sundog

He makes a nice add on for the rear foot wells that can support an 8" speaker. The standard rears are not sufficient for any kind of decent sound, even with MB Quartz in the door, you need a better rear to fill the space.

As for the rest, a Cup Bypass pipe and you won't really care anymore!

cobalt

I agree with others Audiophile and autos especially the 911 don't go hand in hand. If i want good sound I stay at home and spin some vinyl. I have installed all sorts of systems in 911's over the years.

The best system i had was in my 79 SC. Soundstream amps A/D/S separates in the doors and back shelf, Nakamichi head unit. Sounded quite good but still not up to par with my home system.

My current cars I am using the Nakamichi CD500 head units in the turbo and GTS along with a full array of MB Quart speakers. Older top of the line models. The turbo has a saphire amp installed by the PO and the GTS has Soundstream amps. The GTS sounds better but that is because of the number of drivers and the environment is more conducive. My 964 C2 has a Pioneer head unit and separate amp using stock speakers. Honestly for all the $$ spent on the other 2 cars it isn't bad due to excessive equalization of the pioneer unit.

In any case I would argue don't go crazy just go for improvement over factory. It will never be as good as Burmester system designed for the newer Porsche's and nothing sounds as good as the sound of the engine revving into the rpms.

naidoo2610

I had the same issue when I got my 964 last year, I replaced the radio with a JVC HD Radio, Polk Audio speakers to replace the stock speakers, I was able to find the exact same size speakers from Polk Audio and I installed an amp in the trunk. The sound is pretty good and clear. For the next level of quality and clarity there was a big price jump so I settled for this configuration.

altarchsa

Enjoying some tunes doesn't make you less of a driving enthusiast. I'll bet few, if any, of those who say you don't need a sound system drive full race suspensions to work. Yet they would probably not appreciate a race-only 964 owner being critical of them because they don't. IMHO, it's all a matter of personal preference and where your comfort level settles. To each his own!

Having said that, I will admit that with a cup pipe I don't get the full value out of my system unless the engine is off.

If you want tunes, I suggest first and biggest $$$ go to a good quality "big" sub in a custom enclosure and a good quality big amp in the front. Second $$$ should be for a good quality head unit, but the front speakers are critical too.

This advice was given to me by my son-in-law who ran the audio department of a Circuit City for a few years and helped me select components. I have an Alpine head unit, BIG 5 channel Alpine amp mounted to plywood siliconed to the fuel tank up front (for easy restoration to original), Infinity Kapa Perfect Components in the doors, plates in the rear deck and a 10" JL sub in a custom enclosure set in the driver side rear seat. I finished the sub enclosure to simulate the rear seat back in the down position. The enclosure projects into the footwell to get the necessarry volume. Top quality RCA head-to-sub cables and speaker wires of course. All for about $1750 since I did all the work myself. Another big savings was finding the used Alpine 5 channel in perfect condition on eBay.

I had always wondered whether a really good system would sound that much better than a good system. I had never been able to afford a really good one before, but commited to one in the 964. First time, and every time thereafter that I've turned it on, a huge smile came across my face. My only dissatisfaction is the Alpine user interface and rice burner appearance, but maybe the newer ones are better. The Nacamichi's look really cool and go better with the 964 interior!

A couple of pics of the Kappas and JL.

Good luck on YOUR choices. I'll bet none of us will ever ride in it with you, so reeally, our opinions don't matter that much.

altarchsa

Oops, pics didn't make the trip. Let me try them separately:

altarchsa

and the other

cobalt

That is interesting. I have never seen that done before. Is the seat still usable? It looks a lot better than some of these big enclosures i have seen installed. The earlier 911's allowed you space in the front passenger foot well the 964 unfortunately does not.

I use most of my cars for weekend driving so I find I rarely listen to music in the cars. Sound also depends on how far you want to take it. I have enough tied up in home eq that I find very few 2 channel home systems satisfy me. I also find that CD and digital audio lacks the warmth and dynamic range of vinyl so for me my focus is not on listening while driving. But that is not for everyone and Your system probably is a lot better than the factory crap which really did suck.

altarchsa

No, the seat is not useable. I removed the seat back and made the unusal shaped box out of MDF, the top of which is made the same shape and height of the down seat back. The box just sits in the seat well. I saved the seat back and parts for restoration to original, of course.

I've never heard an original 964 sound system, but I can guarantee you this system sounds a LOT better, based on the non-working original parts I pulled out. (none saved for resale BTW) The book size original amp and Nokia speakers were ridiculous. It's also a LOT better than the interim system I installed, which was just a good Kenwood in-radio/CD amp with Alpine 5 1/4" speakers.

The closed box took a while to build since it is so irregular in shape ("L" shaped and fitted to the seat well), but it is large enough to really get the most out of the sub.

cobalt

That is very creative. It looks stock from the pictures.

Trust me anything is better than the stock units, especially the head unit. I think the speakers are superior to the head unit in sound quality and you know the size and quality of the speakers.

If you are going to make changes assuming your speakers are still good shape. You are better off changing the head unit first IMO and build from there.