Speaker upgrades in my 996 coupe

Jon Mitchell's speaker upgrades in my 996 Some of you might have seen my posts when I got my 996 last year relating to stereo's, speakers and general sound set-up and also seen my posts that I was looking to do something with the speakers. Well, I promised a write up when it was sorted out and here it is: When I got my car it had the optional speaker upgrade kit (with the extra speakers in the door pods) and the standard single slot CD player (CDR22?). I wanted to integrate all my in-car requirements into one unit (radio, ipod integration, sat nav, Bluetooth handsfree etc) rather than have loads of different bits of kit all over the place. In the end I settled on the Pioneer D3Bti and a great piece of kit it is too. Sadly, this nice new head unit and all of its clever facilities really showed up the poor speakers that are fitted as standard to the 996 (I think they are Nokia units). They are unable to handle any real bass and are all too easy to distort at higher, although not stupidly loud, volumes. In addition I didn't think that the sound from them was especially clear. So, I started looking into options for replacing or enhancing the speakers. Firstly I considered the Bose upgrade but it's a. hard to find secondhand, b. incredibly expensive to buy and c. I have read that it is not all I would hope from the name. So I decided to look about and see what else was available in the market. It soon became apparent that there wasn't much in the way of "plug and play" options. This has a lot to do with both the unusual sizes and mountings of the standard Porsche speakers. I have seen many differing ways of retaining speaker units with four mounting points where the Porsche ones have three "" but none that really looked "proper". I spoke to local Audio outlets and quite frankly was astonished at some of the prices I was being quoted. In addition it also seemed that I would have to live with my car looking "less than factory spec" (read "" a little Max Power) as it wasn't thought that most speaker options could retain the original grills, especially on the dashboard and in the rear of the cabin. I also really didn't want to fit any big Bass Box to the car as to be honest a. it really isn't me and b. it's not like there is loads of room inside in the first place. I had pretty much given up on the idea and resigned myself to listening at lower volumes and living with the reverberating bass issues when I happened to mention my thoughts on the standard set-up when I was in Jon Mitchell's getting something else done. Jon told me that he had been working on audio options for the Boxster and that he also wanted to get something sorted out for the 996. I explained the above to Jon and re-iterated that I didn't want anything that didn't look factory spec and he agreed. What followed was a lot of testing / trial and dry run along with a certain amount of patience on both sides. Jon had to get some mounting rings fabricated for the original speaker grills (dash and rear) so that standard 4 point mounting speakers could be fitted into them without cutting things about. Whilst these were being fabricated the front door speakers were replaced with Alpine units and I was told to go and "run them in". I'd never had to "run" speaker in before and was sceptical when initially installed as there was some reverberation at volume (as with the original speakers) however Jon was convinced and had checked with Alpine "" 5 to 10 hours and they would be perfect. Well I went away and did as requested, running the volume up louder and louder over time and I have to say that Alpine were right, they slowly started to handle the volume and bass better and better until after 10 hours or so they are really rather remarkable and produce a good, clear sound at most volume levels (that ordinary people would use when driving). Even a heavy bass track like Fools Gold by the Stone Roses is no problem now and there is no hint of the reverberations any more. So, a happy camper with the front door speaker upgrades, I got the call from Jon that the fabricated mounts and the other speakers were all ready to fit. I duly dropped into the workshops and the swap-over of these units proved fairly quick and painless. Again, Alpine replacements were installed and the original grills re-fitted so there is no outward sign of anything being changed in the car. That is until you wind the music level up. The sound reproduction is clear and crisp at any volume that I would need to use. For my needs there is a reasonable level of bass too (considering that I didn't go for a sub-woofer) however if you music tastes are a little more bassy (is that a word?) the there is the option of a slim bass speaker that can be fitted under the passenger seat to minimise impact on space. I'm never going to win any awards at a Max Power stereo competition but that was never the intention. I just wanted something that improved the poor standard set-up and allowed me to crank up the volume on the head unit when I felt the urge without wincing at the poor sound quality or having passengers laugh at the rubbish stereo in my "posh car". I think that I got exactly what I was after and I am very pleased with the results. I can't show any pictures of the installation as there is nothing to see "" but this is exactly what I was looking for. Outwardly the car looks totally standard so is less attractive to thieving eyes yet I now get the sound and clarity that I was missing before. It is also totally reversible if I should ever I feel the need, or upgradeable should I decide that I actually do want the next speakers up or to add the bass speaker. Jon has recently told me that he has access to some new speakers from Alpine that he feels might improve the set-up further and at some point In the near future I will be popping down there to have these installed so that I can do a comparison "" I will let you know the outcome once it's done. I would recommend anyone that is thinking of changing their speakers to have a word with Jon Mitchell's as I know they are planning to do a postal service as well as an install service if you are local.[ ]

I also recently changed my front and rear speakers for some Pioneer e-motion TS-E1076 co-axials, using new speaker grill blanks (thanks to Richard Hamilton). The results are very good, but took a while to do. Do you know how he fabricated the speaker grills to install your new speakers and what model speakers he used? I'd be very interested to see his solution.

