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Power connection from amp to Battery Lead turn on from amp to the Red/Blue (which is the swithced wire) wire in Socket 2 Ground from amp to vehicle chassis Splice in speaker wires- Is this correct?

So, you think it's safer to splice into the brown ground wire instead of running the ground wire with my new wiring kit directly from the ground output on my new amp to the battery? And I'm kind of stupid on this, but what's the difference between the switched and unswitched wires?

OK.. So let me make sure I've got this right... Socket 2 is the output harness (the bigger one). I would connect the turn on wire from the amp wiring kit I bought to the Red/Blue wire from socket 2 and connect to the new amp. And if I run a new ground wire from the new amp to the vehicle chassis, I don't have to do anything with the Brown Ground wire in Socket 2. And would I have to do anything with the Black/Red +12 switched wire coming from the radio? And since I don't have rear speakers, the Red/Blue wire in Socket 1 is not used either? Thanks for all your help.

Which one is the lead turn on switch for the amp? Assume if you're using an amp wiring kit, you don't need to fool with the black/red and red/blue wires, right? Just run the power to the battery, ground to chassis, and hook up the lead turn on?

Yes, Red/Blue... There's one on both the input harness and output harness.... How about that light brown wire on the output?

Installing a new amp to replace the factory Nokia... Can anyone tell me what the black/red wire and the blue/red wire is on the input harness? And also, what is the red/blue wire and the brown wire on the output harness? Thanks for the help :cheers:

Thanks Cassiebox- Do you know which wire color coming from the Becker head unit is the remote turn on, power, and ground? Thanks for your help.

OK.. Think I'm square on the input & output harness in terms of which wires go with which speaker... But, another question... When you add an aftermarket amp, you have to run the power, ground, and turn on (remote) wire to the amp. Since this thing already has a factory amp in it now, are these wires not already present and can you use them or do you have to buy a separate amp wiring kit to hook up power, ground, and turn on wire? Also, I noticed in the input harness at the amp from the Becker, there was a black/red wire. Anyone know what this one is?

Here's the link to the PNP harness for the THA 475 PNP amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...015&tp=6348 And here's the extension to run the wiring to the front or rear trunk area... http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...amp;i=023THA25M These two harnesses and one of the THApnp Blaupunkt amps are all you need... No wiring, no splicing, no running new wires... Everything just plugs into existing wiring from your factory head unit, usually the Becker CDR220. The only thing I'm not sure of is how you run the extension harness through the firewall... Anybody know??? Also, you may be able to mount this amp in behind or under one of the seats. Man... now the amp looks even better... I will probably pursue this in the near future, since I have already replaced the dash and door speakers and installed a rear speaker kit (which I fabricated). Right now I have gone a little over my budget on mods and I am doing the B&M short shifter install next. One very....simplistic (maybe stupid) question...from someone who understands very little about audio - Anyway you can just place this amp in the OEM place and simply plug the OEM connectors/wires that come from the cabin (Becker) into the new amp? You currently have the 4X40 HAES, don't you? Just wondering... If you document your DIY it will be a great help for future attempts, like I intend to do. Best of luck, Gus Yes, I have that sorry Nokia 4x40 amp. This amp should fit right into the OEM location in the front trunk with a small modification to the existing bracket that holds it in place. Once you get in there, it may not need to be modified at all... As far as the plugs, here's what you do. 1. Put the keys into the left and right slots on the head unit to unlock the radio and pull it out. 2. Unhook the existing harness that's plugged into the back of the Becker. 3. Then, plug the $9.99 Crutchfield harness into the back of the Becker where you just unplugged the factory one. 4. Then take the factory harness and plug it into the other end of the $9.99 Crutchfield harness 5. Then hook the plugs from the extension harness into the other plugs on the $9.99 Crutchfield harness, then plug all the remaining ones on the other end into the new amp. That's really all there is to it.... I've just got to find out how to get through that **** firewall with the extension harness so I can plug it into the amp. Once I get around to doing it, I'll take pics and post a DIY. OK.. I've ordered the Blaupunkt THA475pnp amp. Got it for $249 online at OnlineStereos.com (Best Deal out there) Ordered the T-Harness (that's compatible with the Boxsters) and the harness extension from Crutchfield. T- Harness is 9.99 and extension is 54.99 but you need both to mount the 475 in the factory location. The T-harness is on backorder so it may be a few weeks before I receive it. When I do, I'll take pics during the install and post on here for anyone who is thinking of upgrading their sorry factory amp. :cheers: Well, have you installed the amp yet...dying to know how it went... Actually, no... After some discussion with the tech guys at Crutchfield, they told me that Blaupunkt amp had way too much power and would blow those Alpines I already installed in the dash and doors. So I sent it back. Now, I'm going to order the four channel Alpine amp (F250) which pushes 40 watts by 4 channels, plenty enough to drive the 4" dash and 5 1/4" door speakers. So, it's still a work in progress.... Will take pics and document the install when I get around to it... :cheers:

See post #5 above ;) Missed that... Thanks.

