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I owned a 981 GTS and I used the same system that I put in my 991 GTS but I was able to get away with the same 600 watt JL Audio amp to drive my speakers and 6'sub. JL Audio make a great 6" sub with kit that fits in the back hatch corner so it doesn't take up any room and makes a huge difference. I have the 6" sub and box and do not know what to do with it. If interested, DM me and I will see about selling it.
Thanks, Chad996. I will definitely share DSP settings once I get them all hooked up, Active! Did you use low level or high level input to your Audison? I would have to get to the Bose amp to find out to see if there is identifiable low level from PCM.
The only option on the CDR 31 is high level / speaker outputs (as it has a 25W x 2 internal amp x 4 for those with SPP)...The input calibration on the Audison showed about 3v input which seems to be level-matched well. You'll want to use the high level output from the Bose amp for sure (others have tried the low-level with poor results). The Audison is made for high level and can accept from 2v to 15v input...and it will sum the channels and De Eq., but honestly - you only need to tap into the Front L & R channels as your main input as they have been confirmed to be full signal (as they drive the front Mid & Tweets from the same channels). That's the only input you need, the AMP/DSP will copy the signal and do the rest...
The best I could get out of the PCM unit (Bose) was 16:44 WAV. I tried several variants of FLAC and WAV, 16:44 was all that works - of course I didn't expect DSD to work, and it didn't
My car is a 2013, PCM is at 2.74 (I think)
I just realized that you tried many different variants of FLAC and WAV and the best you could record at was 44/16 WAV. Did you ever try ALAC? If your source is a CD, the best you are going to do is 44.1/16. However, if you download from HDTracks or similar, you can burn them at 48/24.
How do you like your Dynaudio? I had MB Quartz in my M3s and loved the sound. My custom installer offers Dynaudio, Hertz, MB Quartz, and Morel. I have heard them all but Dynaudio. Have you listened to the others and, if you have, how do they compare?
The best I could get out of the PCM unit (Bose) was 16:44 WAV. I tried several variants of FLAC and WAV, 16:44 was all that works - of course I didn't expect DSD to work, and it didn't
My car is a 2013, PCM is at 2.74 (I think)
Originally Posted by DrCGuerra
I just realized that you tried many different variants of FLAC and WAV and the best you could record at was 44/16 WAV. Did you ever try ALAC? If your source is a CD, the best you are going to do is 44.1/16. However, if you download from HDTracks or similar, you can burn them at 48/24.
This is the best that I found the Bose can play:
WAV 24bit 44.1k
MP3 320kbps 48k
As DrCGuerra said, no point using 48k MP3 or 24bit WAV from CD.
48k MP3 & 24bit WAV is for when you convert a 24bit 96K Master (or better) to play on your Bose.
Both above sound good, but it's a trade-off on WAV quality vs MP3 metadata.
Originally Posted by MasterJohn
Audison Prima 8.9 accepts high level inputs, so speaker outs from Bose amp can be plugged into this unit direct, then rerouted to speakers. No need to change PCM 3.1. You will have active channels/speakers tailored to your liking. I will do this upgrade and post shortly. Audison unit is about $750 shipped from Italy.
Waiting to hear about this...
Originally Posted by Chad996Pgh
I just finished upgrading to all Burmester speakers in my 981 (I didn't add the dash sub as the 8" door woofers now put out a ton of clean bass)! To drive everything, I installed the Audison Prima 8.9, running all 8 channels active. It's 35W x 8 @ 4 ohms, but puts out 65W x 8 @ 2 ohms - which is what Burmester & Bose speakers are... so needless to say - it's plenty of power and sounds amazing! Note that I have the base radio (CDR31) which doesn't have an outboard amp, so I simply used the high level signal out of the oem head unit into the amp. It's is an amazing amp/dsp, with a ton of flexibility. There is def a learning curve as some of the crossover settings aren't intuitive unless you do your homework, otherwise you'll have phase issues, etc. I've been tweaking these setting for a week, which honestly is a lot of fun!
MasterJohn - I'd be really curious what crossover points and settings you chose and I'd be more than happy to share my results as these changes make a huge impact on the sound!
That's awesome.
How did you wire your speakers?
Did you separate the Dash-Tweeters, Door-Mids & Door-Woofers?
Did you run a Center Channel?
Did you delete the Rear Speakers?
If that's true that your Bose system can only play WAV or MP3, your only other solution is to use an iPod Classic & rip to ALAC. That's not a bad solution because you can rip to 48/24. 24-bit depth is much more important in fidelity than sample rate, IMO.
I just realized that you tried many different variants of FLAC and WAV and the best you could record at was 44/16 WAV. Did you ever try ALAC? If your source is a CD, the best you are going to do is 44.1/16. However, if you download from HDTracks or similar, you can burn them at 48/24.
Sorry, let me try this again. I have a lot of digital files in different formats. I saved a variety to a USB stick to see what PCM would accept. The upper limit was 16:44 in the WAV format. Fortunately it does accept WAV files with ID3 tagging so the album artwork shows up on the display.
Also, (I've posted this elsewhere) I'm using a 256GB USB stick to hold my music. This works well though it does take about 60 seconds to index all the songs every time I start the car. I tried a 1TB USB powered spinner, it would power the drive but it never indexed it - so 256GB it is.
