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Burg Boxster · 01-23-2007, 06:09 AM

wvav8tor-
Congrats and looks great - nice color combo.

I see you have the M490 (or M680) sound package which includes door speakers (bass only due to filter in amp). One thing you'll notice (especially w/ the top down) is the Boxsters sound system is weak [read anemic]. The weakness is primarily due to the crappy OEM speakers (mostly Nokia junk) they put in and not necessarily due to a lack of power (unless you plan on setting off car alarms as you pass by). A lot of people have modified their systems (including myself) very easily. Others have gone more extensive and put in a complete new set up. The primary issue w/ the system is clarity and a lack of sound separation - due to the crappy paper cone speakers and no rear speakers to create surround. You'll see what I mean as you dig into the system

Anyhow, I did the following upgrades to mine and it has changed the system entirely - such I now find it really enjoyable. Here are the most common mod's (with my spec's) in order of effectiveness and cost for each (total $500):
- added PNP rear speakers (in shelf under/behind rollbar) $224
- swapped in a 996 6x40W amp (to replace stock 4x40W to power the rears) $75
- changed dash speakers to Infinity Reference 4" coaxials $70
- changed door speakers to Infinity Kappa 6.75" (still bass only, but you can now hear and feel it's presence) $130

My editorial on each (along w/ install dificulty rating 1 easy - 10 hardest):
-REARS Adding rears really helps move the sound stage to where you ears are in the car as opposed to it being front heavy. Before doing this, I always found myself leaning forward to hear the radio. Some people are underwhelmed by them and I can see why. They do need powered by an amp (thus my 996 6x40 swap in) and not the head unit in order to match power from the rest of the system. They can also be powered by the h/u (for most model years) but the h/u's output is only 18W. By no means are will these blow you away, but the are much akin to surround sound speakers in a home theater set up. (intall rating 2.5)

- 6x40W AMP swap - used to power the above rears equal to the rest of the system. Big improvement over powering them off the h/u (only 18W). You may not need to do this b/c at some point Porsche put in a 6x40W amp in all boxsters regardless of having rear speakers or not. (install rating 1)

- DASH - Huge improvement to the overall clarity of the music. The stock speakers are paper cones and offer no clarity. With the coaxials, I now get good separation of mids and highs. A # of people have used MB Quartz for this application but others have commented they are too 'bright'. I'm quite please w/ the infintys I put in. (intall rating 1.5 - very very easy but you do have to modify the existing speaker bracket)

-DOORS - This one took some patience but really is not difficult once you resort to the fact that no matter what you need to create the baffle. I experimented time and again trying to find a good 5.25" speaker to put in the existing 'tuned port' enclosure. Problem is, 5.25" speakers really can't hit low frequencies. I tried 3 different sets and none sounded better than OEM (some actually worse). Finally I admitted defeat and made a custom baffle and added 6.75". WOW, huge improvement! I can actually hear bass in my car now - top up or down. The key here is to match the 2 Ohm resistance (from the OEMs), use speakers w/ a freq. range below 50-55K Hz, RMS power rating from 2W up, and getting efficient ones w/ a sensitivity of at least 91 dB. Thus the Infinitys I used fit the bill perfectly. I don't recall the exact spec's but I think they are 45K Hz, 2Ohm, 2-60RMS and 95dB. Your OEM amp has a filter built in that only allows low freq's to go to the speakers. For me the install difficulty was 5-6; only b/c I made so many different attempts at doing it. For you or anyone else, I'd say probably 2.5-3 b/c another boxtser owner outlined the steps and then I created a template for making a custom baffle. (install rating 2.5-3)

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Rears took about 2.5 - 3 hours, dash 2 hours and doors should be about 3 including cutting the template/baffles. Best thing... everything still looks stock but sounds great!

As for your question about a sub - there are a few options. One is to add a self powered compact sub under the dash on the passenger side firing down into the footwell. A lot of people have done this and said it's good. The other is to have a custom box created to house a 10 or 12" sub and placed it either on the kick panel or floor boards of the passenger side footwell. I didn't want to take space away from the passenger footwell unless absolutely necessary and decided to make that the last addition. However, now that I upgraded the door speakers, I have found it is not necessary at all to add a sub. YMMV.

Having said all this, check out these two guides on the Boxster Wiki Web for upgrading the sound system. The first is an overall review of how to upgrade the entire system and the second is a template I made for the door baffles.

http://boxster.wikia.com/images/b/b6/Boxster_speakers_update_article.pdf

http://boxster.wikia.com/images/b/bf/Door_Baffle_Template.pdf

A # of people think the solution is to immediately replace the amp or the head unit. All that results in is more powerful crappy sound. Seriously, the first and primary issue is the crappy speakers. Good luck and send me a PM w/ any questions.

Good luck and enjoy your new ride!

PS - sorry about being so lengthy but wanted to impart as much as I could to you in one shot.

