Saab 9-5 Audio System FAQ (Angry Kitchen Appliances)

[SaabWorld]

Q: You gave me the pinout of the amplifier connector, what about the head unit connector?

A: Ok, here it is.



Note that the low level signals between the AS1/AS2/AS3 head unit, the AS2/AS3 amplifier, and the CD changer are not the common single ended (signal & ground) used in ordinary consumer audio, instead it is a balanced (signal+ & signal-) used in pro audio.



The information the tables below were taken from the 9⁵ workshop manual for model years 1999 and 2002. Unfortunately wire colours/colors may vary between model years. There were few wireing changes until model year 2001.

AS2/AS3 HEAD UNIT CONNECTOR

Function	Direction	Pin #	Colour/color
Power and Control Signals
No connection	-	1	-
Power supply (ignition)	in	2	orange MY 1998 - 2001 red/blue MY 2002 - 2005
No connection	-	3	-
Ground	-	4	black
Mute control Note	out	5	black/white
Phone mute Note	in	6	yellow
Remote on control for amplifier (also antenna) Note	out	7	green
Power supply (constant)	in	8	red
Line Level Outputs
Line out right rear -	out	9	brown/red
Line out right rear +	out	13	gray
Line out right front -	out	10	blue
Line out right front +	out	14	red
Line out left front -	out	11	red/white
Line out left front +	out	15	blue/white
Line out left rear -	out	12	orange/white
Line out left rear +	out	16	yellow/white
Line Level Inputs and I-BUS
I-BUS - Note	in/out	17	white
I-BUS + Note	in/out	18	green
No connection	-	19	-
CD changer line in right -	in	20	black
CD changer line in right +	in	21	brown
Phone line in, ground	in	22	black
Phone line in, signal	in	23	gray/white
No connection	-	24	-
CD changer line in left -	in	25	red/white
CD changer line in left +	in	26	blue/white

AS1 HEAD UNIT CONNECTOR

Function	Direction	Pin #	Colour/color
Power and Control Signals
No connection	-	1	-
Power supply (ignition)	in	2	orange MY 1998 - 2001 red/blue MY 2002 - 2005
No connection	-	3	-
Ground	-	4	black
No connection	-	5	-
Phone mute Note	in	6	yellow
Remote on control (antenna) Note	out	7	green
Power supply (constant)	in	8	red
Speaker Outputs
Speaker right rear -	out	9	blue/white
Speaker right rear +	out	13	red/white
Speaker right front -	out	10	grey
Speaker right front +	out	14	brown/red
Speaker left front -	out	11	brown
Speaker left front +	out	15	brown/white
Speaker left rear -	out	12	green/white
Speaker left rear +	out	16	brown/white
Line Level Inputs and I-BUS
I-BUS - Note	in/out	17	white
I-BUS + Note	in/out	18	green
No connection	-	19	-
CD changer line in right -	in	20	black
CD changer line in right +	in	21	brown
Phone line in, ground	in	22	black
Phone line in, signal	in	23	gray/white
No connection	-	24	-
CD changer line in left -	in	25	red/white
CD changer line in left +	in	26	blue/white

Mute control

This pin is at 12V for 1s after the head unit has been turned on, and for 10s after the head unit has been turned off. At all other times it is at less than 1V.

Phone mute

This pin is normally floating free at 4V to 6V. A phone handsfree kit should pull down this pin to less than 1V during a phone call.

Remote on control (antenna)

This pin is at 12V when head unit is turned on.

I-BUS -/+

These pins are part of the vehicle communication network. Don't mess with these wires as doing so can cause problems, and perhaps damage, to many on-board computers!

[SaabWorld]

Q: I think that replacing the speakers will improve the sound. Can I do it?

A: Perhaps.

The sizes and impedances of the speakers are rather unusual. The amplifier may not like, or may not perform the way it should, if speakers of different impedances are used instead of the standard speakers.



