Looking to upgrade stereo in 996 - any suggestions ?

I own a 1999 996 C4. Like the car a lot but never liked the stereo (I did take the "digital sound" option). My other car (2001 VW golf v5 GTI) is not even a third of the price of my C4 but has a superior stero (Sony stereo, standard golf speakers) !!!! I would like to upgrade and want to try new speakers first by replacing the old ones. Any ideas / suggestions ? I would prefer to just replace the old ones by more powerful ones (i.e. not looking to replace back seats for bulky speakers) ... Would appreciate your help ...

I picked up my pre-owned '99 996 w/digital sound two weeks ago. I could not believe how lousy the sound system is for a supposedly 'premium sound' system. I cannot play any music with bass at even slightly loud volumes without the speakers popping. My previous 993 with the hifi sound package sounded much better. I also want to start the upgrade process with some better speakers and/or amplifier. Would be very interested to hear some suggestions.

I upgraded my stereo to an Alpine 7893 CD/XM unit with a 6 disc/MP3 changer and I couldn't be more pleased! It's a wonder what a difference it made, even with stock speakers. I still can't believe that P-Cars come with such crappy audio systems. The new head unit also looks great because it has an aluminum face, which goes well with my shifter and hand brake!

Call Russ at Reus Systems. They do phenomenal work. Pretty much will install anywhere in the country. They know porsche's inside out and have a system made specially for the 996. will also install xm if you want. xm is great although the xm tuners are not as rich in sound as the becker

guys, just be sure to do the right connection wires, as i read in other 993, 964 forums archives, if you do a bad wires installation, you will have some alarms on the dashboard like check engine ,flat battery...or something. <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" /> Clarion seems to be also a good choice.

Check out this thread that was posted yesterday for some information on my install. <a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001598" target="_blank">996 stereo thread</a>

Sloth, Looks like a nice setup. How much did the entire upgrade cost including labor?

I know that on the NSX board, people are swearing about the Alpine-S634 (I think that is the model number). It is a new Alpine changer that allows you to play MP3's as well. There are also some detailed installation instructions that I can send to you if you are interested. Not really sure what the face plate looks like, but have heard very strong things about the system. Regards.

[quote]Originally posted by John in Norcal: <strong>Sloth, Looks like a nice setup. How much did the entire upgrade cost including labor?</strong><hr></blockquote> The whole thing installed was around $2500. Prices will vary by equipment installed and the quality of the work. I also supplied my own Sony headunit. It sounds excellent, especialy compared to stock HiFi (not hard to do). I probably could have done it cheaper, but I wanted a shop that had a clue and experience working on these cars. This is no "Best Buys/ Circuit City" job.

Check out out this place <a href="http://www.reusaudio.com/" target="_blank">Reus Audio Systems</a> it's awsome. good luck

I looked into this on my C4 - which has the porsche top of the line stereo package - digital sound processor, more speakers - which is still pathetic. Reus looked interesting, but very expensive ($5,000 plus). I ultimately decided not to upgrade because there is a limit to what you can do accoustically in the 911 - there is alot of road noise (its own form of music, I know) that will always interfere with the stereo, and frankly, its a small space which is not acoustically friendly, even with a better system. You just can't get a 911 to sound like a mercedes sedan (acoustically) no matter what you do. You will get improvement by adding amplifier power, better speakers and a small subwoofer. Thats what porsche tried to do in the '02 with the new bose system - which proves my point - it sounds better, but not very good either.

The dilema for most Porsche owners - lousy factory installed audio systems. The only item to save is the wiring. Tear everything else out. I have replaced the entire system with the following; Front & Rear - Boston Acoustics - 4.5 System - ProSeries Components Doors - Boston Acoustics - 5.5 System - ProSeries Components Subwoofer - Illusion Audio Carbon Series 8" subwoofer Nd-8 (sealed enclosure - fibreglass - crafted by Monney Car Audio - Bay area, CA) - passenger footwell - see pic. Amplifier - Alpine V12 MRV-F347 - 5/4/3 Channel Power Amplifier (30Wx4+100W) Head Unit - Alpine CDA-7894 (Dual Illumination Buttons (Green/ Amber ) Cost: approx. $4,850 CAD ($3,100 USD) installed [img]file:///c:\nd-8.jpg[/img] [img]file:///c:\subw-1.jpg[/img] [img]file:///c:\subw-2.jpg[/img]

Like Renato I purchased the Alpine 7893. It is a great unit with a lot of power and I love the way the silver face compliments the rest of the silver accents in the car. Some people might not like the illumination at night...it is a bright ice blue and doesn't really go with the orange of the rest of the car. Personally I don't mind it and like the look. I also put in an Alpine 6 Disc Changer and an Alpine 200 Watt Amp. I replaced the stock front and rear tweeters with MB Quarts and left the stock midranges. I then replaced the door speakers with 6.5" Kicker Mid Bass Woofers (I have a cab). The great thing about the whole system is that it cost me less than $1500.00 installed. I stalked Ebay and the internet for all the components. If you look hard you can find great deals...much better than any retail store. The system sounds excellent...totally blows the stock away.

