New Owner - C2 996
Discussion
I was 50/50 about installing the insert because of the feedback I had read. I went heavy on the grease between the insert and OEM mount which I thought should improve things if the insert can move about a bit when in place. Powerflex also revised the design slightly from what I read on 911uk, and the new version is much better than old. I will report back once I've done some more miles.
It's been a while since update but I have installed a new headunit in the car.
My car came with factory 6 speaker upgrade (option 490?), 2 dash speakers, 2 rear speakers, 2 door subwoofers, 6x40W amplifier. When I purchased the car the factory headunit had been swapped out for Alpine unit and didn't sound great. I'm not even sure it was wired properly.
What I decided to do in an attempt to upgrade ancient kit and simplify things, was remove CD changer and boot mounted amplifier, and install new Sony MEX-GS820BT headunit with built in 4x100w amplifier, running OEM speakers.
From all I read on the internet this would likely sound rubbish, however what was clear to me even as someone who had absolutely no experience on car ICE installs was that certainly a few people seem to be running the door subwoofers as standard speakers, in line with dash or rears. Not good to run different impedance / frequency speakers on same channel from what I can gather.
Front Nokia speakers and rear are impedance 4ohms each. Door subwoofers are 2ohms each.
The car has the usual Nokia connectors for amplifier and I did a bit of digging and found out that not only Porsche used these on 993 / 996, but BMW as well. I bought a cheap Boxster 4 channel amplifier first to try and rob the connector I needed but it did not work (the connector is hard mounted to amplifier PCB). What it did teach me is the connectors were the same, and only differ by location of plastic tabs on them (they are keyed basically).
I did not want to cut the factory wiring loom so bought a Connects2 CT10BM04 wiring loom for £20 which looking at photos was only thing that had the Nokia connector I needed with wires in the back. I cut this loom in half, stuck the Nokia connector in the front boot. Halfords premium speaker wire was run the same route as the amplifier / CD cabling, through the bulkhead of the car behind the battery. Headunit is now wired direct to car speakers.
How did I turn 6 channels into a 4 channel system? Sony make these headunits with this in mind, so now I run 3 channels - 1 front channel for FL / RL speakers in series (8ohms total), 1 front channel for FR / RR in series (8 ohms total), 1 rear channel for both subwoofers in series (4 ohms total). Car wiring is unaltered and all bridging of speakers done at the Nokia connector wiring, hidden out of sight behind carpet when I get a chance to tidy up.
Once powered up I made sure to set the door subwoofers as...subwoofers and tweaked the frequency cut offs by just playing around. Sounds really good to my ears, surprisingly so actually and decent clean punch from the door speakers. I've got Harman Kardon OEM system in one of my other cars and this does not sound bad at all. Headunit matches interior too (can customise colours) and dims when car lights switched on etc.
My car came with factory 6 speaker upgrade (option 490?), 2 dash speakers, 2 rear speakers, 2 door subwoofers, 6x40W amplifier. When I purchased the car the factory headunit had been swapped out for Alpine unit and didn't sound great. I'm not even sure it was wired properly.
What I decided to do in an attempt to upgrade ancient kit and simplify things, was remove CD changer and boot mounted amplifier, and install new Sony MEX-GS820BT headunit with built in 4x100w amplifier, running OEM speakers.
From all I read on the internet this would likely sound rubbish, however what was clear to me even as someone who had absolutely no experience on car ICE installs was that certainly a few people seem to be running the door subwoofers as standard speakers, in line with dash or rears. Not good to run different impedance / frequency speakers on same channel from what I can gather.
Front Nokia speakers and rear are impedance 4ohms each. Door subwoofers are 2ohms each.
The car has the usual Nokia connectors for amplifier and I did a bit of digging and found out that not only Porsche used these on 993 / 996, but BMW as well. I bought a cheap Boxster 4 channel amplifier first to try and rob the connector I needed but it did not work (the connector is hard mounted to amplifier PCB). What it did teach me is the connectors were the same, and only differ by location of plastic tabs on them (they are keyed basically).
I did not want to cut the factory wiring loom so bought a Connects2 CT10BM04 wiring loom for £20 which looking at photos was only thing that had the Nokia connector I needed with wires in the back. I cut this loom in half, stuck the Nokia connector in the front boot. Halfords premium speaker wire was run the same route as the amplifier / CD cabling, through the bulkhead of the car behind the battery. Headunit is now wired direct to car speakers.