Good write up Gizmo, I may replace my rears and dash board speakers, I don't have door ones. How much do you think this would be approx? Jon Mitchells is a mile away from me. thanks

@ Rodney - I'm not sure of the model numbers to be honest, the fabrication is a "ring" that sits inside the original grill and allows the mounting of a speaker with any type of mounting points. I think the speakers might be the same as you have listed but couldn't swear on it. Happy to show you some time if we are in the same place with a Torx set! @ Jamma - he is going to do a mail order kit too [ ] give him a call and ask

where is Jon Mitchells' and does this apply to the later MOST systems, I have an 04 C4S with the stereo upgrade (not Bose) thanks

Ashley, they are based near Bournemouth (which is good for me as I'm about 10 miles away) I can't see the MOST thing being an issue as this is the speakers and not the head unit but I would imagine they know about it already. Mine is a pre-facelift 2001 so doesn't have the MOST issue

The mounting rings sound rather like these ones someone on Renntech was starting to produce back in 2006 http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=8780 Looks like the images in the post are broken try link below http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?&autocom=registry&cmd=view_attach&type=registry_mod&id=2041 It appears life got in the way of getting the idea up and running as a proper product. I can't find any further referance to them. Like the guy later in the renntech thread I bought a set of unused MB Quart RSC210 cheap off of Fleabay a few weeks back but haven't got round to doing anything with them yet. The idea was to replace the front dash set (mine is standard audio with no door speakers). I'm on the look out for a set of secondhand black speaker grills (the OPC want £16 each for new one's and I'm tight) so I can fit the new speakers to them and keep the originals standard so I can put them back if need be.

Good write up Gizmo! I hope that now JMG are happy that your satisfied with the quality of the speaker package, they will officially release it as a product. I had a sneek preview of the speaker kit a while back and was blown away with the quality! The adapters that Watlina linked to are real botch jobs compared to what JMG have done working with Alpine. I will call Jon in the morning and see if I can get my car booked in for the speaker upgrade to the wifes Boxster and my 996, the bose system in both has got on my nerves and been the butt of my friends humour for some time now.

Have you the 6 speaker set up in your 996 or the 4 speaker one?

In the summer I sat in one of JMG customers cars who has been trialling the active bass units in a car with the bose system replaced with JMG alpine gear with its sub removed, and the sound quality was amazing from the active bass, much richer sound than the fuzzy Bose in my cars. But Jon did not let me buy it back then because he was still working on the adapter package that gizmo has been trialling. I hope I hear back from Jon tomorrow about prices, as long as its not a bank breaker I will be going for it. Thinking about it, I have no idea what is a reasonable price, as long as its sub £1k I will be sold on two setups.

Mine is the Bose, I guess in the 996 its classed as a 7 speaker option, if you do not count the tweeters as additional speakers. The car I listened to was either a hifi six speaker one, or a bose one, in either case it sounded better than the Bose in my 996 or the mini Bose setup in my Boxster

My car has the standard 4 speaker set up and i jsut upgraded all 4 speakers using all the info from the forum. Got 4 new MB Quart DKG110 speakers from eBay which was much cheaper. They come with a separate ring for the speakers to mount onto which is the beauty as when you remove the original speakers from the grill, apply good quality velcro to the inside of the grille and outside of the mounting ring then stick them together. If you position everything properly, you can use 1 of the grille screw holes to fasten the ring down then bend the other tabs over and use self tapping screws to fasten them. The 4 speakers took me an hour to do properly. Forgot to take pictures to show on the forum. The speakers cost £140 for 2 sets. There is a good improvement in clarity. The MB Quarts are really well made.

But not for me as I'm in Durham[ ] Thanks anyway gizmo. Presumably they have a webpage I'll check on there for more info and perhaps make use of the postal service

Did you hear back ? I just heard back, see below: We have been working for some time with the car audio division of Alpine to develop a 996 speaker package for several months and are very close to finishing the testing phase with two customer 996s currently testing the package. This work has been driven by the demand for a solution and by the poor quality of installations we have seen in person and on the internet. [FONT=tms rmn"] This current package has been designed to use standard speaker grills without damaging or modifying the car in any way and to look totally standard while outperforming even the 996 optional Bose speaker package. Testing will be complete in the next 10 days. Once testing is complete we will be offering the speakers at a special offer price of £300 for a 4 speaker car, and £400 for the 6 speaker cars with free fitting or free delivery for mail order customers until the end of december. [FONT=tms rmn"] Once the special offer period is over, the price will go up to £400 for the 4 speaker cars and £500 for the 6 speaker cars, with installation costing £50 on 4 speaker cars and £150 on six speaker cars. or delivery being in the region of £20 for the 4 speaker cars and £30 for the 6 speaker cars.

