Anyone hard wired speakers to new CD head unit?

[skins]

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.

[Cassiebox]

some have and have been happy w/ the results. Course of action somewhat depends on MY though. But before you throw good $ after bad.... know the biggest shortfall in the Boxster's sound system are the pathetic stock speakers. Pathetic is not the right word but I had to write something to get past the board's filter ;). They are small magnet paper cone junk from either Nokia or HAES. With good quality efficient drivers, 40W/ch from amp is good - not bass thumping loud enough to set off other's alarms but still very good. Personally, I'd start w/ new speakers allowing room (in their spec's) for an upgraded amp or h/u. If you want to upgrade the h/u now too for added functionality then by all means do but definitely do the speakers. Consider as well taking out the stock "tuned" ports in the doors and replacing w 6.5"/6.75"/6x9" drivers on wood baffles. There's a great sticky thread on upgrading the Boxster's sound system which has lot's of info on how to.

Good luck :)

[skins]

some have and have been happy w/ the results. Course of action somewhat depends on MY though. But before you throw good $ after bad.... know the biggest shortfall in the Boxster's sound system are the pathetic stock speakers. Pathetic is not the right word but I had to write something to get past the board's filter ;). They are small magnet paper cone junk from either Nokia or HAES. With good quality efficient drivers, 40W/ch from amp is good - not bass thumping loud enough to set off other's alarms but still very good. Personally, I'd start w/ new speakers allowing room (in their spec's) for an upgraded amp or h/u. If you want to upgrade the h/u now too for added functionality then by all means do but definitely do the speakers. Consider as well taking out the stock "tuned" ports in the doors and replacing w 6.5"/6.75"/6x9" drivers on wood baffles. There's a great sticky thread on upgrading the Boxster's sound system which has lot's of info on how to.

Good luck :)

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?

[juniinc]

I ve hard wired it, also posted enogugh pictures.

Yes if you are going to push it with Alpine, it does sound more louder & clear.

some have and have been happy w/ the results. Course of action somewhat depends on MY though. But before you throw good $ after bad.... know the biggest shortfall in the Boxster's sound system are the pathetic stock speakers. Pathetic is not the right word but I had to write something to get past the board's filter ;). They are small magnet paper cone junk from either Nokia or HAES. With good quality efficient drivers, 40W/ch from amp is good - not bass thumping loud enough to set off other's alarms but still very good. Personally, I'd start w/ new speakers allowing room (in their spec's) for an upgraded amp or h/u. If you want to upgrade the h/u now too for added functionality then by all means do but definitely do the speakers. Consider as well taking out the stock "tuned" ports in the doors and replacing w 6.5"/6.75"/6x9" drivers on wood baffles. There's a great sticky thread on upgrading the Boxster's sound system which has lot's of info on how to.

Good luck :)

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?

[Cassiebox]

Any advice on hard wiring? Which set of plugs at the amp location go to the speakers?

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.

[skins]

Any advice on hard wiring? Which set of plugs at the amp location go to the speakers?

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.

[davej_anderson]

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?

Are you sure you want to replace the HU? The Becker units are actually pretty good.

The problem you have is that the new speakers are probably underpowered by the amp. You'd be far better off installing a new amp instead of the HU and run the speakers off the amp.

Also, did you fit larger speakers to the OE door enclosures? If yes, then the speakers won't be working efficiently - far better to mount on a wooden baffle.

[Cassiebox]

According to the Bentley manual they are:

FL- 20

FL+ 10

FR- 19

FR+ 9

SL- 8

SL+ 18

SR- 7

SR+ 17

RL- 16

RL+ 6

RR- 15

RR+ 5

F= Dash speaker, S = Side/Door speaker, R = rear speaker

Pin #s are printed on wiring harness connector to amp (very very small). Once you use a pin extractor & get them out of the harness connector, you can always double check and test usuing a 9V battery.

[juniinc]

As cassie listed larger plug is the speaker out hardness, they are twisted in 4 pairs - the ones with stripes is your negative.

Since U pm'ed me I thought to post this pix. green,purple,yellow,orange I belive,,,

[skins]

As cassie listed larger plug is the speaker out hardness, they are twisted in 4 pairs - the ones with stripes is your negative.

Since U pm'ed me I thought to post this pix. green,purple,yellow,orange I belive,,,

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?

[Cassiebox]

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?

See post #5 above ;)

[skins]

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?

See post #5 above ;)

Missed that... Thanks.

[skins]

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?

[Cassiebox]

Yes - they are already included in the OEM harness. As such, I'd atleast use the remote turn on from h/u to wake up the aftermarket amp. You can choose to run a clean power source and ground if you like (might need based on power too).

[skins]

Yes - they are already included in the OEM harness. As such, I'd atleast use the remote turn on from h/u to wake up the aftermarket amp. You can choose to run a clean power source and ground if you like (might need based on power too).

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.

[juniinc]

forget about the Becker's factory remote on! If you are going to put a new head unit , u will need a remote wire from your new unit.

And I wouldn't never use those skinny 16AWG fatory wires for the power source to my new amp!

Edited May 12, 2008 by juniinc

[Baconaire]

I have. I just wired some speakers on the rear deck directly to a Pioneer head. I just have the 4 channel amp. No problems. Just need to fiddle with the fader. Much nicer having speakers behind my head. Mine were cheap KLH home speakers but they wedge under the rollbar perfectly.

I believe these are them: http://shop.vendio.com/bb4chewn8/item/9601...5/?s=1210501958 . Now I have a 1998 2.5. I took out the leather storage thing. Like I said for $40 a pair they fit perfect and sound good. Not meant for cars but they work. If they blow I don't care. But I've cranked them for over a year with no probs. I can't speak for newer cars.

[MR.G.]

Different amps and head units with amps use different output ratings. RMS is the standard. I believe that the stock amp uses a different rating than RMS so the output is higher.I beleive the factory amp is rated at 40w x 4 unless you have a the premium system. I changed the head unit out with an Alpine rated at 18w RMS at 4ohms. Some factory units are rated at or use 2ohm speakers. This artificially inflates the systems efficiency. I changed all my speakers and went with Polk 4ohm and of course 6.5 in the door. I kept the plastic baffel and mounted the 6.5's where the fives were with some minor cutting with the dremel and then gooped in the cracks. Then I wired in (parallel) two pioneer 4 x 6's (for the back) to the front units since they draw less power than the 6.5's. Tip: put an ohm meter on the speaker wires of the add-on speakers (parallel) prior to hooking them up to ensure that you don't exceed the 4 ohm range. You can NOT simply start adding speakers to any system without changing the ohm value unless you connect them properly. Doing so can burn out your new amp. Anyway my system is upgraded slightly different than everyone else has done. Making new baffels and the like and spending several hundred dollars. My system sounds fantastic for around $200. I purchased my Polks at Circuit City on sale and the Pioneers at good old Wallyworld.

MR.G.