The information the tables below were taken from the 9⁵ workshop manual for model year 1999. The sum of all amplifier powers does not add up to the marketing power numbers. I do not know if this is due to realistic numbers in the workshop manual and optimistic numbers in marketing, or if the reason is an error in the workshop manual.

Speakers for AS2 / Premium made by Pioneer

Location	Size	Impedance	Amplifier power	Frequency range
Instrument panel left/right	3.5"	4.1 ohm	2 x 15W	midrange/treble
Instrument panel center	2.5"	4.8 ohm	5W
Front doors	6.5"	1.8 ohm	2 x 25W	bass
Rear doors	4.0"	3.6 ohm	2 x 15W	midrange/treble

Speakers for AS3 / Prestige (four door) made by Harman Kardon

Location	Size	Impedance	Amplifier power	Frequency range
Instrument panel left/right	2.5"	2.5 ohm	2 x 16W	midrange/treble
Instrument panel center	2.5"	5.9 ohm	16W
Front doors	6.5"	2.4 ohm	2 x 22W	bass/midrange
Rear doors	2.5"	2.5 ohm	2 x 16W	midrange/treble
Subwoofer	6" x 9"	2.0 ohm	2 x 22W	sub-bass

Speakers for AS3 / Prestige (five door) made by Harman Kardon

Location	Size	Impedance	Amplifier power	Frequency range
Instrument panel left/right	2.5"	2.5 ohm	2 x 16W	midrange/treble
Instrument panel center	2.5"	5.9 ohm	16W
Front doors	6.5"	2.4 ohm	2 x 22W	bass/midrange
Rear doors	2.5"	2.5 ohm	2 x 16W	midrange/treble
Subwoofer	6.5"	2 x 2.0 ohm	2 x 22W	sub-bass

[SaabWorld]

MY 1998 - 2005

Q: I want to use the steering wheel buttons. How?

A: Pressing the buttons changes the voltage on one wire.

The buttons in the steering wheel is made from six/eight switches and seven/nine resistors connected in series. The switches connects the points between the resistors to a common wire. A seventh/tenth switch connects over all resistors and is used for the horn.

Note that four wires connect the steering wheel to the instrument panel wireing. Two of them are for the AIRBAG. Do NOT connect test instruments to the airbag wires!

The switch/resistor network is connected to the SID. The SID will measure the resistance of the network and either activate the horn relay or send a message to the audio system over the I-BUS.

The information the table below was taken from the 9⁵ workshop manual for model year 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004. Wire colours/colors may vary between model years. There were few wireing changes until model year 2001, but model year 2004 has a new SID with a different connector.

SID connections for steering wheel buttons MY 1998 - 2003

Function	SID pin #	Wire colour/color
Reference ground	9	yellow
A/D converter input with pull up resistor to +5V	22	blue

SID connections for steering wheel buttons MY 2004 - 2005

Function	SID pin #	Wire colour/color
Reference ground	23	yellow
A/D converter input with pull up resistor to +5V	24	blue

The airbag wires do not connect to the SID.

With the steering wheel buttons connected to the SID a voltage can be measured. With the steering wheel buttons disconnected from the SID a resistance can be measured.

Steering wheel control buttons MY 1998 - 2002

Button	Voltage (V)	Resistance (ohm)	Resistors (ohm)
Horn	0.0	0	(none)
VOL-	0.7	82	82
VOL+	1.2	164	82 + 82
SRC	1.8	284	82 + 82 + 120
SEEK>>	2.4	464	82 + 82 + 120 + 180
<<SEEK	3.0	794	82 + 82 + 120 + 180 + 330
NXT	3.6	1474	82 + 82 + 120 + 180 + 330 + 680
(none)	4.2	2474	82 + 82 + 120 + 180 + 330 + 680 + 1000