Bose system replacement with the Alpine/9XX ones it seems are different prices, many more speakers. The bad news I had today is that I need to wait for up to 2 weeks before the testing is complete on the 996 setup to get my 996 system replaced with the 9xx/Alpine setup The good news is that a couple of days ago I had the Bose replacement items for the Boxster fitted to my Boxster, which Jon at JMG has done me a good deal on, in exchange for being their test subject for the Boxster platform! It needs 8 to 10 hours use to be run in and at its peak, but it sounds fantastic already! While I was there Jon showed me the 996 and Boxster components for the non Bose systems, in particular the dash and rear speaker pods using original grills. If I can get it working, pictures should be bellow in this email! first a picture of the standard Nokia speakers.. Yuk!

Now the Alpine modified units with adapters for fitting to 996 dash grills with the wiring adapters to hook direct into the standard Porsche wiring loom without cutting it!

Now for the side by side comparison. Nokia standard item on the left... Alpine unit on the right Look at the size of the magnet alone!

This picture shows what gets fitted to your existing dash pods and Jon assures me is included in the kit. (mail order or when installed at their workshops) Jon has also said that there is no glue, sealant, or modification of your standard dash pods required. You just unscrew the two screws that hold the dash pod in place Remove 3 screws that hold your standard Nokia speaker in place Cut the wiring to the tweeter and leave it in the grills Insert the new speaker use the 3 screws you removed from the standard speaker to hold the speaker in place with the two brackets included refit the speaker into the dash using the 2 screws you removed earlier and plugging the speaker in with the standard wiring connector thats part of the Porsche loom.

Been following this thread with interest. However, was quite shocked at the prices being quoted ... being a bit of a DIY person, how much were your new speakers on their own Richard (for a 6-speaker set) ? Just wondering what % of the price of £500 is speaker vs. mounting stuff ? Also, wondering if JM's solution involves buying new grills all round - that would explain the glueing issue and the price.

I just removed one of my front speakers from the Boxster and it does seem to have 3 screws that hold the speaker into the grills. I also just looked at the picture in Dan Pipers post of a standard speaker, and it has the holes where my speaker has screws. Its also missing the metal end clip on the fat end of the speaker grill which holds it in place in the dashboard. But in the second photo, you can see the uprated speaker has the clip and the screws in place. So are some of them glued? Do some of them not have a metal clip on the end? With the speakers, I guess it also depends on what quality level the speakers are. When I was thinking about doing my speakers as DIY two things struck me. One was the way that most people including hifi shops seem to butcher getting a speaker to work, the other was that some of the speakers available were seriously expensive for top end units (up to £600 a pair for the doors) and some were very cheap for about £25 a pair for the doors. I guess it all depends on the quality level of the speakers at the end of the day, the MB quarts seem to fit if you want to use velcro, but looking at their specifications, they have a very low RMS and peak figure along with poor numbers for total harmonic distortion (if I knew what that means it would mean more to me)

Following Richard's four speaker set (grill blanks, VW connnectors and repair wires, 4 speakers) cost me just under £150.

I am off to JM's at lunch time today to listen to a set so will let you know what they sound like later.

Anything will sound better than the stock Nokia speakers - a £30 set of Alpines from Halfords makes a big difference. You don;t need to spend silly money IMO; since the speaker locations are far from ideal for correct sound staging high end speakers will just show up the limitations of the installation (needs significant sound deadening for decent installs), amplifier (the next weekest link in the factory set-up) and wiring. the difference from the Nokias to a basic car audio are so significant that the law of diminishing returns quickly comes into force. I have a set of DLS components speakers that cost me about £700 10 years ago - they are sat in a cupboard now having been in several previous cars of mine. I didn;t bother with them in my first Boxster since the amount of road noise and work required to get them installed properly wasn't worth the effort. My current Boxster has Bose, and whilst its no replacement for decent car hifi install i just live with it and its short comings. The DLS are awesome sounding speakers when installed and driven properly, but they aren't twenty times better than the Aplines in Halfords !

Having spoken to JMG this morning, they said they can do the setup much cheaper by using cheaper off the shelf speakers, but do not garauntee satisfaction with cheap speakers, saying that most of their 996 customers are sensible enough not to want to spend £300 per speaker and go over the top, but also are smart enough to not want cheap and nasty speakers. They said that if there is interest, they can do a cheaper kit with lower specification speakers at a reduced price.

