986 headunit upgrade

[ddruker]

I was in the same situation with my 2001 S and did the following:

Upgraded to a 6 channel amp from a parted out 911 (996) found on Ebay. This means you get separate power to dash speakers, door speakers, and shelf speakers and you can fade front to rear. You would want to check and see if you have a four channel amp driving your existing six speakers, or you already have the six channel amp.
I installed four wide range pioneer speakers (Pioneer TS-A878), purchased from Amazon, in the rear shelf using the Boxster shelf speaker add-on kit that is available from eBay. Sounds like you don't need this step if you already have them installed, though if your speakers are old you might want to upgrade.

My dash speakers were in decent shape - and I hear most of the sound from the rear speakers, so I chose to not upgrade my fronts.

I installed a new double-din Chinese Android-based headunit. I went with one from Joying and have been happy with it but there are several vendors.
- Got rid of the useless cupholders, installed a double-din adapter
- comes with GPS antenna, installed under the plastic cover in front of the windshield
- comes with a backup camera, installed in the rear license plate holder
- comes with two external USB ports, installed in-between the cubby and the center console


All together this is a great upgrade for your Box. The six channel amp and speakers behind your head make a huge difference in sound volume and quality. The modern Android-based head unit has all the functionality of your mobile phone, and then some.