mlincoln

Hello Rennlisters,

I have a 1995 C4 with the Alpine CR-1 radio. It is going bad: the sound is very distorted and plays at an abnormally low volume when I first turn the car on. About ten or fifteen minutes later, after the radio warms up, it works normally. Perhaps there are some bad capacitors on the board that need repair.

I've searched the Rennlist about the various replacement options, such as the later CDR 210 and 220. These would require a modified wiring harness as my harness is Alpine, like most early 1995 993s. A faceplate polarization update from Becker is also apparently needed to enhance readability.

Honestly, I just want to listen to the news on the way to the grocery store (I have four ravenous girl children, so I go there a lot). Can anyone recommend a shop that can fix my CR-1 for a reasonable price? Alternatively, does anyone have an unused CR-1 sitting around, perhaps left over from their own upgrade?

Thanks for any advice,
Mike Lincoln

Kika

Mike,

I understand the desire for a period correct radio, and if that is the objective, you can probably find a cdr210 pretty cheap as many upgrade to the cdr220. For about the same price, you can get a current aftermarket radio that will sound much better, as well as offer blue tooth and other modern touches. We seem to also have moved beyond the disco era of flashing lights too, so today's radios look a bit more reasonable in a 993.

Pioneer has some very nice headunits.

As far as fixing, alpine electronics is in torrance, ca. You can google their repair department.
Not sure if Becker NA will fix. Swstereo is another.

mlincoln

I checked with Alpine by phone and talked to a really helpful technician who managed their account to Porsche in the mid 1990's. He said that there's only a 50-50 chance of fixing the average failed CR-1, because it may need several parts in total and not all parts are available. Alpine only guarantees all parts are available for 15 years post manufacture. That said, if I ship it to them they have a flat $35 diagnostic fee that includes return shipping, and $120 in total including return shipping if they can fix it. Any fix is awarded a three month system-wide warranty. He said that sometimes these old units have capacitors and resistors going bad, and another one may fail after a successful repair, so a permanent repair may be a gamble. If a 2nd failure occurs before 3 months, then Alpine will repair it for free, even if unrelated to the originally failed part.

Perhaps I should look for a more modern unit. Does anyone have suggestions on one? Also, does anyone have information on converting the Alpine CR-1 plugs to Becker-compatible plugs? Perhaps Becker has some sort of intermediate adapter cable or something. If anyone knows more, I'd be grateful to know of it.

Mike

therossinator

In practice, CDR-210s are more more expensive than the CDR-220. The 220s are much easier to come by and there are a ton of different variations (traffic pro, etc) while not too many of the 210s were made and the cars that are increasing in value and worth the most (the 993s) came with the 210, so people who want the most money for their car are putting the CDR-210s in and since the car is expected to sell for more the owners can spend more for the radio they want.
My best advise would be to wait for a CR-1 to show up on eBay, this will keep it authentic, be very cheap, and serve the needs you described above. You just need to be patient and the right CR-1 will come around.

x50type

In my experience you are spitting in the wind looking on Ebay for a WORKING CR-1 radio.
Last year my CR-1 went out, i searched Ebay for months, one came up at $275 but the seller had bought it at a swap meet and didn't know if it was working.
I think you will have a similar experience if you find one on Ebay.
Eventually i pulled out the nokia amp and cr-1 and for less than $100 put a modern, fair looking radio in my 993 with all the bells and whistles i need - it sounds perfectly good to me too. Honestly, I just want to listen to the news on the way to the grocery store (I have four ravenous girl children, so I go there a lot) - me too sans the ravenous ones.

However, this solution is not acceptable to the 'originality-at-any-cost' snobs nor the audiophile fan boys who seem to be are prepared to spend $3000 [maybe more] to try to achieve audio nirvana in a noisy 993...................

mlincoln

Hmmm…So there's a Nokia amplifier in the 993 with CR-1? I've spent many months in Finland over several years, and so I'm a friend of all things Nokia. I wonder if my amplifier is going bad, instead of the head unit. Where is the amplifier (under a seat, in the trunk, for example), and how could one test to distinguish the failure of the head unit from the amp? I suppose that means "pull the head unit and hook it up to a known good amplifier and speakers" or something.

Terviset (cheers) to any Finns out there (or Tervist ("health") to the Estonians,

Mike (craving reindeer with lingonberry sauce about now, at the Stockmann's cafeteria)

Spyder_Man

I've got a CR-1 that is giving me troubles too, but I suspect it is a loose connection on the antenna (radio signal and sound cuts out all together). There is also an high pitched whirring sound that seems to raise in pitch and volume when I apply more throttle (distributor issues?).

