987 Spyde audio upgrade any suggestions

[andyP123456]

Thinking about upgrading audio head unit to gain DAB, SATNAV, apple play, USB. Anyone else done this or offer advice how easy likely cost any recommendations for fitters in Dorset?

[Dr S]

A new exhaust?

[DJMC]

Don't know if this helps?:

http://www.caymanoc.com/forums/topic/1069-aftermar...

[Porsche911R]

The car is so noisy I don't see the point, even roof up the wind noise is far to great that if you did want to hear it, it would be so loud it would damage your hearing.

but any thing fits it's just a double din unit and you can buy a 3rd party bracket to fit anything in the space about £140



"Complete 9X7.2 Custom 2 DIN Kit Includes:

- Trim Bezel - Factory raduis bezel finished in black, matches other black dash components
- Includes stainless steel mounting clips for simplified and secured bezel attachment
- Complete with speed sensor & illumination wires, factory harness & radio antenna adapters, wire taps, solder shrink connectors and nylon cable straps
- Housing brackets designed for proper installation into factory opening - Featuring spring loaded secure locking mechanism & built-in guide rails. For some radios, minor modifications are required.
- Instruction Manual Included"

Edited by Porsche911R on Friday 2nd February 13:39

[chrisABP]

Some pics of my upgrade in Cayman R replacing the antique CDR30 head unit.
Now have Garmin Nav, DAB, Apple CarPlay, phone etc.
Also great deal on the head unit at special offer price from here:
https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-kenwood...

Edited by chrisABP on Friday 2nd February 15:53

[Porsche911R]

where did you get the mount from ? Porsche or a 3rd party item ?

[chrisABP]

Porsche911R said:

where did you get the mount from ? Porsche or a 3rd party item ?

On Tom's advice (at 911V) his installer supplied the facia kit as Tom said they were a far better match to OE Porsche trim than other cheaper ones readily available.

[jakesmith]

I’ve heard this talk about the cheapest fascia for £30 not matching colour or fitting well on the gen 1 cars but it wasn’t the case in reality

I’ve just upgraded the whole system on my 987.1 took me about 30 hours all in, huge difference from the oem Bose setup well worth the ag

[andyP123456]

jakesmith said:

I’ve heard this talk about the cheapest fascia for £30 not matching colour or fitting well on the gen 1 cars but it wasn’t the case in reality

I’ve just upgraded the whole system on my 987.1 took me about 30 hours all in, huge difference from the oem Bose setup well worth the ag

Can you let me know what you used for upgrade and any advice. Happy fir you to PM me

[jakesmith]

andyP123456 said:

Can you let me know what you used for upgrade and any advice. Happy fir you to PM me

Hi, happy to give as much advice as you need really - the procedure on a gen 2 should be exactly the same as gen 1

My car had PCM 2.1 and Bose. As is the case with all cars, there is no sound deadening in the doors so the entire door cavity, which acts as the chamber for the 8" Bose sub (that fire directly into it away from the cabin), will let sound in and has a 'ring' to it.

By applying deadening to the door in 3 places (info to follow), you prevent this effect which tightens up the bass considerably - in a tune with any bass, especially but not limited to dance music, the individual bass notes stand out rather than 'ringing' the door and merging into one. I actually did one door first in an evening, and played the stereo and faded it side to side as a very direct AB comparison and there was a big difference between the sound quality from the door I had done and the standard door - not much point just upgrading speakers without doing this as you leave a lot of quality 'on the table' so to speak.

The other speakers in the door are 3" mid-range speakers that face into the cabin - which is good a they are acoustically isolated from the door sub woofers, probably about the only thing that Porsche did well in designing the system for the car.

So I took off the inner door skin, and changed the speakers for 4" Focal K2 components that are about £260. To make them form a tight seal with the door skin I used weather stripping. I then applied loads of Silent Coat (essentially a load of heavy bitumen adhesive A4 sheets that you buy for £1.50 each, takes about 12 to do each door) to the back of the inner door skin, to block road noise coming into the cabin via the doors, and absorb any vibration in the panel caused by the speakers

Then I stuck a couple of sheets to the metal membrane facing towards the cabin

Then I temporarily removed this membrane and put about 6 sheets inside the door cavity on the outer skin facing in ie behind the external door handle, tended to the seal where it had perrished using a screen sealant to re-seal, and refitted it

That's the doors done, for about £300 all in, first door took 4 hours, second door took 1 hour. Not difficult at all and loads of guides online / Youtube for how to do it all

Focal K2 4":
http://caraudiosecurity.com/es100k-elite-k2-power-...

Silent Coat:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silent-Coat-2mm-30-Shee...

Then I removed the Bose amp, DVD drive, CD Changer, PCM2. That was very fiddly to get out but what didn't help was that it was absolutely stting it down with rain and pitch black and I was trying to work with torch in my mouth which made it nearly impossible. I gave up as I thought I had broken some of the clips and working conditions were impossible so I drove 10 mins to GT One where I know the owner and he got one of his techs to get it out for me which took about 45 seconds and he didn't charge. Cheers! It is a piece of cake to do but I should have done it in the light.