Steering wheel control buttons MY 2003 - 2005

Button	Voltage (V)	Resistance (ohm)	Resistors (ohm)
Horn	0.0	0	(none)
(+) Sentronic	0.4	44	44
(-) Sentronic	0.8	95	44 + 51
VOL-	1.2	160	44 + 51 + 65
VOL+	1.7	242	44 + 51 + 65 + 82
SRC	2.1	347	44 + 51 + 65 + 82 + 105
SEEK>>	2.5	494	44 + 51 + 65 + 82 + 105 + 147
<<SEEK	2.9	709	44 + 51 + 65 + 82 + 105 + 147 + 215
NXT	3.3	1041	44 + 51 + 65 + 82 + 105 + 147 + 215 + 332
(none)	4.0	2511	44 + 51 + 65 + 82 + 105 + 147 + 215 + 332 + 1470

Note that four wires connect the steering wheel to the instrument panel wireing. Two of them are for the AIRBAG. Do NOT connect test instruments to the airbag wires!

[SaabWorld]

MY 1998 - 2005

Q: The sound alternates between the speakers. What happened?

A: You put the AS2/AS3 head unit in test mode by accident.

The test mode is activated by holding the RADIO button and turning on power. The head unit now enters a test mode sending audio to the amplifier in the following repeating sequence:

1. Front left
2. Front right
3. Rear right
4. Rear left
5. Front left+right
6. Rear left+right

The head unit continues to function as normal, except for this sequencing of the audio outputs. Turning off the head unit will leave the test mode.

[SaabWorld]

MY 1998 - 2005

Q: Is it possible to connect a MP3 player to the Saab Audio system?

A: Perhaps

Only four audio inputs are available from the outside of a AS2/AS3 head unit.

• Input for phone (mono).
• Input for CD changer.
• Radio antenna.
• Playback head for tape deck.

Five possible audio inputs are available inside the AS2/AS3 head unit.

• Use the tape player audio path.
• Use the CD player audio path.
• Use the phone input audio path after it splits into a right and left signal.
• Use the weather band (US/CA models) audio path after it splits into a right and left signal.
• Add a new input to the electronic volume control.

Phone input

Using the mono input intended for a phone is probably not very interesting.
Edit by SaabWorld: Using the phone input does provide stereo input. See below for the link.

Radio antenna

The radio antenna can be used for MP3 audio by using a commonly available FM modulator. The MP3 player will be heard by tuning the radio to the frequency used by the modulator.

Tape deck playback head

The tape deck playback head can be used for MP3 audio by using a commonly available adapter. The adapter has the shape of a compact cassette tape. The MP3 player will be heard by inserting the adapter and playing the tape.

CD changer input

The input used by the CD changer can be used if:

1. The MP3 player is connected to the I-BUS, and has been married to the car (i.e. has been accepted by the TWICE security computer).
2. The AS2/AS3 head unit must know that a CD changes is connected so the input is activated.
3. The MP3 player is able to talk to the AS2/AS3 head unit over the I-BUS.

I don't know of any hardware, except the original Saab CD changer, that is able to do this. How the communication with the CD changer is done is not available in public documentation that I know of.
It should be possible to reverse engineer the communication using available CAN bus software tools, but this is most likely not an easy job.

Tape player audio path

This method requires internal modifications to the head unit. The method is to steal the audio path from the tape player, replacing the tape player audio signal with the MP3 audio signal. A audio cassette has to be "played" to activate the MP3 audio.
Step-by-step instructions for this modification are available from the SAAB 95 MP3 player site.

CD player audio path

This method requires internal modifications to the head unit. The method is to steal the audio path from the CD player, replacing the CD player audio signal with the MP3 audio signal. A CD has to be "played" to activate the MP3 audio.

Phone input audio path

Instructions / tutorial: http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=28000

Weather band audio path

Electronic volume control

These methods require internal modifications to the head unit. The method is to steal the phone input or weather band audio path after it has been split into a left and right audio signal. This is just before the electronic volume control, so an alternative is to add a new input to the electronic volume control just for the MP3 signal.

[Adam34668]

Hello im new here i bought a 02 saab 95 2.3t wagon 5d with the as3 and i bought a aftermarket double din JVC KWM150BT i shouldnt have any issues with this din as long as ive bought all the correct wiregarness ect. Right?