Stereo Installation
Written by Administrator   
Monday, 16 July 2007
As with alarm systems, Saabs are extremely normal when it comes to their stereos.  In the very early days of the 900 (and the later days of the 99), Saabs did not come to the States with any sort of audio.  Such luxuries were exclusively dealer-installed options.  With that in mind, Saab designed the cars to accept industry standard sizes of everything; that design stayed with us until the very end of production.  On 9000s, Saab continued their use of industry standard sizes, and provided a very flexible platform for audio installation.

On 900s, Saab provides at least one DIN-sized position for an audio head unit.  Certain 900s are also fitted with a center console, located just in front of the shift tower, which provides a second DIN-sized slot.  On 9000s, there are actually three DIN positions - two are in use by the factory stereo system, and the third is in use by the ashtray.  It can quite easily be removed and used as an alternate position.

On both cars, installing any DIN-sized head unit is done from the front.  There are no rear brackets or supports which require attention from the installer.  This setup is sometimes called, appropriately, front-mount.  Installation will usually consist of inserting a metal sleeve or bracket, and bending several tabs to retain the bracket in the dash or other slot with a screwdriver.  Any stereo should come with basic instructions as to how this should be done.

When doing the wiring, use the following guide to help you connect things to the right places - all Saabs use standard wire colors and should be the same across the board assuming your car has (or once had) a factory stereo and not a dealer-installed stereo:

Harness #1 - Power

Grey (Pin 1) - Battery +12v
Red (Pin 4) - Switched +12v
Black (Pins 5, 9, 10) - Ground
Green (or Blue) (Pin 6) - Antenna/Remote Trigger
Brown&White (Pin 8)- Dash Illumination:

Harness #2 - Speaker Output

Green (Pin 1) - Left Front (-)
Brown (Pin 2) - Left Front (+)
Blue (Pin 4) - Right Front (-)
Red (Pin 3) - Right Front (+)
Green&White (Pin 5) - Left Rear (-)
Brown&White (Pin 6) - Left Rear (+)
Blue&White (Pin 8) - Right Rear (-)
Red&White Pin 7) - Right Rear (+)

Additionally, there may be three more connectors you find floating in the dashboard.  One will be a 2-pin T-shaped connector with two black wires - this is a ground loop which connects the top DIN slot (stereo) to the lower DIN slot (equalizer).  The second and third will both be 6-pin round DIN-sized connectors.  On those models with an equalizer, these connector form the bus between the two units.  All of these cables may be removed if you like, or left in place in the event you decide to reinstall the original stereo.