Hola Senors and Senoritas,

I recently acquired a used 2007 997 Carrera Coupe and have to replace the double din unit. I'm probably going to go with a Kenwood, possibly the 9990 or maybe the one coming out in April. I have NO desire to keep the Bose amp, and I'm gearing towards replacing the stock speakers too. I saw that some folks kept them but I felt I might as well do everything at once. I have tried to find information on the speakers but have found very little. I have the "upgraded Bose" system if that helps any. It has one center speaker which probably can just come out, two front and left dash speakers, two in each side of the front doors and a pair in the rear, and of course the small two 5inchers in the built in subenclosure.
I have two 8inch JBL subs and a rockford amp that I want to put in from my other car, otherwise I'm starting from scratch.
Are the wires going from the MOST amp to the speakers usable, or do I have to do a complete rewire job? If so, does anyone have links to instructions or pictures of how to do that?
I saw that someone had some sort of wire harness adapter to be able to solder in and use the stock speaker wires, but I was not sure if that would work in my case with this particular Bose setup. I also couldn't tell if that is from an amp or the head unit.
I also need to know what type of speaker and size of speaker I can put in the stock speaker location, and if there are any caveats and pitfalls as I'm sure there will bejust as there are in real life.

So I think I'm down to getting a newer double din, a six or 5 channel amp maybe Jl, and I need or might get a back up camera, and I have to figure out how to build an enclosure to put in back in the space once I remove the stock subwoofer enclosure. I suppose I'll fleabay the extra parts I'm tossing.

I have a nice license plate cover, teak, and I am not sure where the heck the backup camera would go. I would not want to some cheesy thing sticking out with wires dangling so any ideas on the camera would be appreciated along with speaker info, and ideas for the subwoofer enclosure.

thanks guys!

-Everett
Key West, Fl and yes
it's a nice day here today!

 

You'll need a double-DIN mounting kit (which includes the front bezel and the mounting brackets). There's one on Suncoast. There's another (different one) on ebay. I prefer the way the ebay one looks.

That's what I would suggest. The Bose amp also has built-in EQ for your car interior. If you replace it with an aftermarket amp, the system will sound worse. Plus, the stock Bose speakers are terrible (paper cones, really cheap). They're also 1-ohm, so it's hard to find an amp to drive them. If you don't replace the Bose amp, you'll need an line-level to fiberoptic MOST adapter (~$800). Best bet is to replace everything.

The two common places for a sub are the rear shelf in the Bose subwoofer location and the passenger footwell. The rear shelf can fit two standard-depth 8" without standing out too much. You could also do a shallow-mount 13". These all require a custom-made enclosure, although I've seen some prefabs. Ebay has one too. The passenger footwell can take a standard 10". Custom enclosure needed. Ebay also has one. Really serious people sacrifice both rear seats and put large boxes there with big drivers.

You can tap the speaker wires where they come out of your Bose amp. Your Bose amp is located either underneath the passenger seat or in the frunk, depending on the model. If you want, you could also run new wires through the door, but that's a much bigger job.

Haven't heard of this for the Bose setup. There might be one for the non-Bose.

There might be one or two speaker kits out there that can "drop in" to the stock 997 locations. But most commonly, it's a custom job with trim rings and spacers. You can fit very thin 0.75"-1" tweeters in the stock dash locations without mods. Some people make custom pods and mount them on the A-pillars aimed at each other. Other people put them in the door handle trim piece. The doors take roughly a 3-4" midrange and a 5-7" midbass. There's plenty of mounting depth available for your midbass, as long as you add spacers.

For head units, you might want to consider sticking an ipad mini in there (see other thread). The new Alpine 8" unit (INE-Z928HD) is also really nice. But anything is better than stock. You will lose the ability to adjust some of the functions in your car when you remove the stock unit, don't forget.

I haven't come up with any "stealth" install ideas for the backup camera. Perhaps a tiny "spy" camera between the "slots" of the rear engine cover? Or a camera eye drilled and mounted flush inside one of the tail lights? Or perhaps drilled and flush-mounted in the middle of your license plate? I've seen license plate frames with built-in cameras, but the camera is not hidden.