OK.. If the larger one is the speaker output harness, what's the small one that plugs in the factory amp?? Is that speaker input harness that comes from the back of the factory Becker head unit?

smaller plug at amp is input from h/u - larger one is output to speakers. IIRC there are some nuances by MY so best to reference Bentley manual for correct MY pin out. I'll check mine for you if you'd like. That would be great... Thanks.

Cassiebox- Actually, I have already upgraded the factory speakers. Put new Alpines in both the dash & door. But with the factory amp still in, they sound as crappy as the factory Nokia speakers that came out. That's why I want to replace the Becker CDR-220 with a higher powered head unit and wire the speakers directly into it and bypass the amp. Any advice on hard wiring? Which set of plugs at the amp location go to the speakers?

There have been many topics about upgrading the factory Becker head units with aftermarket, more powerful CD players. My question is has anyone bypassed the sorry factory amplifier and hard wired the dash & front door speaker wires directly to a new head unit?? I've read where if you upgrade the head unit and all four speakers, but still run it through the factory amp, you can't tell much difference in sound quality. But, if you run the speakers directly to a higher powered new head unit, the sound is dramatically improved... Has anyone done this? Any help on how to do it would be greatly appreciated. :cheers: Cheers.

Try Crutchfield.com They sell wiring harnesses for almost any type of car.

Here's the link to the PNP harness for the THA 475 PNP amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...015&tp=6348 And here's the extension to run the wiring to the front or rear trunk area... http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...amp;i=023THA25M These two harnesses and one of the THApnp Blaupunkt amps are all you need... No wiring, no splicing, no running new wires... Everything just plugs into existing wiring from your factory head unit, usually the Becker CDR220. The only thing I'm not sure of is how you run the extension harness through the firewall... Anybody know??? Also, you may be able to mount this amp in behind or under one of the seats. Man... now the amp looks even better... I will probably pursue this in the near future, since I have already replaced the dash and door speakers and installed a rear speaker kit (which I fabricated). Right now I have gone a little over my budget on mods and I am doing the B&M short shifter install next. One very....simplistic (maybe stupid) question...from someone who understands very little about audio - Anyway you can just place this amp in the OEM place and simply plug the OEM connectors/wires that come from the cabin (Becker) into the new amp? You currently have the 4X40 HAES, don't you? Just wondering... If you document your DIY it will be a great help for future attempts, like I intend to do. Best of luck, Gus Yes, I have that sorry Nokia 4x40 amp. This amp should fit right into the OEM location in the front trunk with a small modification to the existing bracket that holds it in place. Once you get in there, it may not need to be modified at all... As far as the plugs, here's what you do. 1. Put the keys into the left and right slots on the head unit to unlock the radio and pull it out. 2. Unhook the existing harness that's plugged into the back of the Becker. 3. Then, plug the $9.99 Crutchfield harness into the back of the Becker where you just unplugged the factory one. 4. Then take the factory harness and plug it into the other end of the $9.99 Crutchfield harness 5. Then hook the plugs from the extension harness into the other plugs on the $9.99 Crutchfield harness, then plug all the remaining ones on the other end into the new amp. That's really all there is to it.... I've just got to find out how to get through that **** firewall with the extension harness so I can plug it into the amp. Once I get around to doing it, I'll take pics and post a DIY. OK.. I've ordered the Blaupunkt THA475pnp amp. Got it for $249 online at OnlineStereos.com (Best Deal out there) Ordered the T-Harness (that's compatible with the Boxsters) and the harness extension from Crutchfield. T- Harness is 9.99 and extension is 54.99 but you need both to mount the 475 in the factory location. The T-harness is on backorder so it may be a few weeks before I receive it. When I do, I'll take pics during the install and post on here for anyone who is thinking of upgrading their sorry factory amp. :cheers:

Here's the link to the PNP harness for the THA 475 PNP amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...015&tp=6348 And here's the extension to run the wiring to the front or rear trunk area... http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...amp;i=023THA25M These two harnesses and one of the THApnp Blaupunkt amps are all you need... No wiring, no splicing, no running new wires... Everything just plugs into existing wiring from your factory head unit, usually the Becker CDR220. The only thing I'm not sure of is how you run the extension harness through the firewall... Anybody know??? Also, you may be able to mount this amp in behind or under one of the seats. Man... now the amp looks even better... I will probably pursue this in the near future, since I have already replaced the dash and door speakers and installed a rear speaker kit (which I fabricated). Right now I have gone a little over my budget on mods and I am doing the B&M short shifter install next. One very....simplistic (maybe stupid) question...from someone who understands very little about audio - Anyway you can just place this amp in the OEM place and simply plug the OEM connectors/wires that come from the cabin (Becker) into the new amp? You currently have the 4X40 HAES, don't you? Just wondering... If you document your DIY it will be a great help for future attempts, like I intend to do. Best of luck, Gus Yes, I have that sorry Nokia 4x40 amp. This amp should fit right into the OEM location in the front trunk with a small modification to the existing bracket that holds it in place. Once you get in there, it may not need to be modified at all... As far as the plugs, here's what you do. 1. Put the keys into the left and right slots on the head unit to unlock the radio and pull it out. 2. Unhook the existing harness that's plugged into the back of the Becker. 3. Then, plug the $9.99 Crutchfield harness into the back of the Becker where you just unplugged the factory one. 4. Then take the factory harness and plug it into the other end of the $9.99 Crutchfield harness 5. Then hook the plugs from the extension harness into the other plugs on the $9.99 Crutchfield harness, then plug all the remaining ones on the other end into the new amp. That's really all there is to it.... I've just got to find out how to get through that **** firewall with the extension harness so I can plug it into the amp. Once I get around to doing it, I'll take pics and post a DIY.

