Porsche Classic Radio - thoughts

[Paulb33]

POrsche Classic Radio sales are frozen / stopped by Porsche at the moment
Pending an announcement this week

Did this announcement arrive yet?

Not that I've seen (and I've been tracking)..

@mark pearce - any news?

PCM available again from next week

Same PCM, I wonder?

Meanwhile, I've tried the new Blaupunkt and confirm it too has a wobblyish knob - but less so than the Bremen. But the form with many knobs allowing direct inputs is pretty good. It has 3 x preamp, which is handy.

 

[ch3tman]

POrsche Classic Radio sales are frozen / stopped by Porsche at the moment
Pending an announcement this week

Did this announcement arrive yet?

Not that I've seen (and I've been tracking)..

@mark pearce - any news?

PCM available again from next week

Thanks for posting back. Would you know / are you able to share what the issue was that led to the sales freeze? and whether its the same unit returning or an updated one?

 

[mark pearce]

I'm not sure what the issue was / is
I have a 993 for sale and enquirer into fitting one,
I was told this morning it will be at the OPC next week
Whilst it might not pass the Colini stick inspection it will fit the dash rather nicely

 

[ch3tman]

I'm not sure what the issue was / is
I have a 993 for sale and enquirer into fitting one,
I was told this morning it will be at the OPC next week
Whilst it might not pass the Colini stick inspection it will fit the dash rather nicely

Thanks again for the quick reply. Yep - agreed - they fit the aesthetics of the dash very well.

Despite their silly cost, and despite having a Becker Grand Prix, I keep being drawn in .
They do lose some of that charm factor when you discover this it's a copy & paste unit, click here and keep scrolling: https://www.kraemerautomotive.com/de/produkte/

 

[Paulb33]

They do lose some of that charm factor when you discover this it's a copy & paste unit, click here and keep scrolling: https://www.kraemerautomotive.com/de/produkte/

Interesting. I prefer the look of this variant of the PCCM head unit tbh..

 

[tob_today]

Ah good spot Chet.

And yes that unit above does look better to my eyes too. Although having had gen 1 in my 993 I soon removed it as didn't get on with the tiny screen and Bluetooth was very flakey. Hopefully gen 2 is better although it's probably old tech now still has tiny touch screen which is not easy to use in 993 and it doesn't solve the age old problem of needing ugly aerial if you want DAB. So screen soon becomes more of pain than being benefit IMO.

 

[Paulb33]

Sorry: duplicate post

 

[Paulb33]

I'm not sure what the issue was / is
I have a 993 for sale and enquirer into fitting one,
I was told this morning it will be at the OPC next week
Whilst it might not pass the Colini stick inspection it will fit the dash rather nicely

Apparently, legal software issues needed addressing. According to Rennlist. I imagine that ApplePlay etc is a minefield for a relatively small volume player behind the PCCM.

I love the integrated look but will always default to my iPhone/Renspeed mount. The touchscreen is redundant. Anyone know if it's possible to run GoogleMaps off the phone and music streaming on PCCM. In my Merc's ApplePlay, the car headunit displays the moving map by default leaving only directions on the iPhone. As I say, relying on the PCCM screen is a nonstarter.

 

[ch3tman]

Looking at replacing my stock CDR-11 to get the best out of a brand new installed amp and refreshed speakers. Want to keep it stock, hence the current CDR-11, but my new amp and speakers really show up the ancient head unit. What are folks thoughts on the Porsche Classic Radio? It's expensive but i like the modern integration with iPhone and kinda looks the part.

What did you end up going with in the end, if anything?

 

[Paulb33]

Was planning on an update. I've tried every head unit imaginable (including amps and subs). Right now I've got a vintage Blaupunkt Casablanca with hard wired Bluetooth. It's brilliant. I'll give a full rundown shortly...with photos.

 

[ch3tman]

Was planning on an update. I've tried every head unit imaginable (including amps and subs). Right now I've got a vintage Blaupunkt Casablanca with hard wired Bluetooth. It's brilliant. I'll give a full rundown shortly...with photos.

