rpratt

I had an Alpine iDA-X305 single DIN head unit put in as a replacement for the CDR-220 in my 2000 996, and it took the stereo guy about 15 minutes. This is a no-CD, iPod/AM/FM unit. I think the unit was around $300, but I don't recall the exact price.

Works great, although I have to admit I haven't noticed if the sound quality is any better. My wife is the classical pianist, I mostly listen to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me podcasts during my grueling 15 minute commute :-)

Bob

fpena944

I honestly don't think the stereo is that bad compared to what the 944 used to come with!

I have the CDR-200 and once you tune the bass and treble to your liking it's sufficient for my needs. Sure it could use some extra power and better sound reproduction but the 996 is a loud car so any stereo is going to struggle to sound decent.

What I do miss though is MP3 capability that I used to have on my Kenwood deck on my previous car. But I really do like the stock look of this Becker system so it might stay put for a while.

AndyK

I find the engine saps all the bass away when driving. Pull up to a light, and the bass magically comes back, to a point. I also find that cranking the CDR220 produces better sound than at lower volumes. Hence the speed sensitive volume included with the unit I guess?

I was looking at that Alpine X305! Bob, you can't notice a sonic difference?? If I spent $300 and it sounded the same, I would sell or return the unit ASAP!

Both 944's I've owned has stereos that sounded about the same as the one in my 996, which is pathetic considering the advances in audio in the last 15 years!

Marc Gelefsky

Andy, whats system does you car have? I dont think Mk1's had bose, right?
Is it the "Hifi" system? I think thats what I had in my 01 986S, had the DSP panel in the console.

The Stereo in my 996 BLOWS away the 944 stuff!

Mfletch

Andy, I had Rod (Car audio innovations) install an Alpine head unit that I bought at Best Buy for about $250. He installed an Audison amp (expensive at about $700....but he highly recommended it) in the factory location behind the spare tire. Even with the stock speakers, the system sounds fantastic. I planned on upgrading the speakers later, but it sounds so good now...it's a pretty low priority. The alpine head unit looks great, especially at night. I enjoy having my Ipod hooked up to the system. The amp fit perfect and uses no additional trunk space.

rwiii

I know I made my point above but I have one more thing to say. I love the 996--almost everything about it. By why would Porsche go to the expense of buying and integrating a seperate amp into the system and then have that amp suck? They should have put that money into decent speakers or head unit. Instead, they went through the trouble of setting the car up with six crappy speakers, a marginal head unit (which we all seem to agree is the least common denominator) and a terrible amp. I would rather have a 20 W. head unit and two good speakers. Glad I got mine straightened out. It seems like all the auto manufacturers offer a "premium" $3500 sound system that performs significantly below what you could buy after market for $2000.

Tippy

I hear it time and time again that the speakers and amp are garbage just like this thread. I can attest that the Kenwood HU I installed "woke up" the speakers big time.

I couldnt believe the lows and highs those little drivers put out for their respective size.

Of course installing nice speakers like Focal or Infinity would help that much more, but to me, the best bang for the buck is a good sound quality HU.

I actually have a high-end Alpine now and feel the Kenwood is better in the sound quality department.

AndyK

Marc - My car came with the Hi Fi option, but not Bose speakers.

Mark - So there were no better amps that didn't cost $700? I would love to find a decent used amp that would fit right where the old one is, only sound clearer, etc. Is the amp wiring pretty much plug and play, or do I need some audio expert to re-wire if I get a new one?

Cory - This is very encouraging! I am looking for bang for the buck, so replacing the head unit may work for me. Do tell, which Kenwood do you like better than your high end Alpine?

Thanks for all the ideas everyone, and for not giving me the "you have to spend $$ and get two subs, two amps, and a 2-DIN video/NAV head unit"!

Tippy

I would be lying to you if I told you the model, I dont remember and there is so many.

The thing is this, I hear it here all the time that when replacing the HU, they didnt notice a sound improvement.

I tell you that mine was night and day. Once I coupled the Infinity Basslink II, it wasnt too bad.

Of course a complete system would of sounded better than mine but just the Kenwood HU alone impressed me.

AndyK

So in this thread, some say the stock speakers and amp are junk, and some say the head unit is the problem!

I guess the easiest thing to do would be to get a wiring harness kit and swap out the head unit. If that improves the sound, fine. If not, I can sell the head unit and plug the Becker back in - then look at replacing the speakers and/or amp.

Marc Gelefsky

Does the HIfi have the subwwofer on the rear deck like the Blose?

AndyK

Nope, just the door sub woofers/speakers added to the dash and rear speakers.

Tommy Carrera

I have put stereos in every car I owned myself, but after looking at the amount of potential "****-up" in dropping a lot of money for not much sound I let the pro's do the install in my 996.

Replaced the stock amp with a mid-range Audison (pricey but legendary sound) and the Clarion VZ709. This is without a doubt the best money I have spent yet on my Porsche. Full Bluetooth stereo. If I want to have full dash control of my iPod/iPhone I just hook it up to the iPod connector in my glovebox. Plus my wife can watch DVD's on long trips and I have a backup camera that auto displays when I shift to reverse. It can be a bit finicky about keeping the BlueTooth connection, but I attribute that to the fact that there is often two iPhones and a iPod Touch all in the car at once.

The system totally over powers the Bose speakers and Sub...but right now putting $4k worth of speakers in doesn't work with my budget. But the ease of control with my phone makes the money well spent.

rdsii

I was going round and round with this. I replaced everything and got everything except the head unit from Rod. As others have indicated the audio system is a component system. If you have the door speakers like I do. They are powered by their own amp under the hood. I think this will make just head unit changes a bit challenging to re-fire them up. I was surprised that the adaptor provided by Rod was easy and would support the dash and rear speakers. If you remove the factory speakers you will see they are a weak link.

I was glad I did a full system replacement. The install was a lot of work but not real hard. The end result is great. I am happy I did it. The Porsche audio systems I have in my 99 car. So I do not have the Bose or bus system. I did have the upgraded factory system with the door speakers.
I ended up installing a single DIN Alpine head unit. This reduced the cost of the install. I also opted for the Hertz speakers. Per Rod’s recommendation and saved some cost compared to the focal. The Hertz are three way and were installed in the dash and door location. I installed Hertz’s 2ways in the rear factory location. I ordered from Rod his rear behind the seat sub. This came with 3 JL Audio subs. To power all this I went with the better Audision amp.

The amp fits nice were the factory CD player was installed. After the fact I wish I did the 2din with nav, sat and video. This will be the next upgrade.

I think the bad news is you have to bite the bullet and replace the whole system.

perryinva

I'll go along with the "it's the speakers" crowd. I'm sure a more powerful HU will wake the speakers up, but, honestly, in a noisy car evironment, the quality of sound from a new head unit will not be as apparant as more efficient, better balanced speakers. New HU's and amps will give you a lot more OPTIONS and POWER, which are very important, but just based on sound quality, the difference in modern electronics, in a car, are just not that great, compared to huge difference in speakers. If you want the bass in the door subs to work, you can't just replace the HU, period, it will still have to go thru the trunk amp. I replaced the dash and rear speakers with Infinitys ( I used the blank speaker covers, cut out, about $20 each), and some cheap subs that fit the door with a little work. There was a great post on 6speed, and he was pretty much right on. All told, not more than about $250 and a few hours of my time, and the difference is night and day. Nothing is irreversible, either.