Recommended replacement amplifiers - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

aglsteven · 10-24-2005, 04:24 PM

Ok guys,
I can't tolerate it any longer. My left speaker has been cutting out intermittently for the last two years

, so I am going to upgrade the stereo piece by piece, starting with the amp.

Can I draw on your collective experience

(I know that many of you have upgraded the sound systems)?
My plan is as follows:

1. Replace amp.
2. Replace speakers
3. Replace head unit (the Becker's are actually really good, so want to keep the stock look)
4. Rear speaker kit

If you guys could recommend a few amplifiers, I will see if I can source them here in Australia. I'm not looking to go overboard, so price range is approx. US$500.
many thanks
regards
Alex

gRed04 · 10-25-2005, 04:38 AM

Have you taken a look at Crutchfields? They carry most everything.

www.crutchfield.com

RandallNeighbour · 10-25-2005, 06:13 AM

Pairing a becker head unit with a non-becker amp may not be the easiest thing to do.

If you can stomach a different faceplate, buy an Alpine like I did and you'll be able to put whatever kind of amp you like on it, and it plays MP3 files as well... the becker units don't do that if I'm not mistaken.

I was into the "keep it looking factory" on the inside until I started comparing prices and features. Now the new stereo in the dash looks fine considering how great it sounds and the fact that it was half the price of a becker unit.

TriGem2k · 10-25-2005, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aglsteven

Ok guys,
I can't tolerate it any longer. My left speaker has been cutting out intermittently for the last two years

, so I am going to upgrade the stereo piece by piece, starting with the amp.

Can I draw on your collective experience

(I know that many of you have upgraded the sound systems)?
My plan is as follows:

1. Replace amp.
2. Replace speakers
3. Replace head unit (the Becker's are actually really good, so want to keep the stock look)
4. Rear speaker kit

If you guys could recommend a few amplifiers, I will see if I can source them here in Australia. I'm not looking to go overboard, so price range is approx. US$500.
many thanks
regards
Alex

I just finished doing a complete stereo install on my boxster. Total spent was close to $4,500.00. If you are looking to install rear speaker and already have door speaker i would highly recommend a 6channel amp. I went ahead and installed a six channel JL Audio amp for speakers and also a JL Audio mono channel amp for the subwoofer in the passanger kick panel. If you already have a factory amp, it is very simple to rewire the speakers to the new amp. If you need help PM or Email me and i'd be happy to help you out. Took me about 3days to install everything and about another two days to make a box for the subwoofer.

aglsteven · 10-25-2005, 10:35 PM

Thanks for the info guys,

I'm taking the car to an audio specialist on Friday to be checked out for the fault first. When I described it to him, he said it sounded like a dry solder joint or similar, so we'll try to isolate it to the amp or head-unit or speakers. If it's not from those, then it would have to be the wiring loom.

On the research side, I've had a look at a JL Audio 6 channel amp or an Alpine MRP-F240 which someone on Boxta.net had recommended. Sorry RandallNeighbour but if anything I'll go from my current CDR21 to a CDR22 (or 220 - as both are shipped to Aus). I really like the Becker head units.

Once that is in place, then I'll order in the rear speaker units from the US (I've not seen them for sale in Aus or fitted on any cars of my vintage yet, so that would make it pretty unique).

The Crutchfield site is excellent, but they won't ship outside the US, so we can use it for research, and then have to try and source locally. However ebay is a wonderful thing.
thanks again

TriGem2k · 10-26-2005, 10:50 AM

I have a CDR-220 that i removed from my car. The unit was replaced under warranty and less than a month later taken out to put in a full DVD Navigation. Practically brand new. Cant tell that it was even used. All button look untouched. Let me know if u are interested. I also have the factory CD changer to go with it if you like.

