Stock Radio Replacement

[adesevara]

I've got an '04 that I'm looking to replace the stereo in (for obvious reasons). Right now it has the Becker head unit, no amp, with dash speakers only. I want to put an Alpine ipod ready deck in with MB Quarts in the dash and doors, plus something in the rear. Anyone have any thoughts on that as well as degree of difficulty involved? I've done stereo installations on every other car I've owned but from what I've been hearing, this one seems particularly challenging and there's only one installer in the area and he didn't seem too familiar with Porsches. I've seen a lot of info on this board about replacing and/or adding speakers but nothing really about replacing the stock stereo itself. Any help would be appreciated!!

[Chris_in_NH]

I've got an '04 that I'm looking to replace the stereo in (for obvious reasons). Right now it has the Becker head unit, no amp, with dash speakers only. I want to put an Alpine ipod ready deck in with MB Quarts in the dash and doors, plus something in the rear. Anyone have any thoughts on that as well as degree of difficulty involved? I've done stereo installations on every other car I've owned but from what I've been hearing, this one seems particularly challenging and there's only one installer in the area and he didn't seem too familiar with Porsches. I've seen a lot of info on this board about replacing and/or adding speakers but nothing really about replacing the stock stereo itself. Any help would be appreciated!!

sounds like you want to add iPod capability to your car. since you don't have an amp, i am guessing that there is no MOST fiber-optic bus/cable to deal with. you'll need a set of stereo removal keys from www.beckerautosound.com

your new Alpine stereo will be a standard 1-DIN size, and will pop right into your dash to replace your old stereo. you may be able to pick up a Porsche-to-Alpine adapter from Scosche or another company that does wiring harnesses. you won't have to cut any wires and this will take care of powering the stereo.

as far as wiring up the speakers, this will depend on if you use an amp or not. i recommend using an amp for what you're looking to do. on the back of your Alpine, there will probably be two sets of speaker outputs: speaker level (for if you didn't use an amp) and pre-amp outs (low level signals sent to the amp to be 'amplified'.)

so if you want door speakers (and better sound in general), you'll need an amp. and if you want rear speakers, you'll need an amp with 6 channels. you could get a factory amp from a car that had the 6 channel amp (usually 996s), but i would get an aftermarket amp that will perform better than the stock amps. so, your amp channels will be L+R dash/L+R doors/L+R rear, and you'll need another channel for a subwoofer if you want to add it later.

the door speakers in the boxster are mid-subs (only low frequencies get thru the crossover built into the factory amp), so if you don't use a factory amp, all frequencies will go to the door speakers (which might not be bad). depending on which MB Quart speakers you get (coaxial speakers or component speakers) and which amp, this is 'tweakable' (you could get just the highs to come out of the dash, and just the lows to come out of the doors.) component speakers are more expensive than coaxial speakers, so maybe look for an amp that has built-in crossovers per channel. or if you want the best sound possible, go with component speakers. lots to think about...

there is a good write up here, written by Andy M on how to add door speakers. use the search function and you shall find! ;)

there are a few rear speaker kits available on eBay for $200-250. you would have to cut the Porsche radio connector off the end of the rear speaker kit wires, and match those wires up to your amp. shouldn't be too hard at all.

so to recap:

- radio removal tools from Becker site

- Porsche to Alpine wiring harness

- amp (look for built-in crossovers)

- component or coax speakers

if you've installed stereos before, it shouldn't be too hard. swapping the head unit is probably the easiest part of all of this.

that's a start. hope this helps. if you post back with specifics (speaker models, amp, etc.) i can help more. ;)

[adesevara]

I've got an '04 that I'm looking to replace the stereo in (for obvious reasons). Right now it has the Becker head unit, no amp, with dash speakers only. I want to put an Alpine ipod ready deck in with MB Quarts in the dash and doors, plus something in the rear. Anyone have any thoughts on that as well as degree of difficulty involved? I've done stereo installations on every other car I've owned but from what I've been hearing, this one seems particularly challenging and there's only one installer in the area and he didn't seem too familiar with Porsches. I've seen a lot of info on this board about replacing and/or adding speakers but nothing really about replacing the stock stereo itself. Any help would be appreciated!!

sounds like you want to add iPod capability to your car. since you don't have an amp, i am guessing that there is no MOST fiber-optic bus/cable to deal with. you'll need a set of stereo removal keys from www.beckerautosound.com

your new Alpine stereo will be a standard 1-DIN size, and will pop right into your dash to replace your old stereo. you may be able to pick up a Porsche-to-Alpine adapter from Scosche or another company that does wiring harnesses. you won't have to cut any wires and this will take care of powering the stereo.

as far as wiring up the speakers, this will depend on if you use an amp or not. i recommend using an amp for what you're looking to do. on the back of your Alpine, there will probably be two sets of speaker outputs: speaker level (for if you didn't use an amp) and pre-amp outs (low level signals sent to the amp to be 'amplified'.)

so if you want door speakers (and better sound in general), you'll need an amp. and if you want rear speakers, you'll need an amp with 6 channels. you could get a factory amp from a car that had the 6 channel amp (usually 996s), but i would get an aftermarket amp that will perform better than the stock amps. so, your amp channels will be L+R dash/L+R doors/L+R rear, and you'll need another channel for a subwoofer if you want to add it later.

