Peter R.

I am in the process of acquiring gear for the upgrade in my car as wel. It now has the HiFi option (which is actually decidedly LoFi).

I've gone for a Kenwood head unit. They make lots of decent models with different looks, and there are a couple of classic looking ones. You could opt for the Becker 7820 (not too sure about the model) with built in sat nav, and it's a dead ringer for the Prosche head unit that was fitted to some models of 993. It should set you back about 400$ if you shop around, the Kenwood I bought was 300, it has a built in Mp3, and a LONG cable with a USB connector I routed inside the glove compartment.
I picked up a second hand Audison SRx4 amp for 200$ over the weekend, still in the box looking new. The front speakers I'm replacing with the Focal polyglass 165V3 3 way system. It has an 165 mm woofer, a 100mm modrange and a tweeter. I should be able to fit the speakers in the existing door mounts with little modification. I hope.

For the rears I'm debating using the 165 mm / tweeter Focal seperates I have lying around the house, or possibly modding the rear panel to receive a 200mm bass unit with a tweeter (equally from Focal). This would get me some substantial bass covering.

I have loads of monster silver speaker cable and oxygen free PS cable as well as gold pladed connectors lying around the house, so that should save me on installation materials.

I figure the whole thing should run me around 1200$, and I''l guarentee you it'll sound mighty sweet.

Peter R.

atan888

1) mcintosh
2) nakamichi
3) clarion

now if you wont mind the bling. best for the buck is
4) pioneer

centerpunch

Here's a previous thread with some good thoughts
https://rennlist.com/forums/993-forum/333894-factory-speaker-size-in-993-two-way-yes-i-searched.html

Kika

I have been looking at the Nakamichi website, and it isn't obvious if it has an iPod interface. Nor do many shops (that I have found) carry them to check them out.
Father of 3:
Less expensive speakers than Focals would be: Hertz, Diamond Audio, MB Quart, JL Audio. Although all of those companies have various lines of speakers that each fall into a different price range. for Example, the Hertz High Energy series falls rouughly in line with Focals' Power series, though at ~$550 below the Focal KP ($699) and K2P ($799) but above the KFP ($420) which is MORE expensive than the Focal Polyglass (V20 series)

Decent sound and an Ipod interface: Look at the Alpine line. I agree a little blingy, pretty much ALL aftermarket headunits are, save Nakamichi.
so while the roughly equivalent line of Hertz speakers is less than the comparable Focal, you could find a lower line Focal speaker. The Access line of Focal speakers is their entry line, though I have never seen a shop around here that had them set up. If they carry Focals, they generally display the K2P and KP speakers.
My recommendation is to listen to the speakers INDEPENDANT of the price, sure the more expensive speakers will likely sound better within a range, but NOT always. Keep in mind, the sound will depend on how the shop has set up the crossovers, amplifier and what music is being played too.

One of the shops near my office set their display (amplifier and crossover) for the Hertz coaxials, the Energy series and High Energy series speakers suffer a bit as they are not optimized, though they do sound better than the coaxials, but not as good as they could.

To some degree, we have to accept the fact that it is a bit of a crap shoot buying speakers, as the only way to KNOW what it will sound like is to buy them and have them installed. All you can do is reduce it down to what sounds good in the store, and be assured that a good installation will make them sound at least as good, if not better in your car.

ScubaJKD

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...159650,00.html

This is the pioneer head unit I put in my 993. Clean look, easy to use functions, and inexpensive.

Kika

woofersetc.com: http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm

carries a line of Nakamichi decks, but no mentio of iPod control or interface.
anyone know if Nakamichi has a product with an iPod interface? how good?

Tom W

I guess I'm the dissenting vote. My car goes in tomorrow to have an Alpine iDA-X001 added (with an additional bluetooth module). I've had an Alpine in my car for 12 years and it's time for a new one. I don't think it's too bling, but that's always a personal assessment (and this one is less than most Alpine units). The X001 provides real iPod integration and not the rudementary functionality of previous genration iPod adapters (Apple designed it). I also want integrated hands-free bluetooth and this head unit gives it too.

Even my old Alpine (tated at 45W per channel) didn't need an additional amp. This one will not either and it has no problems with the Porsche drive-block system or alarm.

My cabriolet has 80 db of noise simply driving down the road at 3-4k rpm. I'm not worried about getting high-end speaker quality as it would be a real waste of money. I'm having moderately priced new speakers added.

black ice

Nak doesn't have an ipod interface on any of their units nor do they have satellite. I wrote them a letter to ask and they said they have no plans to do so either. They did start making a "lower end" unit (I think a CD300 or something) that one an award three or four years ago - still has 24-bit D/A converter - but I think most of their units were designed years ago. Looks like they are focusing on home entertainment....

993C4Smontreal

What makes the units blings is the colorfull lights. These 2 units look pretty simple
ScubaJKD's pioneer:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...159562,00.html
and this clarion too:
http://www.clarion.com/ca/en/product...603327715.html

The nakamichi 700 is too pricy for me. I barely drive the car. I would rather get a more expensive unit for my daily driver. I can always swap back the Becker if an interested buyer wants it stock.

any opinions on them?

jdistefa

I've got a Nak Cd500 with my creative player (lossless format!) plugged into the accessory input on the back of the deck. One advantage of the Nak Cd500 is you can burn a bunch of mp3s on a disc and forget about your ipod.

Edward

The thing that bothers me about the Alpine, like so many other head units today, is that the face panel flips down in order to load a CD, then flip it back up. Hassle! I just want to pop in a disc, not go through an add'l step. If you're all about IPOD, then fine. But this one "feature" may be a significant turn off as it was for me.

Edward

Kika

jdistefa: does your Creative player plug to the cd500 via the mini/ear plug put to an RCA or can the CD500 charge it too?

I suppose that still gets quality sound directly into the headunit, but would not provide charging. it would require an additional cable to charge the ipod/zune/mp3 player, but on the other hand, allows you to plug in a portable DVD player through the same aux input.

jdistefa

Plugs into the mini plug. Creative Zen, has a very long battery life, but I've got an accessory charger through the cigarette plug.

Rudolph

McIntosh. I hear nuances in the music that I've listened to all my life that I have not heard before. But, the Fabspeed exhaust still sounds better.

Kika

jsdistefa/Matt: does the impedance match up reasonably well? by that, I mean, do you have to turn the volume WAY up on the Zen and the Nak? or can you play the Zen and Nak at moderate levels (low noise)? I am starting to lean towards the Nak CD500 and just control my Ipod normally.

thanks!