Failed DSP?
 

The radio stopped working (no sound) on my 2000 Boxster S. The radio itself seems okay...the tape player plays..everything lights up. The DSP unit below does not light up, however. I took the car to an independent car audio place since my Porsche dealer is 170 miles away. He took it apart and checked all the fuses and connections. He sent the DSP unit and the amp to an outside repair guy who couldn't find anything wrong but said he had no way to test it. Fortunately, none of this cost me anything. He would be happy to sell me an after market radio of course.

So, what next? Is the DSP repairable? Should I look for a used one? Any recommendations?

My amp on my 03 986 is intermittent. No sound for the first couple of hours, then works fine. I took it to dealer on the road & they said fault code in the amp & might need replacing. I don't want to spend the cash for a Porsche unit ( fiber optic ) model & might replace radio & amp with after market product.

Still looking for options.

Like me, I'm sure you both want to keep that factory look in your cars. However, as soon as you junk the Becker crap they put in our cars for most anything aftermarket, you will see just how good a new head unit can sound in our cars using factory amps and factory paper cone filters (providing they're in operable condition).

It will cost you piles of cash to get the factory stuff working properly again. Just have it removed and put a good head unit in its place along with a reasonably priced amp and be done with it. The $300ish dollar units I've found on Crutchfield.com even have switchable colors so it will be amber and look like the rest of the dash lamps.

I'm very pleased with my Alpine unit. The sound is so much clearer, louder, and better that I cannot believe it was not the first thing I did to the car when I got it. Plus, the CD doesn't skip with every little bump in the road!