rear speaker wiring to a haes 6-channel amp?

[drem914]

I just picked up a 6 x40 M490 amp to replace my 4 x40 M490.

I currently have my rear speakers wired the HU. I want to know how to run the rear speakers to the 6 channel amp.

I have not gotten under the dash yet to see how to route the wires through the firewall into the amp in the front trunk. I wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions like pull wires on how to get the wires into there and will I have to take anything more off than the support bracket for the amp and the cover plate to the battery.

I know I will have to disconnect the current connection to the HU and I have the extra connector to wire into the plug on the amp.

And before any one says anything about changing the amp for a more powerful aftermarket unit, I just did not want to get into the full wiring of the installation yet. I figured the rear speaker could also use a power bump before I upgrade the speakers them selves to Polk db401's in the front and pairs of db351's for the rear.

[kbrandsma]

There is a large rubber plug on the fire wall behind the battery tray on the driver's side. On the interior it is just above the gas pedal. You can cut a small x in the plug and route your wires through. Be careful not to push the plug through.

Battery side

Above the gas pedal from inside the vehicle

I did the install a year or so ago and I have other photos. Let me know if you need assistance.

[Tool Pants]

This reminds me one of these days I need to do this. I bought the rear speaker box long ago, to replace the zippered bag my 1997 had. Bought the amp long ago. Bought the rear speaker kit long ago. Bought the correct pins for the amp connector. Did a dry test long ago to make sure everything worked.

Just need the time to put it all together

[drem914]

There is a large rubber plug on the fire wall behind the battery tray on the driver's side. On the interior it is just above the gas pedal. You can cut a small x in the plug and route your wires through. Be careful not to push the plug through.

Battery side

Above the gas pedal from inside the vehicle

I did the install a year or so ago and I have other photos. Let me know if you need assistance.

thanks, I went looking last night when i got home before seeing this but did not look behind the battery. There is the grommet to the left of the battery with a huge wire harness coming through, but I did not see or look for one behind the battery.

Thanks,

BTW is there supposed to be a top to the cabin air filter?

[kbrandsma]

The filter just snaps into the housing and really is unprotected once you take off the cowling.

The wiring harness on the passenger side takes up most of the space in that grommet and I chose not to disturb the integrity thru the bulkhead there. The driver's side provides a simple routing of the cable to the back of the head unit. You will need the longer amp harness to connect to the brown plug behind the radio and make it up to your new amp.

[drem914]

The filter just snaps into the housing and really is unprotected once you take off the cowling.

The wiring harness on the passenger side takes up most of the space in that grommet and I chose not to disturb the integrity thru the bulkhead there. The driver's side provides a simple routing of the cable to the back of the head unit. You will need the longer amp harness to connect to the brown plug behind the radio and make it up to your new amp.

Any idea what the part no. is for that? I'm going to check my parts catalog right now. Also, would i want a MY 2003 harness so it covers all 6 channels from HU or did they already come fully wired that way already in 2001?

[kbrandsma]

The filter just snaps into the housing and really is unprotected once you take off the cowling.

The wiring harness on the passenger side takes up most of the space in that grommet and I chose not to disturb the integrity thru the bulkhead there. The driver's side provides a simple routing of the cable to the back of the head unit. You will need the longer amp harness to connect to the brown plug behind the radio and make it up to your new amp.

Any idea what the part no. is for that? I'm going to check my parts catalog right now. Also, would i want a MY 2003 harness so it covers all 6 channels from HU or did they already come fully wired that way already in 2001?

Depends on what you have. Did you orginally have the M490 sound package with the 4x40 AMP and you are upgrading to a newer 6x40 AMP? Is the 6x40 AMP new or puchased used? Did your rear speaker kit come with your car as an option or did you purchase the PNA 986 KIT or the after market speakers from Harvey Peck at PNP. When I upgraded my AMP my rear speakers were already installed in the brown plug in the back of the radio. I purchase a long extension from Harvey for $30 or so. The brown plug snaps into to the extension and I routed as I indicated above. I have some short extensions if you want to make your own longer one out of it.

The pin assignments for the rears for your new 6x40 AMP are different as well. What is the Part no. for your new 6x40 AMP and I'll get the PIN assignments for you. You also have to cut off a male key on your new 6x40 AMP so your existing AMP harness will mate properly with it. See red circle in photo below.

Edited September 22, 2009 by kbrandsma

[drem914]

The filter just snaps into the housing and really is unprotected once you take off the cowling.

The wiring harness on the passenger side takes up most of the space in that grommet and I chose not to disturb the integrity thru the bulkhead there. The driver's side provides a simple routing of the cable to the back of the head unit. You will need the longer amp harness to connect to the brown plug behind the radio and make it up to your new amp.

Any idea what the part no. is for that? I'm going to check my parts catalog right now. Also, would i want a MY 2003 harness so it covers all 6 channels from HU or did they already come fully wired that way already in 2001?

Depends on what you have. Did you orginally have the M490 sound package with the 4x40 AMP and you are upgrading to a newer 6x40 AMP? Is the 6x40 AMP new or puchased used? Did your rear speaker kit come with your car as an option or did you purchase the PNA 986 KIT or the after market speakers from Harvey Peck at PNP. When I upgraded my AMP my rear speakers were already installed in the brown plug in the back of the radio. I purchase a long extension from Harvey for $30 or so. The brown plug snaps into to the extension and I routed as I indicated above. I have some short extensions if you want to make your own longer one out of it.

