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I replaced my Pioneer unit with the Clarion M508. It has an attractive simplicity that matches the interior nicely. I drive a targa so the chromatic display is quite nice, I can finally see the display while driving. It sinc’s up instantly via bluetooth to my iphone which was frustratingly slower with the pioneer. Power output is fantastic, it has 6 channels of RCA outputs that I run to my DSP before connecting to the amps. I cant even reach the point on the volume where audio clipping occurs because it would blow my ear drums. It’s made for a marine environment, so thats a bonus if i decide to go on an overseas voyage.
I like it!
Nice looking for our cars. Clarion USA M508 Marine Audio Information Sheet
I like that it retains I-Phone/I-Pod control so I can leave the I-Pod in the glovebox.
It is only 18 watts RMS per channel, so for me, a power amp under the seat for the front speakers would be desirable.
It also doesn't seem to list a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for low-frequency recovery/generation. So an external unit in-line with an external power amp would be an upgrade. BX-10 x Digital Signal Processor for Bass recovery
I replaced my Pioneer unit with the Clarion M508. It has an attractive simplicity that matches the interior nicely. I drive a targa so the chromatic display is quite nice, I can finally see the display while driving. It sinc’s up instantly via bluetooth to my iphone which was frustratingly slower with the pioneer. Power output is fantastic, it has 6 channels of RCA outputs that I run to my DSP before connecting to the amps. I cant even reach the point on the volume where audio clipping occurs because it would blow my ear drums. It’s made for a marine environment, so thats a bonus if i decide to go on an overseas voyage.
does it display song title and info with Spotify? I like the look as well
what would be needed to use this to replace the current becker headunit? Is plug and play or rewiring, change oem underseat amp? Am assuming the DSP referneced abouve would be needed as well.
what would be needed to use this to replace the current becker head unit?
thanks
Someone may make adapters for the existing audio harness plugs from which a direct fit wiring job can be done but in my case, I just soldered the new connections along the old wires.
The existing wiring harness is not the same.
The amp under the seat is underpowered
If you still have the original Premium speaker boxes they can still be used but in my opinion, removing the entire box under the carpeted cover and replacing it with most any aftermarket two-way speaker system will sound much better while still looking original
Here is what I would do with the original wiring harness:
For power, switched power leading to the antenna amp I would tap into the existing wires. I would recommend NOT cutting any wires just stripping the insulation and soldering the Clarion's wiring pigtail to the wires. The reasoning is that if at some time in the future one would want to switch back to the stock radio all they would need to do is abandon the Clarion pigtail wire and plug.
Also, don't forget about the radio alarm wire that is switched to the original radio mounting frame.
I do not like to use the mechanical scotch-lock terminals as wiretaps instead of soldering to tap into wires. Over time I feel they may not provide for a reliable connection.
For the power amp, I would run new prefabricated RCA wires to it, like those used for home audio hook-ups and also run a new switched positive wire from the new radio to the new power amp as well.
The negative power ground and constant positive power for the amp can be picked up under the passenger seat where the amp is placed or a higher capacity positive wire to the new power amp can be run directly from the battery. I would pick the most powerful two chanal amp or a four chanal amp that can be strapped into two channels that fits your budget and that actually fits under the seat. You will probably find a 150 Watt RMS per channel amp is the biggest that fits made by most manufacturers.
Under the seat, I would unplug and remove the original amp and tap into its plug wires that go to the original woofer in the door.
In the door, I would tap into the wires leading to the woofer and attach them to the replacement two-way speaker.
I would abandon in place the other speaker's wires and the original tweeter egg on the door. I found it to sound very harsh when I added it in as an additional tweeter
For the rear speakers, I would run the rear speaker wires directly from the speaker outputs from the rear speaker wires on the Clarion head.by running a new set of wires from the head to under the seat and tapping into the rear speaker wires under the seat through the amp harness. I would replace the rear speakers with OEM replacement drivers (guts) or upgrade to most any two-way aftermarket speakers as, unlike with the doors, they do not contribute any low frequencies how they are mounted and so, in my opinion, there is little benefit in spending extra money on an external power amp or high-end drivers in the back.
An option is to put aftermarket speakers in while preserving the existing rear speaker frames and grill. A new aftermarket driver can be attached to it with a little ingenuity. In my case, I did this and orphaned the original tweeter. By doing this, it sounds better than just replacing the old speaker with an OE driver and still looks original.