01-23-2007, 06:09 AM	#14
Burg Boxster Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: In the garage... Posts: 1,702	wvav8tor- Congrats and looks great - nice color combo. I see you have the M490 (or M680) sound package which includes door speakers (bass only due to filter in amp). One thing you'll notice (especially w/ the top down) is the Boxsters sound system is weak [read anemic]. The weakness is primarily due to the crappy OEM speakers (mostly Nokia junk) they put in and not necessarily due to a lack of power (unless you plan on setting off car alarms as you pass by). A lot of people have modified their systems (including myself) very easily. Others have gone more extensive and put in a complete new set up. The primary issue w/ the system is clarity and a lack of sound separation - due to the crappy paper cone speakers and no rear speakers to create surround. You'll see what I mean as you dig into the system Anyhow, I did the following upgrades to mine and it has changed the system entirely - such I now find it really enjoyable. Here are the most common mod's (with my spec's) in order of effectiveness and cost for each (total $500): - added PNP rear speakers (in shelf under/behind rollbar) $224 - swapped in a 996 6x40W amp (to replace stock 4x40W to power the rears) $75 - changed dash speakers to Infinity Reference 4" coaxials $70 - changed door speakers to Infinity Kappa 6.75" (still bass only, but you can now hear and feel it's presence) $130 My editorial on each (along w/ install dificulty rating 1 easy - 10 hardest): -REARS Adding rears really helps move the sound stage to where you ears are in the car as opposed to it being front heavy. Before doing this, I always found myself leaning forward to hear the radio. Some people are underwhelmed by them and I can see why. They do need powered by an amp (thus my 996 6x40 swap in) and not the head unit in order to match power from the rest of the system. They can also be powered by the h/u (for most model years) but the h/u's output is only 18W. By no means are will these blow you away, but the are much akin to surround sound speakers in a home theater set up. (intall rating 2.5) - 6x40W AMP swap - used to power the above rears equal to the rest of the system. Big improvement over powering them off the h/u (only 18W). You may not need to do this b/c at some point Porsche put in a 6x40W amp in all boxsters regardless of having rear speakers or not. (install rating 1) - DASH - Huge improvement to the overall clarity of the music. The stock speakers are paper cones and offer no clarity. With the coaxials, I now get good separation of mids and highs. A # of people have used MB Quartz for this application but others have commented they are too 'bright'. I'm quite please w/ the infintys I put in. (intall rating 1.5 - very very easy but you do have to modify the existing speaker bracket) -DOORS - This one took some patience but really is not difficult once you resort to the fact that no matter what you need to create the baffle. I experimented time and again trying to find a good 5.25" speaker to put in the existing 'tuned port' enclosure. Problem is, 5.25" speakers really can't hit low frequencies. I tried 3 different sets and none sounded better than OEM (some actually worse). Finally I admitted defeat and made a custom baffle and added 6.75". WOW, huge improvement! I can actually hear bass in my car now - top up or down. The key here is to match the 2 Ohm resistance (from the OEMs), use speakers w/ a freq. range below 50-55K Hz, RMS power rating from 2W up, and getting efficient ones w/ a sensitivity of at least 91 dB. Thus the Infinitys I used fit the bill perfectly. I don't recall the exact spec's but I think they are 45K Hz, 2Ohm, 2-60RMS and 95dB. Your OEM amp has a filter built in that only allows low freq's to go to the speakers. For me the install difficulty was 5-6; only b/c I made so many different attempts at doing it. For you or anyone else, I'd say probably 2.5-3 b/c another boxtser owner outlined the steps and then I created a template for making a custom baffle. (install rating 2.5-3) I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Rears took about 2.5 - 3 hours, dash 2 hours and doors should be about 3 including cutting the template/baffles. Best thing... everything still looks stock but sounds great! As for your question about a sub - there are a few options. One is to add a self powered compact sub under the dash on the passenger side firing down into the footwell. A lot of people have done this and said it's good. The other is to have a custom box created to house a 10 or 12" sub and placed it either on the kick panel or floor boards of the passenger side footwell. I didn't want to take space away from the passenger footwell unless absolutely necessary and decided to make that the last addition. However, now that I upgraded the door speakers, I have found it is not necessary at all to add a sub. YMMV. Having said all this, check out these two guides on the Boxster Wiki Web for upgrading the sound system. The first is an overall review of how to upgrade the entire system and the second is a template I made for the door baffles. http://boxster.wikia.com/images/b/b6/Boxster_speakers_update_article.pdf http://boxster.wikia.com/images/b/bf/Door_Baffle_Template.pdf A # of people think the solution is to immediately replace the amp or the head unit. All that results in is more powerful crappy sound. Seriously, the first and primary issue is the crappy speakers. Good luck and send me a PM w/ any questions. Good luck and enjoy your new ride! PS - sorry about being so lengthy but wanted to impart as much as I could to you in one shot. Last edited by Burg Boxster; 01-23-2007 at 06:15 AM.