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YOUR RESEARCHstrange question about electrical WIRE colors
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Replace by alpine ktp-445u amp and an alpine cde1438t radio
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Radio and amp are being replaced by Alpine KTP-445u amp and an Alpine CDE1438T radio.
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Suggestion
Its easy to test, CAI has info about it on their web page,,
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Suggestion · Original poster
showing my ignorance here, but in a radio/amp/speakers situation, seems like what you're saying is that only the Y or the R would be used....is that correct?
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Suggestion · Original poster
Although it might be common, this Alpine uses Yellow as the Pos lead instead of Red...and that leads to another question about Speaker wiring:
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Suggestion · Original poster
showing my ignorance here, but in a radio/amp/speakers situation, seems like what you're saying is that only the Y or the R would be used....is that correct?
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I'm swapping out the OEM radio for another radio that came from another 996. The question is whether there is a general rule that Black is ground, Red is Pos, and...if so, what is Yellow?
showing my ignorance here, but in a radio/amp/speakers situation, seems like what you're saying is that only the Y or the R would be used....is that correct? What do you need to know in order to suggest what one is the right one?
More to my question, is why did the donor car seem to have both wires connected to something?
a. I don't have the Alpine wiring diagrams,
b. I can follow directions, but don't care to forge new ground electronically,
c. Paying somebody is possible, but a DIY would be neat to do.
Worst case scenario is that the system fries, in which case I get the Continental set up with correct plugs....
Yellow is for the clock and station presets and probably other stuff I'm not thinking about right now. Red is switched so the stereo will turn off with the key and not drain the battery.
SoCal911t is right. The red is switched, it provides the "main power" to the radio, the things that need juice, like the amp inside it. The yellow is unswitched it maintains memory when the car is off and the black is ground.
With those wires, surely they wouldn't mate to the same mating wire? The multi-connect to the amp has a hot and ground, and nothing else. The yellow is sitting between Pos and Ground, and the ones to the left are speaker wires...this from the Nokia Amp that is OEM.
Good point, Paul. The OEM radio is a Becker/Porsche CR-210, there are six speakers OEM, and the Nokia M490amp (6x 40) There is also a CD changer in the trunk, next to the amp.
Radio and amp are being replaced by Alpine KTP-445u amp and an Alpine CDE1438T radio. These items came from an '04 996, so wiring should be similar?
As said before, the Yellow should be switched Hot, but the wiring diagram I found shows that Yellow on the amp's harness is Pos. No problem, I now have all output wires ID'd from the amp.
Is the CD changer now useless, since I dis-connected the original harness and don't see anything that would mate the changer to the amp or radio?
The Alpine amp is a 4 channel instead of 6, so...
Is the Alpine any noticeable drawback (or advantage) over the existing Nokia?
If not, the radio/amp harness is already there for the Alpine amp, so just mate the rear speakers to the door speakers and be done with it?
I'm not an audio guy since my hearing sucks; all I want is sound.
Although it might be common, this Alpine uses Yellow as the Pos lead instead of Red...and that leads to another question about Speaker wiring:
a. Does it really matter if (+) and (-) are reversed with speakers?, and
b. Wires are either solid color, or solid with stripe. Can I assume that mating the striped wires will maintain proper sequencing?
I wouldn't make assumptions like that about wire colors. About the only reliable assumption on a Porsche is that brown is ground.
I'd get a wiring diagram for the head unit and the wiring diagram for the vehicle, and ideally a vehicle specific adapter harness (so you don't have to hack or splice), and match them up.
What is the downside to mis-matching the + and - on a speaker, though? There's an old Rennlist thread about the M490, but the schematic is blurry.
Is a stripe on a speaker wire indicative of it being + or - "in most cases"?
It's done, so I'll find out soon enough
If the speaker is wired backwards the cone is moving towards the coil instead of away to push the air at you.
Its easy to test, CAI has info about it on their web page,,
You can always hook one up and hold a lighter in front of it,, on each base pulse the fire should blow away from the speaker..
Sound will be muffled if backwards because all the energy is moving to the rear of the speaker.
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