boulderbobo

Thought I share some pics and description of my latest project.

I am currently upgrading the OEM sound system. I have been all over the map on what to install. Here is the current plan.

• Alpine CDA - 9887 head unit.
• Alpine PDX - 4.100 power amp
• Dynaudio 242 GT 2 way component speakers

My current plan includes a front stage only. I have amp capacity to add a small (10") subwoofer if I need me low end.

Head Unit. I ever so much wanted to keep the oem look of the Becker head unit. I was leaning towards one of the new Becker units, but just could not make it work. I actually tried to change from a CDR 210 to a CDR 220. The deal did not go smoothly. For me, when things don't go right I probably wasn't meant to be. Sorry Bob. So I went for sound quality and interface with my Iphone.

Power Amp. Picked up a brand new 4 channel Alpine unit for a very reasonable price on my local CL. I am planning to mount the power amp under the passenger seat. We'll see if it fits.

Speakers. The Dynaudio speakers are very highly respected in the car audio community. I have not heard these yet. They were not inexpensive. More to come on this.

Dynamat. The Dynamat is a sound dampening material which is applied to the door sheetmetal. Theoretically it dampens door vibration and reduces road noise. I plan to install dynamat on both door panels. It is a fair amount of work to do this. The dynamat is relatively inexpensive. From what read it is worth the investment.

Installation. So far I have the dynamat and the speakers installed on the DS door. The mid woofer fits in the existing opening. The tweeter requires boring a 2" hole in the door sheet metal behind the tweeter. Ugh. Routing the wire with the door loom was a bit tricky. I think the door speaker still look like OEM.

Oh, my buddy Yosemite Sam came by to check out a 3 spoke that would look better in his car than mine. Too cool. Multiple 993s in my garage. Jim is good people.

Here are the pics so far. I know I have a long ways to go.

More to come!




Bob-

bobesser

Wow, you are not playing around with the Dynamat. Just curious, how much did that much sound deadening weigh? Speakers look good. Looking forward to the head unit install.

Bob

matt777

Looks good. I installed the CDA9886 last year. Subs will still likely be needed for very good sound quality. I'm pretty happy with the Rod Birch subs with the low end JL 8W1s. I biamped off of the an PPI450 4x50 amp which also runs the door speakers. You should have the option to do something like this if you decide you need more low end. The amp is mounted in the trunk up against the fuel tank on a board which is hidden behind the carpet. I thought I might have to add another amp but it is fine. If you go with 8W3s then another amp would be required.

boulderbobo

Bob, Thanks for the opinion on the speaker look. I think the speaker insall looks fairly stock, so I am happy with that. I was a little worried about the weight of the dynamat too. I'm guessing it will add a couple of pounds per door. It is not as heavy as I thought it would be. I need to skip a couple of meals to compensate for the added weight.



Bob-

boulderbobo

Matt, If I decide to add a subwoofer maybe you could share some pics of your insatll. It sounds very professional. I was thinking that at some point down the road I would add 1-10" somewhere in the rear of the car. I have seen subs in the rear footwell, and in the rear seats.

The CDA-9887 HU has a electronic crossover built in so I sould be able to dial in the desired low frequencies. For now that will be a project left for later.



Bob-

JPP

Looks good Bob, but I can see your pup is more interested in "Ride Quality" than "Sound Quality". And, holy c*ap, is that stock window tint??

matt777

Sure. I copied the amp install idea from another Rennlister. I think I considered nearly every sub install idea out there including buying/making an RSD just to mount them. The Rod Birch/Car Audio subs in the rear footwell are the easiest to install IMHO unless you consider some of the portable units.

Raptor

After install (below):

bart1

Great choice in components. I have an Alpine head (9887? in the 993) in both my cars. Great iPod interface. And I have some Dyns sitting in a box waiting. Been trying to decide if I actually want to work on audio in the 993. And the Alpine amps are great.

JPP

That's very cool. I had an Amp surface mounted on top of the carpet that I took out because it got in the way all the time and looked like HELL. Do all strut braces mount like that, under the carpet? What type is that? Does the amp get enough air flow under there?

boulderbobo

Hey JP, Abby loves to ride in the P-car.

The window tint is not oem. It is a 3M product. Pretty nice stuff. Looks really good w/ GR. It's a little dark at night. Not street legal either.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...beT4DCJBL6BVgl



Bob-

boulderbobo

Hey Raptor. I was hoping to mount the amp under the passenger seat. Did you consider this location? I would like to minimze the penetrations thru the firewall.



Bob-

JPP

Yes she does! I miss my Irish Setter ....

bart1

There have been PDX amps mounted under the px seat - they are all the same size.

boulderbobo

Bart, that is good news. Thank you.



Bob-