Kenwood 9140 04' Targa

[cmgleason]

Ok so I have now installed the Kenwood DNX 9140 into my 04' Targa. A few points for those who might want to use the existing Bose speakers which I did. I have the M680 pkg (cdr 23 & 6 channel MOST amp) which gives me dash, doors, & rears as well as a sub by the passenger footwell. I am using an Alpine PDX 5 amp. The fronts- tweeter/midrange are 2 + ohms & the doors -midrange are also 2 + ohms. The rears are 4+ ohms tweeter/midrange & the sub is one ohm & is not separately powered. This drove me crazy since the documentation is all over the ballpark & of course this is a 996 & not a Boxster which I assumed would have much of the same wiring but--. Bottom line I connected the doors & dash in series which gave me 4 + ohms as measured at the harness. To do that I found that "Pep Boys Auto Stores" (national auto parts store) carries male connectors for the Bose premium sound system installed in many GM cars. I then connected these to the Alpine speaker wires & used heated shrink wrap insulation which was perfect to allow the connectors to be pluged into the existing female factory MOST harness without a matching male plug. I needed only two jumpers to connect the negative to positive wires of the Left & right dash/door speakers to enable the serial connection . Then I connected the other two wires positive & negative back to the amp for each side. That required only two channels & the rears took the other two channels of the Alpine. After a great deal of angst & a recommendation from Greg who has posted here & is an engineer as well as a former installer, I simply turned the gain way down on the Alpine for the unpowered sub channel & the system sounds just terrific. I can use all of the head unit controls & I have true 5.1. I also used an audiovox rear view camera which worked out beautifully. Finally there have been many posts on the AVIC3 & the bypass hack as well as the speed sensing wire. The Kenwood has no wire for speed & the bypass is super easy. It just require that the ground wire be connected to the parking sensor wire. I do not recommend placing the GPS antenna under the alarm sensor at the front of the windshield. IT is just way to much effort & you are likly to break something as I did. In retrospect I would place it under the plastic cover in front of the windshield by the trunk on the left side of the battery. It only needs not to be blocked by any metal going to the sky. I did this with the Sirius antenna & it works great. That will save hours of hassel. If you have a 6 channel system it would be even easier to get a new 6 +1 amp which eliminates wiring speakers in series assuming the amp is stable down to two ohms like the Alpine PDX 5. I also considered other alternatives such as wiring the doors & sub together which I may still do since the plug in harness has worked out so well. There are no wire splices with this setup. But at his point I am really happy with the sound. I also placed the voice command button in the ashtray which keeps it out of the way unless used & is also a very handy place for it. The microphone will eventually go where the factory mic is located behind the plug next to the instuments but for now it is zipp tied to the steering adjustment handle below the steering wheel. People tell me the bluetooth sounds like a high quality speaker phone on their end with no odd noises.

Question: Is there a separate wire in the factory cdr 23 plugs for the antenna control wire from the head unit to be attached? Since there is no powered antenna I am wondering if the antenna might in fact be amplified thus requiring a connection to the head unit in addition to the plug in antenna? If someone could point me to a wiring diagram for the antenna and/or the cdr23 plug i'd appreciate it. Thanks Cris

[sanjeev]

Hi, I don't know about the antenna wire, but here's a connection diagram for the CDR23.

Do you have the (Pep Boys') part number for the speaker connector adapter you used?

Thanks,

- Sanjeev

cdr23_connectors_1_.pdf

[cmgleason]

Hi, I don't know about the antenna wire, but here's a connection diagram for the CDR23.

Do you have the (Pep Boys') part number for the speaker connector adapter you used?

Thanks,

- Sanjeev

Attached is a picture of the package purchased from Pep Boys. There are several male plug sizes from which to chose which will allow connection to other female plugs in addition to the MOST harness. I've read a post about the Tyco plug but did not have time to source it out. This workes really well. Thanks for the diagram. In reviewing what I have there is no white/blue wire which is supposed to be on the cdr 23 wiring harness for the atenna output. I do have a white wire which seems to work when I connect the HU antenna output wire to it. Do you perhaps have the wiring diagram for the plug end? Thanks

[salman_surrey]

