Fowwiee

Don't know you can call sound from the BOSE system something you enjoy tho. It's far from great.

If you think that the BOSE system is great, you should save the $$ and just take the base. Chances are you can't tell the difference between the two.

MJBird993

These kind of blanket statements are not only untrue, but do a disservice to anyone looking for actual, valuable information.

THPorsche

In page 2, I said.

I actually have Burmester in my Racing Yellow NON-S. According to most people/ dealer, I am driving a hard to sell car. Do I care? NO!

MarcusG

Exactly.

Get what you want.

Since we are talking a GTS, to be honest, I'd like to have the lowest optioned GTS I could possibly get. That's about as true as you could. 7 sp, Manual & PSE or a PDK car, Chrono and PSE. That's it. A true GTS. At least in my mind. A lightweight high HP Carrera but not a GT3.

Then again, that's just me. This is a perfect example of being able to get what you want. If you are ordering a GTS the way you want and are concerned about the sound quality or value of the Bose, just get the Bose. No harm in that.

drmatara

It may not be the best of the best sounding system but anybody can differentiate between the Bose and stock

fbroen

I think the 997/987 Bose evaluations/comparisons are not terribly relevant for a 991. The Bose in my 997 was pretty bad. The Bose in my 991 is no Burmester, but it is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the 997 Bose was IMO.

Team Plutonium

I had the total opposite experience. Terrible in the 991, pretty decent in the 997.2.

Fowwiee

You will be surprised! The stock doesn't suck that badly, compare to the Bose. Except for the fact that the BOSE will be louder.

Hugh Jardon

I have the base sound system in my C2S. I'm also a weekly gigging musician and have recorded, mixed and mastered several CD's (Rock Genre) over the past 20 years. I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile by any stretch but I would say I can identify and separate instruments and frequencies in a stereo mix.

I also recently had a loaner Cayenne with the Bose upgrade when my 991 was in the shop to repair a leaking A/C refrigerant gasket so I have some experience with both systems.

Here's my take: The engine, road and tire noise is fairly loud in the 991. I found this to really impact critical listening in the car when driving. Under stopped or low speed driving the base system seemed to reproduce all frequencies fairly accurately with a pretty good stereo spread. The base system overall has less high and less lows than the Bose.

The Bose system can also do some kind of "surround sound" mode which I found particularly annoying as it seemed to isolate and focus certain instruments and artificially bring them out of the mix. I didn't feel the Bose system was particularly mind-blowing although it does sound fuller and richer than the base system.

I found the best option with the base system is to listen at moderate volumes and engage the "loudness" button which enhances the low end. This doesn't work so well at loud volumes as the bass distorts quite easily.

I ultimately didn't feel that the added cost (and weight) of the Bose or Burmeister would enhance my driving experience. Yes, I am a "sunroof delete", "MT7" guy. I also tend to not listen to the audio system at loud volumes which may render the "Base, Bose, Burm" comparo inaccurate. It's quite likely that the louder you listen the more differences you will hear. I just don't like loud music in my car that much. I get enough loud music every weekend playing for the inebriated bar flies of South Orange county.

In reality the best sounding music is coming from the flat-6 under the rear bulkhead, and no sound system can accurately reproduce that no matter what price (I'm talking to you BMW...)

pvr

I am happy with my base system. In my BMW X5, I like the premium sound as it is a very quiet car I use for long distance and I can hear the music well. In the Porsche, I can only hear engine and exhaust and the music is rather less important to me there.

But when parked up, I still don't think it sounds bad.

chuck911

My home system has earned awe and wonder from most everyone who has sat down for a listen. No less than Chris Brady of Teres Audio came over and said his favorite vinly sounded as "there" as he's ever heard it on my table. http://www.teresaudio.com/fame/40.html But I know lots of people who have greatly outspent me only to wind up with something nobody really wants to hear. The difference? They bought based on advice. I brought everything home for audition. Every single component. From the power cords and conditioner to the interconnects, speaker cables, phono-stage, everything. Has anyone suggested the obvious? Bring along a favorite track or two and have a listen to what's actually in the car. Its the ONLY way to answer this question.

One N Done

I agree with Chuck911. When my wife and I were trying to decide on the upgraded stereo or not for her BMW X3 earlier this year, I brought along my Blues Traveler MP3, which has a lot of different distinct sounds. We played the same songs in two X3's, each with a different system.
In this case, the upgraded HK with higher power and better components sounded better & was a no-brainer for something like $800.

MJBird993

Surely I've mentioned this in the past. You never read my posts, Chuck. You're probably still mad at me because I refer to you as a 13 year-old girl who sits in the basement at night pretending to be a man who owns a 991.

Although... I guess "Chuck" could be a girl's name. You could be a... oh, never mind.

Anyway, yes, I did this before I ordered my car. I compared the base system and Bose and Burmester. I decided that the "upgrades" were not worth the money to me. I got full leather instead.

Me too. Ditto. +1. Well said.

I was listening to tunes this morning on my drive into work on my "base" system. At the traffic light with the auto-start engaged (i.e. engine off) it sounded just super! At 60 MPH with all of that tire noise, you can't hear crap, no matter how good you think your stereo is.

certified_prime

Plus, if you get the BASE stereo, you avoid the wart on the rear decklid.