dmen

I own a 997.1 S, 2005, since October.The car is in very good condition however I am having a big problem with the PCM sound (non-boose).The front audio speakers sound is not ok. Listen the news and the voices are weird/ hoarse. Increasing the bass level, thick the Loud option, and the problem is even worse.

However, I am not sure that the problem is from the loudspeakers, because even the volume very low some noise is obvious.

I don’t want to change the loudspeakers (with all the trouble of take out the door interior panel), and at the end the problem is not solved.

Any one has had the same problem?

ejabour

I always thought the sound quality of my non-Bose system was terrible. I took the door panel off to replace the window switch and I was blessed with sight of the POs amazing craftsmanship.

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 164K miles

Can you isolate it to a speaker? Door? Dash? Left or right only?

I replaced all the speakers in my .2 Bose system with aftermarket speakers. I don't recommend non-oem replacement because of the required customization... a la ejabour. If it is the door speakers, removal of the door panel is required... very fiddly but not crazy. The speakers just bolt out and have an electrical plug.

Have you looked at the tone controls in the PCM system? Set everything to flat, no boosts. Some folks turn the bass all the way for some stupid reason.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

dmen

Can´t be the original one! unbelievable That's too much! On the other hand the speaker brand is fine.

dmen

I checked fader and balance to find what is the damaged speaker. Bass and treble flat/0 and no Loud option. The noise/bad quality remains. When the source is radio it is even worse. The radio signal detetion of the PCM is also bad. I am lost...

Bruce In Philly

Sometimes it is not a speaker but the amplifier. Since you used the fader, back/front, and balance, left/right, and the bad sound follows... then it is unlikely a speaker since all speakers would have to have gone bad.

I am not sure about this... but I believe your non-bose system does not have an external amplifier. Someone can chime in here as to where to look for it in the car should it be there... the front trunk? The way I would address the problem, should it be the electronics, is to replace the bad unit. If you have an amplifier, I would swap that out. If no amplifier, then I would swap out the big head unit in the dash. You can pick them up on eBay.

You may have to have the dealer program the unit for your car... but I am not sure about this. In the .2 cars, the PCM unit is either programed to be Bose non-premium or Bose premium (it is the same unit). If it is Bose premium, the analog outs of the headunit are dead and the digital optical is active. If it is not Bose premium, then the opposite is true. So in a .2 car, if you put a non premium into a premium or visa versa, the dealer can flip the bit via software and change the system to work... But again, this is for a .2 car system. I am not sure how the .1 car systems work.

One other thing to check... put in a CD... same issue? I just want to eliminate something dumb like the antenna wire is unhooked ... located around the cabin air filter. Since I have a .2 car, someone with a .1 should chime in and correct or clarify my comments.... are there two antennae hookups FM and AM in there?

Peace
Bruce in Philly

dmen

Thanks a lot Bruce!
The problem is on the front/ door speakers. The rear ones are ok. But I also suspect that the origin of the problem could be any electronic failure. Do not know if there is any amp, but I am going to chech in the front trunck.

dmen

Once more Bruce, thanks for the coments.
CD? Same issue as well.
The problem comes from the door speakers.
Is too bad to ignore.
DM.

OKB

Cant fix something if you dont want to fix it. You have to take the speakers out, check them and probably replace with new ones. Probably see damage as soon as you look at them. I have experience, and I would check with a battery, and probably hear if there is bad sound. check with a 1.5v battery.

Christian Stark

16 years is plenty of time for even electronics to start going off. Capacitors, etc eventually go bad. Had it happen to me with. Pair of Klipsch Chorus II’s. Sounded horrible. Guy bought them off me, rebuilt the crossovers, and they were alive again. Do some digging before throwing money at the victim of the problem, only to discover nothing is fixed.

Petza914

Pulling the door panels on a 997 is quite easy. The first time will take you maybe 30 minutes as you learn where the fasteners are and do slowly following a DIY write-up. After you've done it a couple of times, it gets much faster. I can probably have a 997 door panel off in 10 minutes now since I know which torx wrenches to grab and where the 4 fasteners are and how to pop the trim loose that covers them.

Surprising you have an S without Bose. That must be an outside the US thing as I believe all S cars in the US have Bose standard.

Attached is my writeup on the complete Focal speakwr replacement I did in my 997 Bose coupe in case some of it is helpful.

dmen

Thank you for the extended tutorial on upgrade the sound system of 997.
Non Bose in Europe is the standard. Bose is an option.
I will have to pull the door panels or at least one of them (the left door) and chech for the loudspeakers. That's something that I was trying to avoid, once some noises can show up after put togheter again.

dmen

That's it! How can I check the speakers using only a battery? No source connected? Thank you.

Christian Stark

I believe the battery test is only good to ensure the voice coils are still intact, and not much help for testing the quality of sound. I don't think this will tell you much, as no sound isn't the issue you are dealing with...bad sound is. Once you remove the door panels you would be able to visually inspect the drivers. Manually moving the driver back and forth with light pressure from your fingers in and out would allow you to feel if the driver moves freely, or if it feels like it is scratching, or getting hung up internally. If the speaker moves freely, and visually looks OK, you may want to try and find another source to check the sound. Make sure that source can handle the impedance. you may need to add a resistor.

OKB

have to cut the wire loose from the harness, connect the battery there and check it that way, but to find the wire you have to look at the speaker, to see the colors, so your still pulling the speaker.
Take the leads off of it, use jumpers and connect a 1.5v to + and - and it gives a smooth distinct thud or pop, and if it is bad, it will scratch or make uneven sound, or no sound. You may see the woofer is rotten or foam rotten. Its all back to looking at the speaker