Ok, I got the empeg installed in my Boxster. It worked great (until I broke the display a few hours later - see post in bug reports under 'rotary button problem' :-( So, I now have a working car dock but no empeg for a week or two. But, I thought I'd share my experiences, as I know there's a few people who want to install it in the Boxster (or a 911-996 which is effectively identical).

Anyhow, details are as follows:

Audio:

As previously posted, you need the Becker aux/phone cable 1319.116-276. This connects into connector C3 on the back of the Becker CDR-220, and gives three RCA female inputs - aux input stereo (2), and a mono phone input (1). I only used the aux stereo inputs (no hard-wired phone in the car). Note you actually need to assemble this yourself by pushing the cable connectors into the right holes on the Becker plug. The holes are marked with pin numbers with a tiny indentation on the back of the plug, but get it right, as it's next to impossible to take them out later!

Note that as the empeg also has female RCA connectors for front output, you need a stereo RCA male-to-male cable (3 foot is the smallest I could find and is easily enough, $1.69 at Fry's Electronics) as well. Since I only have the hi-fi (joke) package in the Boxster, though it has six speakers they're all front channel, so I didn't use the Empeg rear outputs.

An alternate option would be to wire the empeg directly to the amp, and use the becker as the aux in to the empeg. However, this means you can't play CDs/listen to the radio without the empeg installed, and I think on short trips (e.g groceries) I'll leave it out, as I'm not going to leave the empeg in in a public place, esp. not with the top open.

However this would work better if you have rear speakers or a custom system, as you can then really use the empeg's 4-way equalizer to its potential. The solution I used is just to add the empeg to the factory stock system.

Power/other connectors:

The Boxster only has one ISO car audio connector that is currently being used for the Becker unit. So, you need to tap into the wires on this connector to get a parallel connection to the empeg. The empeg supplied ISO plug with bare wire ends is very useful here as it can be wired straight in, meaning that you can in future disconnect/remove the dock without any re-wiring. My installer used crimp connectors on the existing wires into the Becker ISO connector, which worked very well and was very fast. He didn't even have to disconnect the Becker from the power supply, so I didn't have to re-enter the radio code as it was live all the time.

Mounting:

I put the empeg slide dock into the bay below the CDR-220, above the oddments tray, where the CD trays used to be. It's at a shaper angle than the CDR-220, haven't measured it, but going to be pretty near the 16 degrees max. This actually works out well as with the front bezel it's easier to see the top left of the display in particular, which would be otherwise hidden by the swoop if the unit was mounted so low down and horizontally (always assuming of course you haven't already killed the display through ineptitude).

The driver-side small piece of carpeting behind the plastic console side just pulls off and makes it easy to route the wires from the CDR-220 to the empeg below. Note you will need the Becker keys to pull out the CDR-220 to insert the audio connector and crimp/connect the power wires.

Impressions:

Very cool! The car features came on automatically (dimmer, 4-way equalizer). The empeg switches off immediately with the ignition, wheras the becker (on aux input - hold down TP to get to the Becker menu to enable aux inputs) waits 2-3 seconds before switching off. This is a little strange when you're used to music continuing for a few seconds on switch off but causes no problems.

The sound is great (or at least what you can get out of the Boxster stero), no whines, hisses, or background noise. The front panel is also a nice match for the rest of the Boxster interior, all black and curvy. It looks like it belongs.

The amber display is as near as I can see a perfect match for the amber Boxster/Porsche display. However, it is effectively invisible in normal daylight, even with the roof up, as it has no anti-glare. Compares very badly to the Becker unit which has a completely black background and is visible even in direct sunlight. At night though it's cool. We really do need an anti-glare coating, but empeg are working on it.

Installer:

I got mine installed by Monney Car Audio, Redwood City (www.monney.com, 2001 Middlefield Road, 650-299-9991), cost $60, and it took 30 minutes by their specialist, Juan (sp?). I trusted them because:

1) The owner, Leo Monney, is based there, and he knew about the empeg already. He'd seen it in San Jose, and is trying to become an authorized dealer for the Bay Area.

2) They'd already fitted a blue one (Mk 2, I think)

3) Their website shows lots of cool custom installations for very nice cars (911 Turbo, Ferrari, etc.) as well as plenty of Boxsters

4) They let me watch and guide the whole installation in their workshop

and, as it turned out, 5) The car being worked on next to mine was a Mazda RX-7 owned by Shawn Fanning (founder of Napster). It was having a complete custom system being put in, including an Alpine DVD player in the console - no kidding! I assume he chooses only the best :-)

Anyhow, hope people find this useful. Will post pics when I get my empeg back with a working display again. Remember - don't glue the rotary knob to the shaft - wait for empeg to come out with a proper solution to the slipping knob!

Cheers,
David.