Here is the latest:
WOW!!!
Today I had some time to run wires and test the audio system. All I can say is Holy Crap! It sounds fantastic (this coming froma guy who used to build his own amplifiers and speakers!)!
For the money, this is by far the best sounding system I have ever put together. You cannot sit in the car with the volume up more than the 25 mark(I think the sony goes to 30? but i could not tell you the dB level) or you will loose your mid and high range hearing. The sub, described above, is very strong up to the 20 level (all three amp channels set to the middle gain mark). The only complaint is thet the crossover sub output did not work (maybe miswired at the factory...BUT I don;t care because I am running strainght from the amp to the front door speakers avoiding current/fq losses. I did have to open up the crossovers and reset the circuit to -4.5dB for the front door tweets(real easy to do), otherwise they were too loud. If you get a component front door system (which I highly recommend) be sure to get one with an adjustable crossover for the tweeters
The Visonic amp works very well with absolutely no hiss. Soft turn on and no distortion up to a level where my wife says turn it down (which is really pretty loud)
If you sit in the rear between the two Infinity speakers, the sound is like a great set of headphones. When the volume gets cranked up, it seemed at first that the highs were overwhelming. But this is EASILY corrected with the Sony head unit. Remember, this sony unit has front, rear and sub rca outputs so you can really taylor the system as you like. The Sony unit is super easy to use with intuitive button location and a remote that does everything you need with a few buttons. It has a nice blue screen (i would have preferred red)with easy to read letters/numbers.
As for the sub, obviously, it's not shaking the windows on the neighbor's house, but it works perfectly well with this system and provides more than enough clear and sharp bass from about 90-120 Hz. Also, i was able to max out the sub in the lower frequency ranges. it found a good home with the best kick around 90-110Hz. When I spent some time tuning the Sony head , things started to sound great(It allows for low, mid, high adjustment, multiple preset eq settings like 'vocal', a three choice special processor something like the classic 'sonic maximizer' rack unit..I like #2 on this..... and front, sub, and rear +10 to -10 level control. Very simple, very easy , and very loud and clear.
I tested the setup with the following:
Deutsche Grammaphon recording Tchaikovsky allegro moderato concert in D major opus 35 and the end allegro molto appassionato from Mendelssohn violin concert op 64
Outkast.."Hey ya" and 'Roses'
Green day greates hits
chilli peppers bunch of stuff
Pearl Jam : Evenflow and alive ...for the great vocals
back side of the great Led Zepp Latter days with special attention to Nobody's Fault But Mine/all my love/ In the evening!!! Damn!! but old recording..
and finally, but certainly not the last, the way cool band Sublime: CD Sublime
So , you can tell form the above, I like music that has a punch and/or good vocals, which is exactly what the stereo system I put in does best.
Now for more good news: the sub pictured here is self amped and fits in front of the spare in the spare wheel well and barely stick up above the trunk sheet metal. Not only that, the sub sounds best in this hole and with the trunk down, soundwaves are in part reflected forward into the cab and vibrate though the whole trunk storage area. The sound deadening material works well to knock out any tinniness and absorbes the cross cabin echos. Or I could put it in the driver side rear cubby.....
Wiring:
PO put in a Bazooka 10 inch powered sub. That went right into the trash..along with all the old crap wiring and rigged splices (more below) If you remove the center console there will be a jumble of wires related to the Porsche stereo system. Unwrap all the tape. exclude all wires going to the switches in front of the gear shift and the ash tray lamp wires. Now that you have them unwrapped, look for the thick green wire, the thick red wire, and the thick brown wire. These are all you need! (1992 edition)
Brown=ground
Green=ignition on
red=constant 12v
cut everything else out of there! (except the antenna connection!) Porsche did a real nice job with the metal stereo supports and 1 DIN units fit right in no problems. I just have to find and mount a rear "can't steal me easily" strap and bolt it in. But this system has a detachable face so I'm not too worried. Anyway, I bought three fine strand generic 20 ft rca cables at the local autoparts store. the covering was flexable enough to go around tight bends without problem. These RCAs come with remot turn on wire so that makes only three runs to the trunk from the head unit. you don't need to spend 80$ a set to get good sound.
next was a good multistrand power line from batt to trunk (right rear storage bin). I parallel wired the amp and sub. hooked up amp 4 channels 1,2,3,4 (1,3 right...2,4 left) and hooked up sub. Porsche copper ground point is in trunk to left of spare (rear lights ground here)
From the 4 channel amp, I ran new wiring up each side to the right and left rears and soldered the connection the the speaker(no loose ones here). then ran the front set from the amp to the crossovers then two sets of wires on each side up under door sill trim to the right and left door. Thin wire coat hanger gets you though the door hinge area in stages with the rubber bellows as the midpoint(pops in and out real easily). in total, Six pairs run forward from the trunk to the cabin speakers.
So , for a few buck, great system. Period.
