Nokia Amp

[cobalt911]

Hi all....

A year or so ago I had a buzzing from the sound system. It was a Sony head unit and a guy came out to look and basically ripped out the Nokia amp from under the drivers seat, handed it to me with wires dangling and said 'no need for this, the head unit is powerful enough on its own'. Now I have a Becker unit in and I have stopped exhaust tinkering I am tempted to pop the Nokia back in again.

My question is that this was a 'premium' sound option I believe. With the Becker in is there any gain to be had from reinstalling or am I just getting 'itchy hands' and maybe should find something else to sort out? Or will I get the most amazing sound and wonder why I didn't reinstall before?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[carrerasport]

Your right that amp is part of the premium sound package upgrade ,i am not sure of the power output of it but it was designed for use in that car with a becker head unit so should be perfectly compatible,becker made the range of std fit audio units in all 993 models, but the english for some unknown reason had sony as an available brand in many early 993s. I think the wiring should all be presnt and its just plug and play once you have sorted out what the man did under your seat when he removed the unit in the first place.I guess he joined or ran some bigger speaker cables from the head unit to the speaker connections which would be under the seat exiting the amplifier(low voltage pre amp in and speaker out on the amp plus power supply and remote switch on from the head unit itself.
I think their should be a gain to be had from reinstalling it as usually a remote amp gives better stereo separation and quality to the sound which cannot be achieved by packing things in so close and tight within a std head unit,Also the components within the amp can afford to be better laid out and larger,so even if the output was the same i am sure the sepertae unit would out perform the built in one if only on a duel power supply angle the amp not supplying any other components that is. I am sure you have noticed when an integrated unit is turned up loud, how the lights on the buttons and display pulse with the peaks of the music.Having said all that, it's a noisy car, not exactly an audiophiles ideal enviroment!!!!

best of luck C

 

[carrerasport]

Well Maurice you may well have a point there, but the amp and the speakers and a becker head unit were all matched and passed porsches design criteria for the model when new, The speakers may well be crap but the pink noise generator and spectrum analyzer were used to get a flat ballanced sound in the car enviroment .If you just replace the speakers with any old ones they might be better, but will alter the frequency response of the set up.The cross over points may well be unsuitable for the new speakers so the result may well be worse! I am not defending the quality of the std installed products but random replacement of any or all components might not give the results anticipated.It will certainly give the desired results to the wallet, if the foolhardy get carried away with the big brands. I suspect most if not all mainstream hifi kit available is manufactured in facilities not associated with quality.China/ Taiwan for instance.I recon in this day and age if its made in japan its top end!!!!.I bet a lot of the older gen didn't think they would be saying that!
I think that the hifi upgrade in original form is not a bad sound for its age and almost loud enough too ,I know, i've still got it installed in my Carrera.

What say you ? And what pray is the set up running in your motor car? i dont expect m64/03 with rsr's as a response either!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
regard C

 

[cristel993]

I think the sound of my hifi option set up with the Nokia DSP is fine. It's nowhere near as good as my hifi system at home, which I totally expected, but it's much better than the system in my 2007 Subaru Legacy and that's eleven years newer! I really like the originality of the factory system. I just need to find an amber display Becker Grand Prix now. I can find a red display Becker Grand Prix but not sure how good this will look? Anyone seen a red display Becker in a 993 dash?

 

[sue11sam]

I have the Nokia system in my car, and I don't think its too bad, although I listen to voice mainly these days, I had a Bose system in my '96 Audi, (same year as my 993) and that was brilliant ! shame Porsche did not use one also.

 

[cobalt911]

Yep - ebay may be a good option for the Amp Maurice ha ha...

Cristel993

Most of the Beckers can be changed from amber to red in the menu - in fact I think they all do it! On mine I prefer Amber as it seems to sit with the other lamps a little better but you can change easily...

Mark

 

[cristel993]

Hi Mark, I'll take a look at the Becker when it arrives to see if I can change the colour. With the Grand Prix model I've ordered, they came with red, amber, green or blue lighting as separate models. I couldn't find a new amber display model anywhere! Fingers crossed I'll have the option to change, but if not red should be the next best colour.....

 

[graham m]

The new Beckers cannot have there display colours changed - they are pulling out of the ICE market so the head units currently available are the last of the line. AFAIK all the amber display models sold out back in Nov/Dec last year.
I was told by the guy who's installing mine, (possibly the last amber Becker GP) that the original Nokia HI-FI upgrade was state of the art back in the 90's and similar to the Bose system - if you strip the door down you'll see that it's not just a speaker - but a complete baffled resonace box installed. If the cone support rubber is still intact (they normally suffer and perish) then the sound quality will be more than acceptable. The rear speakers are a different matter - esp in a Cabrio.
The new Becker also have a sub-woofer output - this can be used to switch on the Nokia amp. Also there is a 'light dimming' input - take a spur off the glovebox lamp, and the display dims when the light are switched on.

Graham

 

[sue11sam]

ORIGINAL: graham m

The new Beckers cannot have there display colours changed - they are pulling out of the ICE market so the head units currently available are the last of the line. AFAIK all the amber display models sold out back in Nov/Dec last year.
I was told by the guy who's installing mine, (possibly the last amber Becker GP) that the original Nokia HI-FI upgrade was state of the art back in the 90's and similar to the Bose system - if you strip the door down you'll see that it's not just a speaker - but a complete baffled resonace box installed. If the cone support rubber is still intact (they normally suffer and perish) then the sound quality will be more than acceptable. The rear speakers are a different matter - esp in a Cabrio.
The new Becker also have a sub-woofer output - this can be used to switch on the Nokia amp. Also there is a 'light dimming' input - take a spur off the glovebox lamp, and the display dims when the light are switched on.

Graham

Probably why my check strap failed............................all that extra weight in the door !!!!!!!!!! I don't listen to my radio much anyway, so certainly will not be mucking about changing it , and as Maurice says, why would you want to interfere with the music coming from the back of the car[]