When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Just took 500 mile drive with PCA club and my wife wants a new radio for her newly bought 2006 Boxster. We have looked at Crutchfield but there are so many choices. We do have BOSE also.
Any suggestions?
I just ordered a Sony XAV-AX4000 from Crutchfield and it arrived today. I also have the Bose factory speaker option on my '06 S.
One thing to note, because of the Bose system, a "special" wiring harness adapter is needed. It of course runs about $300 as opposed to the "standard" ~$30 harness.
I plan to install the headset this evening and/or tomorrow. I'll try to remember to take some pics but either way I'll let you know how it goes.
I just ordered a Sony VAX-AX4000 from Crutchfield and it arrived today. I also have the Bose factory speaker option on my '06 S.
One thing to note, because of the Bose system, a "special" wiring harness adapter is needed. It of course runs about $300 as opposed to the "standard" ~$30 harness.
I plan to install the headset this evening and/or tomorrow. I'll try to remember to take some pics but either way I'll let you know how it goes.
I just had the same radio installed in my 987.2 Cayman. My car also came with the Bose option system. Fortunately it had an aftermarket stereo and MOST adapter in it when I purchased it. The previous head unit died last week so I had it replaced with the Sony. I'm pretty happy with the upgrade.
i gave up on a car stereo for my cayman even though it's got an expensive aftermarket pioneer head unit, amp, sub-woofer and speakers. just too much road noise. i imagine the boxster is probably worse what with the soft top.
i'm using bose noise-cancelling earbuds and music or videos i've either downloaded to my phone or free apps that connect to the net. the amount of audio available is practically infinite. and the fidelity is superior to anything you'll can put in your car, at about 1/10th the price. two sets of earbuds and a usb port can keep you listening 24/7 for a decade.
Finished my install earlier this evening and couldn't be happier with the initial results. The Crutchfield ReadyHarness made it very easy; if you do your own installs, buy it, it's a no-brainer. I've never installed a car stereo and was able to do so in a few hours with no issues (that included removing some olds satellite equipment and cleaning some trim). I still need to configure some settings on the head unit and my Android Auto tomorrow, but everything works; the install is done.
As for the selection of the Sony unit, I'm far from an audiophile, so I can't speak to those kinds of nuances. I wanted some modern conveniences with good sound, especially for road trips. I like the wireless Android Auto functionality for the car and the VAX-AX4000 was the lowest Sony model from Crutchfield to offer this feature wirelessly. Having SiriusXM was important to me for road trips. The overall aesthetic was also very important to me. This is obviously subjective but the appearance looks like it could be factory and that's what I wanted -- but at a fraction of the cost with more features. It's also scalable in that if I ever wanted to add a backup camera, I could add one.
The one odd feature I noticed about the Sony is that it offers a USB-C wired connection as opposed to USB 3+. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't really impact me at all because, with a wireless connection, I don't foresee ever needing to use the USB cable.
I filmed some video of the install to possibly make a short tutorial but here are a few pics:
I didn't use everything below. The tools I ended up using for the install were:
i used the atoto and have had issues. the bluetooth wont connect to the valentine, its a pain to connect wifi to iphone, and have a lot of freezes.
Not sure what a Valentine is, but my wi-fi smoothly shifts from mobile to house, and similar...
I've not had it more than a week or so, so cannot comment on longer term use.
Hopefully, it will stay OK!
I've seen people use the Erisin (another Chinese HU) with good success, in general. My car came to me with a Pioneer EX502. I've seen others use Sony, Kenwood, and other big brands. I don't think the brand matters as much, and it comes down to personal preference. Many chose the Erisin because it has a volume **** (I would agree with that). I don't care for a few of the quirks with my Pioneer, but it's fine otherwise.
From what I've read, everyone has found the sound quality to be better than the Porsche branded units.
One thing to note, because of the Bose system, a "special" wiring harness adapter is needed. It of course runs about $300 as opposed to the "standard" ~$30 harness.
04-28-2023, 11:46 AM
Favorite modern radio for 987.1???