Let us know what you decide! Oh, and you might want to consider having this stuff professionally installed. Good luck.

 

Thanks a gazillion for the info, just what I was missing! I found pictures online regarding the camera, I might just skip that for now. I don't want to touch the outside with a drill and I don't want to mess up the clean look I have now. I can park pretty well without it.

Good to know about the stock speakers. I read they are neodymium magnets but that doesn't mean much if the rest of the speaker isn't good. Some high end home speakers actually have paper cones but the car is a terrible place for them. rubber surrounds with heavy magnets have worked well for me in the past so it looks like I can put something good in. I have some eclipse tweeters which would work for the front, and I'll get some good mid and woofer speakers for the front and rear.
In using a 5 or 6 channel amp, that would be just for the speakers in front and rear but not the sub? I assumed I could put my amp that i have for the sub in the back with the sub but hidden, maybe under the front passenger seat.
I might just have to try and make a mdf box shelf for the sub area. I have a friend who has nice wood up north, I thought about doing the mdf box, but then making a slightly elevated wood shelf to make it look like a nice wood back shelf. It wouldn't be expensive and might be kind of cool to look in the back of a 911 and see high end woodwork, and it would hide the subwoofers as well as take away from just typical carpet. I don't want to use the footwells for subs, but I could change my mind later.

does the alpine 8inch fit? all the other double dins seem to be 7inch max.

thanks for the spacer headsup too, I didn't know about that. Where do I get those?

I like the eurosport install kit too, much nicer.

 

I just found a UK porsche website where a guy made his own box, then covered the top to look stock. I already have a sloped box for my two subs now that I made to fit in my tiny stang convertible trunk. I think I might just use that, then cover the top the same way this guy did. Here's his link, it's worth a look in case someone else is doing this:

http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t...r=asc&start=15

I could easily fit my amp in there along with the subox.

Question: where do I get the carpet to match the rest of the car?

 

sorry yall, but I have another question, how do I get behind the door panels to the speakers?

 

I would strongly suggest a 3-way component set, unless you're very very good at tuning. You could easily make the system sound worse than Bose (which had cabin response correction) if not.

6-channel amp if you're going 3-way active left/right, no center no sub. If you are you using passive crossovers, you would need 2 channels for left/right only. You'll probably want a separate amp for the sub, unless you find a multi-channel with a powerful sub channel (rare).

There's not a whole lot of room under the front passenger seat, so you'll need a compact amp. You may want to consider a class D, since these run cooler. Most installs put the amps in the frunk inside the stock storage bins. You could also make a false floor and mount one there. Some installs mount the amps vertically against the storage bins, but this is a bigger custom job. It's possible to mount a sub amp in the back, but I don't think it's as common for aftermarket. It's harder to find a place where you can access it and provide adequate cooling.

Interesting.

The alpine would require a custom fabricated trim piece, but it's a sweet unit.

Make your own. MDF, router, jigsaw, spraypaint.

Pretty cool. Except he only used 6.5" drivers. You're not going to very good bass from that, it's just not possible. I also would have increased the box volume as this will likely provide a better sealed box response curve. You could also just go with the stock Bose subwoofer.

You can buy OEM Porsche black carpet.

You have to remove the door panels. There are a lot of steps. If you do a search, there are quite a few DIY threads here and on rennlist.

 

This is the exact setup I put in including back up camera. Looks great like it came from the factory.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PORSCHE-997-...-/320910313913

 

I am thinking gasongasoff knows what he is talking about!

 

thanks guys, great info!

