Is there an accessible place where the non-Bose subwoofer wires in my '00 cab split to travel to each side of the car? In other words, where they cease being a single pair (like they are at the stock amp connector) and branch off to the doors? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: After digging further, as below, they don't split; within the chassis, the purple and purple/brown wires go to the passenger door, the green and green/brown wires go to the driver door. However, in each of the doors, the subwoofer wires are green and green/brown, thus my confusion when just looking at the wires in the doors.

 

It looks like I have the same basic question as this gent (PM sent to you, sir).....

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...er-wiring.html

I need to wire new subs in the doors in series and would like to use the stock wiring. Running fresh wires looks like it will be very tough with how the door wiring area is set up.

 

Looking at the M490 schematic that I found online, it appears the door speaker lines - brn/gn & green (driver side) and brn/violet and violet (passenger) have a connection point at the speaker enclosure. From that connection point, they run directly to the amp in the frunk.

 

Thanks, NP. I'm also in communication via PM with the guy in the other thread, who is trying to recall how he did it.

My wires are green and green/brown in both doors and at the amp end. I wonder if you are looking at the Bose setup. EDIT: see below, the purple & purple/brown wires are only in the chassis, thus my confusion.

 

No, this is what Porsche called the "HIFI" analog option. It is one step below the Bose option and predates the MOST connectivity. The system included 6 HAES speakers and a Nokia or HAES M490 6-channel amplifier in the frunk. The head unit could be the CDR-220 or similar. I don't know everything you have going on in your system, but if you're trying to run low impedance sub woofers, then I would recommend running higher gauge speaker lines to the location of your subs. I assume behind the rear seats? You can easily run those speaker lines through the rubber grommet behind the gas/brake pedals and through the center console. Now on the other hand, if you're putting the subs in the doors, then I'd keep it easy and use the existing Porsche speaker lines. Based on the schematic, there is only one break the lines from the enclosure to the amp. That connection break is at the speaker enclosures in the doors. This was to make it easy for Porsche techs to replace malfunctioning or problematic door speaker enclosures without having to cut wires and such.

 

I tried bifurcating once but I didn't like it. Anyway, if you're replacing the door subs, they need to be 2 ohm or they'll sound pretty bad.

 

Alright, so I have my series circuit delivering the right resistance. I just had to suck up doing more disassembly and wire splicing than I hoped to. Here are catch-up responses to various comments:

My 996 is a cab, so the doors are the main location option for subs if you don't want to clutter the interior with new boxes in some inconvenient location, or pay >$1k for custom enclosures (no to both for me). I wanted to keep the interior stock-looking and maximally-usable, creating a stealth installation. There happen to be a pair of nice 6.25"" Kicker subs that are good performers, and fit well in the doors using a solid, custom mounting scheme I put together. So my goals are doable at home, at low cost, just with some extra effort.

I figured out that indeed there are purple & purple/brown wires that handle the passenger door sub, but those colors are only within the chassis; in the passenger door, the scheme becomes green and green/brown like on the driver's side ONLY once you are in the door.

The resistance the stock audio system wants to see is moot - I am installing a complete new system (double-DIN head unit with nav, 5-channel amp, subs, dash and rear speakers, etc.) I'm using the stock wiring harness as much as possible, e.g., for the amp turn-on lead, head unit main power lead, etc.

So:

To run the maximum possible lengths of fresh wire, without dealing with the can of worms that the door/chassis interface represents, I bit the bullet and took apart the interior enough to find the right wires in the kick panel and solder fresh wires to them. This requires taking the fuse block loose on the driver's side like in the pic, and soldering to the wires that are hanging loose there. It requires removing trim on both sides; the passenger's side is much quicker and easier overall. Altogether, the extra effort enabled the series circuit I needed for the subwoofers.


The green and green/brown wires hanging in the middle go to the driver's side sub. On the passenger's side, in the chassis at the same place, the wires are purple and purple/brown.

Thanks all.