kajita · 10-26-2005, 11:13 AM

i have a alpine IVA-D310 dvd in my box with alpine 5 channel amp (400watt), with stock speakers. big mistake! blew my door speakers, so i changed it to fosgte mids (5.25inch) in the doors last weekend, only 50 bucks, did it myself, and wow, what a difference. thinking of putting in a sub but with all the 80's music i listen to, i dont think i need one yet. i have the ipod hooked up, (with regular audio rca into 3.5mm headphone jack cable, 12feet) to the AUX in the brain of the alpine and it works like a charm. no need for cds or changer, 1000+ music to go!!

aglsteven · 10-28-2005, 02:24 PM

Hey guys,
I've got a result. The audio shop finally found the fault, and it was the head unit. They swapped in another device, and it worked fine. So, out with the old and in with the new.

I also learnt something interesting. Blaupunkt stereo's are a plug and play fit. The only thing that won't plug in in the CD changer. However, I am going to remain with the factory look, and upgrade to a CDR22/CDR220.

Then I started talking to the guys about speakers. Their recommendation was to have a look at some Boston Accoustics SL series, which could be mounted in the original fittings, and run off the original amp (the Nokia one). So that is my initial plan. My aim is to keep the factory look but change what we can't see.
The amp will eventually go as well.

aglsteven · 11-19-2005, 10:17 PM

So I've received my new CDR220 from Ebay. Very excited.

I removed the old CDR21, connected up the ipod cable (in place of the cd changer), line all the cables up, and try and insert the head unit back into the slot.

Doesn't fit!

I looked more closely, and the CDR220 is about 2mm wider than the CDR21. So, then I removed the metal holding bracket, 'cos I reckon, then it might go in.

It does, about half way. For some reason, I can't slide the whole unit in. I can't see or get my hands in from round the back to make the damm thing slide in smoothly.

Please, can anyone offer some tips and hints how I can get the new head unit to slot in smoothly.

I'm stumped.

Do I need to take off more of the console? Is there an easier way to access it? I was lying on the ground in the passenger footwell, and trying to see, but it was all very cramped in there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Tool Pants · 11-20-2005, 12:17 PM

You are in the right direction. When you replace a 21/210 with a 22/220 you need to remove the bracket, which you have done. You might take the a/c dispay out so you can see what is going on and guide the radio in.

Interesting that your market gets the 22 and 220 as I always thought the 220 was only for North America. In the UK they only got the 22.

aglsteven · 11-20-2005, 02:32 PM

You're a life saver ToolPants,

I'll have a go at taking out the ac display tonight, so that I can access the rear of the radio.

Randall,
to answer your question, Australia gets both the CDR22 and the CDR220. The difference is in the tuning frequency. The CDR 220 covers the following regions:
USA, South America, Australia and Asia.
Tuning frequency steps for USA is 200khz, for Asia it is 50khz. There is a setting in the menu for which country it operates in. An interesting point though - if you set it to Australia, it cancels the RDS signal, so it won't display the name of the Radio station. Therefore I set it back to USA, and it works fine. RDS was only introduced in Australia a couple of years ago, and we don't have any Traffic Programmes. Not really any need, as the volume of traffic here is nowhere near what it is in the US or Europe. Even Auckland, NZ has bigger traffic problems!

The CDR22/220 doesn't have the MOST connector. I believe the CDR23 was the first unit with that requirement.

aglsteven · 11-20-2005, 11:22 PM

I took out the climate control module, which gave me all the room I needed.

Once the cables had been pushed out the way, the radio slotted in beautifully.

I then ran the ipod cable behind the carpet and phone holder to tidy it up.

All in all, took me twenty minutes.

Thanks again Toolpants, another happy customer!
A couple pics below of the final result

aglsteven · 11-20-2005, 11:26 PM

So in summary:

A CDR220 will work in Australia, but set the country setting to USA to get RDS (radio station name displayed)

If replacing a CDR21/210 with a CDR22/220, you will also need to remove the metal bracket.

To get the unit to slide in smoothly, remove the climate control unit so you can reach inside and sort the cables out

Installing an Ipod cable will mean you will disable the CD changer, which is not an issue in my books.