I measured more carefully the rear area with stock subwoofer, there is much less space than I realized. Hmm.....can you keep the stock subwoofer even with the aftermarket stereo? If so I might just replace everything and see how it sounds, then do the sub. Is the MOST bose amp also powering the subwoofer, or is the stock subwoofer powered by an amp somewhere in that box?
What I would like to do really is have two 8 inch subs, but I would have to raise the back level and angle it I think to make it work. For me it's not an issue as long as it doesn't block the line of site. Maybe I can make the entire back equal height so it looks stock. If that is possible I for sure will remove the stock subwoofer.

those are nice bezels. I have a side question, when I got the car the temperature button and fan speed button is so worn that the black is worn off. Has anyone any recommendations on either painting, inking, or replacing the buttons?

in using a 3 way speaker, does it still use just one channel amp output per speaker?

In counting the number of speakers in there it would seem to have at least a pair or two running off the same channel? Sorry for my newb questions but I have only wired two channels in my past stereo installs. At home I have a dedicated amp for each pair. My wife is not a fan of the esthetic looks but she likes the sound.

If you were to do your own car with my car configuration, but what you put in?

thanks for all the ideas and info!

-Everett

 

All valid inquiries with answers all over this forum. The search button is your friend. Quick responses are readily available for your use.

 

I have used searches quite a bit and got tons of good info. For other searches maybe i didnt use good key words

 

Some people keep the stock sub for aesthetics. It's possible. The Bose sub has its own amplifier built-in. It takes a line-level signal that comes out of the MOST amp. You can tap into this and feed it from the subwoofer output of your aftermarket head unit or processor.

It can be done, but probably involves some fiberglass work. If you care more about appearance, the stock Bose sub or something that fits in that "well" would be the way to go. If you want decent bass, you really do need something bigger. You can fit a 12-13" shallow-mount sub in the back. You'll just need to fiberglass an enclosure that takes up the rear deck and is confluent with the "well" that is normally taken by the Bose sub. This will give you a proper enclosure volume. You may even be able to fit two shallow-mount 10's or 12's this way. If built properly, it shouldn't obstruct your rear view at all, as the subs would be mounted parallel to the ground. Some designs I've seen have a pair of subs angled towards the front 45-90 degrees. That works too.

There's a thread on that. You basically have to either replace the entire panel ($$$) or send it in to a company and have it sprayed over with matching black paint. I don't think it's easy to get the original silk-screened letters printed on. This solution requires stickers instead.

Depends. 2 common options for a stereo pair of 3-ways would be:

passive crossovers = 2 amplifier channels
active crossovers = 6 amplifier channels

huh?

If you're running monoblocks at home, you probably have a high-end system. If that's the case, I'm worried you won't be happy with a so-so car system. Especially if you listen to the same music on both systems.

Here's one suggestion:
- any double-DIN Alpine/Kenwood/Pioneer GPS/bluetooth head unit w/euromotorspeed trim kit
- Focal Utopia BE No.7 3-ways (I've seen this on a bunch of 997 installs). The midbass and midrange can fit in the factory locations with custom spacer rings. The tweeters will need a custom pod made.
- a 12" or 13" shallow-mount sub that takes up the rear deck (ex: JL 13TW5)
- any 6-channel amp, perhaps a compact class D design like the JL XD600/6 if you're worried about space
- a decent subwoofer amp, 300-500W
- a processor that can cabin-correct your frequency response and add time-delay and active crossovers (like the JBL MS-8 or the Alpine processors with Imprint) <-- a processor is highly recommended

This will probably run you about 7-8k + installation. My setup is similar to this.

 

I have a 997.2 with the bose system. Can anything be upgraded? I believe the answer is no.

 

The answer is yes! You can keep the stock PCM and swap out the Bose amp, speakers, and sub. Or you can just replace everything.

 

fantastic responses, thanks!

I think the 8inch subs I have now will be fine as I was more than happy with them in my old car as long as I can get the same box volume. I saw some pictures where it is possible to build a box to fit there holding two 8" subs.

I found the thread about reinking the dash buttons. Since I'm pulling out the double din I might as well do it then.

Lots of options. The 6channel amp by jbl looks like a good one, and I can use it for pretty much any option I wind up making.

Once I get going I'll post some pictures of my progress. A friend of mine mentioned applewood as opposed to mdf for the subenclosure. Hmm...