Almost forgot, I also asked them about glue and speakers, they said that Porsche didnt use glue on the standard speakers and they do not on their setup.

Lidl may get some cheap speakers in from time to time. [ ] The world is full of choices, from Focal speakers at one end (and even more expensive items) through to something made in China for Lidle or Aldi at the other end. Somewhere between there will be several levels where several people will find different options at different levels of quality and price. The ones from JMG are not the cheap and nasty Alpines available from Halfords which are aimed at Citroen Saxo owners. Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.

It looks like Dan is right. I've just had a look at the originals on mine (without the speaker upgrade pack - hence no tweeter) and they are screwed on to the grilles not glued on.

And I've just been out in my garage and dug out the original speakers from the Turbo, and the old ones from the C2. The Turbo ones were screwed on, but separated easily as Rod says. The ones from the C2 were also screwed, but also appeared to be glued. They separated with a bit of persuasion, but there was a horrible cracking sound when they did. Anyone need a set of savannah dash and rear speakers, or a pair of black dash ones? Or how about a phone bracket covered in savannah leather? A CD tray? Silver wheel centres? I must get some of my junk on eBay. [ ] [ ]

Everyone to their own, but lots of owners are perfectly happy with the 50p Nokia units Spending £30 on some 'nasty' Alpine Saxo Maxy Power speakers WILL bring a significant change; to some ears perhaps not as much as some £300 ones admittedly, but a lot of people can't tell the difference beyond a certain upgrade point. .

Had another chat with Jon Mitchell at JMG this morning about what he said about the cheaper Alpines. The adapter brackets which make the custom 4.5 inch Alpines fit the 996/Boxster pods have been designed so they will also accept the 4" Alpine SXE 1025S speaker. Which has the following specifications. I also wasted some time at work investigating different speaker options for the 996 and Boxster getting some specifications and also getting some retail prices. Alpine 1025S 4.0" Speakers (£99.99 per pair with full fitting kit) Fitting requirements - JMG adapter kit 25 Watts RMS 180 Watts peak power 4 ohms frequency responce 100hz to 20khz sensitivity 90db JMG/Alpine 4.5" Speakers (£150 per pair with full fitting kit) Fitting requirements - JMG adapter kit 40 Watts RMS 180 Watts Peak Power 4 Ohms 62hz 32khz Frequency responce Sensitivity 92db Compared to the following speakers I have found people using on the internet with various fitting methods found.. MB Quart RSC210 4" ($299) Fitting requirements - seems to be velcro or glue 30 Watts RMS 70 Watts Peak Power 4 Ohms 62hz-32khz Frequency responce 85db Sensitivity MB Quart DKG110 4" ($179) Fitting requirements - seems to be velcro or glue 30 Watts RMS 70 Watts Peak Power 4 Ohms 65hz-30khz Frequency responce 82db Sensitivity Pioneer TS-E1076 4" £49.99 Fitting requirements - seems to be bending tabs and/or glue 25 Watts RMS 110 Watts Peak Power 4 Ohms 45hz-30khz Frequency responce 90db Sensitivity Diamon Audio M3411 4.0" Speakers (£175) Fitting requirements - Bending tabs with glue and sealant 35 Watts RMS 70 Watts Peak Power 4 Ohms Frequency responce ?? Sensitivity ?? Alpine 1025S 4.0" Speakers (£39.99 per pair retail at Halfords) Fitting requirements - Various methods could be used, probably involving self tapping screws, bent tabs and glue 25 Watts RMS 180 Watts peak power 4 ohms frequency responce 100hz to 20khz sensitivity 90db So it looks like there are a couple of bargain basement prices out there for getting speakers, and some online vendors may even be able to do speakers at bargain prices requiring oddball methods of installation to fit them (and either soldering different connectors to your loom, or buying loom adapters) But it also looks as if the £150 per pair JMG/Alpines are a bit of a bargain, as are the budget JMG/Alpine 1025S speaker kits. especially the JMG/Alpine custom ones when you compare the specifications. Interestingly I learned today about "Sensitivity" which apparently (according to an internet search) is the output in db from the speaker measured at 1m when a 2.5 volt signal is applied, which is a better judge of sound output compared to RMS or Peak figures. It also looks like the 996 owner on here who used the Pioneer speakers with a bit of DIY managed to choose a reasonable speaker which is priced at a reasonable price. For me, I would still go for the JMG/Alpine custom speakers at £150 a pair with the fitting kit, which includes everything you need, can be installed very quickly with only a Phillips screwdriver! I think there would be nothing worse than buying a cheaper setup, and then always wondering if it would have sounded better if I had spent a little more. Better do some work now!

