Blaupunkt CR3001 Radio Cassette Amplifier upgrade

[ronmanfredi]

Our 1982 Avanti came with the Blaupunkt CR-3001 Cassette Radio, which includes a 15-watt amplifier that is mounted on top of the radio, under the dash cup holder.  All 4 speakers were worn out, so I replaced them with JL Audio 4” on the front and 6.5” on the rear deck.  Once done, I could tell the output of the 15-watt amp didn’t have enough power for the new speakers, so I decided to install a 50 watt per channel Rockford Fosgate amp that I had from a previous vehicle.  Due to the size of the amp, I decided to mount it in the trunk and ran the power lead and front speaker in-out wires to it.  The rear speaker “in” wires to the amp were right above it’s location, so it was easy to wire them up.

Both the radio and 15-watt amp can be removed through the dash cup holder hole.

The next challenge was to figure out how to connect to the radio’s DIN plug.  After doing some research, I located a basic 7 pin Din plug “pin out” image and modified it to represent the radio harness Din connector, using a volt meter.  Next, I purchased a high quality 7 pin DIN connector so I could make up a harness to connect to the radio and wires going to the new amp.  To make the new harness, you need 20–22-gauge wire, a good quality small round tip solder gun, some flux and solder.  I had some old 22-gauge speaker wire that I used, marking each one for what they were for.  In reference with the attached image, #7 Pin 12-volt DC Pin is for your amp’s turn on signal wire.  #2 is the ground for ALL 4 of your speakers.  The other pins are for each speaker + connection, #6 is not used.

Once I had the DIN connector harness made, and before I reinstalled the radio, I connected everything to the radio and tested it out.  All speakers were working, but the volume was really weak.  Then I remembered the radio speaker output voltage was less than 1 volt, where most modern radios are 4-6 volts.  So, I went to the amp and turned up the gains to right at ¾ full and now the speakers were working fantastic.  If you want to get the rid of the heavy, weak 15-watt amp sitting on top of your Blaupunkt CR-3001 radio and install a modern amp of your choice, you now know how to do it!