Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 23:25:37 -0400 From: Nick Monyatovsky <monnopsamnet> Subject: Re: Audio Upgrade for 900 S & 9-3
>Hi, > >I recently bought an amplifier, and thought it would be a snap to put >it in, since the amplifier is original SAAB and I have the original >tricky 8-pin DIN cable required to connect it. It does fit perfectly >into the spot it is designed for. > >However, I opened up the covers to the center console and could not >find at all any power line I could use for it. I found a spare >connector, but it would not fit. I think it's for connecting a cell >phone. > >Is anyone familiar with wiring of 900 S from 1994 (900NG)? >Could you tell me if the power connector for amp is really missing or >is it hidden somewhere else? > >Thank you in advance. Thanks everybody who responded. I discovered that an easy upgrade to 900 S is not possible. No wiring exists. Laying down entire new wiring -- power, ground and speakers (through the door joints -- is way too big of a project. It's pity, because the installation of a CD changer was a snap -- just buy it, and plug it in. I found that an upgrade was a lot easier for 9-3. All wiring for the amplifier was already in place. All wiring for the door speakers was already in place. Thank you SAAB engineers for this nice foresight! All I had to do, it to buy an amp ($34 used), remove the glove compartment and plug it in. Buy the way, any DIN-to-DIN cable will work. You do not need to buy this from SAAB for $92 + delivery! I used a regular $1.50 DIN cable in 9-3 and it works just fine. (The 900S still requires the special cable with the bent connector, which is very rare.) Installation of the speakers is another story. There was a nice deep place for them in the door. The wiring was also there. There were no holes around the opening, though! SAAB has three holes for mounting the speaker -- all about 1 inch away from the edge. I am pretty sure no speaker comes with a bracket that will fit this setup. My local stores had nothing. Neither did Crutchfield. I temporarily mounted the speakers on the door paneling, which is very flimsy. Now the whole door badly reverberates on bass. I guess I will have to disassemble the door again and drill the metal. (If anyone knows, by the way, if there exist any type of bracket for mounting a 6.5" speaker into a SAAB, please let me know.) Overall, the improvement is not that noticeable, I must confess. I installed component speakers in the doors. I kept small speakers in the dash. I got extra bass up front. Nothing spectacular. The amplifier is internally tuned to match the volume and the gain of the rest of the speakers. So they naturally blend in. I was experimenting in the other car and I found that SAAB, for whatever reason, has front and rear speakers connected out-of-phase. This makes the sound feel "spacious". I replaced all speakers with best Pioneer models and they sounded terrible, worse than SAAB's to be exact. My first instinct was to return the speakers. I brought them home, connected them to my home amplifier, and tested them against each other. Pioneers sounded considerably better off a home amplifier, and if connected properly. Reverse connection made the bass diminish and sound "weird": more like a pop than a punch. SAAB's speakers did not have any bass to speak of, and sounded the same whether connected +/- or -/+. This is when I discovered the business of in- and out-of-phase connections. I re-connected all the 4 speakers in phase and, lo and behold, my sound improved dramatically! I lost the "spaciousness" effect, but instead gained clarity and bass. It now sounds a order of magnitude better to me than before. You will not feel this on speech. In fact, on mono speech, it sounds too "plain" and "simple": it's like I have one speaker behind the air vents in the center console. But boy, what a difference for nice stereo music! I got the bass, I got the stereo effects going, it sounds clean and it sounds right. I bet you can achieve considerable improvement in your SAAB's sound by just re-connecting the speakers. "Spaciousness" is impressive when you first hear it, but when you realize what it does to the music, you will hardly be able to stand it. In my other car, I still have this effect and it drives me crazy. I cannot wait until I get a spare weekend again... What I am trying to say, is that installing an amplifier + speakers in the door produces a very marginal gain, contrary to the prevailing opinion I know exists on this subject. Especially compared with the pain involved, and the time needed to complete this. I would definitely not pay SAAB $500 for the kit and $200 for the labor to have this installed. It could be that people had better results with full-power, full-featured amplifiers. Stories, anyone? If I were looking to improve the sound quality in a SAAB, I would first try to re-connect the existing speakers. Then, I'd probably just buy a new head unit. I wonder if additional bass can be achieved by simple equalization? Plus, you get to control the highs and the middles.
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