i just picked up a mk1 996, the stereo is horrible, when the music isn't even loud the speakers sound like they're going to explode from the bass, and there's so much vibration like the speakers are loose or something, i realize the this isn't a "luxury" car but still these speakers seem worse than the ones in my 92 toyota pickup.. is this normal? or is something messed up?

thanks

 

Mine sucks too, its the worst sounding stereo I've ever heard in a car.

 

Even with the factory-upgrade options, the stereo is pretty weak. Be glad you have a Mk1 so upgrades are relatively painless. Mine has a MOST bus, which made upgrading a huge PITA.

 

Sux - yes. I have the 12 speaker bose(aka blowz) system.... Upgrade is a one shot deal for me (speakers + amp) and I decided against it for now. Had fabspeeds installed instead.

 

The top end super duper best factory upgraded sound system seriously blows. I don't much care though

 

I have a slightly upgraded one, but I'd rather listen to the sound of my PSE

 

Stereo sucks, but the engine + exhaust is awesome in a cab. (Oh, and the A/C is fantastic.)

 

I replaced my front and rear speakers with Boston Acoustics then the best added piece was a amplified sub. It is a simple small box sits under rear window which has 2 8" speakers and the box is amplified so it is great. It isn't loud like the teensagers that drive around town in but it is clear, and perfect for me inside my car.

 

...for good tunes, I use an Ipod with noise suppressing headphones (I Know..) use the radio for talk or turn of sound and listen to lovely exhaust note from the rear...

 

thanks for the response everyone, just happy to know that mine's not broken haha

 

mine sucks too!!!

 

I think the weak point on the stock system has a lot to do with the becker deck. I upgraded to the factory high performance with a blaupunkt deck that has 5 band parametric eq and the results is that it sounds better than my 540 with dsp and my wife's x5. So I guess the minimum you can do is to swap out the deck to a blaupunkt with at least a 3 band but preferrably a 5-6 band parametric eq. Since blaupunkt is also iso, the plugs are the same and I believe you just have to disconnect the phone mute if my memory serves me right. You should feel some improvement as you can now tune the sound according to the response of the speakers. Hope this helps.

 

Mine sucks too, but I can't tell if it's just the radio. I hook up my iPod via the iPorshe kit (rather than the RF thing, which really doesn't help) and I get what I consider big improvement in the sound. But I do have two pair of 4" Infinity Kappas and a pair of 5" woofers (for the doors) ready to install when I'm brave enough. Hopefully that will be good enough for me...

Rudy

 

Check out my Audio Posts...I had the stock system...Now it screams...all new speakers all new amps subs ect....AWESOME

 

My stereo is awful. Do You think I could do a nice upgrade for around $700. Nothing crazy but I want something that will be at least as crisp as my stock Bose in my Acura cl-s.