Great post! It is very difficult to compare speakers from those stats, the only way you are really going to know which speaker is better than another is if they are tested in magazines or someone has done a test in their car. Watts RMS (Root Mean Square) this is the real power output of a speaker, one should never use the peak power reading as it's misleading. This is therefore the best figure for discerning the loudness of the speaker before it is 'overdriven' and you start doing damage to it. Frequency response: The human ear can hear down to 20hz and up to 20khz (as a general rule). I would take these quoted figures with a massive pinch of salt. There is absolutely no chance the Pioneers, or any speaker this size can go down to less than around 100hz at an audible sound pressure level (ie you wont be able to hear any bass from these speakers below 100hz unless you crank the volume right up and then it would be 'hidden' by the rest of the music becoming so loud). Hifi speaker manufacturers quote frequency responses to -6db (the point at which those frequencies are determined to be inaudible because they are not loud enough with respect to the other frequencies) Sensitivity: This is a measure of how well the speaker converts the output from the amplifier to output in db. It is not a measure of volumes achievable. It is useful in matching speakers to amplifiers. If for example your speakers have a relatively low sensitivity of 87db you will need a much more powerful amplifier to reach those kind of output levels than if the speaker had a sensitivity of 90db (it's on a log scale). ie you'd have to turn up the volume to 10 on an amp to get the same output level on a speaker with 87db, as turning the volume up to 5 on a speaker with 89db (for example). If your amp has a 25W output and your speakers are rated at 25RMS but with 87db sensitivity, your speakers will never reach 25Watts as the amp is not powerful enough. The MB Quart figure of 82db is horrific, and if true, would rule out their use unless you had a massively powerful amp) Ohms: This represents the current load on the amp by the speaker. The lower the figure the 'worse' the load. This load is variable, some speakers have huge current draws at high frequencies, some at low, some have very benign current draws across the frequency range. You'd need to see a graph to ascertain the impedence vs frequency. The more benign (read flat) the curve is, the easier it is for the amp. Again, the figures quoted by manufacturers are rarely correct, and do not paint the whole picture. With all these figures, the only hard and fast rules are the wider the frequency response the better (but those figures cannot be trusted at all), the higher the Watts RMS the better, the higher the sensitivity the better, the lower the Ohms figure the better. But that still doesn't tell you how good the speaker sounds. And it doesnt tell you anything about the quality of the installation which will also have a big impact on sound quality. Some of the best speakers in the world have the worst figures. So you can only decide with listening tests.

Wow Rodney! I thought I had learned a lot this morning about speakers before you posted the above! There is so much to this speaker selection than meets the eye,

Lol...I know it's a minefield. I guess the only solution is decide how much you want to spend, and how much you want to faff around installing and choose from the above (unless someone can find some 4-4.5inch car speakers that have been group tested). Richard Hamilton also has a very nice bass unit mounted in a custom hidden shelf behind the rear seats. So that may also be something to consider. Or you may want to consider just sticking tweeters into your original grilles (a la Sound Upgrade pack), or adding the speakers in the doors. I just wanted a discreet speaker upgrade and was happy to faff around installing myself. I have written up the whole procedure (basically the instructions given to me by Richard) if anyone wants me to post them up I will.

If you really want to push the boat out, how about a couple of pairs of these: http://www.rmdaudio.co.uk/item--Morel-Integra-Ovation-4-Porsche-996-Boxster-UPGRADE-1-0--[phone removed]-006.html . Add some decent door speakers, and you would be knocking on £1000-1200. And what are you driving these little beautieswith, and in what environment? A mediocre head unit and amplifier in a small tin box. And for my ears at least, it would be totally wasted. I'm with David (Black80XSA) on this one. Just my 2p's worth.

I have a friend here at work who just caught me reading this thread and has a 996 C2 without the hifi upgrade pack, no door speakers. What is involved in adding door speakers? I know the Boxsters have different door cards and big expansion chambers in the doors for the speakers to mount into. Has anyone here added door speakers to a car without them?

Just as a contrast - and certainly not a recommendation since I've never seen or heard them - but Maplin offer a pair of 4" dual concentric car speakers for a mere £20 with grilles. They're probably something around 20w RMS. I would think that up to a point, you get what you pay for with speakers, but adding tweaters of any kind to the basic package will make a lot of difference to the clarity.

