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I received the Becker Aux cable (Lightning connector version) for my '01 w/CDR-220 on Thursday. I was immediately surprised to see the sloppy assembly of this rube goldberg setup. I was expecting a nice neat package, but this was a mass of loose wires, RCA connectors, and a huge iSimple connector box. The wires to the Becker block connector weren't even shrink wrapped, just loose thin wires.
I went ahead and installed it after using some hockey tape to wrap the loose wires to provide some control over them. I was careful to make sure that none of this rat's nest got pinched when I reinstalled the radio and the HVAC unit. It did work - but there is a significant hum when in the Aux mode.
Do I need to install a noise filter or ground loop to take care of this, or is it just a factor of all the surface area of these wires?
I don't know about the Becker unit, but I installed this cheap unit on my 01 Boxster CDR-220:
Works fine with my iPod Classic, but I did have to install a ground loop isolator to reduce the hum. It still hums in Aux with the iPod not connected, but as soon as it's connected the hum is much less noticeable.
Thanks, Clickman, that cheap unit looks a lot more professionally done than the Becker one - but the Becker has a lightning connector. I am going head over to Radio Shack and pick up an isolator and see if it helps.
It is a isimple lightning cable spliced into the two connectors. It does feel home made. Sometimes I have a loud hum. I have to turn everything off and back on and it goes away.
I got one from Becker a few years ago and had no problem with it either in appearance or function. It's the one that also charges the unit using a single wire. I think I paid $110 for it. Is that the one you're talking about? Probably not. Mine doesn't have any RCA connectors.
The one I bought was $122 - I think it differs from the $75 one due to having the Lighting connector rather than the older style. I just got in from adding a Radio Shack ground loop isolator and the noise is gone at normal volume levels - I can hear it as I crank it up, but it is much better now. But, what a mess of cables stuffed behind the climate controls! I am thinking about getting a little ditty bag to stuff it all into to at least keep it all together.
Now that I am up to about $140 and still have slight buzzing, I guess I should have just bought a new head unit! I may end up with one of the simple looking Nakamichis - that don't seem to look too out of place.
That's too bad. At the price it should be perfect. I'm thinking about upgrading the head unit as well to add Bluetooth and USB support. There is a thread here about a Nakamichi unit that looks really good. I just laid out $1100 on a new GPS for my boat so I'm treading lightly on the stereo upgrade for the moment.
Update - I am really getting terrible alternator whine with this setup -even with the ground loop isolator. This didn't happen with the cd changer prior to the switch. Any ideas if there is something more I can do to address this issue?
I think it may be related to the sloppy configuration of the cable, I guess I may talk to beckersound and see what they suggest.
my noise is intermittent. Still have not quite figured it out. Try turning off and on the radio. Then disconnecting and reconnecting the phone. Sometimes I get a loud hum and this makes it go away.
I never heard anything back from Becksound, so I requested a refund and plan to rid myself off the cable. The last time I tried to use it it simply didn't work at all - no sound from my phone.
Wow... What a mess. The one that I ordered from Becker had two small plugs that went directly into the head unit on one end, and the iPhone plug on the other end. It was a fast and easy installation and it worked perfectly.
06-20-2015, 04:15 PM
Question re: Beckersound "BAS-iPOD" cable disapointment