After removing these I fitted a new Pioneer Pioneer app radio head unit. I chose this as it is incredible value! £300 all in. Only useful really if you have an iPhone but it lets you use Apple Maps which is pretty good nav with live traffic, and it has a 6" capacitative touch screen which is way better than resistive (resistive requires a more positive 'press' where as capacitative is a light touch - as a comparison - a decent smartphone is capacitative. PCM3 and most car OEM systems are resistive, just makes using it on the move that much harder / less accurate. I have a far more expensive F88DAB in my Masser that cost more like £1000 and the only difference is redundant built in nav that I never use, 7" screen not 8", and DAB radio. All the rest functionality and quality is identical

Pioneer App radio (£290 from eBay new at the mo)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Pioneer-SPH-DA120-Ap...

Also requires the bezel & cage to fit it for £28 - this is the cheap one and it fitted perfectly 2nd time around:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CT23PO03-Double-Din-Fasc...



Then you remove the car battery which takes 3 mins, and open up the spare huge blanking grommet behind it that goes directly into the cabin. Route through all the wires whih for me was a single RCA pair for the front, 2 pairs of speaker cables to go from the rear speaker output of the new head to the car's wiring loom for the rear speakers (meeting the car's loom in the front trunk), and the amp turn-on cable.

Then I installed the Focal 4.350 amp in the front trunk on a little shelf that I made out of 18mm MDF and covered with black carpet, all hidden where the DVD used to be.



The beauty of this amp is that it is 2 ohm stable so capable of running the Bose subs in the doors, and it uses so little power that you can use the Bose amp's power and ground feed which means very little wiring needed. Also very limited likelihood of introducing unwanted alternator whine from extra power and ground cables. Paid £227 for the amp off eBay (new):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOCAL-FD-4-350-ULTRA-CO...

You then need to put in the 2 Focal crossovers, right next to the amp which connect to the amp, and then the car's loom for the midrange in the door, and the new tweets

I bought this Bose plug off eBay that interfaces with the car's loom to save me having to cut it all and figure out which wires are which. It is necessary if you are planning on putting the car back to standard to sell but I really wouldn't bother as you can sell all the OEM stuff off to cover the costs so unless you have something rare or special it really isn't worth the hassle financially or time. The plug does however have all the wires identified with little lables on so it probably saves 1-2 hours of fking about and swearing. Well worth it for me. The seller does a cheaper postage option making it £40 delivered to the uk

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porsche-Radio-Stereo-In...

Finally you have to remove the dash tweets & replace with Focal. This requires passing a new speaker cable to the crossover as the factory wiring is in parallel with the door speakers and so won't work correctly for the new speakers. I simply passed about 5m of cable through the hole in the dash and kept reaching up till I could feel some slack and grabbed it & pulled it down. A tiny bit of the inside of the dash needs cutting out with a dremel to make the new tweeters fit but it is all hidden under the grille so you really can't mess this up.

I also added a further active sub in the footwell, and wired up the bose sub and rear speakers so they still work. Having the 2 extra subs really isn't necessary as once the door is properly set up the subs are capable of performing really well

The whole thing took about 30 hours and I am really pleased with it, as well as it only costing £900 in parts, I am now selling the old PCM, Phone module, Bose amp, CD changer and DVD drive and speakers on eBay and should recoup most of that.

The difference in functionality and sound quality is staggering. The volume and quality of the sound simply blows the Bose system into the weeds and you get that benefit whether you are listening to it loud or quiet.

I actually had a very similar system installed at Audiofile In Car in my 997 about 3-4 years ago. They will do a similar job as the above but charge about £2500 all in for similar work. They did put in a more expansive £420 JL amp but that really wasn't necessary. Also they put in a more expensive head uit with nav but the Pioneer app radio one makes that redundant

Here is their page, they charge £1350 for just the audio bit and then the head unit is on top of that - you can see exactly what I was talking about before with the sound proofing

http://www.audiofile-incar.co.uk/audio-upgrades/po...

I'd just add that a lot of people think it is mad to do this as the cars are about driving, the cabin is noisey and that the basic system / Bose is good / good enough. If you used / listened to them both back to back it would be apparent to anyone how much better one is and you would not want to go back

Any questions just ask.

Edited by jakesmith on Saturday 3rd February 18:25

[WG]

I am not interested in the subject matter but just had to read that comprehensive fitting guide. Well done ! This what these forums should be about - helpful not the back-biting which seems all too prevalent on some threads!

[andyP123456]

What a fantastic response thank you for taking the time to write this printing it off now. It’s also so refreshing to read such a well written response and agree with the previous poster it’s what these forums should be about. Thanks again

[jakesmith]

A pleasure! I used forums quite a bit to do my research, the American ones are good too

Happy to answer any questions via pm, on here etc if you need any more help or info.

[happie33]

Jake....
Am wanting to do the same. but wish to keep my bose speakers....