Ok so I have now installed the Kenwood DNX 9140 into my 04' Targa. A few points for those who might want to use the existing Bose speakers which I did. I have the M680 pkg (cdr 23 & 6 channel MOST amp) which gives me dash, doors, & rears as well as a sub by the passenger footwell. I am using an Alpine PDX 5 amp. The fronts- tweeter/midrange are 2 + ohms & the doors -midrange are also 2 + ohms. The rears are 4+ ohms tweeter/midrange & the sub is one ohm & is not separately powered. This drove me crazy since the documentation is all over the ballpark & of course this is a 996 & not a Boxster which I assumed would have much of the same wiring but--. Bottom line I connected the doors & dash in series which gave me 4 + ohms as measured at the harness. To do that I found that "Pep Boys Auto Stores" (national auto parts store) carries male connectors for the Bose premium sound system installed in many GM cars. I then connected these to the Alpine speaker wires & used heated shrink wrap insulation which was perfect to allow the connectors to be pluged into the existing female factory MOST harness without a matching male plug. I needed only two jumpers to connect the negative to positive wires of the Left & right dash/door speakers to enable the serial connection . Then I connected the other two wires positive & negative back to the amp for each side. That required only two channels & the rears took the other two channels of the Alpine. After a great deal of angst & a recommendation from Greg who has posted here & is an engineer as well as a former installer, I simply turned the gain way down on the Alpine for the unpowered sub channel & the system sounds just terrific. I can use all of the head unit controls & I have true 5.1. I also used an audiovox rear view camera which worked out beautifully. Finally there have been many posts on the AVIC3 & the bypass hack as well as the speed sensing wire. The Kenwood has no wire for speed & the bypass is super easy. It just require that the ground wire be connected to the parking sensor wire. I do not recommend placing the GPS antenna under the alarm sensor at the front of the windshield. IT is just way to much effort & you are likly to break something as I did. In retrospect I would place it under the plastic cover in front of the windshield by the trunk on the left side of the battery. It only needs not to be blocked by any metal going to the sky. I did this with the Sirius antenna & it works great. That will save hours of hassel. If you have a 6 channel system it would be even easier to get a new 6 +1 amp which eliminates wiring speakers in series assuming the amp is stable down to two ohms like the Alpine PDX 5. I also considered other alternatives such as wiring the doors & sub together which I may still do since the plug in harness has worked out so well. There are no wire splices with this setup. But at his point I am really happy with the sound. I also placed the voice command button in the ashtray which keeps it out of the way unless used & is also a very handy place for it. The microphone will eventually go where the factory mic is located behind the plug next to the instuments but for now it is zipp tied to the steering adjustment handle below the steering wheel. People tell me the bluetooth sounds like a high quality speaker phone on their end with no odd noises.

Question: Is there a separate wire in the factory cdr 23 plugs for the antenna control wire from the head unit to be attached? Since there is no powered antenna I am wondering if the antenna might in fact be amplified thus requiring a connection to the head unit in addition to the plug in antenna? If someone could point me to a wiring diagram for the antenna and/or the cdr23 plug i'd appreciate it. Thanks Cris

Hi,

I have the non MOST BOSE system with sub-woofer. I've got an aftermarket NavSure system attached which works fine but I find with the current set-up, the sub-woofer is too powerful (intrusive) at low volume. The after market has a separate sub woofer din line which is not attached at the moment and I was wondering if I can connect that to the sub-woofer.

My aim is to be able to control the sub-woofer from the aftermarkets Equalizer menu.

Hence the question, is it possible to control the Bose subwoofer and if so how to access the sub-woofer and connect up.

Also as a second job will try to place GPS antenna under the plastic cover in front of the windshield by the trunk on the left side of the battery as suggested in your post.

Will let you know how it goes.

[speed8]

Hello

I've just bought an X50 turbo and unfortunately it has MOST (early 03MY). I have a Becker Cascade sitting in the garage that I would like to use and have been thinking about how to go about it... Getting another amp to replace the MOST one is unavoidable it seems but after that it seems a little trickier in places without changing a bunch of speakers too and I don't really want to get into that as I mainly only want Nav/Bluetooth and adequate audio.

With a 5 channel amp could you run the door and rear speakers through the amp but the dash speakers from the head unit. I could run the fronts in series but is there any degradation in sound quality? I've been told you could get back emf issues due to differences in the speakers.

The main problem seems to be with the sub. The Bose sub is 1 ohm which is an unusual impedence I think. Question, is it 2 x 1ohm subs in parallel or is it 2 x 0.5ohm in series. If the former then surely they could be converted to series and run as the 5th channel on the amp (could you put a resistor in series instead?). Or.. the Bose amp is a 6 channel I believe meaning there should be another amp for the sub somewhere. Does that mean you can just take the head unit sub out to the OE sub amp and use the 1 ohm speakers? Does something happen to the signal in the Bose amp other than converting from fibre-optic to copper?

If I can get the answers to some of these questions from somewhere I'll take a crack at it next time I'm home.

