Carlos from Spain

Thanks for all the info Rod. I have seen painted boxes matching the exterior, they look very good. Seems we agree on speakers too, I loved thos Focal Polykevlar speakers and I picked them for my wifes car that was done a few months ago.

FineProperty

Just put my deposit down on my 01 996tt. I can't wait to get started on stuff like this. Crazy what I'm spending on a depreciating asset. I can't wait to drive it home. Thanks for all the helpful info Rod (I'm sure I'll email you directly as you don't check Rennlist often).

hotrodc4s

right arm!

Have fun with the Twin. Let me know if you want me to make a mobile trip. I just made one such trip for a fellow with an '02 996TT in Vegas, 'flew down from Sacramento(SFO actually) with my older brother who was picking up an old Suburban he won on ebay from someone meeting us at the Vegas airport. Then we took care of my customer Dave in town there (Dave had previously driven his C4 cab to me in Roseville/Sacramento from Vegas!!!), then we drove my brother's "new" (early 70's, but all fresh drivetrain and interior!) Suburban back. Road trip! It was actually exhausting. My customer mentioned he has a cabin southern Utah, I'll bet that's nice. I think you've got a bunch of very scenic areas out there!

I'm always here for questions too!
-Rod

EVVRJB

Rod:

Can you post/provide instruction for a 993 w/ the hifi option? I have replaced the in-dash tuner w/ a nice Blaupunkt that looks "factory" but am still using the factory amp set up under the pass seat.

I want to remove this from the system entirely and run direct from in dash unit to spkrs. Can the existing wiring be used to avoid having to run new wires?

Also interested in your recomendations for door spkr & rear deck spkr replacements

hotrodc4s

hello evvrjb,
The installation instructions are about 3 pages long for the radio installation, the same for the speaker installation, and the amp installation, about 9 pages total, with pictures. You can email me at work at hotrod930@msn.com and I can reply back by attaching all three documents in .doc format, as can any Rennlist member, for free.
On 993's with the hifi option (factory Nokia amp under the passenger seat, 3 way components in the doors, 2 way components on the rear shelf in the coupes), there's no simple way to bypass the amp because you're basically driving 10 speakers off a head unit designed to run 4. Component separates, even the non-hifi setup with 2-ways in the doors (separate midwoofer and tweeter) really require amplifier power, head units just don't provide enough clean power. They advertise 50x4 or whatever, but that's max power (20 or so continuous) at 10% distortion. A real, offboard amplifier can provide the minimum 50 or so continuous watts required. On your car, the speaker wiring is somewhat simplified for an aftermarket amp installation because the wire already terminates at the factory amp. I lean towards yanking out the crappy Nokia speakers in the doors and replacing them with a quality 6.5" component 2-way set. A compact amp will fit under your passenger seat, though you'll need to run a power wire for the amp to the battery with a fuse, but this is all covered in the installation instructions. I like the Focal speakers for their quality, value, and fit. There are several price options available, but I'd caution against buying them online at the super discount sources, lest you end up with defaced serial numbers and product without a 3 year manufacturer warranty. (Plus, you can help keep the "little guy" shops in business, which makes it worthwhile for them to provide advice based on real experience....) I like the Audison amplifiers, they're compact, powerful and clean and fit under your passenger seat. www.audison-america.com and www.focal-america.com

For rear speakers, on the cabriolets w/hifi, 4" coax's do the job, I like the $159.95/pair Focals. On the coupes with hifi, you can adapt these into the factory speaker mounts, but it's a project. I've actually left the stock rear speakers off of deck power in several of these cars, upgrading the door speakers (money is better spent there and the door location has more potential to sound good too). You can even upgrade the rears with a 4" component set on the hifi cars, but it's even more of a project.

let me know if this helps, and questions are always welcome!

-Rod

hotrodc4s

oh, sorry, another note. That factory Nokia amplifier is a 6 channel amplifier, making it hard to interface just a head unit to drive the speakers. It could be done, parallel wiring, but your head unit would likely overheat from the load and fail eventually, sounding poorly on the way. I haven't actually tried it, but I think that's where you'd be. A basic set of coax's in the doors and rear would be easy for head unit power, but even that crappy factory Nokia amp puts out more power than any head unit, so a head unit instead would be a downgrade that I think wouldn't prove wise.

'hope this helps!

-Rod

benjr

Kick Panels are the best way to go for the best imaging. I have 8 " subs mounted in the doors. It sounds very clean and accurate but not ghetto. I got mine done at Speaker Works in Orange California. They are some of the best around no matter what anyone says. They even used factory Porsche connectors sourced from the dealer to install my radio. Instead of using ugly cheap wire loom they used Porsche loom. It looks bone stock but sounds like a rock concert!

forbes500

Hey there Rod you seem to be the Oracle of all things Audio and Porsche!

Off topic somewhat so apologies but I've had a look and can't find a posting...

Oh wise one, can you please tell me how I can stop my alarm from chirping after I had a shop fit an aftermarket head unit to my '99 Cab?

Should I leave a sacrificial offering somewhere ;-)

Rob

newport996

I can help with that one....there is a spade plug that need to be removed from the factory radio cage in the dash. It tells the car when the radio has been removed, but since your aftermarket radio doesnt talk to the alarm, the car thinks the radio has been stolen. Its on the left side of the radio, I THINK its a blue wire....I found this out by accident...I was looking for a ground issue, saw a wire just dangling and plugged it in...then got ALL KINDS of false alarms...then saw this mentioned and removed it.....

himself

It's ironic that so many people want this result and here you are trying to get rid of it ; -)

-td

newport996

yeah except mine had a ton of false alarms and no way to tell if the car was locked properly......

Benjamin Choi

this **** is so complex! i wish there were clear upgrade packages. like a stage i, 2, 3 power upgrade kit or whateveron those audi b5 S4s back in the day.

Duane993

Rod,
Thanks for the informative posting. Having recently moved from the Bay Area, there is a lack of quality, innovative installers in San Diego.

NOBY

Nice thread, but hey its like 3 years old 2004

gota911

Yeah, but I'm sure the technology hasn't changed at all in 4 years.