The pin assignments for the rears for your new 6x40 AMP are different as well. What is the Part no. for your new 6x40 AMP and I'll get the PIN assignments for you. You also have to cut off a male key on your new 6x40 AMP so your existing AMP harness will mate properly with it. See red circle in photo below.

1. I had the original M490 amp 4x40 in the car. I am upgrading to a newer 6x40 amp purchased used.

2. I have installed the OEM PNA 986 rear speaker package into my factory storage box and wired to the rear of the Factory Becker 220 HU. The package came with the 12" extension to hook to the amp

3. The part no. for the amp is 996.645.323.00. I have no problem shaving the the male key so the amp will connect.

[kbrandsma]

Great, it seems you have a couple of options depending if you shorten (cut) your wire that came with your rear speaker kit. If you didn't you need to get the wire to within 12" of your new 6x40 AMP in order to use your extension. You can route the cable brown plug and all up to the AMP or cut of the brown plug, leaving enough room to re-solder it after running the wire to the AMP. I know you can get the brown plug through the bulkhead grommet but not sure about getting past the moat and into the trunk. The pins are hard to remove from the brown plug without a special pin extraction tool.

You could also contact Harvey Peck and order a longer extension for $30 or so. I may have an extra one, I'll take a look. Harvey is an excellent souce regarding your AMP. I have the following AMP:

996 COUPE M490

996.645.311.00

Other AMPs may work but I know this one does for sure. Perhaps others can chip in.

The PIN assignments for 996.645.311.00 are:

RL- 16

RL+ 6

RR- 15

RR+ 5

Here they are inserted into the harness

Also CLICK HERE for another thread on the same topic.

Edited September 23, 2009 by kbrandsma

[Tool Pants]

One of the days I need to put the stuff in and take pictures. This is the way I was going to do it. I have the factory rear speaker kit, the newer style kit that includes the extension.

Take the end of the long cable that would usually go to the back of the radio, and plug in the extension. The 4 pins on the end of the extension are not the correct round type that would plug into the amp connector. This is a picture of the front of the connector, and you can see the round style pins. You see empty holes where you can add more pins.

Cut off the pins on the end of the extension and crimp on the correct 4 female round pins. I have posted pictures of them before and I think the part number - get them from your dealer. Then insert them into the correct empty holes from the back side of the connector. The holes are numbered, so you should get the 4 new pins it the correct holes the first time.

I came up with a list of all the 996 amps that should work - if I can find the list. Anything that is not DSP and is pre MOST should work. God knows why Porsche has so many amp part numbers. The only real difference I could figure, was that the 996 coupe and cab use a different amp. I asked Peter why, and he thought something to do with crossovers.

Next pic is the 996 amp I bought for my 1997 once I came up with the list. It came from a 1999 cab, which made sense as the Boxster is a cab. Others have used coupe amps with no problems.

[drem914]

One of the says I need to put the stuff in and take pictures. This is the way I was going to do it. I have the factory rear speaker kit, the newer style kit that includes the extension.

Take the end of the long cable that would usually go to the back of the radio, and plug in the extension. The 4 pins on the end of the extension are not the correct round type that would plug into the amp connector. This is a picture of the front of the connector, and you can see the round style pins. You see empty holes where you can add more pins.

Cut off the pins on the end of the extension and crimp on the correct 4 female round pins. I have posted pictures of them before and I think the part number - get them from your dealer. Then insert them into the correct empty holes from the back side of the connector. The holes are numbered, so you should get the 4 new pins it the correct holes the first time.

I came up with a list of all the 996 amps that should work - if I can find the list. Anything that is not DSP and is pre MOST should work. God knows why Porsche has so many amp part numbers. The only real difference I could figure, was that the 996 coupe and cab use a different amp. I asked Peter why, and he thought something to do with crossovers.

Next pic is the 996 amp I bought for my 1997 once I came up with the list. It came from a 1999 cab, which made sense as the Boxster is a cab. Others have used coupe amps with no problems.

Thanks for all the good info. My newly acquired M490 6x40 says "Cabrio", so hopefully the crossovers are set more for soft-top/open-air driving, than hard top. I will be routing the rear speaker leads through the grommet next to the accelerator as shown above. Harvey is sending me out a 48" harness extension so I can run it to the amp inconspicuously. Now to find the time this Sunday to do this without melting under our current heat wave out here.

Following that will be the dash speaker up-grade, rear speaker upgrade and a new windshield :angry: (see other thread)

Edited September 24, 2009 by drem914

[Tool Pants]

Here is the 996 diagram I used when I did the test. Same as what Kbrandsma says.

Left is 6 and 16, and 6 is the positive. Right is 15 and 5, and 5 is the positive. As I said before, the empty holes in the connector for the new correct round pins are numbered.

My plan was to use the extension that comes in the factory kit, but it has 4 male round pins and you need 4 female round pins to go into the amp connector. Cut the males off and crimp on the females. Part number for the females is 999-652-568-22. Cost me 25 cents each from the dealer last year. Just make sure you put the female pins in the correct holes the first time, because you can't remove them without the correct pin removal tool.

wire_map.pdf

[drem914]

As part of the ongoing amp replacement and rear speaker saga, I have a question about ohm ratings for rear speakers. I have replaced the factory 4 channel with a factory 6 channel. I am now looking at making new rear mounting plates for the Polk DB351 rear speakers (2 pairs at 4 ohm rating each) wired the same as the stock speakers are. The question I have is as follows: If the rear speakers are wired the same as the stock, what effect on the 6 channel M490 amp does using 4 ohm speakers instead of the 6 ohm rated factory OEM speakers. Will I damage the factory amp? Will the speakers be under or over powered compared the front DB451 speakers?