AJAK

Had my 718 Cayman base about a month now. Love it. Does exactly what I bought it to do, except one thing.

Mostly I listen to the engine and exhaust, not the sound system. But once in a while I like to turn up a song loud. So this past weekend I turned it up a little less than halfway. The song did not even have a lot of base. The front speakers were vibrating really bad. It sounded horrible. Is this normal? I have the factory settings on it as far as fade, balance, base, and treble are concerned. My 1998 stripper Toyota Tacoma stereo sounded better and it had 2 speakers.

Anyone else experience this? Did you tweak the settings to improve the sound quality? This just seems ridiculous for a car with otherwise outstanding engineering.

Thanks for the help!

skeeter714

Yeah it's pretty awful. I have a reasonably loaded Cayman S with all the bells and whistles EXCEPT for the audio.

The only audio system that I can compare it to was the 'system' I had installed when I was a clueless highschooler (read: broke) in 1999 who took in his stripper 3-series to a back alley audio shop in Santa Ana, Ca. I got a neon light Jensen CD deck and puny, pathetic speakers to match.

My cayman sounds similar to that and I promise you I am not melodramatic - struggling to find a tweak to make it audible. I'm not some audiophile and listen to talk radio when I'm in my cayman if I listen to anything at all.

Sure I get it- these cars were made for driving and enjoying and all of that, but I never had this accute of an audio situation with any of my M3s before, even with the 'base' audio.

My suggestion to anyone speccing out these cars- budget that $1k for Bose at the very least.

Nifty911

This complaint never seems to go away. Neither of mine had great sounding systems either. And the shape of the deck makes it more complicated to switch out. I had to replace one of the units under warranty and forgot the 'cost' - but I about fell out when I saw it.

AJAK

Like you I enjoy listening to talk radio. These damn speakers even vibrate when I listen to NPR!

AJAK

Oh I don't doubt it's the most expensive crappy sound system on the planet.

GregWormald

I'd like to come in on the other side.

2017 Boxster. Porsche standard sound system. It's pretty good, I have no complaints.
Although because I listen seriously at home, and because I drive top down most of the time the system gets drowned out at anything but city cruising speed. I've never tried to "turn it up!" as my hearing is already slightly damaged from enjoying loud music.

Max718-19

Gamecock718

I would have never paid for it in a new car, but the CPO 718 CS that I bought came with the Burmester sound system. I'm pretty happy that it did, as it rocks the car pretty good. Yay for extreme depreciation of such options on used cars!

napiers porsche

I just took delivery of a new 718 with the base audio and I don't have of the problems you describe. I am happier with the sound quality than I thought I would be.

AJAK

Interesting. Did you tweak the base & treble any particular way? Thanks!

AJAK

How did you tweak the settings? Thank you!

napiers porsche

Well yes, I went into the decision tree regarding the radio and adjusted the bass and treble. I like more treble and that seems to make a big difference in the sound.

AJAK

I did as well and not much improved. Thought maybe I missed something. I guess I'll make the best of it. Small nuisance on an otherwise awesome car.

GregWormald

I found I had to turn the bass DOWN by a couple of clicks. When stationary the bass overwhelmed the rest of the music--and I can't hear it anyway when the car is moving at any sort of speed (i.e.--not parking lot speed).

Taxdr1965

Is there any aftermarket fix for the base system?