How did I turn 6 channels into a 4 channel system? Sony make these headunits with this in mind, so now I run 3 channels - 1 front channel for FL / RL speakers in series (8ohms total), 1 front channel for FR / RR in series (8 ohms total), 1 rear channel for both subwoofers in series (4 ohms total). Car wiring is unaltered and all bridging of speakers done at the Nokia connector wiring, hidden out of sight behind carpet when I get a chance to tidy up.
Once powered up I made sure to set the door subwoofers as...subwoofers and tweaked the frequency cut offs by just playing around. Sounds really good to my ears, surprisingly so actually and decent clean punch from the door speakers. I've got Harman Kardon OEM system in one of my other cars and this does not sound bad at all. Headunit matches interior too (can customise colours) and dims when car lights switched on etc.
nunpuncher said:
This is good info as I think I have the same audio set up with a PCM1 head unit in my 2001 3.4 and I'm looking to swap it out for a single din bluetooth unit.
Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
Its not too hard to work out the wiring. There is plenty wiring diagrams for the Nokia amplifier and speaker systems. If you search for amplifier replacement you’ll get quite a bit more info as well. I liked this setup as it seemed less complex than OEM.Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
This headunit setup would also be ideal for cars with just the basic 4 speaker setup - would allow you to add a small subwoofer quite easily.
Sony actual have a new model with no cd which would be even better suited. DSX-GS80. If you look on their website the instruction manual can help make things more clear regarding what is needed for install.
It's been a while since an update.
Car has had full suspension refresh - springs, dampers, top mounts, all suspension arms (coffin arms, tuning forks etc), steering tie-rods. Also all arb's and brace bars powdercoated.
Car has just under 70k miles and parts original as far as I can tell - I would say long overdue on age alone. Rubbers were all badly perished and 'off'. I pretty much had to buy all new parts when building the shocks back up - the old bump stops and bellows, top mount spring rubber seats, spacers etc were all basically rotten! Good to budget that in from Porsche if you are doing springs and shocks...
Arms are CTE, tie rods and drop links TRW, shocks Koni rebound adjustable, springs H&R (KonI Sport Kit). 7mm wheel spacers all round by 9products.
I chose the Koni and H&R as I liked the idea of option for softer ride on the Koni's. I'm running full soft and it seems well judged - I need to put more miles on and report back.
9products 7mm spacers all round - same brand as the engine mounts and equally as nice made. I wanted light as possible and same track increase front / rear to in theory keep handling balance. Subtle change to look of car overall. I got new longer wheel bolts to fit them.
New Bosch o2 sensors as car was running a bit rich and looked like original sensors! - good idea to take the cats off, smash the tops off the old sensors and use a socket and impact gun on the bench or you risk rounding the old sensors off. You can just 'just' the old ones out with the bumper in place.
Car is aligned to x74 specs - with it all being new it was easy enough to get into spec. I'm not sure if I like the full x74 setup - feels a bit twitchy in a straight line. Handles great on the right road though.
Car has had full suspension refresh - springs, dampers, top mounts, all suspension arms (coffin arms, tuning forks etc), steering tie-rods. Also all arb's and brace bars powdercoated.
Car has just under 70k miles and parts original as far as I can tell - I would say long overdue on age alone. Rubbers were all badly perished and 'off'. I pretty much had to buy all new parts when building the shocks back up - the old bump stops and bellows, top mount spring rubber seats, spacers etc were all basically rotten! Good to budget that in from Porsche if you are doing springs and shocks...
Arms are CTE, tie rods and drop links TRW, shocks Koni rebound adjustable, springs H&R (KonI Sport Kit). 7mm wheel spacers all round by 9products.
I chose the Koni and H&R as I liked the idea of option for softer ride on the Koni's. I'm running full soft and it seems well judged - I need to put more miles on and report back.
9products 7mm spacers all round - same brand as the engine mounts and equally as nice made. I wanted light as possible and same track increase front / rear to in theory keep handling balance. Subtle change to look of car overall. I got new longer wheel bolts to fit them.
New Bosch o2 sensors as car was running a bit rich and looked like original sensors! - good idea to take the cats off, smash the tops off the old sensors and use a socket and impact gun on the bench or you risk rounding the old sensors off. You can just 'just' the old ones out with the bumper in place.
Car is aligned to x74 specs - with it all being new it was easy enough to get into spec. I'm not sure if I like the full x74 setup - feels a bit twitchy in a straight line. Handles great on the right road though.
Edited by mmcd87 on Sunday 3rd July 21:31
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