AF330i

I ordered my car without selecting the Bose or the other optional stereo ... has anyone heard the base system ?

I am not really into hearing incredible sound ... i do appreciate the surround sound systems in my bmw and mercedes but 99% of the time I listen to talk radio (HOWARD !!!)

Has anyone heard the base system and is it decent ?

Rushman71

If all you care about is talk radio, the base stereo should be more than sufficient. If you listen to music at any type of volume at all, I would at least get the Bose.

Having a nice audio system in my cars has been something I just haven't been able to outgrow at 40 years old. I had heard the Burmester in the Panamera and I was sold. I had always wanted to own a piece of Burmester equipment so $5K was a bargain to me.

The 991 actually has the subwoofer cavity built into the monocoque. Both the Bose and Burmester take advantage of this. There is also the fact that the new 911 is quiet when in cruise mode. A tall 7th gear, the low rolling resistance of 20" wheels, PSE that can be shut off, and superior aero all contribute to a quiet cabin where a luxury soundsystem can be fully appreciated.

tgcrun

I have a base system in my 09 C4S, and it sounds just fine. 99% of the time I listen to music on satellite radio, which doesn't have great fidelity to begin with. Coupled with the fact that when I'm alone, my off key singing would negate any high fidelity sound, and a Burmester or Bose system would be useless to me. If you're a talk radio fan, spend the extra money on something else. A trip to New York to see Howard live?

Cpa4S

my cayenne had the base - doesn't really bother me - the seperation can be pretty good on some music. given one is driving it is hard to really focus on the music and so the brain tends to fill the holes in well..

agree though - if you like blasting then it is a completly different story!

DrJay

Maybe I am just getting old but who cares about the stereo in the car?

Ed Burdell

Now if they offered an autocorrect option, we could sing in key in our cars!

tgcrun

Now THAT I might pay 5 grand for! Actually, I could probably get my running group to ante up for it. On most of our long, marathon training runs we'll start talking about music, and the next thing you know we're singing Jessie's Girl. And I clearly ain't no Rick Springfield.

kayjh

My past experience with interior noise seemed to have more to do with tire roar than wind noise. Are you suggesting this is appreciably lower in the 991? That would be good news.

Carrera GT

I have to admit I mulled over the idea of getting the Burmi ...
past age 35, my ears are not what they were when I would challenge my brother to blind auditions at the "local" (150 miles from home) audiophile hang out. Those were the days. We would compare a "single" audiophile pressing of Dire Straits with our own "High Fidelity" mass market records. A limited edition of Machine Head that was the first LP I ever bought over the counter (I still remember the "who told you to buy this?" cross-examination from the record store owner ... me being shorter than the counter holding the cash register at the time ...)

By any measure, it's the cheapest way I'll every have "Brand B" gear tickling my tympanics on a daily basis. But my first 991 will probably no be with me more than a year or so until the wide body 4S or GT3 or RS variant surfaces ... so the extra dollars are just needless. Anyway, the Burmi sounds far better with the cabin volume of the Panamera ... roll on the long wheelbase Pana-mini-van as our next school bus.

So I say there's no harm in doing without the Bose. If anything, it could be a shrewd move -- get the base "Nav" system then get aftermarket audio, amps and speakers -- less "integrated" but far superior to the Bose, then revert to "stock" for resale and dispose of the aftermarket gear for even 50 cents on the dollars or carry it forward to the next 911 and either way, you're well ahead of the game.

Even with the Bose gear, I full well expect to add three docking mounts (one for an Android phone instead of iPhone (who wants their phone stuck in the glove box?) one for the iPad (3?) for email and apps, and one for a Sirius portable (with better functionality than the XM-Sirius unit in Porsches, access to the full Sirius channel line-up, especially NPR ..., plus things like unattended recording, buffered pause/rewind/replay, copy to favorites, etc.) ... in-car systems are junk compared to current off-the-shelf tech gadgets (and they get updated/replaced faster than teen celebrities.) All these gadgets docks add up to no real weight, they're easily removed for a track day and make use of gadgets already set up with my apps, accounts and preferences. One day even Porsche will figure this out and it will be possible to order a top of the line 911 with nothing more than a well thought-out gap in the dash with a standard power/data port (Thunderbolt?)

AF330i

Sure hope I made the right choice ... I would love to hear from anyone who has heard it.

AF330i

I just went to my dealer and heard the base system ... keep in mind reading this I drove there in my 08 911 with the Bose system.

All I can say is WOW I was really amazed on how good it sounded ... the bass boomed up high (not sure how else to explain it) and it cranked up very loud and clear and it blew away the Bose system in my car.

I actually checked the window sticker 3 times to make sure it didn't have the Bose in it ...

ctporsche

Great. I have a March production 991S with the base audio on order as well. I am not surprised that the base system sounds good. I have 2012 VW Passat TDI SE with a base audio which is pretty good, so I figured 991's base system should not be worse. I had owned a 997.2 C4S with Bose, which sounded poor. I consider myself an audio nut and I also have a top notch home audio system of over $100k price tag. I am not a fan of Bose and in a 911 I mostly listen to the engine sound, so I did not see value in spending $5k.

Michael T

I did the base stereo too. Glad it got a good review. Figured with nine speakers it should sound OK. You get killed on the options at resale and at $2,420, that helps the depreciation.

uhn2000

Base is going to be on my option sheet; use the extra dollars for PSE!

Jay H

As a two channel home audio buff, I would love to know about this system.