I just got installed a new system in my car last night. Here are the specs: Alpine 7995 headunit Alpine XM reciever Alpine 6 disc changer JL 500/5 AMP Front Focal 136K 5 1/4" components Rear Eclipse 4" coax 2 JL 8" subs The install took me about 10hours but was well worth it. The sound is increadible. If you are looking for some very clean sound you cannot go wrong with the Focal components. They can handle just about anything you throw at them without distorting.

Be careful. I just blew both of my JL subs last week beautifully. I installed a new amp, XTANT A3001 to the 2 JL 8W3 2 Ohm speakers. It sounded amazing for 20 minutes, than heard a pop followed by an unbearable smell. I have to either go with a more powerful 8 or a lesser amp. This is the only stereo mod I have done so far. The box alone took me about 12 hours to build because it fits precisely between the rear seats and shelf. It is a perfect trapezoid with 4 complex angles.

Be careful. I just blew both of my JL subs last week beautifully. I installed a new amp, XTANT A3001 to the 2 JL 8W3 2 Ohm speakers. It sounded amazing for 20 minutes, than heard a pop followed by an unbearable smell. I have to either go with a more powerful 8 or a lesser amp. I am real surprised to hear that you blew both speakers. I have near twice the continuous rating going into my JL8w0's and have had no problems so far. The 8w0's are rated at 75w and they are getting 125w. JL tends to rate on the conservative side too. The w3 are very versatile with the how they can be wired. Perhaps you dropped the impendance to much depending on how the subs were wired. If you wired both speakers for a two ohm load and then wired them together for a 1 ohm load (?). That would have the speakers seeing ~600w, that would blow any 8" sub. If they are the 2ohm subs then you would wire each voice coil in series (4ohm) and then the two subs in parallel for a 2ohm load (and 300w shared between the two). Confusing is it not? <img src="graemlins/oops.gif" border="0" alt="[oops]" /> Just make sure that the amp is seeing nothing lower than a two ohm load. Those subs should be able to take 150w each without issue.

Has anyone tried to fit one or two 12" JLs in the back deck?(coupe). I have two eights but want more bass. I was told the only place to fit 12s is in the footwells.

There is only slightly more than 1 cubic foot of volume available behind the rear seats once you subtract the volume used by the woofer itself and the wood used to build the box. Two modern 8" subwoofers can work in about one cubic foot. Two 10" drivers will require at least 1.5 cubic feet for good sound quality, and two 12" drivers need typically 2.5 cubic feet or more. Unless you replace the entire rear seat area, you're not going to get 2 12s in there to actually sound good. Don't forget- if you put 12s into a 1 cubic foot box, they'll sound terrible and their power handling will be reduced. One ten would sound better than two eights (in terms of low frequency extension) but even one ten is going to use up all that space behind the seats by the time you're done. Plus, I don't know if it's possible to build a box to fit a ten because you may not have ten inches of flat area to mount the sub in! You can use some of the newest 10" drivers which can work in very small enclosures, but the sensitivity of these designs is less so they must be driven with more power. In addition, to squeeze in the smallest recommended box means you have a higher Qts number, which means you will have more "boomy" bass instead of low, tight, home-audio quality bass. Better off with less or smaller drivers operating in a nominally-sized box comfortably- unless high volume is your primary interest. Cheers, Ken

Well now we are excited! Dropped the C4 cab off with Reggie at Audio Excellence Orlando. He has the following on his list Alpine CDA-9815 (XM/MP3) Head unit JL Audio 500/5 amp Front Speakers JL Audio XR653 (comes with 3way X-over) rear XR525 (with two way X-over) two JL audio 6W0 subwoofers under passenger footwell (only good place in the cab) XM receiver (not sure what model) Pick it up Thursday...hopefully the $$$ will kick butt in sound value!!

well that is interesting about the 10's v's 8's. I absolutely agree about the frequency response (how low can you go and fit nicely), and I built my enclosure that fits also between the seats and rear shelf and it also has many complex amgles. I made it out of 5/8 mdf for weight savings v. 3/4 I made internal baffles inside so that I made the inside Q exactly what was required for my jl 10w3 d4 - the woofer displacement of course! It is running at 2 ohms off my ppi 5 channel 5440 which gives it 200w rms, and the other speakers 30 or 40 rms each, which is way conservative and insanely clean thd wise, if you know ppi. I have the gain on the components at 1/4 and it screams. The components are running at 4 ohms through the passive crossovers supplied as they are focal spearates in front, 100v2 and coaxials 100hc rear. The sound is insane. It hits incredibly low. The high's are beautifly full. I also incorporated a shelf at the end of the box to extend it to the rear and make it look stock by covering it in factory carpet. Check out the pics. I plan on changing the deck and changer next to either an alpine nav new dvd not that cdrom junk, with flip out screen or mp3 cd deck and of course a 12 disc alpine changer for sure that I will mount in the car. I hate opening the trunk to change discs and I hate bending over to grab the cartridge! I have pics of my box here <a href="http://hobbystage.net/porsche/spr/" target="_blank">http://hobbystage.net/porsche/spr/</a> I also saved the plans and scanned the measurements to a couple of jpg files if anyone want to copy it. Concerning the blown speakers. I would agree that it is not power that kills speakers and I can attest to it first hand it is distortion. regarding the wiring when you drop the load on a sub by wiring the speakers to a lower load in series, it usually increases the thd enormously. Also you have to retune the gain and crossover settings before you do anything. I would think that you probably didn't have the corssover set right, and or the gain too high, and burnt the voice coils. Push the speakers in and out do they travel freely? put a 9v battery or lower to the speaker, does it push it in or out dependig on polarity? I am not familiar with xtant amps, but I am all about the lowest thd for the rms. Most companies lie in this area. that is why I stick by ppi. They are conservative if anything and their products out perform their ratings. I used to have a a1200 on 2 jl 12w6's running at 1.5 ohm getting rms 600w each. The deepest and hardest bass ever. Extremely accurate and numbing. I have also had 4 12's before and although I got more spl out of the 4 12's the 2 jl's went much lower and were better. all sealed but of course different amps.