Hi Rodney ... Good posting - being an old electronics engineer I hate those misleading manufacturer's figures (especially 'music power' figure that some quote). Only one comment though ... you say "you'd have to turn up the volume to 10 on an amp to get the same output level on a speaker with 87db, as turning the volume up to 5 on a speaker with 89db (for example). " That is not strictly true because amplifiers volume controls are themseleves logarithmic. If they weren't you'd get to about 1.5 on the scale of 10 and perceive it was at full volume. Hence an amp setting of 5 is much less than half power (=3dB difference). Still, the main thing - as other's have pointed out - is that the acoustical conditions (position of speakers, stuff in the way like seats) is not ideal in a car full stop, if your're driving there's background noise, most people will be playing back (relatively) low quality MP3 or WMA compressed audio, rather than CD quality. The main thing I'd like to change in mine is not distorting a higher volumes - which is where the ability to handle power (the RMS figure) and the sensitivity figures come in.

Does anyone who has contributed to this thread mind if I use some of this material on my Boxster web site in a new audio page?

Hi Martin, Im sure you're right. I just made up those figures as an example of how sensitivity may manifest itself. Most volume controls (pots) in cheap head units such as mine are total rubbish anyway, and will be no where near perfectly log. Absolutely, and that in turn can bring in another problem. When you upgrade your speakers and not the amplifier, you may sort out the speaker clipping (distorting due to it hitting it's end stops) at high levels, but you may then get the issue of the amp clipping at high levels (if the speaker/music demands a heavy current draw the amp may not be able to recreate the dynamic range in the music). So some people go to the lengths of getting Monoblock power amps (2 mono amps to handle each channel) under the seats. But just as you mentioned, you will then more clearly notice how bad the CD player is or how bad the MP3 files are and you end up upgrading that part. It's endless!

This is the procedure I followed for installing new speakers in my car. All info/pictures given to me by Richard Hamilton (thank you very much![ ]) What you need to buy The speaker grilles all need to be replaced for blanks (4 x Speaker blanks part no 996.645.049.02.01C) They are all identical so you will need 4 for front and rears. This is because the existing grille mouldings for the bass/mid units are raised and angled forwards, making it difficult to attach new ones. This also gives you the option of replacing the originals at any time. These cost £19.30 each Then you will need to buy some VW connectors and repair wires to connect them to the original plugs in the loom, so that you can swap them back if need be.The wires have a terminal on each end, so you need one wire per speaker, and cut them in half. (4x VW Speaker Connector: 1HO-906-712, 4 x VW Repair Wire: 000-979-129) . These cost around £12 all in from your local VW supplier. You will then need to buy the speakers themselves. I bought 2 Pairs of Pioneer e-motion TS-E1076 co-axials as Richard recommended them to me, they fit well and have a seperate tweeter and mid/bass unit fitted together. I could have used a seperate mid/bass unit and tweeter, but I didn't have time to find out which units would fit and would work well with the mid/bass units. They're nice speakers with a Kevlar weave. I bough them off Ebay for £59.98 for the 2 pairs. Fitting Them I marked a 10cm circle on the rear of the speaker grille blanks with a compass and cut them out with a flat blade fitted onto my soldering iron. With some careful positioning as per the pictures, I got 3 self tappers to hold them on the grilles, and bent down the other tag. I also 'burned off' the two protruding bits of plastic found between the tweeter- mid/bass blank areas. I attached the connectors to the wires and the wires to the speaker tags (making sure I didn't invert polarity).i then soldered them aswell. I then undid the existing grilles in the car using an offset Torx key (can't remember what size), and pulled them out, and fitted the new ones, new VW connector to existing VW connector. Job done. Total time - around 2 hours. I noticed an instant massive improvement. Much more defined/deeper bass (ie not the one note thumping from the old units), much clearer mids, especially at higher volumes, and much better treble extension.Voices sound so much more open, and there is much less congestion in complex music. There is still not much bass, But I wasn't about to install bass units in my car.

Cool posting Rodney. So about £75 per pair and 2 hours fitting time or about £95 if you pay the full retail price on the speakers. Tools needed, screw driver and a Dremel type tool to cut out the blank grills. Do you mind if I put your method and pictures on my website?

Hi Dan, I paid full retail from a shop on eBay for the speakers, so all in £150. Tools needed:- 1. Compass 2. Soldering Iron (with blade and some solder) or Dremmel type tool 3. Self tapping screws 4. Offset Torx Key They are Richard's instructions, I just put them together like this. You need to ask him [8|]

Richard... Please? [ ]

No problem - just credit Rodney and me. It's a T20 Torx bit you need, and it is easier if you use an offset ratchet to get at the screws nearest the screen:

No problem Richard, you will both get credited! Where did you get that ratchet tool??? Has it got any markings on it like a part number and manufacturer? It looks like one of those "I need one!" tools I see from time to time. Looks like this weekend I will be adding a Boxster/996 audio upgrade section to the website. This thread is too full of interesting nuggets of information to be lost in the forum archives, and unless your a member in here you will never see them, even in a google search.

It's made by Rolson, and I bought it on eBay - about a fiver IIRC.