Have watched the vids online to see the removal of the PCM unit etc.

with the new pioneer unit, is this simply plug and play?.

thanks

[kingston12]

andyP123456 said:

What a fantastic response thank you for taking the time to write this printing it off now. It’s also so refreshing to read such a well written response and agree with the previous poster it’s what these forums should be about. Thanks again

Just what I was thinking, a brilliant and descriptive post. I enjoyed reading that, but it makes me wish I had gone the whole hog when doing mine.

[kingston12]

happie33 said:

Jake....
Am wanting to do the same. but wish to keep my bose speakers....

Have watched the vids online to see the removal of the PCM unit etc.

with the new pioneer unit, is this simply plug and play?.

thanks

I fitted the same head unit that Jake has, but elected to keep the Bose set up.

This makes it much more straightforward, but you need a buy a rather expensive breakout box to convert the output of the Pioneer to the signal required by the MOST Bose set up.

This is the Connects2 item, but there might be more options now:

https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/connects2-ctspo005...

The only other thing that you will need to do is run a switchable 12V power feed to the new unit as PCM 2.1 doesn't use that. I just tapped into the power on the climate control unit directly below, but you could run a new one from the fusebox if you wanted to.

All in all, it is a brilliant upgrade from the PCM 2.1 - functionality is night and day different and it even manages to sound slightly better which I wasn't really expecting.

I have been tempted to change the amp and speakers like Jake has, but I just don't drive the car enough to justify it. For me, the Bose is 'good enough' for the occasional drive, but I'd certainly love to hear the alternative.

One advantage of changing just the HU is that it is very easy to reverse if you ever want to sell the car as standard. It wasn't a consideration for me as mine is a very long term keeper, but a lot of Porsche buyers value the original unit even if it is completely out of date.

[happie33]

kingston12 said:

happie33 said:

Jake....
Am wanting to do the same. but wish to keep my bose speakers....

Have watched the vids online to see the removal of the PCM unit etc.

with the new pioneer unit, is this simply plug and play?.

thanks

I fitted the same head unit that Jake has, but elected to keep the Bose set up.

This makes it much more straightforward, but you need a buy a rather expensive breakout box to convert the output of the Pioneer to the signal required by the MOST Bose set up.

This is the Connects2 item, but there might be more options now:

https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/connects2-ctspo005...

The only other thing that you will need to do is run a switchable 12V power feed to the new unit as PCM 2.1 doesn't use that. I just tapped into the power on the climate control unit directly below, but you could run a new one from the fusebox if you wanted to.

All in all, it is a brilliant upgrade from the PCM 2.1 - functionality is night and day different and it even manages to sound slightly better which I wasn't really expecting.

I have been tempted to change the amp and speakers like Jake has, but I just don't drive the car enough to justify it. For me, the Bose is 'good enough' for the occasional drive, but I'd certainly love to hear the alternative.

One advantage of changing just the HU is that it is very easy to reverse if you ever want to sell the car as standard. It wasn't a consideration for me as mine is a very long term keeper, but a lot of Porsche buyers value the original unit even if it is completely out of date.

hi jake and Kingston, thank you.......

could either of you confirm for me please....

my 2008 987 boxster has the PCM 1 version.. therefore no steering wheel controls, rear view parking camera.........

I have the BOSE speakers etc.

I have bought the same pioneer Apple Carplay unit as jake has mentioned. currently sitting in box awaiting warmer weather to install....

When connecting... will I need a MOST adapter or an adaptor as mentioned by Kingston, in order to "connect" the pioneer unit to the original BOSE system....??

cheers guys.....

[kingston12]

happie33 said:

hi jake and Kingston, thank you.......

could either of you confirm for me please....

my 2008 987 boxster has the PCM 1 version.. therefore no steering wheel controls, rear view parking camera.........

I have the BOSE speakers etc.

I have bought the same pioneer Apple Carplay unit as jake has mentioned. currently sitting in box awaiting warmer weather to install....

When connecting... will I need a MOST adapter or an adaptor as mentioned by Kingston, in order to "connect" the pioneer unit to the original BOSE system....??

cheers guys.....

Can you have PCM 1 in a 2008 car? My car is a 2005 987 and it had PCM 2.1! Post a picture of it if you have one and we can confirm.

Either way, you will definitely need that adaptor that I linked to if you want to keep Bose. It is a bit confusing that it is called 'Steering Wheel Control Interface' in my opinion, because the main function it serves is convert your aftermarket HU output so it can exist on the MOST ring.

The product page explains it a little better:
http://www.connects2.co.uk/Product/ProductItem/CTS...

It is the CTPIONEERLEAD that enables the box to use the existing steering wheel controls, but the CTSPO005.2 is required anyway.

It might just be worth giving Connects2 a call to check this still definitely the best option, they were helpful when I fitted mine a few years ago.

Jake didn't need this adaptor because he replaced the Bose amp meaning that the system bypasses the MOST ring altogether.

[douglasgdmw]

You have missed the most important thing about the fitment...
.


Before and After weights - all important for a Spyder owner

[happie33]

kingston
been into system data on pcm and can’t find version number, looked through manual and still no pcm version
god knows if the pic helps but
photo from front of manual ...