Hi everyone - first time posting, here goes. I test drove a Porsche Cayenne (basic) and fell in love with the way it drove, how sporty and modern it felt... it blew away all the competitors (in my mind). But my budget is nowhere near most peoples (or so I thought)...I really want to keep my Cayenne under 60k. The sales guy at the dealer was great, he put my mind at ease and said the majority of buyers were like that (at least in my area), so it's nice to know i'm not alone. That being said, we all know how easy the options add up,so I need to be very careful on the options I add to keep it at the right price point!! I'm currently torn between stock radio and Bose. My husband is an audiophile and has a hatred for Bose I don't quite understand... but I was only able to test drive a vehicle with the stock audio. Is the Bose option a no brainer? I definitely want the XM, and since the Bose comes with, it would really only be an incremental $1410 to get the Bose. Still, that $1400 could get me a lot of other things as well. Any thoughts? Your advice is much welcome!!

PS - It should be said, I love music, but it's nothing refined like classical or anything... pop, rap, dance type stuff.

 

I also hate the Bose sound and the odd bits of engineering they do to make is sound how they want. They typically use speakers with unusual ohm ratings. This will make it difficult to alter the system. I recently ordered a 997 with the stock audio system knowing that I can change speakers if I do not like the sound. You will have the $1,400 to make changes if needed.
Our dealer, Sunset Porsche, typically orders the Bose option for resale value. I would rather not listen to their opinion of good sound.
Of course the 911 exhaust sound is decidedly different than a Cayenne's.

 

I too am an audiophile...

Let me explain why Bose is crap (atleast in cars).

They use paper cone'd speakers with foam surrounds. Better speakers use polypropylene. It reacts faster and more precise to the music.

They use incorrect crossover points. A crossover is used to keep certain sounds (frequencies) from getting to certain speakers. Larger speakers should get 'lower' sounds and smaller speakers should get 'higher' sounds. Mixing these sounds puts too much work on the speaker. It can only vibrate so much. Also, lows put into smaller speakers come out flat. Besides that, they're subs are crossed over too high (IE: they get too many higher frequencies) and become muddy.
Their tweeters (smaller speakers) are way harsh/bright. Causing me a headache.

I have a CD Tone disk that I test stereo systems with and/or do correct speaker placement. On the Bose, I was getting 100hz (lows) thru the midrange speakers...eeek.

The odd ohm speakers do cause replacement issues. An 'ohm' is a measure of resistance, so the lower the number, the higher. ('0' is a direct short). Thus, if you replace a 4 ohm speaker, with an 8 ohm... its way to quiet since its not 'driving' the amp using more resistance. Reverse it, and you'll get a louder sound. Besides that, a mis-match will burn out the amp.

 

I have the PCM (w nav) and the sound is sufficient. I did not listen to the Bose system extensively, but I have no regrets passing on it after having included it with my initial order. The PCM sound system is slightly upgraded from the base CDR-31 system. It does lack a bit in range, but it sounds good enough for my ears. I spent the dollars saved from Bose on upgrading from the Conv to the Prem package.

 

Interesting! Thanks for your replies. I hadn't realized that PCM included a slightly upgraded audio, but I now see that it's 11 vs. 10 speakers on the stock. I have a general dislike of nav systems...but the Porsche system seemed easier to use than the others i've test driven. Looks like PCM joins the list of potential options (too bad, I thought i'd ruled it out!!). Thanks for the replies and the education on Bose!!

 

i'm no audiophile, but when i turned up the base audio system with PCM during the test drive it sounded pretty good to me. i can only compare it to a few bmws i've had in the past with the upgraded sound system (logic 7 which is about a $3k upgrade) and it seems pretty comparable.

i passed on the bose upgrade. if you want to stay below $60k there really isn't too many options you can get... convenience package + tiptronic puts you at $57k. that said i also got a pretty bare boned porsche and it was under $60k

 

More details on the different systems...

 

Just fyi... I heard that if you don't get the PCM, you also do not get the USB connection in the center console for iPod integration. You will only have the AUX input.

 

That would be a pain to not be able to integrate the music in my iphone! Could I use the bluetooth to integrate? Or does that only integrate the phone, and not my music?

 

I believe there is a way to stream the music via Bluetooth, but I have not tried it. I think the sound quality using an AUX cable would be much better than streaming via Bluetooth.

 

I've had the Bose systems in my boxster and 911s in the past and they were both pretty poor. I just ordered a Cayenne and my decesion was base (no bose) or Burmester. I chose Burmester so i don't have to have someone tinker with the electronics on a new car. I was not going to pay for another bose system as I have very dissapointed in the past.
That said I hear the Bose on the Cayenne may sound better than in the 911. I was unconvinced but others may disagree.

 

I'm sorry to say this: BOSE is very mediocre at best. Have it on my 997.2 and for someone like me who is very tech/music oriented, I just had to go with BURMESTER. For people who are not too much into audio you cannot go wrong with the stock. Having said that, the moving vehicle with all the exterior elements is not the best place to listen to music in the first place ... but I still splurged on this option. Nice info there slw23.

 

I have no problem with BOSE on my Cayenne. Sounds okay to me, at the same time, I'm not that picky on car-audio at least....

 

I am not an audiophile either but I do love music.
Before I decided to order the Bose speakers option, I went to the dealer with my Ipod and compared the base stereo and the Bose side by side.
The base Stereo sounded awful, the Bose system was not a BMW Logic 7 but it definetely delivered a more powerful and rich sound.
Worth every penny IMO.