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DavidL

DavidL

Active member
Has anyone with the 10 speaker option successfully replaced their headunit (with a up to date one) and retained all the speakers working properly?

My rears do not work as the preamp (or is it an amp?) that was fitted to the car with the upgrade when new is a) not connected but b) apparently not compatible. Something to do with the preouts not being compatible as they have changed from DIN to RCA whatever that means. It has been suggested that a compatile amp would need to be put in place of the old Porsche one to make it all work properly.
Which is a nuisance!

So I just wondered if anyone has done it by accident or design.
 
mine works fine - but don't ask me how

It's a cheap (panasonic i think) CD player but was fitted without any dramas.
 
edh - how old was the "new" unit? The fact that it is a panasonic one may be the issue.
Do you recall reconnecting the din plug wires to the new unit? This is the wiring to the preamp and where mine has problems.
 
I had a CD player fitted. It didnt work at first: when I mentioned it the sparky tutted and then billed my another half an hour for making it work. From this Id deduce that its not impossible.

eta: I replaced a Panasonic with a Panasonic too, but there werent any special leads...
 
DIN is the old style plug ... RCA is the new one.

You can (I think) buy/make converters. But if it was me, I'd replace the head unit and the amp (/preamp).


Oli.
 
ORIGINAL: DavidL

Has anyone with the 10 speaker option successfully replaced their headunit (with a up to date one) and retained all the speakers working properly?

My rears do not work as the preamp (or is it an amp?) that was fitted to the car with the upgrade when new is a) not connected but b) apparently not compatible. Something to do with the preouts not being compatible as they have changed from DIN to RCA whatever that means. It has been suggested that a compatile amp would need to be put in place of the old Porsche one to make it all work properly.
Which is a nuisance!

So I just wondered if anyone has done it by accident or design.
Click to expand...

David,

Can you advise what the configuration of the 10 speakers is? I am guessing it's bass, mid and treble (6) for the front and bass and mid for the rear (4).

As Oli said, the difference between DIN and RCA, for our purposes anyway, is merely connector style.

I suspect that the original Porsche amplifier (not strictly a pre-amp - that's in the headunit) is a speaker level device and therefore amplifies speaker output, not unlike graphic equalisers by Goodmans et al did in the late 80s and early 90s. I can't believe that it's a line level device, as that would require the old headunit to have had dedicated 1-2v pre-amp outputs on the rear panel. Do you have a picture of the back the old headunit that was removed so we can check?

You say that your rears aren't currently connected, so can you tell us what happens when you operate your headunit front to rear fade? Does it just go silent, or have some of the fronts been connected up as rears?
 
ORIGINAL: James_G


David,

Can you advise what the configuration of the 10 speakers is? I am guessing it's bass, mid and treble (6) for the front and bass and mid for the rear (4).
Click to expand...


James that sounds about right - this site is useful http://www.connact.com/~kgross/FAQ/944faqst.html


ORIGINAL: James_G
As Oli said, the difference between DIN and RCA, for our purposes anyway, is merely connector style.

I suspect that the original Porsche amplifier (not strictly a pre-amp - that's in the headunit) is a speaker level device and therefore amplifies speaker output, not unlike graphic equalisers by Goodmans et al did in the late 80s and early 90s. I can't believe that it's a line level device, as that would require the old headunit to have had dedicated 1-2v pre-amp outputs on the rear panel. Do you have a picture of the back the old headunit that was removed so we can check?
Click to expand...

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=405787&mpage=1&key=&#407840

There are some more details on this thread when I first did it.
I deliberately left the DIN connected to the old headunit so I can organise a pic. The other end of the DIN is just floating unconnected behind the head currently.
The new unit has connections for an external amp but the connections are completely different and there is no colour code for those wires going from DIN to the old unit



ORIGINAL: James_G
You say that your rears aren't currently connected, so can you tell us what happens when you operate your headunit front to rear fade? Does it just go silent, or have some of the fronts been connected up as rears?
Click to expand...

It just fades to grey, couldn't resist it!
It's fine for the fronts, if a little bass shy but that is because the rears don't work.
No sound with the fader pushed all the way to the rear.
 
David,

Have read through the links and of note is this part

"A graphic equalizer/power booster is provided with the high-end 10-speaker systems. This is either a Blaupunkt BEA-80 or BEA-108. The equalizer/booster takes it's input from the two front channel speaker outputs of the head unit (the head unit's rear channel outputs are not used). The unit then contains four power amplifiers to drive each of the four speaker positions. So front/rear balance is controlled at the equalizer, rather than using the head unit or a separate fader control"

So we know it's speaker level output going to the amp. What's interesting is that it claims all speakers are driven through this amp, whereas in your current configuration it's just the rears that aren't being driven. Also you say that you don't have the graphic equaliser, which the site suggests is an integral part of the 490 option.

Rather than risk connecting anything, I'd suggest firstly trying to find said amp and having a quick check to see if a) it's the original fitment, or b) it's a non Porsche/Original Fit amp configured in a non standard way. Once we know that then it should be easy enough to integrate it into your current setup.

If you don't fancy that then you could simply run an extra set of leads (Left Rear and Right Rear) to your rear speakers, thereby bypassing the amp. Although they are separate bass and mid, the site alludes to the fact that they have a crossover, so they can be driven by a full range amplifier signal. Although I am not sure how easy it is to access the rear speakers to swap the connectors over.

But for the fact that I no longer live in Marlborough, I would happily come over to help you!
 
I didn't remove the equaliser/booster from mine, but it worked fine with all 4 channels in the 10-speaker system (which sounds poor at best in any case I'm afraid). I haven't followed any of the links, but logically in simple terms we know:

The front speaker wires are the only ones connected to the original stereo
All speakers had wires to the equaliser

What (all) you need to do is connect the 8 wires for speakers that went to the equaliser to the new HU. They will be who knows what colours, but almost certainly 4 pairs of the same colour, one with a black tracer.

I'm not sure how the fronts can currently be working, but there is an element of logic as they were the only outputs connected at the HU location.
 
Dragged this back out as I have finally managed to get the image small enough!
You will see from R-L
Aerial
DIN socket with blue, brown, orange, yellow, green and earth (non insulated one I assume)
4 twin speaker wires
The rest - permanent power, switched power, earth, power antenna, illuminator lead.
The speakers and "rest" are all connected - everything matches between the 2 sets of instructions but the DIN set are just waving in the wind.
Interestingly there is a diagram in the old set of instructions that shows the front 2 sets of speakers being connected to a "prefader" switch which is in the ON position. This is then connected to the power amp whereas the rears are connected only to the power amp.
I can find no similar prefader switch mentioned in the new set of instructions.
So any thoughts

0431C71111034207B2F0F4DFD3A8F140.jpg
 
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