2001 boxster with just two dash speakers.
Looking to add an amp and rear speaker kit and perhaps a sub.
some basic questions:
- Aftermatket amp? or is the Haes or Nokia acceptable ?
- Best rear speaker kit? PNP, Porsche OEM or custom?
- Best place for a sub if no door speakers.
- Sound is important but als considering cost and ease of install.
what kind of music do you listen to mainly?
Don't do it. You don't need to.
I hated (HATED) the sound my 05 Boxster had. My 06 Honda Civic sounded so much better. I was willing to pay anything (almost) to make the 987 better.
But a buddy of mine who owns a car audio shop advised me not to. All I needed was get a better deck. So I got the
Pioneer
AVH-P4100DVD from his store, had it installed in less than 2 hours, and I will say this: the difference was beyond imaginable.
He said because the bit conversion is so much better in the
Pioneer
, more power goes into all the speakers, and everything just sounds louder and better compared to the factory stereo. What an understatement. Now the car is loud, it's clear, it's simply amazing.
You don't need to have an external amp, a sub, or more speakers. I bought rear speakers off of eBay ---- he looked at them and said they are ****. Those speakers are still sitting in that box in my kitchen...I can't even give them away now. He said for car audio, all you need are front speakers as this is where the majority of the sound will be appreciated from.
What's really stupid about going from the factory stereo to the DVD player is that I had to be a double-din plastic bezel from eBay. That stupid piece is just a thin plastic casing, yet it ran me $300+, and there's absolutely no use for it other than for aesthetics. But you HAVE to buy it or else your interior looks like ****. Not happy about that.
Amazon.com: Pioneer AVH-P4100DVD 7-Inch In-Dash Double-DIN DVD Multimedia AV Receiver with Widescreen Display: Electronics
I have an '03 that came with the
Bose system
so the sub was built in between the headrests. The tweeters behind the seat are borderline useless with the top down. I replaced a
Pioneer
radio (don;t know which model) which I couldn't hear very well with a
Pioneer
GPS
unit (link below). I had installed in the lower pocket and cd holder and put a pocket where the radio was.
Pioneer USA - GPS Navigation Systems
After installation it was way better but still missing the deep sounds I was looking for so the original amp was missing and has a Memphis amp installed recommended by by installer.
With the sub and adjusted settings the car sounds incredible particulary with cd's with the top down, up or parked. I also had XM hooked up and an Ipod link that runs into the glovebox (note sure if '01 has one). My installer would like to change out the front speakers out but spend enough and think it sounds great.
If your interested in total cost drop me a line.
Burt
I have the answers you have been looking for with regards to your 2001 boxster audio upgrade.
I used to have a 987 and after many different attempts I managed to get the perfect solution. Basically you will have to upgrade your headunit, add some amplifiers and upgrade your speakers and speaker cabling.
Headunit\source - First of all you will need to upgrade the head unit to allow the usage of an amplifier. I upgraded to an Alpine 9855R which is very good in terms of quality and functionally. I added an
ipod
interface and an alpine amplifier controller that enabled you to control the amp (adjust gains etc from the head unit).
Amplifier - I added two amps + a power capacitor, one Alpine v12 4 channel, 2 channels bridged and used to amplify a sub and the other two to amp the rear speakers. The other amp was used to amplify the dash speakers.
Speakers - the speakers in the dash are very poor, these were removed and replaced with some MB quart 3.5 inch speakers and tweeter component set. I purchased a used rear
Bose
speaker which filled the sound nicely in the back. I did try the PNP rear speaker kit thing and that was no good and was promptly removed.
Subwoofer – I had a custom fibreglass sub made for the passenger foot well. A
Pioneer
10” slimline subwoofer was used in this box.
Speaker cabling - I used almost 3 rolls of OFC (I think it was 105 strand) cabling which I brought from maplin, I also brought the power stiffening
Cap
from there also.
If you would like any advise on where to run the cables etc please let me know. Also have some pictures of the sub if you would like to see for ideas?
I changed my car to a 2005 boxster and I cannot reuse any of my equipment (apart from my amps) I will be putting my stuff on ebay if you are interested please let me know.
Hi,
Can you pls send me the information of your setup? pls email me to
[email removed]
thanks!
I have a 2003 Boxster S with the following sound system in it:
Alpine Head Unit
Boston Pro 6" 2 way Splits in the doors (custom door pods as my car didn't have the stereo upgrade)
Focal 8" sub in passenger footwell.
Boston 4 channel amp in rear boot
6 disc stacker in stock location in front boot
This setup provides PLENTY of sound top up or down. Admittedly we're talking almost AUS$1000 each for the splits, sub, head unit, amp and a few $000 for the install, but you can replicate this for far less.
DONT bother with rear speakers, you don't need them, shouldn't have them. The musical stage should be in front of you. Do you have rear seats?? No, so don't need speakers behind you.
Any aftermarket headunit will sound better than the stock ****. Any aftermarket speakers will sound better than the stock ****.
For a relatively budget install that will sound miles better than the stock stereo look at:
*
Kenwood
head unit for around $150 (make sure it has at least 1 set of RCA's and subwoofer control)
* Front speakers - look at Boston, Focal, JL, etc etc. Just listen to a few, Focal are a favourite of mine, but JL has a very good set in the budget category.
* Sub - there are a few slimline subs getting around these days,
Pioneer
for one.
* Amp, 4 channel. Even the cheapest amp will provide better sound than what you have, so spend what you want.
Or, if you dont want a sub in the footwell, go a three way setup with midbass drivers in the doors and midrange and tweeter in the factory dash locations.
Even just 6.5" two way splits in the door fed by an amp will sound better than factory.