Cheers

[cmgleason]

Basically a lot depends on which MOST Bose system you have. There is the stock version 4 channel & the Bose upgrade sound system M680 which has the 6 channel Bose amp. In terms of amps you have two choices that I might suggest. Many posts talk about the Alpine PDX5 which is a four channel amp plus a mono 5th channel for the sub. If you use that amp it will work fine with the sub even though the sub is one ohm. Simply turn the gain down on the amp and adjust it with the head unit. Many folks say that amps are not stable below 2 ohms but this seems to work just fine at least for the sub. You'll need to check the impedamce at the harness after you disconnect the old amp to verify the resistance in your speakers. You'll find the wiring diagrams on this site. In my case the rears were 4 ohms while the doors & dash were 2 ohms each. Therefore I wired in series the doors & dash to get a balanced load of 4 ohms per channel. The sound is outstanding & I have left the factory gain settings of the Alpine except for the sub as described. The head unit has so many controls I still have not gotten them figured out so I am going slowly but I am liking it alot. My sub in the passenger footwell was not powered so another way that would work would be to use the din wire from your head unit for the sub which may make you more comfortable than using the 5 channel amp to power the sub. In that case you could save a few dollars by getting a four channel amp. You'll find some wiring notes above that may help as I had a tough time figuring out what I was going to do. As an alternative you might consider a JL 6 channel amp which I believe has no stability restrictions eliminating any rewiring but of course the HU would need to support the 6 channel setup & very few do. The only rewiring necessary is at the harness & consists of just two jumper wires to connect the doors & dash in series plus the wires to go from the amp to the speakers also at the Bose harness. Like you I am not all that into the audio but wanted GPS Bluetooth, voice controls so I could shift change channels & talk as well as ipod. I threw in a rear view camer while I was at it. Last but not least I was pleasantly surprised to find out these old ears really can tell a differance between what I had & what I got.

Hello

I've just bought an X50 turbo and unfortunately it has MOST (early 03MY). I have a Becker Cascade sitting in the garage that I would like to use and have been thinking about how to go about it... Getting another amp to replace the MOST one is unavoidable it seems but after that it seems a little trickier in places without changing a bunch of speakers too and I don't really want to get into that as I mainly only want Nav/Bluetooth and adequate audio.

With a 5 channel amp could you run the door and rear speakers through the amp but the dash speakers from the head unit. I could run the fronts in series but is there any degradation in sound quality? I've been told you could get back emf issues due to differences in the speakers.

The main problem seems to be with the sub. The Bose sub is 1 ohm which is an unusual impedence I think. Question, is it 2 x 1ohm subs in parallel or is it 2 x 0.5ohm in series. If the former then surely they could be converted to series and run as the 5th channel on the amp (could you put a resistor in series instead?). Or.. the Bose amp is a 6 channel I believe meaning there should be another amp for the sub somewhere. Does that mean you can just take the head unit sub out to the OE sub amp and use the 1 ohm speakers? Does something happen to the signal in the Bose amp other than converting from fibre-optic to copper?

If I can get the answers to some of these questions from somewhere I'll take a crack at it next time I'm home.

Cheers

[The Hoth]

Hello,

I did not know you posted your upgrade here.

When you receive my amp, I hope it will help your situation.

BTW, that is some technical stuff. I tried to read it and my head is still spinning.

I can't wait to get your good amp though. I have got to do the paypal stuff soon.

[speed8]

Basically a lot depends on which MOST Bose system you have. There is the stock version 4 channel & the Bose upgrade sound system M680 which has the 6 channel Bose amp. In terms of amps you have two choices that I might suggest. Many posts talk about the Alpine PDX5 which is a four channel amp plus a mono 5th channel for the sub. If you use that amp it will work fine with the sub even though the sub is one ohm. Simply turn the gain down on the amp and adjust it with the head unit. Many folks say that amps are not stable below 2 ohms but this seems to work just fine at least for the sub. You'll need to check the impedamce at the harness after you disconnect the old amp to verify the resistance in your speakers. You'll find the wiring diagrams on this site. In my case the rears were 4 ohms while the doors & dash were 2 ohms each. Therefore I wired in series the doors & dash to get a balanced load of 4 ohms per channel. The sound is outstanding & I have left the factory gain settings of the Alpine except for the sub as described. The head unit has so many controls I still have not gotten them figured out so I am going slowly but I am liking it alot. My sub in the passenger footwell was not powered so another way that would work would be to use the din wire from your head unit for the sub which may make you more comfortable than using the 5 channel amp to power the sub. In that case you could save a few dollars by getting a four channel amp. You'll find some wiring notes above that may help as I had a tough time figuring out what I was going to do. As an alternative you might consider a JL 6 channel amp which I believe has no stability restrictions eliminating any rewiring but of course the HU would need to support the 6 channel setup & very few do. The only rewiring necessary is at the harness & consists of just two jumper wires to connect the doors & dash in series plus the wires to go from the amp to the speakers also at the Bose harness. Like you I am not all that into the audio but wanted GPS Bluetooth, voice controls so I could shift change channels & talk as well as ipod. I threw in a rear view camer while I was at it. Last but not least I was pleasantly surprised to find out these old ears really can tell a differance between what I had & what I got.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I'll probably go the 5 channel route and the Alpine looks pretty compact. I'll tackle it in a few weeks when I get some time to look closer at it.