rear speaker project

drwdds · January 2nd, 2006, 01:18 PM

Hello California...how about you send some of your rain out to Oklahoma...we're burning up, literally! Spent the holidays installing the rear speaker kit on my 2003 Boxster. Install went well, but can't make the speakers work when the radio fader control is used to put sound out of the new speakers....just gets muffled and quiet out of the front ones. Have trouble-shot everything and can't seem to find the problem. Are there any connections or settings on the CDR 23 radio amp in the front trunk required?

oldskuracer · January 3rd, 2006, 04:24 PM

Do you have some kind of wire harness or are you tapping the wires into the rear of the deck? If you look at the diagram that is on your head unit, you can see which prongs are for the left, right, front, or rear speakers. Try tapping the speakers in the rear and see if they work. If they do, then maybe there's something going on with the wires. If they don't... then either the speakers don't work or it's something else that I have no idea about.

drwdds · January 4th, 2006, 09:03 AM

Thanks for the advice...will do some more troubleshooting to see if there is a problem with the wiring to the back speakers. Have checked with the Becker and Renntech sites to see if there is any involvment with the amp in the front trunk, but no reply. Any experience in working with the amp?

oldskuracer · January 4th, 2006, 09:54 AM

I decided not to touch the amp. The stereo sounds decent to me compared to the BMW Z3 I had before. I just added rear speakers and a small sub with a built-in amp. Usually when I do car stereos, I strip everything out and replace everything which leaves little mystery about how to run wires.
In this case, I don't think you need to touch the amp unless your Boxster is set up different than mine (1997).

boxs2000 · January 4th, 2006, 11:06 PM

I used to install stereos years ago (over 12 yrs ago ) so I'm a little rusty...First, when you installed the rear speakers (the speaker kit that is located in the rear shelf under the soft top right?) where did you tap the sound source from? Does your boxter have the upgrade/premium sound (with the door speakers/subs?) If I remember correctly, unless you upgraded to the 6 speaker carrera amp you have to tap of the dash speakers because the factory boxter amp is only a 4 channel, 2 that runs the dash full range speakers and the other 2 is for the door subs. This means the frequencies that are played through these channels are low frequency only (bass) and no highs or mids. My guess is you tapped off the door speaker wires and the reason you are only hearing a muffled sound is because those tiny speakers are not designed to play that low of frequency. That is why when you fade to the rear you only hear the bass because there is no designated channel to run those speakers. So what you have to do is tap of the dash speakers to get the full range sound. Hope that helps! If that does not do it, a distorted sound is usually the result of a blown channel. (and yes the other channels may still work even is a channel is blown)

oldskuracer · January 5th, 2006, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxs2000

I used to install stereos years ago (over 12 yrs ago ) so I'm a little rusty...First, when you installed the rear speakers (the speaker kit that is located in the rear shelf under the soft top right?) where did you tap the sound source from? Does your boxter have the upgrade/premium sound (with the door speakers/subs?) If I remember correctly, unless you upgraded to the 6 speaker carrera amp you have to tap of the dash speakers because the factory boxter amp is only a 4 channel, 2 that runs the dash full range speakers and the other 2 is for the door subs. This means the frequencies that are played through these channels are low frequency only (bass) and no highs or mids. My guess is you tapped off the door speaker wires and the reason you are only hearing a muffled sound is because those tiny speakers are not designed to play that low of frequency. That is why when you fade to the rear you only hear the bass because there is no designated channel to run those speakers. So what you have to do is tap of the dash speakers to get the full range sound. Hope that helps! If that does not do it, a distorted sound is usually the result of a blown channel. (and yes the other channels may still work even is a channel is blown)

I wasn't sure about the amp, but it's probably true about what was said above about the 4 channel/6 channel difference. So if you're tapping the wires in the rear of the head-unit, then follow the diagram. I'm pretty sure the head-unit is set up to support rear speakers and you can find the prongs made for them. At least that's what I did and it works. Fader works and all... The only trouble I'm having is that the rear speakers only play mainly high frequencies.... I'll need to figure out some way to add larger speakers of some sort to support deeper sounds. Anyone out there do something like that before or would I have better luck getting that Bose rear system? Anyone out there have one available? I don't care about storage space... the Boxster has 2 trunks afterall.

drwdds · January 12th, 2006, 02:10 PM

An update on the rear speaker project. My 2003 had the upgraded digital radio, which uses fiberoptics between the radio and the amp, so evidentally the "B" plug in the back of the radio is inoperative and the speakers all are driven directly from the amp. To simplify things, I tapped into the two dash speakers and wired that to the rear speakers. Only downside is that you can't use the fader function, but the sound balances out fine anyway. Not being any kind of techie, would like to know if my diagnosis of the situation was correct....any thoughts?

zinfan · January 12th, 2006, 07:45 PM

I would like to install a set of rear speakers. Sounds like I need to :

1) Select a "kit" from some manufacturer/distributor of speakers. Are there preferred brands as far as sound quality?

2) Butch the existing rear shelf system. I've read the hacks.

and 3) rip up my beautiful carpeting to run wires to the stereo or amplifier. Any chance at all of having factory wiring in place...just waiting for my installation??