Dan, I've added door speakers to my car without the door pods, your friend will need to run speaker cables to the doors as there isn't any if the car does not have the sound pack option. Extremely hard work getting the cable through the rubber sleeve into the door[ ]. Then you need to make a mounting plate for the speakers as there's just a big hole behind the door card. Next cover everything in sound deadening material, the Porsche sound pack speakers only omit bass at a very low volume, when you add your own speakers they will be a larger full range item and will tend to rattle the thin door skins. I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures as I was going along (fingers bleeding to much) but I'll post one of the finished article later.

I've decided to have ago at the home brew solution. I've ordered all the parts. In fact the speakers have already turned up but unfortunately the Porsche grills have got to come from Germany and the VW bits are on back order (should be about 10 days) [FONT=courier new"]Speakers £58.96 x4 inc P&P from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CAR-RADIO-CENTRE [FONT=courier new"]Grills £68.02 £16.43 each - 10% PCGB discount + 15% VAT with free P&P from the OPC [FONT=courier new"]VW Bits £3.74 inc VAT (For some reason they gave me a big discount?) [FONT=courier new"] Total £130.72 [FONT=courier new"] [FONT=courier new"] So I've now got a spare set of new still in the box MB Quart RSC210 4" 2-Way Component System speakers. If anyone's interested let me know. Price £35+P&P

You know that the standard grills are 4 very different individual grills that are designed to project the sound to "better" targets than directly outward? (or in other words not directly at the windscreen as with using the grill blanks) I think if I had the standard 4 speaker setup and needed to do things on the cheap, I would be tempted to pay the extra £70 to have budget version of the properly engineered solution that this thread was praising about before it was hijacked lol Although I can see that some people may enjoy tinkering I guess

For me the problem with certainly the cheaper JMG kit is the perceived value for money. Those Alpine 1025S speakers can be found for £15.99 a pair so at £99 for the kit I'd be paying £85 for 2 plastic rings. If I could have bought the rings at say £10 pound each. I probably would have as I'd have been able to reuse my existing grills and put in my choice of 4" speaker. For the more expensive kit it's a harder call as they are custom made The cones and tweeters appear to be from Alpines budget Type E speaker range (you can see the E printed on the cone in the photos and the tweeter looks identical to the Alpine SPE 10C2 these are less than £19 a pair http://www.alpine-electronics.co.uk/home/products/speakers/type-e-speakers/spe-10c2/ The main voice coil looks to be from the more expense R Type range (you can see the letters SPR on the back in the photo) probably from the 5 1/4" SPR 13C (these are £60 a pair) AFAIK only the front speakers are angled and I should be able to create a wedge to replicate any angle as there's a good base to work from and a bit more room to play with the blank grills as they are flat to start with). As you say you pays your money, you makes your choice

Interesting thread. On the request of one of my customers I thought I would pop in and answer any questions about our speaker kits. Just a few answers. 1. Our rings are not plastic. They are billet machined Nylon. They could be made out of injection molded plastic at a very cheap price, but its important to mount the speakers to a rigid dense material to lessen reverberation. Yes the Porsche grills are plastic, but the more interphases which are plastic in the assembly, the less sound quality you will get out of the assembly. 2. The rings are not £80 a pair. But by the same token will not ever be sold for £10 a pair. 3. We do not want to sell 1025S kits, the sound quality from this speaker is no where near the same quality of the proper 4 and a half inch speaker kit which is £150 a pair. The £99 price for the budget kit was in response to one customer asking for a cheaper option for his car and asked if we could supply a one off set of 1025S speakers in our kit instead of the custom ones. We priced this £99 option based on the fact that we would have to sell the 1025S speaker at £30 a pair, which is the same as halfords sell them for, who buy in larger volumes than we do. 4. The 1025S speaker is available online for £15.99, but those online dealers charge around £9.99 for shipping, Making a total of £25.99 per pair. 5. Our speaker loom is not a VW repair kit. Our one has soldered connectors, high quality cable, genuine Porsche connectors and is wrapped in heat shrink to keep it neat. 6. Our price includes shipping to your door and telephone support while you fit it. Or, it includes installation at our workshop. I am sorry for making this post, it is in no way an advert for our business, as the PCGB forum admin know, I am against businesses using forums like this for advertising. But at the same time, needed to make the above points as my product was being compared to a home grown one. Which is a bit like comparing a pizza delivered to your door, to one you make in your kitchen. [ ] I like to see how people are enjoying making their own solutions, but to be honest, these people will always make their own solutions and thats not who our product is aimed at, Our product (the £150 a pair one) is aimed at those who want to get the best sound possible from their dash and rear speakers, retain the original grills and value their time enough to not want to spend time shopping around to buy parts and modify them for their use. For those who make their own solutions, well done! Do not be put off by the ones who buy something like our product or try to detract from what you are doing. You obviously enjoy being involved in your Porsche, which having been involved with customers Porsche cars for over 20 years, I can understand your enjoyment. For my customers who feel they need to defend my product, thank you, but do not get worked up, enjoy your choices, the people who DIY are just enjoying their choices. Different strokes for different folks! (Anyone else remember that show?)

