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derekcohen · 10-03-2023, 08:10 AM

I recently went through the journey of replacing the Porsche/Becker CR220 and Haes amplifier. According to the specs on the amp, it is 4 x 40 watts, and I will assume that this is not RMS.

The new system is a whole another level: Alpine Ilx-507a ... which is 14 watts x 4 (probably RMS), but this would not do much for volume unless the speakers were fairly efficient and the car (986S) was just idling! So the Alpine KTP-445U power pack amp was added (4 x 50 watts rms). The power pack replaced the Haes in the trunk. This feeds Focal speakers in the dash and doors (ICU100 and ICU130). I retained the rear (original) speakers for now, and they are pretty weak and will be replaced at some stage.

These Focal speakers are dual cone. The sound is very clear and detailed. Excellent spatiousness and imagery. The downside of the ICU130 is that they do not produce much bass - in retrospect I should have gone for the ICU165, but went safe with the original sizing. So in came a Pioneer TSWX140DA under seat powered subwoofer. This is really compact and fits behind a seat. 50 watts rms (170 watts music power). All the amplification is Class D. The added bass fills in the sound very well, and seems also to add more detail in the mid range.

This is just a wonderful system, and does not need to be played loudly with the top down. There is just so much power on tap.

The head unit has wireless Car Play, but the real joy is its ability to stream from Tidal and - even better - to connect a SSD and play FLAC files up to 96 bits (CD quality is 44.1). The little SSD can be seen in the tray.

I hope this info help someone.

Regards from Perth

Derek

10-03-2023, 08:10 AM	#26
derekcohen Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 22	I recently went through the journey of replacing the Porsche/Becker CR220 and Haes amplifier. According to the specs on the amp, it is 4 x 40 watts, and I will assume that this is not RMS. The new system is a whole another level: Alpine Ilx-507a ... which is 14 watts x 4 (probably RMS), but this would not do much for volume unless the speakers were fairly efficient and the car (986S) was just idling! So the Alpine KTP-445U power pack amp was added (4 x 50 watts rms). The power pack replaced the Haes in the trunk. This feeds Focal speakers in the dash and doors (ICU100 and ICU130). I retained the rear (original) speakers for now, and they are pretty weak and will be replaced at some stage. These Focal speakers are dual cone. The sound is very clear and detailed. Excellent spatiousness and imagery. The downside of the ICU130 is that they do not produce much bass - in retrospect I should have gone for the ICU165, but went safe with the original sizing. So in came a Pioneer TSWX140DA under seat powered subwoofer. This is really compact and fits behind a seat. 50 watts rms (170 watts music power). All the amplification is Class D. The added bass fills in the sound very well, and seems also to add more detail in the mid range. This is just a wonderful system, and does not need to be played loudly with the top down. There is just so much power on tap. The head unit has wireless Car Play, but the real joy is its ability to stream from Tidal and - even better - to connect a SSD and play FLAC files up to 96 bits (CD quality is 44.1). The little SSD can be seen in the tray. I hope this info help someone. Regards from Perth Derek Last edited by derekcohen; 10-03-2023 at 08:14 AM.