the door speakers in the boxster are mid-subs (only low frequencies get thru the crossover built into the factory amp), so if you don't use a factory amp, all frequencies will go to the door speakers (which might not be bad). depending on which MB Quart speakers you get (coaxial speakers or component speakers) and which amp, this is 'tweakable' (you could get just the highs to come out of the dash, and just the lows to come out of the doors.) component speakers are more expensive than coaxial speakers, so maybe look for an amp that has built-in crossovers per channel. or if you want the best sound possible, go with component speakers. lots to think about...

there is a good write up here, written by Andy M on how to add door speakers. use the search function and you shall find! ;)

there are a few rear speaker kits available on eBay for $200-250. you would have to cut the Porsche radio connector off the end of the rear speaker kit wires, and match those wires up to your amp. shouldn't be too hard at all.

so to recap:

- radio removal tools from Becker site

- Porsche to Alpine wiring harness

- amp (look for built-in crossovers)

- component or coax speakers

if you've installed stereos before, it shouldn't be too hard. swapping the head unit is probably the easiest part of all of this.

that's a start. hope this helps. if you post back with specifics (speaker models, amp, etc.) i can help more. ;)

The Alpine I'm looking at is the CDA-9857 (I have the same head unit with Inifinity Reference components in my Xterra and I really like it) or the CDA-9856 (same unit, no remote). MB Quarts would be DKD 110 4" coaxials for the dash (I was told they are the only size that will fit). And MB Quart PCE213 5 1/4" components for the doors. I was also thinking of adding rear speakers using the PNP kit from ebay, but I don't know how well those speakers really function. As far as adding an amp, I have no problem doing that, I'm just not familiar with them. Any recommendations on brand and installation? Thanks so much for all the information, it's been a great help!!!

[Chris_in_NH]

The Alpine I'm looking at is the CDA-9857 (I have the same head unit with Inifinity Reference components in my Xterra and I really like it) or the CDA-9856 (same unit, no remote). MB Quarts would be DKD 110 4" coaxials for the dash (I was told they are the only size that will fit). And MB Quart PCE213 5 1/4" components for the doors. I was also thinking of adding rear speakers using the PNP kit from ebay, but I don't know how well those speakers really function. As far as adding an amp, I have no problem doing that, I'm just not familiar with them. Any recommendations on brand and installation? Thanks so much for all the information, it's been a great help!!!

i read thru the manual for the CDA-9857, and as you mentioned, the 9856 is the same but without the remote (i could never understand the *need* for a remote in a car... just another piece to lose or break. maybe it's for people with extremely short arms?) :lol:

it looks like there is only one set of speaker outputs, and that you can toggle the internal amp on and off. so if you don't use an external amp, you leave the internal amp on and wire the speakers directly to the H/U. if you DO use an external amp, you turn off the internal amp and connect the speaker outs to the amp inputs, then connect the speakers to the amp outs. make sense?

the MBQ dash speakers you've selected are adequate, and they are what i've used. you might want to think about getting the next model up the line. don't get me wrong, the speakers are fine, but if you spent twice as much (around $80) i think you would be happier. i haven't tried the door speakers you mentioned, but they look fine. keep in mind that if you get an amp with crossovers built-in, you won't *need* to use component speakers. in my doors i used 6.5" MBQ DKE-116s (coax speakers).

there are many amps to choose from. the standard Boxster amps are 40w per channel, and the sound is decent and semi-loud, but i think that you'd want t a little more than the 40w per channel. i'd look for a 6 channel amp with 50 to 100w per channel. you may be able to get away with a 4 channel amp and connect the dash and rear speakers to the same amp outputs (2 channels) and the door speakers to the other 2 channels. check out www.woofersetc.com and look under amplifiers. there are MANY to choose from. i would also call a stereo installer, tell them what you want to do, and let them recommend an amp and how they would connect everything (4 channel vs 6 channel, etc., wiring speakers in parallel, etc.). then go buy the amp and do it yourself. ;) don't worry, they'll make money off some kid who doesn't know how to do it for himself. on the other hand, it might be worth it to you to pay the $100-$200 (or more) to have them do it. it really depends on how comfortable you are with DIY. of course, you could always try it yourself and if you screw it up bad enough, bring it to them. that's my motto. :lol:

when installing the amp, you'll need to find a suitable location for it. the Boxster amps are mounted against the trunk firewall in the front trunk. depending on the size of your amp, you could do that, or mount it on the floor of the front trunk, against the front wall of the trunk, or wherever it will fit. you'll want to hook it up to switched power so that the amp is only on when the stereo is on.

all this wiring stuff is complicated and very long to type, so when you get all your stuff ready to go, post here or PM me and i will give you a hand. ;)

i have heard that the PNP speaker kits from Harvey on eBay are very good, but they are too expensive for me. so i made my own, but my car is a '97. what does your rear storage shelf look like in an '04 (the one behind the seats). is it the hard plastic shelf? i'll try to find a picture to get a better idea. the basic idea to make your own is to buy some speakers that you like (i bought Pioneer TSA878 3.5" speakers http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseac...Product_ID=1014 and cut a piece of wood to mount the speakers and then just wired them up. they sound GREAT!! so ~$50 DIY vs $250 for a kit... hmmm. ;)

Edited December 28, 2006 by Chris_in_NH