When done if you find the bass lacking it is very easy and inexpensive to add a Digital Signal Processor to the RCA lines going to the power amp under the seat. This can provide, for some, the benefit of a subwoofer without the complexity and loss of cabin space by installing a physical sub-woofer.
See below for the power amp pin-outs
Last edited by pp000830; Apr 11, 2020 at 03:30 PM.
what would be needed to use this to replace the current becker headunit? Is plug and play or rewiring, change oem underseat amp? Am assuming the DSP referneced abouve would be needed as well.
thanks
A DSP is overkill for most non-audiophiles. Not necessary.
The Clarion is a very nice look for the 993! I use a Continental from bergville, no complaints. But - the Conti does not have pre-out for external amps. My car has standard stereo, not hi-fi.
Here is an entry in an earlier thread on the subject that gives complete information about the wires on the back of the OE radio in the dash:
Originally Posted by boomboomthump
Below are the pin assignments and functions:
Pin 1: speed dependent volume control (white w/ red stripe)
Pin 2: (no connection)
Pin 3: (no connection in power harness - though CR1 utilizes this as telephone mute; perhaps telephone packaged cars)
Pin 4: +12V constant (red)
Pin 5: antenna power (white)
Pin 6: illumination (grey w/ blue stripe)
Pin 7: +12V switched ignition (red w/ black stripe)
Pin 8: ground (brown)
Note about pin 5: white wire on harness end is a short run and plugs into small spade connector of black wire coiled around your antenna cable to power the antenna amplifier box (you can see this in the lower right of your photo).
There is no white wire w/ brown stripe, so I suspect it is just a faded white wire w/ red stripe (pin 1 - speed dependent volume control)
To the person asking about spotify, I dont use spotify just pandora or amazon music. But with both of these it does display all of the info about the song title and artist and allows you to skip to the next song, fast forward, rewind etc.
As far as replacing a Becker radio, someone may make an adapter, check crutchfield or other mfgs. I always hard wire mine.
I’ve always used external amps to drive the speakers so RCA outputs is a must and I just remove the speaker wires coming from the radio plug to reduce clutter.
A DSP (digital signal processor) is not required by any means but can vastly improve clarity and quality. I use a Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.3, the amount of control and equalization is unparalleled via usb connection to a laptop. You can control 248 bands or equalization. A DSP can clean the signal and give optimum sound quality and control like you have never heard before.
I have an amp under the passenger seat running 100 watts rms to 4 channels, front and rears. Fronts are a component system with 6” woofers and tweeter separate. I have a rear seat delete that I built with 2-8” subs and 1000 watt amp driving both. its impressive sounding and the subs behind the seat provide a nice massage to the back while driving.
A DSP is overkill for most non-audiophiles. Not necessary.
The Clarion is a very nice look for the 993! I use a Continental from bergville, no complaints. But - the Conti does not have pre-out for external amps. My car has standard stereo, not hi-fi.
dave
I agree, in fact replacing the power amp under the seat is just optional as well, however, I found adding a power amp reduces the threshold of distortion when turning up the radio as the cabin in our cars can be noisy. Also there's nothing like cruising down the road on a sunny afternoon, with one's Standard Poodle riding shotgun and "The Blues Brothers" a wee bit too loud where the lady in the Minivan next to you feels she needs to flash you the look!
Andy
thanks for the very detailed response. Will be a useful resource for reference.
I am envious of you guys that have done much of this. But you also take for granted what for you is probably akin to swapping out brake pads. My take home is that being total electronic ignorant, i will probably go a simpler route (bergeville continental) until i have time to teach myself some wiring/circuit basics. If anyone knows a good resource for self teaching let me know.
thx again
bill
Originally Posted by pp000830
Someone may make adapters for the existing audio harness plugs from which a direct fit wiring job can be done but in my case, I just soldered the new connections along the old wires.
The existing wiring harness is not the same.
The amp under the seat is underpowered
If you still have the original Premium speaker boxes they can still be used but in my opinion, removing the entire box under the carpeted cover and replacing it with most any aftermarket two-way speaker system will sound much better while still looking original
Here is what I would do with the original wiring harness:
For power, switched power leading to the antenna amp I would tap into the existing wires. I would recommend NOT cutting any wires just stripping the insulation and soldering the Clarion's wiring pigtail to the wires. The reasoning is that if at some time in the future one would want to switch back to the stock radio all they would need to do is abandon the Clarion pigtail wire and plug.
