Raky

@Ekofisk I just got my car back today from the car audio shop. I am beyond thrilled with the new setup - automatic streaming when I turn on the car, Car Play when I plug it in, and back up camera. I was on edge all weekend questioning whether or not I made the right choice but now I can say with confidence that my system will make me enjoy my car even more. The audio sounds even better and I love the touchscreen. I may go back to get the volume controls for the steering wheel done as I didn't get that setup yet (I ordered everything over the phone and forgot to tell them I had the steering wheel volume controls).

To those thinking about doing this upgrade, I did not have any codes being thrown when I turn on the car. Also, if you are in Houston I highly recommend Custom Car Stereo.

gasongasoff

Bruce, I can see why you might come to the conclusion that the HU makes a bigger difference than your speakers. However, consider this. You had the Bose system, which has active equalization designed to heavily compensate for the poor-quality paper-cone Bose loudspeakers in your door (as well as the cabin response). I have personally measured the electronic EQ that exists, and it is heavy. In my first 997 install, I kept the Bose HU and amp, and used electronics (JBL MS-8) to correct and flatten the Bose audio signal before feeding it to my amp. I later upgraded the HU, and honestly didn't notice that big of a difference (compared to the corrected Bose audio signal). This is why you can't simply swap out speakers in a Bose system and expect them to perform well. The non-defeatable EQ is being added to correct the frequency response of a completely different set of loudspeakers. It can't possibly sound that great. My interpretation of your experience is that the combination of the Bose built-in EQ combined with your new Focal speakers (plus did you do any type of tuning) still didn't result in quality that was any better than a stock non-Bose system. Modern day electronics, even the cheapest crap, are able to provide a flat frequency response with a low noise floor and low distortion. Whereas, even the very best speaker drivers, the highest end stuff, have frequency response deviations and distortion levels that far surpass even the crappiest audio sources and amplifiers.

To the OP, you're lucky, because the non-Bose system doesn't have all that EQ to deal with, so you can easily take a clean signal and send it to an aftermarket amplifier. Plus, no fiberoptic interface is required when keeping your stock HU AFAIK.

Everyone thinks they can swap out their speakers and get an instant high-end stereo system. I guess it depends on how picky you are about sound. In reality, in my opinion, it takes a lot of deliberate effort to fine-tune your install. Assuming you mounted your speakers in the optimal locations...first you have to adjust the levels of individual drivers. Then adjust the crossover freq/slopes. Then time-correct. Then measure and correct for the speaker and cabin response. Then finetune by ear. When I first installed my Focal Utopia 3-way set ($5k), they didn't sound that great. It required quite a bit of tuning to get them where they are today. Car audio isn't like home audio where the crossovers and driver levels are preset for most environments, you can move the speakers around, and you don't have dominant parallel walls creating ginormous frequency response deviations.

My recommendations to OP:
- Replace your stock HU with something functional. Apple Carplay and Android Auto are so nice to have. I prefer a volume **** too, but the HU's that have one necessarily have smaller screens. See if you can live with physical pushbutton volume controls. I personally think they're fine.
- Install an aftermarket amp
- Get the best possible speakers you can afford.
- Add some type of automatic EQ unit. This will make a HUGE difference and save you a lot of time. The JBL MS-8 or Alpine PXA-H800 can do this with an auto-EQ microphone.

Good luck

Holly

I have a 2009 911S with the basic sound system. After riding in my hubby's GTS with the bose system I am depressed at how crappy the base system is. I called a local shop and they recommended this head unit which can bring up your phones apps. https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/P...EX/MVH-2300NEX This shop also told me the new head unit with the basic speakers would sound better then the OEM Bose system. he said the new head unit would produce 22 watts per speaker with more clean sound. I am not sure I want to go this route, but I also wanted a back up camera. However, this shop told me to install sensors they would need to drill 3 holes in my bumper. three holes in my bumper is not appealing to me at all. I have not researched this yet, but if anyone knows a better system for the back up sensors that does not require drilling holes in your bumper let me know.

the reason I post this is the Pioneer head mentioned above looks like it has hard push volume controls. still not as nice as a rotating ****.

Bruce In Philly

I had a Pioneer unit in my car for a short time... long story.... and I never liked it for three main reasons:1) It didn't handle USB music very well... would only play in order that the files were written on the stick... F'n stupid. This was important to me. 2) No volume ****... I thought I wouldn't care.. but boy was it inconvenient... muting was confusing.... 3) Poor integration with the steering wheel controls... although maybe it was not a Pioneer issue...

Something to consider about this unit.

Peace
Bruce in Philly