping out the speakers help? Or is this a limitation of using the factory amp?

Thanks,

Adam

964rh

I once got told there is no substitution for size in the pursuit of bass!

Stick a couple of 12" subs behind the rear seat

Rob

TR6

Steve, I admire your skilz. Great looking installation. Although I don't often listen to the stereo in my 911, I might be tempted someday to do this just to have the option of using an ipod. I bought an ipod ready unit for my truck and I love it.

deep_uv

Hi Adam,

Well, it's certainly better than the stock speakers and head unit. Having replaced the speakers first, I was kind of disappointed in the bass with the new speakers and old head unit. After replacing the head, unit, the bass became much, much better due to being able to customize the bass level a little better with the new Alpine. It's not subwoofer deep, but it'll do for an old fart like me. Some people go with the 6 1/2" speakers in the doors which should help with the bass. I stayed with 5 1/4" for the replacements so I could keep the stock grills. Overall, my new setup is alot louder and cleaner than I was expecting, so I'm pretty happy with it. Having the Ipod and CD option is a great bonus over my non working cassette deck with crappy radio reception!

Given the condition of my speakers when I replaced them, I'd say it is a must do.

Everyone bemoans the crappy Blaupunkt amp but it's the only part of the old system that works well in mine. Given your custom plug solution, I'd say that doesn't need replacing unless you want to go really loud.

Regards,

Steve

deep_uv

Aw shucks, thanks. Yeah, the Ipod is a wonderful thing. I recently added an aftermarket Ipod connector to my stock stereo in my truck and love it too. I still like the flat six symphony, but now and again the tunes are nice to have on a long road trip.

Steve

Megatron-UK

Looks good! Glad the guide was useful. I've just edited that guide to include a link to the new location of the images... so they are still available for anyone who wants to view them (http://www.target-earth.net/cars/por...speakers.html).

I've also recently added the Pioneer ipod controller... it's fab - just through the ipod in the glovebox out of the way, and I can control everything through the head unit, my pioneer remote control, or even my pioneer voice control unit... much better than a set of phono leads and having to use the ipod interface itself!

DWS964

When I replaced my fried CR-1 with a Sony CDX-GT610Ui, Crutchfield was of little help for me, also, when it came to supplying adaptors. I really didn't want to cut into my harness just to connect the new receiver wiring. I was not going to use the factory amp, so I had to run new speaker wires from the head unit. After much procrastination over cutting into my wiring harness, and an extensive Google search, I found the proper adaptor set for my installation - at Crutchfield!
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-tR40H61...&display=L#Tab
The tech still questioned me, saying that all of his references said this would not work, but he sent it to me anyway. The adaptor plugged right in, and included wire for the antenna booster. At their suggestion, I connected the antenna booster to the switched power supply. The other four adaptors in the kit plugged into the connectors for the speakers down under the seat by the factory amp. So, I ran my new speaker wires from the head unit down under the carpet to under the seat and plugged them into the factory speaker wires. No cutting of factory wires anywhere.
Hope this helps someone else...

Dan J.

Hi,

I read this with great interest, as my Reno 2 was only showing CODE after I disconnected the battery to do some non-radio related work on the car.

Instead of spending $60 with the local dealer to get the code and revive the tape deck head unit, I spent a little more and got a new head unit. My car has the factory amp, and 6 speakers (2 in each door and 2 rear) just like the example you guys were discussing in this thread. I'm not really a audiofile, but I do like to listen to the radio for news and play a CD now and then.

The solutions you've come to in this thread are perfect, although I'm working w/o the proper connectors. Also, I'm not really adept at electrical and stereo related stuff, and have now cut into the factory amp harness and need to ask some dumb questions. Any help would be appreciated.

I have figured out how to match up the power/swicthes and cover up the green wire grounds based on this thread. I'm now looking for help on how to wire from the harness of the new head unit into the wiring for the factory amp.

The crude picture below depicts the wires I have to match up. Can someone help match them up?

Notes:
- The new head unit harness provides 2 RCA plugs that are marked (to pre-amp). It also provides 8 speaker wires (2 each to +/- for 4 total speakers).
- I'm assuming that the double-wire (one wire wrapped around an inner wire) coming from the factory amp need to be connected to the +/- speaker wires. There are 4 of these coming from the amp. Is this Correct?
- I'm not sure what the Blue and Red single (very small gauge) wires coming from the factory amp are for. Anyone?

Thank you very much in advance for advice!

Dan J.

pcar

Hello,
I just added a Head unit this weekend. If you do a search under "stereo adaptor" you should find the short write-up and the adaptor model number..

Seaflat

What is the L shaped connector for? The factory amp? That is disconnected under my dash. I have an aftermarket head unit.
I need to replace my front woofers. I may just buy the stock replacements just to not have to mess with much, but I may do the upgrades. Still thinking. I want it to look stock.