Here's the link to the PNP harness for the THA 475 PNP amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...015&tp=6348 And here's the extension to run the wiring to the front or rear trunk area... http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...amp;i=023THA25M These two harnesses and one of the THApnp Blaupunkt amps are all you need... No wiring, no splicing, no running new wires... Everything just plugs into existing wiring from your factory head unit, usually the Becker CDR220. The only thing I'm not sure of is how you run the extension harness through the firewall... Anybody know??? Also, you may be able to mount this amp in behind or under one of the seats.

Sorry... You are 100% right and the unit you are looking at looks great, but a little pricey for the brand. Best, Gus Gus- You can buy it cheaper off Ebay... Brand new... And dude even throws in a free pair of tweeters... Then you can buy the PNP harness from Crutchfield and also the extension harness depending on where you're going to mount the amp. The PNP harness is only 1 foot long so if you need more than that (which you most likely will) you need to get the extension, which Crutchfield has also. http://cgi.ebay.com/BLAUPUNKT-THA475PNP-4-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Is this the AMP you are talking about Blaupunkt THA475? The specs seem to be sufficient, while much superior to the HAES OEM amp's. I would try to mount it in the trunk (original location) to avoid the mess of having to hide the wires in the cabin, find a good location (underneath the passenger's seat, maybe?). I would follow the existing wires to see how they go from the cabin to the trunk and try to route the wires through there.... I want to do the same conversion in the near future (for the summer)....So keep us posted. Best of luck, Gus Hi Gus- No that's not the one.... The one I'm considering is the THA-475PNP. The model you linked is the THA-475 but it's not the newer plug and play (PNP) model. The PNP is much smaller and the wiring harness you can buy with it from Crutchfield makes installing it a 2 minute job minus running the wiring harness extenstion to your mounting location. I thought about mounting under or behind one of the seats. It looks like it's small enough to do.... That one you linked is way too big to fit in the factory location. If you look at the specs, if you tried to mount it in the factory location, you would have to adjust or make another mounting bracket, plus the height of that amp would not allow the hood to close completely... I measured and the max mounting height (if you mount sideways like the factory amp) is about 7 1/2 inches. Link to the PNP is below. http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...475P&tp=115

The door speakers probably don't sound well because the factory speakers are sub-woofers and it sounds like you put in full range speakers as a result, the signal that is being sent to those speakers by the factory amp is all low frequencies hence the bad sound. If you really want to improve your sound, put the stock door woofers back in, keep the Alpine dash speakers, add in the rear speaker kit and replace the deck/head unit. The source of the crap sound is the head unit and the amplifier just makes it louder! This is what I did to my uncles Boxster, I installed a new Pioneer Avic d3 navigation head unit, kept the factory speakers and amp, added the rear fill speakers and it sounds great! He wanted more bass so I installed an 8" foot well sub with rockford fosgate amp to power the sub only and it sounds awesome. I wish I would have just done that instead of gutting out my whole system and installing a full new system,2 alpine amps, mb quart speakers. I would rather keep the stock look instead of replacing the head unit.... I have read where that Nokia factory amp is really lame and underpowered. Wouldn't you think that adding an aftermarket amp to run all four new full range Alpines would greatly improve the sound? I think it would, I'm just trying to figure out where to put the amp and how to get the harness through the firewall if I put it in the front trunk location.

Question for you DIY'ers out there... I upgraded my dash and door factory speakers w/ new Alpines. They sound worse than the crappy Nokias that came out. Problem being that weak Nokia 4x40 factory amp. That being said, I am looking to upgrade it to a Blaupunkt THA plug & play amp. You can buy that amp (4 channel) plus a wiring harness from Crutchfield so that you don't have to run any new wires nor splice any existing wires. You just plug that wiring harness into the back of the Becker factory radio, then plug the harness you just unhooked from the back of the radio and plug it into the other end of the new harness, then hook remaining plugs into the amp. And you're done. My question is, where is the best place to mount the new amp? Under a seat? In the spot where the factory amp is located? That seems to make the most sense, but how do you get the wiring harness through the fire wall and into the front trunk area to hook into the amp? Any advice or previous experience on the board? Appreciate the help. BTW, this is going into a 99 Boxster... :cheers:

Thanks for all your input... Sounds like cutting the old OEM speaker cone out and modifying the factory bracket is the way to go....

Newbie here... Own a 99 Boxster... Any idea on where I can buy the required mounting speaker bracket for the 4" dash speakers??? I really want to replace the factory speakers and have read where you need a special bracket to accomplish this... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! :)