I am familiar with the CDR-220 from my Boxster ownership and could be content converting over to that from my CR-1, but again I need to learn more about how the wiring harness would need to be altered.

Are there any special considerations that should be made for swapping a CR-1 for a CDR-220 when the car also came with the factory HiFi system including digital sound processing. I'd be ok swapping out the head unit (and possibly the amp) but I don't want to gut the whole factory setup. Thoughts?

x50type

the nokia amp is under the passenger seat. my 993 has the hi-fi option, i dont know for sure if the standard system has the amp.
the bunch of cables is for the 10 speakers. the 25 pin plug is only available in industrial quantities i believe.
i didnt want to run new speaker cable so connected into the existing speaker harness.
the cr-1 rear connection plugs are obsolete, so i had to cut off the old receptacles in the dash and fit new ones compatible with the new radio.
as you mention, under normal circumstances its not possible to test the amp and radio separately to see where the fault lies. i suppose it can be done, but no one was interested in doing it -- hey man, just buy a new radio [head unit], they are cheap enough.

M. Schneider

The MY95 CR-1 Porsche/Alpine radios have modest internal amplification as do the Porsche /Becker units. The Porsche/Becker units in addition have a "line level" type output to facilitate connection to a external amplifier; often with greater output power than the radio's chassis size and fundamental voltage would allow.

I see the CR-1 Porsche/Alpine unit on Ebay.de more often than not.
As for fitting a replacement radio there are many,,,, understated, aesthetically speaking, radios available and wiring should be a snap when using one of the many "connector" strategies available. As example. http://www.metraonline.com
Don't cut the wiring of the car ........ My .02 cents.

The current crop of automotive radios have standard features which easily enhance the 993s stereo performance. Good luck.

M. Schneider

The audible "high pitched whirring sound" is a ground fault or ground loop; Most likely at the CR-1 radio's rear 12v connections.

I will stake my next breathe the ignition distributor is not the culprit . . . .

Spyder_Man

M. Schneider: Thanks for the feedback. I know the distributors are old and crusty and need cleaning in my car so I wondered if they might be causing havoc on electrics elsewhere.

I can tell a previous owner had a hands free unit (and likely another head unit) installed in the car so I suspect the wires behind the head unit have previously been subjected to some mutilation. I think this would explain both the loose ground and loose antenna connections.

I assume the CR-1 has special removal keys and a security code like the Becker units to, correct? I'll have to approach the local dealer to see if they can provide me with those keys and radio code before I attempt to solve the loose wiring issues.

mlincoln: Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I think we're seeking similar information though. FWIW, I would agree with the assessment of a failing capacitor that is causing the 'warm up' period of volume change.

x50type

M Schneider said, "I see the CR-1 Porsche/Alpine unit on Ebay.de more often than not. "

Are they guaranteed to be in good working order and what prices do they bring?

Would you replace a defective 19 year old CR-1 with another 19 years old CR-1 from Ebay?

mlincoln

I have just confirmed that my vanilla 1994 C4 has no Nokia amp, like the one x50type pictured above. That must be only in the "HiFi" optioned units. So there's definitely something wrong with my head unit. I think I'll take it out and send it to Alpine in Torrence CA for the $35 diagnostic fee, in case they can fix it.

I looked on Ebay.de and didn't see any CR-1 radios currently listed. Perhaps is Alpine can't fix it, then the best thing would be to just buy a newer CDR-220 and have it fitted with the properly polarized screen. Perhaps Becker can sell me some sort of plug converter.

Unless anyone has their old CR-1 gathering dust in a box in the attic or garage…if you do, please contact me.

Best, Mike

M. Schneider

Mike, is your vanilla 1994 C4 a (993) 911?

A buddies MY95 993 in Germany has a Clarion brand radio/CD that wasn't more than 120 Euros.
The Clarion radio looked understated in the 993s spartan dashboard, the lighting was an exact copy of the yellowish hue and the stereo CD sounded great played through 6.5 inch coax door mounted speakers. About 120 Euros,, what's not to like? (the 993s OEM tweeter pods remained present, however disconnected)


Cheers, Mike

mlincoln

Yes, it is a 993 model year 1995, built in December 1994. I might be interested in the Clarion. How to acquire?