Hi Everyone.
I need some advice. After 7 months of searching and thinking and waiting I finally purchased my Porsche. I love it. What I don't love is the crappy sound system it came with, that stock head unit has to go. I just purchased a Pioneer AVIC-Z120 and I am waiting for the trim to arrived that I purchased at Suncoast prior to its installation. I spoken with several installers all of which do not agree with one another. How many of you have installed the Pioneer headunit and with what results? One guy tells me I also need an amp, another tells me that I do not need an amp instead I need a fiber optic unit modulator. So which is it AMP no AMP what? will installing just the Pioneer make that much of a difference or do I need an AMP and or a modulator? All I am trying to do is upgrade the quality of the sound, my Acura sounds ten times better than my P car. I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks...

 

Did your car come with the Bose or the standard sound package?

997.2 or 997.1?

 

Obviously, you need a serious stereophile to answer, but I will say the the sound systems in the Acura sedans/coupes we owned all sounded ten times better than the system in the NSX also. I would notch the Carrera's top line sound system behind the one in the NSX. Only slightly, but half a notch lower in my estimation. And that all means very little. You cannot easily turn a sports car into a concert hall. Treatments we applaud in sedans annoy us in sports cars, like acoustic materials for example.

I suspect a new head unit is not going to satisfy you. You haven't had time to answer the earlier question about which model you have, but in our 997.2 with the enhanced sound system, I find problems with the speakers. And though I wasn't an acoustic engineer, I did have a couple working for me now and then, so I picked up a little bit. My offhand reaction without them to call is that the speakers are not mounted in material with compatible resonance. My ear keeps wishing they were mounted in granite to eliminate the harmonics I pick up.

Now ask me if I'm queuing up at the local stereo shop. No. I suspect that I'd be happy with the stereo as a stereo only after enough mods to turn a Carrera into a Mercedes SL class. A few hundred pounds of acoustic material, a few additional bracing elements near the speaker installations. Maybe... Well, you see my point.

Best to turn it off and listen closely to the built-in sound system in the back.

Gary

 

I'm in Gary's camp.

 

It's a 2007.
997.1 and Amen Gary I love the sound in the back but try sitting in LA traffic for more than an hour. I am not complaining or trying to reinvent the wheel I just want to hear from pleople who have actually swapped their units.

 

Did you do a search? There are a couple threads about the Pioneer unit and others. Take a look at this one:
Finally pics of my 1 week old 07' 911 C4S Cab with Pioneer Avic-Z110BT Lots of Pics!

 

yeah from that thread you basically can wire the stock speakers to the headunit's built in amp, and then run RCA to the stock Bose sub amp, bypassing all the fiber in the MOST ring. Realistically the stock speakers are crap so even if you add an external amp, the improvement is minimal at best. But if you want to go all out and replace all the speakers, then definitely add external amp.

I rarely crank up the stereo in my car. I love hearing the exhaust of this car...

 

I seem to remember learning that the audio connection between the PCM and the Bose amp is fiberoptic. So if you replace the PCM with the Pioneer head unit and you want to keep the Bose amp, you'll need some sort of line-level to fiber adapter. I'm not sure I've seen one of these. For 997.1 there is a PCM MOST to line-out, but not the other way around that I know of. Perhaps somebody knows. If you have the non-Bose amp, there might be a line-level input.

If you want to guarantee it'll work, you could always just replace the Bose amp with an aftermarket. That way you can go from the Pioneer to the amp using standard line-level RCA's (or SPDIF if they're both supported). You can then tap into the existing speaker wiring where the Bose amp is, and you're done. Unfortunately, the PCM/Bose combo has different equalization options that are tuned to the speakers and your specific car interior, so you may actually make the sound worse by doing this.

If you're looking to improve sound quality, there won't be much improvement by upgrading just the source. Modern electronics, even cheapo ones, have nearly flat frequency response, low noise (much lower your car noise floor), sufficient dynamic range (again, considering environmental noise), and minimal harmonic distortion (orders of magnitude less than your loudspeakers).

OTOH, the car interior with relatively parallel walls and window glass reflections (they're strong), cause HUGE (and we're talking 12-15db+) peaks and dips in the frequency response that cannot necessarily be equalized out.

If you truly want to upgrade your sound, you'll need to install some high quality loudspeakers AND use a device that can equalize or partially correct for the interior of the car (like the Alpine Imprint, JBL MS-8, or the audison solution). This will also necessarily require an amp upgrade.

And don't forget bass. The only way you'll get quality bass is with a large volume enclosure, and the only place to put that is sacrificing 1 or both rear seats. The foot well or stock location (behind rear seats) would be less than ideal.

Good luck.

 

I agree in principle, I just doubt the goal is reachable with a sports car. You might try this instead: http://www.thegreatcourses.com. Musical clarity is not terribly significant and a SigAlert affords time for that philosophy course or the music history you had no time for in school because you were busy learning how to do things rewarding enough to buy a Porsche in which you could sit in traffic listening to the courses you never had time for originally. I can attest that the driver's seat of a Carrera is much more comfortable than a school desk. Not to mention being a just reward.

Gary

 

If you are really interested do a search as Scoper suggests. Plenty of threads from owners of Caymans, Boxsters and 911's that offer advice and how to's on this process. I don't believe you'll find how to's on making the sound in a 911 mimic the sound of a different car ( for al the obvious reasons ) but many claim it can be improved based upon their own subjective opinions of course which will be different than own.

 

I installed an AVIC in my 2007.... here is the write-up... hope it helps.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-nav-unit.html

 

I changed my 07 C2S unit for aN AVIC Z110 and replaced the speakers and added an amp.Keep the subwoofer amp that was connected to the head unit. There is an adapter for the fiberoptic component in e-bay, do not remember the exact vendor.

 

i love great sound !

but i decided to keep it stock in the 997.1 and just added the ipod connection for cleaner sound (via Dension)

i've heard the fiber-optic connections are not easy.. plus u need to change the stock speakers (the main culprit in the weak stereo system, IMO).. and u may also lose some of the PCM functions

u can have the best system but it prob won't do justice in the Pcar like 911.. hence not worth the money, IMO

u can get the new 991 with the Burmester, however.

 

Try this https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...light=bose+pcm

 

If you want to do it up right, you'll need to swap everything out. I finally found someone in the area and will be starting my project shortly. I will likely go with the Pioneer/Audison setup.