Interesting to read you settled on a vintage unut after trying 'every head unit imaginable'! Look forward to your 'review' of that and all the other items you gave a go!

If you ever consider the Becker Grand Prix let me know. I keep toying with the idea of changing up for a different look... (I have the unit, code, keys, manuals, microphone for hands free calls, the hidden Tune2Air unit for Bluetooth streaming [Google Maps/Spotify/etc.])...it's served very well for my 9 years ownership.

Just on the fence as to whether it's worth the hassle and effort of swapping to something new given it does what I need (BT mainly) :?.

 

[Paulb33]

Was planning on an update. I've tried every head unit imaginable (including amps and subs). Right now I've got a vintage Blaupunkt Casablanca with hard wired Bluetooth. It's brilliant. I'll give a full rundown shortly...with photos.

Interesting to read you settled on a vintage unut after trying 'every head unit imaginable'! Look forward to your 'review' of that and all the other items you gave a go!

If you ever consider the Becker Grand Prix let me know. I keep toying with the idea of changing up for a different look... (I have the unit, code, keys, manuals, microphone for hands free calls, the hidden Tune2Air unit for Bluetooth streaming [Google Maps/Spotify/etc.])...it's served very well for my 9 years ownership.

Just on the fence as to whether it's worth the hassle and effort of swapping to something new given it does what I need (BT mainly) :?.

I trialled the Becker Grand Prix and it was a fine unit. Well matched to the speakers. However, the aesthetics didn't sit well to my ADHD spectrum. The curves suit a stacked centre console to my eye - Boxster, 996. For me, the vintage Blaupunkt (with BT 5.0 soldered inside the unit by www.Chromelondon.com) sits much better in the dash. The Casablanca, being 1997 and end of the line for the Blaupunkt RCM tape unit, has 35W amp - to me, it suits the 'sporty" aesthetic of the C2S. I've had good success overhauling the original Porsche (Becker) CR31 and adding internal BT 5.0. but it's underpowered, the audio is inferior and the way it juts out of the dash niggles with me. But, these units are plug and play so it's here for when I get bored again 😂.

I will say that the modern Blaupunkts are functionally very good. But they're lightweight and inferior plastics. The faux card slot is the antithesis of the integrity of these iconic cars. The Porsche PCCM unit looks lovely and I'd install it for the clicks of the dials alone. But I dislike the way it seizes control of the iPhone. The USB slots will only charge one at a time and at a low power. It seems to me that it's trying to do too much in a one DIN and with the stock loom power supply. The DAB is rather clever in that it will operate via the stock aerial. Again, I've got one here for when the mood takes me. For now the BT enabled Casablanca is the perfect balance of what I'm looking (listening) for.

 

[Paulb33]

A few photos of my current setup. The USB device is hooked up to the switched live of the empty (in two wheel drive cars) R51 (brake boost) relay. I added an inline 5 amp fuse. Ground is nearby on the chassis.

The device allows two usb cables to enter the back of the dash through the redundant, grommeted hole left from the factory CD changer above the pedals. One 1m cable (with microUSB, USB-C and Lightning) routes under the dash to the glovebox. The other under the carpet and out of the side of the dash to the Rennline mount. In my car, there is a small hole at each end of the dash, by the door hinge, that serves as a cable route for the charger cable (to phone) and for external microphone to the roof lining.

Rear speakers were refreshed and door speakers increased from stock to 6.5" focals. These sound great running from the 35W headunit without need for external amplification. I did try an amp but it's clunky and suffered with ground interference.

This setup gives me iTunes and hands free phone calls by Bluetooth to the head unit. The phone is in the recommended position for GPS to the right of the windscreen. The centre console is free from wires and clutter.

 

[Zingari]

Running my Colini Stick examiner over some of these examples on here and it'll vibrate more than a Love Harmony bestseller :what:

A quick once-over on Jonttt's 993 nearly broke it :nooo:

 

[Paulb33]

I'll take that as a compliment 🤔