That's awesome.
How did you wire your speakers?
Did you separate the Dash-Tweeters, Door-Mids & Door-Woofers?
Did you run a Center Channel?
Did you delete the Rear Speakers?
Since I had the base system, I only had the 2 door woofer (turns out they were only 6.5" inside 8" surrounds) & dash tweeters. These were wired together like the mids & tweets are on Bose. As a result, I had to run new wires to everything. The additional wire through the door grommets were almost impossible as they are sealed at the top inside the doors! If I did it again, I'd buy a Bose door wire harness to make my life easier (note, one could tap into the door midrange at the connectors in the side fuse panels going to the doors as the wire split occurs inside the cabin) .
I like the addition of the rear speakers in my 981's cabin as they provide a nice rear fill, without pulling away from the front sound stage as I decreased their output. I'm wondering now if I should have added the center channel... Although I'm out of channels on the amp, I could drive it from my receiver or rearrange and drive the rears from it. Not sure if bridging it from the front mids would work...
Do you guys notice the center channel much in non-surround mode? Do you think it's worth adding it? Going from 4 speakers, to now 8 is a huge improvement, especially with the AMT tweeters., but I'm wondering if the center channel will make things even better?? Thoughts?
Since I had the base system, I only had the 2 door woofer (turns out they were only 6.5" inside 8" surrounds) & dash tweeters. These were wired together like the mids & tweets are on Bose. As a result, I had to run new wires to everything. The additional wire through the door grommets were almost impossible as they are sealed at the top inside the doors! If I did it again, I'd buy a Bose door wire harness to make my life easier (note, one could tap into the door midrange at the connectors in the side fuse panels going to the doors as the wire split occurs inside the cabin) .
I like the addition of the rear speakers in my 981's cabin as they provide a nice rear fill, without pulling away from the front sound stage as I decreased their output. I'm wondering now if I should have added the center channel... Although I'm out of channels on the amp, I could drive it from my receiver or rearrange and drive the rears from it. Not sure if bridging it from the front mids would work...
Do you guys notice the center channel much in non-surround mode? Do you think it's worth adding it? Going from 4 speakers, to now 8 is a huge improvement, especially with the AMT tweeters., but I'm wondering if the center channel will make things even better?? Thoughts?
My installer disconnected it. He told me he disconnects all center channels in the 981 and 991. He says the center channel is garbage and cause more distortion than actually give off good sound. Plus, not easy to replace.
Since I had the base system, I only had the 2 door woofer (turns out they were only 6.5" inside 8" surrounds) & dash tweeters. These were wired together like the mids & tweets are on Bose. As a result, I had to run new wires to everything. The additional wire through the door grommets were almost impossible as they are sealed at the top inside the doors! If I did it again, I'd buy a Bose door wire harness to make my life easier (note, one could tap into the door midrange at the connectors in the side fuse panels going to the doors as the wire split occurs inside the cabin) .
I like the addition of the rear speakers in my 981's cabin as they provide a nice rear fill, without pulling away from the front sound stage as I decreased their output. I'm wondering now if I should have added the center channel... Although I'm out of channels on the amp, I could drive it from my receiver or rearrange and drive the rears from it. Not sure if bridging it from the front mids would work...
Do you guys notice the center channel much in non-surround mode? Do you think it's worth adding it? Going from 4 speakers, to now 8 is a huge improvement, especially with the AMT tweeters., but I'm wondering if the center channel will make things even better?? Thoughts?
Which car was this base system in? All of the "Base Stereo" cars I've tested lately have the 8" 3-Way system.
So, regardless of odd impedence of terrible boomy, muddy sound of Bose system on 991, I just swapped out the speakers with 4 ohm component set. Focal IS200 at $200 bucks on ebay, comes with 8 inch woofers and tweeters. Note 8 inch woofers, unlike most set comes with 6.5 inch woofers, why not utilize that huge almost 9 inch whole on both doors, right?
Woofer Change: 1 ohm Bose 8 inch woofers to 4 ohm 8 inch Focals. Finally, the cheap boomy base cleared up with tight mid-base. Plenty of volume considering 1 ohm to 4 ohm.
Tweeter Change: 4 ohm Bose to 4 ohm Focals. Much less fatigue from cheap highs, and way clearer vocals.
Cost: $280. $200 for Focal IS200. $80 for custom adapters on woofers.
Installation: tweeters slide right in, and you can use the existing metal bracket to hold them down, perfect! Woofers are bit challenging since the Bose has some weird mounting hardwares, so just get with local shop to make some custom baffles.
Result: Now you can enjoy music in 991. It is not sonic nirvana, but it is acceptably enjoyable without straining your ears. Afterall, it was the most cost effective solution with minimal modification/installation.
Which car was this base system in? All of the "Base Stereo" cars I've tested lately have the 8" 3-Way system.
I have a '14 981 Cayman with the base radio (2 x 25W), the Sound Package Plus adds the 4" mid for the 3-way, at least in the 981. The Macan apparently uses the smaller 6.5" in the 8" surround as well. The difference is huge!
03-25-2016, 04:18 PM
