The Porsche Boxster and Cayman 987 cars have a variety of original radio and amplifier options, depending on what is in the car affects what fitting parts are required when installing a new stereo.
The information below describes the different original audio equipment that is in these cars, this information is needed to make sure the correct parts are used when fitting a new stereo.
2004 - 2009 models
The Porsche Boxster (convertible) and Cayman (coupé) have several different setups for the original audio systems. Earlier models from 2005 to 2008 had the CDR24, PCM2 or PCM2.1 systems. The CDR24 was the basic head unit, the difference between the PCM units is the PCM2 has a CD player and the PCM2.1 has a DVD player. All these head units have ISO connectors at the rear.
Below are examples of the CDR24 and PCM2/2.1 original units.
There are also several amplifier options with these cars, non-amplified, ASK amplifiers known as the Sound Package Plus system (SPP) or premium BOSE amplifier.
Cars that are non-amplified will have two pairs of speaker wires in the ISO connector at the rear of the head unit, see image 2 below. ASK amplified cars have either 4 pairs of speaker wires in the ISO connector, see image 1 below, the amplifier requires a 12V switched turn on signal. The 12v turn on wire is the thin black/red wire in the black power ISO connector.
Cars with Bose will have no speaker wires present at the head unit, see image 3 below. The audio signal from the head unit is sent to the amplifier via fibre optics, a special interface is required for these cars or the amplifier will need to be bypassed or replaced.
The amplifier is located under the front bonnet, see the image below, the image is of a non amplified car, you can see the blank metal plate where the amplifier is mounted. A small panel needs to be removed to access the amplifier location.
Below is an image of the ASK amplifier.
Below is an image of the Bose amplifier.
The type of audio system can also be identified by looking at the speakers in the door panel.
Non amplified cars have a single large speaker in the door and a tweeter on the dashboard, see image below. Note that the panel between the large speaker and the door handle is blank, cars with amplified systems have a mid range speaker here.
Cars with the Bose audio systems have woofer and mid range speaker grills in the door panel and a Bose badge in the top corner of the grill panel that covers the mid range speaker. See the images below.
Cars with the ASK amplifier (Sound Package Plus SPP) have the same speaker grill configuration as cars with Bose but without the Bose branding. However, there are some model cars that have the additional mid range speaker grill present in the car but do not have an amplifier or mid range speakers. The image below shows a door panel with the woofer and mid range speaker grills with no Bose branding.
2009 - 2012 facelift models
From 2009 to 2012 the car was facelifted. The noticeable change is the colour of the dashboard, it has changed from silver to black and the original head unit options have been upgraded. Facelift models have either a CDR30 or PCM3 audio system.
Below are examples of the CDR30 and PCM3 original head units.
The CDR30 and PCM3 units also have quadlock connectors at the rear, replacing the ISO connectors on the older models. Similar to the older models with ISO, there are different amplifier options for these cars, some using speaker level outputs from the head unit and some using a fibre optic connection from the head unit to the amplifier.
Below are examples of the quadlock wiring.
1 is a car with 4 speaker channels in the quadlock and no fibre optic cables. 2 is a car with fibre optic connections for the audio and no speaker wires in the quadlock.
