Becker Autosound aux-in modification to the CDR-23

SUMMARY: I had the Becker Autosound aux in mod done to my radio and discovered that it is MONO! UNLESS YOU WANT A MONO AUX IN, DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS MOD!!! IT IS A COMPLETE RIP-OFF. DETAIL: I wanted to share with everyone my experiences with Becker Autosound and the CDR23 Aux in modification. I think that the expression “you can’t polish a turd” applies to the CDR23, but it is important to me to maintain the factory look, which precluded the installation of an aftermarket head unit and left me stuck with the CDR23. I however wanted the convenience of Bluetooth hands-free phone and streaming audio, so I needed some way to add an aux in to the turd, I mean radio. I looked closely at the Denison unit, but that unit wasn’t a great fit (it’s really designed to be plugged in to your phone) and stupid expensive. Next I looked at the in-line FM modulator option. I purchased and installed a unit, but it sounded awful, so out came the modulator. I found on the RennList forum links to Becker Autosound and I thought I had found the solution to my problem! I pulled the radio and sent it off to Becker. When I returned from a relaxing week in Barbados, the radio was waiting for me. Yay! Now, prior to ordering, I spoke to Ed at Becker Autosound and found out that the way the input works is when a jack is plugged in to a jack that they add, it overrides the tuner. When unplugged, it reverts back to the tuner. This wouldn’t work for my Bluetooth application, so I knew some modifications to their modification would be necessary and I purchaed a signal sensing switch from PIE Electronics to allow for auto switching between the output of the tuner and the input from my Bluetooth unit. Upon inspection of the radio, I found the mod by Becker to be very unprofessional, in my opinion. They drilled a hole in the back of the unit and snaked a wire out the hole that was a couple of feet long, terminating in a black box with a 3.5mm jack in it. Upon opening the black box, I discovered that the wire coming from the radio only had three conductors! I was stymied as to how this could possibly work. Well, after several hours of noggin scratching and experimenting I came to the disturbing realization that the aux input is MONO! Ack!! I just dropped a hundred bucks for a MONO input?? To say I was pissed is quite an understatement. I can’t imagine that Becker would build a radio for a Porsche with a mono FM tuner, so I can only conclude that Becker Autosound combined the stereo signal, thus making it mono, to allow for this mod. I called Becker Autosound for clarification; no one could answer my question at the time and I was told someone would call me back with the answer. Still waiting for that call back. I did complete my installation, and the sound quality is CRAP. The in-line FM modulator that I had originally installed sounded every bit as good as the Becker mod. So, if you want decent sound quality from an aux in, buy the Denison unit. That is what I will be doing.

Well that a bummer. The iPod interface I bought for my CDR-220 is a standard iPod dock connector and was like $35.

Maybe the Solisto product? http://www.solisto.de/en/caraudio/solistopro

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This is what I have also. Sounds great, stereo, and cheap. Easily switches from AUX to tuner to CD. Is there that much difference in a 23 vs 220?

Down South, there is a HUGE difference between the 220 and the 23 in that the 23 uses the MOST fiber optic system to interconnect different parts of the audio system for sound and control. Specifically, between the head unit and the amp in the bonnet. So, unfortunately, on the 23, that handy analog aux in jack on the back of the 220 was eliminated.

Lord Vicious, that would be great, except it doesn't appear to be compatible with the cdr23. http://www.solisto.de/en/radios/porsche

It may be stereo; left and right channel share ground on many headphone cables. Look at a male headphone cable plug, it only has three seperate metal sections.

Wow thanks. I had just recieved an email from Beck about that mod and NO WHERE did it say was only mono.

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Glad I don't have the MOST system!

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And mono cables have 2 wires not three. At least all the ones I've spliced.

Easy solution. Add some fd motorsport fister mufflers and turn off the radio!

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OT: Can you guys please post or PM me the info on this $35 cable for the CDR-220? Does it work with the iPod Touch and iPhones, and does it charge the devices? TIA

To clarify: the three wires carry 1) the signal FROM the tuner, 2) the signal TO the preamp, 3) ground. When an aux source is not present, the signal from the tuner is connected to the wire that feeds the preamp allowing the radio signal to played. When an aux source is connected, that signal path is boken and the left and right channels of the aux source are combined and sent to the preamp (thus disconnecting the signal from the tuner). In order to have a stereo aux in, five wires would be needed; two from the tuner, two to the preamp, and one ground. TIA: heres the link for the aux cable, which I understand works great: http://www.beckerautosound.com/Porsc...CDR%20220.html

G$, I did exactly that coming back from Greenville last week. Sun out, top down, with just the tunes of the engine!

i thought this was a mistake. but indeed it is a MONO input. That is ridiculous. They already have my deck so i told them to go ahead and do it. I'll most likely throw it away though. I am very disappointed with Becker. they say nowhere in the add that it is a Mono modification. Its a Lie of omission in my opinion. http://www.beckerautosound.com/Porsc...nput_link.html DON'T DO IT. I'm a tech. so what i'm going to do is... modify the amp. I'll tap into the main audio input inside the power amp. i'll put audio signals into that part. I can put a Pot on it to provide volume. We lose tone control but what device would we use that does not have a volume and tone control anyway? Schematics would be nice if anyone has any. EDIT: changed my mind and bought a new system. junking all this becker junk. the company P.Oed me so much. Even after saying they would send my deck back unmodified they reneged because it was already packed for shipping. A supposed high end company with very poor business practices. I am a very unhappy Becker customer.

I just received my CDR-23 back from Becker Unmodded. A nice tidy little $60 handling fee was tacked onto it. thank you very much. boy that place leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I think I'll put a call into the better business bureau about them....

I have a CDR23 unit with no CD changer. It looks like it will fit a Solisto product: http://www.solisto.de/en/solisto.iaux-3g-becker The cable looks like an exact fit. Can anyone confirm that it will fit and work as described?

won't work there are no audio connections in those connectors look at connectors D & E on the older radios, E had the CD and AUX connections image

So in the image, what would it show if such a cable worked? The pin assignment would appear in the list instead of "not used"?

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Yes, those pins show connections on older non-MOST radios

I bought a similar one on eBay already for a fraction of the original. Will see if those are working pins or not once I hooked it up. It looked like this: http://www.ebay.ca/ulk/itm/221802994871

Thanks JayG. After your reply, I was thinking of how to make it work ... at least partially. See my post here towards the end: I only use the charging portion of the CDR-220 cable on the CDR-23

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rting, did this cable work? Sound and charging?

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JTT, it worked in so far as charging goes with a bit of work. Essentially, I have to splice out the actual wires for positive and negative and "shove" the wires into the pins supplying power to the CDR23 - then I thought to myself, why go through all that for just charging and have a not so clean DIY installation. I then removed the wiring harness. The sound of course did not work. Not sure if I should spend the $$$$$ money on a Dension Gateway 500 though and sorry for the delayed reply.

Ok, I have decided to install the following but facing and issue of determining which wire is the switched power behind my CDR-23. See: https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-...cayenne-s.html

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Enjoy the alternator noise. I could not get rid of it.

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Thanks Nick for the warning. Can you talk about where you got the 12V power from? Or the unit is picking up the noise from the alternator and included it into the FM signal?

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I tried three different locations for power and ground, including direct to the fusebox. All had equal alternator noise. I even changed my voltage regulator and Y-cable to rule out those as causes. No changes in the noise. I have no alternator noise on radio or CD. Ultimately I did the Becker Aux-in cable mod (done by Becker for me) and then used the Aux to connect a Dension Compact BT unit.