My car came with the Bose system and I went in open minded even though I've never heard a factory system that was music to my ears. I had the HK system in my previous BMW and that only lasted 3 weeks before I swapped out everything except the head unit. I never liked Bose for home systems; I always thought they were over rated and just good marketing made them so popular. Anyway, I gave this car a good month and decided it just wasn't going to satisfy my musical tastes. It was too muffled and lacked clarity. I stopped by my local installer which specializes in Porsches. Every time I've ever been in the store I've seen anywhere from 1 - 3 Porsches, so I knew if I did a upgrade he was going to do it. He never worked on the new 991 (PCM3.1), and I didn’t want to be the guinea pig, but he assured me it would go well and sound great.

I initially built a sub box that fit in the rear shelf, I made it as large as possible and was able to get 1 cu ft. but the thing was a tank, 30 lbs without a sub even in it and we’re already back end heavy. I've always believed a sub should be hidden in a trunk and that's not possible on the 911. I like a clean interior (OEM look) with everything hidden. I did a lot Internet researching tracking down what's in these cars (since my installer wasn’t familiar with the new design) and found a few different sites with the Bose/Burmester system and found some sizes and location where the OEM sub/speakers were located. I then found the Focal Utopia Be 5" sub and thought maybe that's an option. My installer said those were great little subs. I had a couple weeks prior to bringing my car in so I started investigating where the OEM sub is actually located. It's basically under the tweeter on the driver side. To access it you have to remove the shin airbag, remove a screw for a air duct and unclip two bracket sections of module and plug-in harness. But, you don't have to unplug any connection plugs, just move them to the side to gain access to the underside of the top of the dash. There are three bolts holding the sub in place. I had a sore neck after figuring out all that and removing it, it a very tight squeeze but it'll come out. I did all the measurements and decided to buy the Focal 5”sub. It fits great in the OEM location with minimal modification to the sub bracket. There is a sound chamber that runs from the driver side to passenger side and then two 2" sound ports at each side to let the sound in (driver side) or out (passenger side). See PIC below ofthe driver side to get an idea. I installed the sub and let my local installer do all the rest.

Initially an Audison Bit One was used to sum the Bose amp, but for whatever reason it didn’t work well and lack sound clarity. My installer has used it on Panamera’s but for some reason he couldn’t get it to work well with the PCM3.1 so it was replaced with Audio Control DQ-61 to sum the channels. He also replaced the 3” midrange of the165KRX3 up front with a 4” from the 100 KRS to get the mid-bass frequencies a little lower. Overall, I’m over joyed with the system. It has great bass and super clear highs. It sounds awesome at lower volume levels as well as when I crank it up.

Build:
Audison LRX 6.9 amp
Arc Audio 125.5 sub amp
Audio Control DQ-61 processor
Focal 165KRx3
Focal100KRS
Focal Utopia Be 13W (5")sub

 

A few more PICs

 

Wow, looks like you know what you are doing and I bet the system sounds great. I'm not a Bose fan, so I went with the base audio system in my 991S coupe. Any recommendations you could give me to get a great sound by swapping speakers, adding sub(s) and amp(s) would be valuable. Thanks in advance.

 

Nicely Done.....Focal is really good stuff...installed them in another car.

My 991 has Burmester and didnt feel the need for aftermarket....Thee best OEM system I've ever had.

 

I've heard good things about the Burmester. I've never listened to it, but I'm thinking that should be the standard stereo in our $100k + cars. I have a loaner Cayenne with the Bose, and I'm not liking it, the rest of the SUV is very nice.

 

I can only suggest to find a good installer in your area and talk with them, see what they carry. Hertz and Focal are very good, as I'm sure there are others that sound good too, but I've always gone with Focal.

 

Thanks. I wonder if the same set you have would be just good of a fit in my car. Especially, I wonder if there is the empty mounting space for the sub where you put your 5" focal, given the base audio does not come with a sub.

 

I believe only the Bose and Burmester have a subwoofer. It's a quick check to look under the dash, it's just a neck strain. You gotta get your head under the brake pedal area and look up towards the drivers side tweeter. Also, the sub amp is located in the passenger side footwell. I think you can just pull back the carpet to see it. It's on the side of the car just in front of the kick panel by your right foot. I believe it's approx. 2x3" big.

Here's a couple PICs I found a while back when I was researching our systems.

 

My apologies - dragging up an old thread -
Robbieracer - which installers did you use/find in the Sacramento area?

 

Car Audio Innovations - Roseville, on Harding Way

 

Oh yes, I have heard of them. Thank you.
Their website seems to be "under redesign" right now.....I am going to give them a call today.

Are you happy with your audio setup?
Any warranty issues or problem with the dealer?
Anything you would do differently?

 

Sorry for the late reply, I didn't see you had more questions.
The setup was great and sounded awesome, I wouldn't change a thing. The local dealer was cool about it too, since it didn't change anything in the car. All audio signals were picked up after the Bose amp. I recently went back to Car Audio Innovations so they could do the same in my 335i.

 

Hi Robbieracer,
As sent to you, no idea why but I can't receive neither send any mail....
I send an email to admin and I'm waiting for an answer.
As said I will do the same installation / speakers but will use 1 Rockford T400x4AD (The 2 Kits) and 1 Focal FD 1.350 (The sub).
Could you please advice me / thickness of the spacers you use for the 165mm ?
Regards
Didier

 

They're 6 mm (approx. 1/4") thick, see PIC. Good luck with the install, there is a lot of improvement needed in the oem systems. I thought the Bose sounded terrible.

 

Hi Robbieracer,
Thanks I will consider these 6mm. You did the spacers or it comes from aftermarket ?
Now, I'm fighting with the filters location(s) as I don't want to put anything in the front trunk...
For the rear speakers it will be behind each rear seat back below the carpet : huge space available...For front, under passenger seat. I'm taking pictures while reworking, I will share later / final integration.
Rem : never seen until now (I refuse to cut serial wiring), I succeeded to disassembled amp plugs without any wires cut : it will be very easy to come back to serial configuration for the sale.
Bye
Did's