Jon PM sent

Just a quick update. After some discussion with Alpine europe I have managed to improve the pricing for the speaker upgrade packages. The new price will be. Budget kit using Alpine 1025S 4 inch speakers, for dashboard or rear pods £75 per pair including VAT, installation or shipping (2-3 business days). Custom kit using a custom made 4.5 inch speaker, for dashboard or rear pods £130 per pair including VAT, installation or shipping (2-3 business days) An extra £5 per pair will secure next day delivery. These are the speakers for updating the 4 or 6 speaker systems. I am working on an even higher quality door speaker for the 6 speaker sets, but those who want to upgrade the 6 speaker system, I recommend replacing the dash and rear speakers and then we will let them know when the new door speakers are available and sell them to people who have already purchased the other speakers at just the difference between what they have spent and the price of the whole 6 speaker kit. All kits include adapters for the speakers fitting standard grills, wiring adapter harness (so no soldering or cutting or crimping wires) and the speakers themselves. All the best

So is that 260 quid all in and fitted for the 4 speaker custom ones ? Anyway just booked in with you for 3rd Jan at 260 quid all in for customs so see you then. cheers

[8|] Hi Indi9xx - how can I contact you? I have been in discussion with a local (fairly) ICE company and they have advised me to replace the door speakers with a kit which means that I'll lose that storage facility - does your 6 speaker upgrade have the same effect? Many thanks Geoff

http://www.jmgarage.com/index.htm#

I know they are closed for Crimbo at the moment, but I know one of my cars is booked in for the 2nd of January so they are open then. Their phone number is 07000 996 911 or 01202 488800 They were waiting for more stock of speakers a week or so before crimbo which should be in stock for when they reopen. I think their six speaker option for cars that already have six speakers replaces the stock speakers without modification of the doors in any way, so you do not loose any storage pockets.

I can testify that a work friends 996 (4 speaker setup) and a friends Boxster (2 speaker dash setup) have had the speakers Alpine JMG speakers installed about a week before christmas and are seriously chuffed with them, from my experience of listening to them both is that they sound absolutely amazing!!! The 996 is going back in the new year for the JMG-Alpine active bass upgrade having listened to one of the JMG customers cars with it and the Boxster owner is getting it done if he is as impressed as the 996 friend commented on it sounding. Curse my Boxster with Bose, it had the Alpine JMG kit fitted for a short while before crimbo as a test car, but JMG are not happy with the fit of the bose kit and are working with Alpine on improving it for the new year (apparently the same story with the 996 bose setup)... Sounded soo sweet while it was in there though, cant wait to get the replacement back once the wrinkles are ironed out..

Just to say I got round to fitting the front and rear speakers supplied by JMG at the weekend and well impressed with the difference. My car had the upgraded but not Bose 6 speaker system and I've not changed the door speakers. An easy DIY install as I'm up North and not really feasible to have them fitted on the South coast, great service from JMG in terms of delivery and only one phone call needed for clarification on the installation. Now I've got a dilema, listen to music or the PSE[ ]

hi, after fitting a new double din jvc stereo and reversing camera to my 996 I also had the same speaker sound quality problem, ie they sounded crap! what I did was take the old standard speakers and with a multi tool cut away the mounting base from the rest of the crap speaker leaving me with the perfect fitting ring for a new speaker. I then bought 4 x 4way Edge brand speakers which mounted perfectly onto the original speaker rings. the sound from the new speakers are fantastic and only cost me £40 all in. I have also bought a couple of alpine spg-10c2 speakers to trial fit and see if I can improve the sound even further. hope this helps anyone wanting to upgrade their speakers. if I have not explained the modification clearly enough then ask for my number and will explain the procedure in more detail.

Am also doing the cut and carve the original speakers to use as adapters for Alpine spg-10c2, will post some pics in due course to show how it is done, but also found a youtube video which shows the mod 996 speaker replacement with Alpine SPG-10C2

That guy must have really strong fingers! I bought a set of TORX allen keys via eBay for about £7 to get the grilles out of the dash. I bought the JMG mounting kit but still had to cut a couple of the lugs off the brand new speakers - scary! Chris.

IMHO the only upgrade worth doing is the Audison Bit 1 or Bit 10 system, with new speakers, visit a "Four Masters" ICE company and I guarantee that you will not have heard anything like it. [ ]