Tom M · January 12th, 2006, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Any chance at all of having factory wiring in place...just waiting for my installation??

I'm pretty sure that the answer to this one is "No." based on the fact that the Porsche rear speaker kit comes with the wiring harness that gets run along/under the door sill trim.

BoxsterBob - San Carlos · January 13th, 2006, 11:06 AM

I used these instructions from Pelican Parts. Very straight forward, trim pieces are unscrewed to gain "under carpet" access. http://www.pelicanparts.com//techart...r_speakers.htm

January 2nd, 2006, 01:18 PM	#1
drwdds Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Muskogee, OK Posts: 12	rear speaker project Hello California...how about you send some of your rain out to Oklahoma...we're burning up, literally! Spent the holidays installing the rear speaker kit on my 2003 Boxster. Install went well, but can't make the speakers work when the radio fader control is used to put sound out of the new speakers....just gets muffled and quiet out of the front ones. Have trouble-shot everything and can't seem to find the problem. Are there any connections or settings on the CDR 23 radio amp in the front trunk required?

January 3rd, 2006, 04:24 PM	#2
oldskuracer Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bay Area Posts: 228	Wiring Do you have some kind of wire harness or are you tapping the wires into the rear of the deck? If you look at the diagram that is on your head unit, you can see which prongs are for the left, right, front, or rear speakers. Try tapping the speakers in the rear and see if they work. If they do, then maybe there's something going on with the wires. If they don't... then either the speakers don't work or it's something else that I have no idea about.

January 4th, 2006, 09:54 AM	#4
oldskuracer Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bay Area Posts: 228	Haven't Touched the Amp I decided not to touch the amp. The stereo sounds decent to me compared to the BMW Z3 I had before. I just added rear speakers and a small sub with a built-in amp. Usually when I do car stereos, I strip everything out and replace everything which leaves little mystery about how to run wires. In this case, I don't think you need to touch the amp unless your Boxster is set up different than mine (1997).

January 4th, 2006, 11:06 PM	#5
boxs2000 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Vallejo, Ca Posts: 406	I used to install stereos years ago (over 12 yrs ago ) so I'm a little rusty...First, when you installed the rear speakers (the speaker kit that is located in the rear shelf under the soft top right?) where did you tap the sound source from? Does your boxter have the upgrade/premium sound (with the door speakers/subs?) If I remember correctly, unless you upgraded to the 6 speaker carrera amp you have to tap of the dash speakers because the factory boxter amp is only a 4 channel, 2 that runs the dash full range speakers and the other 2 is for the door subs. This means the frequencies that are played through these channels are low frequency only (bass) and no highs or mids. My guess is you tapped off the door speaker wires and the reason you are only hearing a muffled sound is because those tiny speakers are not designed to play that low of frequency. That is why when you fade to the rear you only hear the bass because there is no designated channel to run those speakers. So what you have to do is tap of the dash speakers to get the full range sound. Hope that helps! If that does not do it, a distorted sound is usually the result of a blown channel. (and yes the other channels may still work even is a channel is blown) __________________ BoxS2000 2000 986s Aero kit1, Sport Design Pkg, Sport seats, hard top,Grds red seatbelt, Deviating stitch,Pioneer N3 nav, Alpine amps,Mbquart, ssk, Eibach Springs, Dansk exhaust,euro rear bumper, Champion RG5. [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

January 12th, 2006, 07:45 PM	#8
zinfan Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 14	speaker wiring question I would like to install a set of rear speakers. Sounds like I need to : 1) Select a "kit" from some manufacturer/distributor of speakers. Are there preferred brands as far as sound quality? 2) Butch the existing rear shelf system. I've read the hacks. and 3) rip up my beautiful carpeting to run wires to the stereo or amplifier. Any chance at all of having factory wiring in place...just waiting for my installation?? __________________ Karl '03 Boxster S tip Meridian/Metropol Blue/Metropol Blue

January 4th, 2006, 09:03 AM	#3
drwdds Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Muskogee, OK Posts: 12	Thanks for the advice...will do some more troubleshooting to see if there is a problem with the wiring to the back speakers. Have checked with the Becker and Renntech sites to see if there is any involvment with the amp in the front trunk, but no reply. Any experience in working with the amp?

January 12th, 2006, 02:10 PM	#7
drwdds Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Muskogee, OK Posts: 12	An update on the rear speaker project. My 2003 had the upgraded digital radio, which uses fiberoptics between the radio and the amp, so evidentally the "B" plug in the back of the radio is inoperative and the speakers all are driven directly from the amp. To simplify things, I tapped into the two dash speakers and wired that to the rear speakers. Only downside is that you can't use the fader function, but the sound balances out fine anyway. Not being any kind of techie, would like to know if my diagnosis of the situation was correct....any thoughts?

January 13th, 2006, 11:06 AM	#10
BoxsterBob - San Carlos Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: San Carlos, CA Posts: 1,457	I used these instructions from Pelican Parts. Very straight forward, trim pieces are unscrewed to gain "under carpet" access. http://www.pelicanparts.com//techart...r_speakers.htm __________________ BoxsterBob '99 Boxster - 130k+ miles Ocean Blue/Black/Savanna Beige

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