2003 996 Stereo Upgrades

[Purist]

Hello all...

I'm the new owner of a 2003 996 C2 Cabriolet. It is an amazing machine and I love it!

While I love the music coming from the back of the vehicle...I *really* love the music on my iPod and am pretty used to nice audio equipment...the head unit on my ride is dead. It has a stock CDR Becker dealie in it as well as a 4-disk changer in the boot. No BOSE upgrade.

I'm pretty handy with these types of things and I've already purchased an Alpine iDA-X001, which looks like a great iPod/HD radio/satellite radio unit and it looks like it fits very well too. I also purchased the becker removal tools.

HOWEVER, unbelievably in my mind, there is little discussion that I can find on how to circumvent the MOST system and get a nice aftermarket unit in place. As I understand it, the MOST system controls communication between the head unit, amps, and CD changer - the speakers are still copper runs. I should just be able to leave the fiber runs in place and just replace the head unit using the existing copper runs to the speakers, no? The CD changer is going away - I have no need for CDs.

There's got to be a way for me to drop the new head unit in without too much trouble on my own - right? Any tips or suggestions would be MUCH appreciated. To start with I will probably drop the head unit in and wait on the AMPs and new speakers/satellite module...but those will come soon!

Thanks,

Matt

[Purist]

I usually try to round out my topics and provide some sort of summary if possible, so here goes...

I wound up going to "Sound Solutions" in Chantilly, VA (corner of rte. 50 and rte. 2 simply because I wasn't comfortable digging around under the dash myself just yet.

It turns out my 996 only had MOST between the head unit and the 4-disc CD changer. No AMP involved. SO...the head unit had speaker wire running straight out of it which was perfect!

I wound up putting in my iDA-X001 along with Sirius and Bluetooth handsfree (for my trips to DC where you have to have handsfree). It rounded out around $900 for everything and took around 3 hours.

I love having my iPod in the glove box with my entire music collection and being able to interact with it via the head unit display (playlists, searches, etc.) and the XM and Bluetooth work flawlessly. It fits in with the dash fairly well although the color is a litttle bright.

That's it for now...on to the wheels!

Matt

PS - If anyone wants a stock 4 disc changer I'll be selling it.

[monkeydust]

Thanks for the update with the patch you chose to take. I love having my iPod hooked up to my stereo. I just wish it was integrated more and my stock CDR220 did more than just control the volume.