Hi guys.

So I bought my first porsche a few months ago and I love it. Its "almost" perfect. The audio system is brutal and it is driving me crazy.

I did lots of research on here about installing a 2din headunit , and to be honest, I am not comfortable doing it myself. That said, I have decided to take my car to a local shop to do all the work.

Now excuse my for being extremely vague....

I am looking to spend ~2k hopefully. First of all, I am not sure if it is reasonable to even expect to get a decent system installed for that price.
If it is....

how do you guys think the money is best spent?
can you recommend any awesome headunits?
can you suggest any speaker/amp upgrades?
would a sub installation be too costly?

Again, I am sorry for being so vague but I'm sorta lost as to what to be asking for from the shop.

Thanks!

 

I have a 2000 996 c4 and I know what you are talking about. Do you have speakers on the door? If so, it will be much easier for the upgrade. If not, you've got to pull some wires to the door. I would suggest 1)Upgrade your head unit to something that has a parametric eq in it-hopefully around 5 band but no less than 3. If after that you still cannot get decent sound, look into the tech equipment front and rear system for the 996-includes amp and 2 6.5" woofer per door and upgraded speakers at all 4 corner. I upgraded to blaupunkt head together with the 5 disc changer as well as the porsche system. Do not feel the need for a sub but I don't listen to rap much and I definitely don't need the car next to me to feel the bass. It sounded very warm and the bass is surprisingly deep. You can also look into the jbl ms-8 and see if the shop can install that for you in the hood. Unfortunately I don't live in vancouver anymore, otherwise will let you listen to my system. Hope this helps..from another canuck.

 

thank you thank you thank you!

 

Honestly, an upgraded head unit (see my other post about the awesomeness of Alpine with the iPod), a sub (see my posts about a rear sub) and an amp to drive the sub is a great upgrade. With the Alpine and probably others, you control the frequency level, crossover frequency, and volume of the sub right on the head unit. That way, you can let the factory speakers handle the mids and highs so they don't fart out on you. Then down the road upgrade the mids and tweeters if you want to.

 

I put in a Kenwood DNX 6960 for a lot less:
$600 Kenwood (also got a $100 rebate which I did not expect)
$150 Adapter kit ( from Loi at eurospeed.com - probably wrong address, someone else on this site can correct me - don't do it without his kit)
$400 Alpine 5 channel amp)
$150 Installation charge

These prices are about what I spent - by the way, I kept the Bose speakers and my system sounds great. It may be better with new speakers, but I am very happy with the sound, for $1,200.

 

+1 for Loi at euromotorspeed.com.

I put in a double-DIN kit (Pioneer AVIC120BT) and love all the features, but I wanted to replace the head unit just once so I bought a unit that was loaded with features. You need to pick one that caters to your specific needs.

 

Head unit, amp and sub! You can spend a ton of money on your door speakers, dash speakers, rear seat speakers etc. but at the end of the day, if your system can't reproduce the low frequencies, you are not hearing your music the way it was meant to be heard- it doesn't matter what kind of music you listen to. Just because you have an amp and a sub doesn't mean you automatically have to listen to rap or hip-hop.

I am running my sub with the Alpine MRP-M500 and I have no complaints. With my dual voice coil polk sub it is pushing all 500 watts at 2 ohms. the sub is pretty shallow so it can be mounted behind the back seats in whatever kind of box suits your fancy- mdf, fiberglass, ...all depending on how handy you are or how much you want to spend to have someone else do it for you.

 

+1 for #7 & #8. I have the Kenwood DNX 6960 and am very happy with it - I liked the Kenwood NAV better than the Pioneer. During the install, was pleasantly surprised when we discovered that I already had a sub (Original Bose system). It was in the tranny well on the passenger side. Also I have the Alpine PDX 5 amp, which fit perfectly on the little shelf in the front trunk (I have a 4S so the trunk is smaller)

 

Goldduster
Do you have any pictures of the sub and location. I'm not sure where to look as I have a 2004 c4s as well. My issue is that if I want to change the head unit but i've been told that I have to change the amp as my head unit is Optical and requires a 5 channel amp.

 

I'll try to get a picture with my iphone tonight and figure out how to get it on here. If you have a 2004, C4S, I am 99% sure you have the Bose "most" system, (the radio is the CDR23).
This system connects the head unit to the amp with an optical wire. Therefore, you must replace the head unit and the amp and run new wires from the head to the amp. The wires from the amp to the speakers, do not have to be changed.
When you face your car and open the trunk lid, you will see a small shelf almost to the wipers on the passenger side. The Alpine PDX5 (which is five channel) fits on this shelf perfectly and provides more than enough power for the speakers.
I did exactly, what is described here going to a double din, scrapping the CD holder, dropping the HVAC module and putting in a new cubby. Also, as I stated in a previous post, be sure to get a kit from Loi at Euromotorspeed; my installer said he would not have wanted to try it without. Also, I saw what my installer went through and the $150 he charged was one of the best money I have spent all year!!!

 

Reza, u should call me up sometimes and let me show u my setup.

william

 

Sorry, haven't figured out how to get the pictures on here. The sub is in the
transmission hump next to the passengers left calf. There is nothing to see. My installer discovered it as he was testing the speaker wires, to be certain of the proper hookup.

 

Thank you Goldduster
So if I go into my car on the passenger side and remove the carpet under the glove box area I should see it? Or do I go through the hood side and look for it? Sorry I'm just a noob trying to understand this car.

 

I don't know. I too am pretty new to Pcars. Although, with the help of all the great people on this site, I am learning fast. When my installer and I were checking out the amp to speaker wires, he made each one "pop" to be certain the right ones were hooked to the right control from the amp/radio. We were surprised that when he made the sub "pop" it came from that spot, we had figured that it would have been in the back somewhere. I have no idea how to get to it. I have a cabriolet; it might be in another spot on the coupes.

 

Ok , so I think I will start with a headunit , and see how it sounds,and then go from there.

Ive actually decided to try to perhaps do this headunit upgrade myself. Should be interesting.

Would a new headunit work with the factory amp though? Ive orderd the tripm pieces I need, and now its just time to go shopping for the headunit!