RE: The Blown JLs How did you have them wired. Two wired in parallel would result in a 1 ohm load. Is the Xtant stable at 1 ohm. Is the Xtant mono or was it bridged. Definitely cannot run bridged at 1 ohm. You clipped the amp to blow those speakers. I use a McIntosh 446 6 (2 X 110 and 4 X 55) channel with a McIntosh electronic crossover to power a three way system in the front. The mid base is Dynaudio, the mid is a CDT High Definition, and the tweets are MB Quart QM 25s. The rear channels are run off a McIntosh 440 (4 X 110), with a McIntosh electronic xover running running a set of Dynaudio components. Subs are 2 Focal 21V2s powered by McIntosh 300 X 2. Head Unit is Nakamichi 700. Sounds great. Dynaudios are sweet speakers as are Focal Kevlar series, CDT High Definitions (best bang for buck) and maybe MB Quart QSDs (have a great tweeter but the mid is little hollow soudning in the 500 to 1k range. Rainbows are great speakers and run up to $ 5,000 for a set of co-axles. Focal makes a long through subwoffer that is a 6.5 inch speaker that hits pretty hard. Amps, McIntosh is the only way to go, but Zapco, Brax and maybe Arc Audio are worth looking into. Budget amps to consider PPI, Pheonix Gold Titanium series, XTant, and Orion for subs are nice. Just bypass the filters and use a good electronic crossover and a pre amp processor and they can be made to sound very nice. The best cheap head units are the Clarion Pro line something like 501, 601, and 701. The 601 and 701 has dual 32 bit processing which is not seen on equipment in this price range. THe new Eclipse stuff was a major disspointment. I tried to use the 16 volt high dollar Eclipse head unit in my boat system and it sounded like crap.

Either NCCAB or Renato. I also have a1999 996 with the hi fi sound and the digital sound. If i go only with the Alpine 7893 did you by pass the stock amplifier under the hood and how did you match up the speaker wiring. I would like to go with just the 7893 and keep it somewhat simple. thanks, doug

you can get an adapter from bekker if you explain to them exactly what it is, that's what I did and used the tca kit that plugs into the back, then you just extend the wires to the amp and viola. nice and clean

My car has the High Performance amp and speakers by Porsche. I bought the car with this already installed and I understand it is pretty expensive and required modification to the doors. To me it sounds great but I don't claim any expertise in this area. How does this rate in the rest of your experience? Bill

Sloth, The shop claimed I wired them down to 1 Ohm as you said. Here is the whole story from scratch. Went to friends house, built box for 12 hours for the 2 subs and wired it myself to a left over Fosgate 100x2. I fiended for more power so I bought a Xtant A3001. The shop I bought it from insisted that they personally switch the amps. 20 minutes of playing time later.........boom. They swore I wired the box wrong initially.(makes no sense because it worked fine with old amp). 6 months later, yes 6, my speakers come back from the warranty work. Shop plugs them in and........boom. Amp blows. Again tell me that I wired box wrong and they would adjust when amp comes back. 3 months later, amp returns, they rewire(supposedly) and it has worked great since however the base sounded louder with the older amp. Don't know what they did.

Wired parallel put you in 1 ohm. You can wire them in series (run a wire from positive on one to negative on second and run speaker wire negative to sub 1 and positive on the second) and you will have a 4 ohm load. It is preferable to run subs in two ohm load as the amp produces max power at 2 ohm or 1 ohm. It louder because the amp produces 2 times the power at 2 ohms as it does over 4 ohm in parallel and 1 ohm would be four times the power of you current 4 ohm configuration. The other wiring did not result in each speakers seeing 600 watts, but it resulted in the amp trying to make each speaker see 600 watts which exceeded the power of the amp. This cause a clip or square wave which will fry the speaker. The other amp may have been 1 ohm stable and, therefore, would have been producing is max output at 1 ohm as opposed to overload at 1 ohm.