04/01/2007
- Ghetto Boom-Boom...

     What I hope to accomplish with this 944 that I'm "restoring" is what's called a "Resto-Mod". With a resto-mod the goal is to make the car look as ORIGINAL as possible, yet still have modern conveniences. I tried to keep this in mind when choosing a stereo system. Unlike Ford or GM which only use their own radios, most European car companies buy radios from Clarion, Blaupunkt, and Bosch. I managed to find an original Blaupunkt CD player that was offered in the 1986 Porsche 944; the Blaupunkt Chicago SCD-08. In order to use this radio however, it required a series of OEM amps, frequency splitters, and a LOT of cabling and wires. I wanted to go AS original as I could, but I simply could not bring myself to use the old-school Blaupunkt unit. The sound quality and power while amazing for the time, just wouldn't compare to that of a newer unit. However, I'm keeping it just in case one day... I decide to restore my car to all OEM. In the mean time, I bought a VERY conservative looking newer Blaupunkt unit, the Blaupunkt Key West SCD169. With it's 46 watts per channel, it won't require an external amp to drive the regular speakers. Although I was going with this newer unit, I could still use the dealer option "upgrades" that would be period correct.

      I decided to go with the full setup. This included 1) set of Blaupunkt 4x6" 50watt 2-way speakers for the doors 2) a pair of 6.25" midrange 4-way Pioneers (100 watt, 30hz-33,000hz), 3) a pair of period correct Blaupunkt 25,000hz / 25watt tweeters, 4) and an origial period correct external powered subwoofer with dual 5.25" speakers @ 55Watts each (110 combined). The newer speakers will be hidden behind the factory plates, but the period correct tweeters and subwoofer will be installed in their correct location (where they would have been if installed at the dealership back in 86). The last thing worth mentioning... Porsche offered a factory remote FADER control. This control expects only two channels (L / R) but splits them into 4 (2 front / 2 rear). Since this can be used as a splitter, I hooked the secondary tweeters up as the rear channels of the fader, and hooked the front speakers up for the front channels of the fader. Now, when the fader is set in the middle, I get equally powered tweeters / speakers in the rear, and in the front. It will STILL function as a fader because I can will be able to completely cut out the front speakers (with the tweeters placed in the rear). In the pictures below, you'll see the two stereos I had to choose from (although I bought both). The older looking one is the Chicago, and the newer is the Key West. I'll take more pictures when I get the center console installed.