Also, don't forget about the radio alarm wire that is switched to the original radio mounting frame.
I do not like to use the mechanical scotch-lock terminals as wiretaps instead of soldering to tap into wires. Over time I feel they may not provide for a reliable connection.
For the power amp, I would run new prefabricated RCA wires to it, like those used for home audio hook-ups and also run a new switched positive wire from the new radio to the new power amp as well.
The negative power ground and constant positive power for the amp can be picked up under the passenger seat where the amp is placed or a higher capacity positive wire to the new power amp can be run directly from the battery. I would pick the most powerful two chanal amp or a four chanal amp that can be strapped into two channels that fits your budget and that actually fits under the seat. You will probably find a 150 Watt RMS per channel amp is the biggest that fits made by most manufacturers.
Under the seat, I would unplug and remove the original amp and tap into its plug wires that go to the original woofer in the door.
In the door, I would tap into the wires leading to the woofer and attach them to the replacement two-way speaker.
I would abandon in place the other speaker's wires and the original tweeter egg on the door. I found it to sound very harsh when I added it in as an additional tweeter
For the rear speakers, I would run the rear speaker wires directly from the speaker outputs from the rear speaker wires on the Clarion head.by running a new set of wires from the head to under the seat and tapping into the rear speaker wires under the seat through the amp harness. I would replace the rear speakers with OEM replacement drivers (guts) or upgrade to most any two-way aftermarket speakers as, unlike with the doors, they do not contribute any low frequencies how they are mounted and so, in my opinion, there is little benefit in spending extra money on an external power amp or high-end drivers in the back.
An option is to put aftermarket speakers in while preserving the existing rear speaker frames and grill. A new aftermarket driver can be attached to it with a little ingenuity. In my case, I did this and orphaned the original tweeter. By doing this, it sounds better than just replacing the old speaker with an OE driver and still looks original.
When done if you find the bass lacking it is very easy and inexpensive to add a Digital Signal Processor to the RCA lines going to the power amp under the seat. This can provide, for some, the benefit of a subwoofer without the complexity and loss of cabin space by installing a physical sub-woofer.
thanks for the very detailed response. Will be a useful resource for reference.
I am envious of you guys that have done much of this. But you also take for granted what for you is probably akin to swapping out brake pads. My take home is that being total electronic ignorant, i will probably go a simpler route (bergeville continental) until i have time to teach myself some wiring/circuit basics. If anyone knows a good resource for self teaching let me know.
thx again
bill
Hi Bill,
You can always go to a local installer who can install most anything. Some local shops also carry Clarion and will do an install at a very reasonable price if you buy the unit from them. You may have to wait for the Coronavirus thing to pass.
Signal Processing - Getting cheaper by the minute ...
Originally Posted by grazingcow
edit/delete A DSP (digital signal processor) is not required by any means but can vastly improve clarity and quality. I use a Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.3, the amount of control and equalization is unparalleled via usb connection to a laptop. You can control 248 bands or equalization. A DSP can clean the signal and give optimum sound quality and control like you have never heard before.
edit/delete.
Our 993 coupe's interior/greenhouse responds, acoustically that is, very favorably to full-on tuning via DSP. The aftermarket DSP module add-ons are becoming cheaper by the minute. Yeah, I too like the Clarion radio's aesthetic.
I saw this review of the M508 on Crutchfield, which made me LOL.
"I chose this model simply because it's literally the only aftermarket single din head unit on the market that doesn't look like one of Megatron's bowel movements. "
Our 993 coupe's interior/greenhouse responds, acoustically that is, very favorably to full-on tuning via DSP. The aftermarket DSP module add-ons are becoming cheaper by the minute. Yeah, I too like the Clarion radio's aesthetic.
I have one of these under the seat next to the amp for Bass recovery. For me, it eliminates the need for any subwoofer and can be had for less than $50. BX-10 Digital Bass Reconstruction Processor
Some modern heads come with a bass recovery digital signal processor built-in so check your unit before buying one of these. The M508 doesn't seem to have such a signal processor built-in.
Andy
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Clarion M508, simple, attractive stereo replacement.
