gravedgr

If you were buying a used 997, how important would it be to you whether or not it had the Bose stereo upgrade?

frayed

Since Bose doesn't sound that good, I personally wouldn't care. But to those infatuated with Bose or who are deaf, I suppose it's more of a must have.

FlyingLow

I'm not a real big Bose fan but it's the best the factory offers. I have thought of switching out the speakers (only) for some same-size Dynaudio's. We'll see.

Bill Lucas

I own a company that does custom home theaters, home automation and high-end audio video distribution so I have a wee bit of expertise in audio (and video).

Bose is an excellent marketing company. It's quite possibly the best marketing company in the world. Bose builds using extremely inespensive parts and sells audio systems with distinct "holes" in the sound (i.e. The cubes and bass box combo that people buy has no bass below about 60 hz and a large hole right where male voices fall). They're selling less than $100 worth of parts for about $1K. Kudos to them for that and shame on them for selling such crap and for ignoring industry standards in sound (Dolby Digital and DTS specs and reproduction).

If you really want a top-of-the-line car audio system invest the money and buy a top end head unit, exceptional amps (like the Alpine PDX-4.150 or something comparable) and Dynaudio speakers. Right now, Dynaudio pretty much Blose the competition away in car audio.

Regards.

boolala

I guess the reason i don't object to the Bose sound is because I'm an aging baby boomer whose hearing has been damaged by listening to loud rock music for so long.

gravedgr

I totally agree that as an upgrade, Bose is probably not worth the $$. My dealer insists that not having it will serious hurt trade-in/resale value. While I understand Rennlist is not an accurate sampling of the overall 911 buying populace, I'm just curious to the general concensus around here.

NVRANUF

What /\ he said!!

MJones

To me the simple fact is that the only time an in car audio system sounds any good is when the car is at rest with the engine off.
When driving there are so many other sounds to overcome for "audio enjoyment": engine and exhaust, wind, tire and road noise.

After all a Porsche is not vault quiet like a Rolls...

Who is kidding whom???

At $1,400 it's not so bad an upgrade from Spund Pkg+

allegretto

As a new car buy, I thought, "why not?". If I were buying used it would not be a deal maker or killer.

Phil S

According to Kelly Blue Book the $1400 Bose system is only worth $320 on a one year old used car (loses 77% of its cost in one year). If you are buying because you are worried about trade-in/resale I think it is a bad investment. If you like it buy it, but I wouldn't buy it because it could have a possible negative effect on resale value if you don't have it. If it were such a popular "must have" item on used cars, I would think it would have a resale higher value. And I agree with others that say the the interior of a Porsche is not the best place for high fidelity (especially in a cab).

Phil

gravedgr

Good points, Phil and I agree with you. On a $90k+ car, I'm not going to let resale value determine what I do or do not choose in options. I was just curious about the validity of the statement (Bose/no-Bose affects resale). Personally, Bose would not be a make or break option for me, but I generally only buy new so I don't think my opinion is very representative.

ronmart

I think it is a good subjective investment, meaning if all other things are equal between two cars that I'd expect the Bose to sell first even if the Bose car was more expensive (say the MSRP of the Bose system). However, I could live without it as it isn't great. If I were only allowed to have one option on a 997 it would be PSE without question as I've gotten more enjoyment out of that option than any other, and that is a sound system worth the money.

Hauser_III

Gravedgr, are there other options that he's also trying to convince you that you must have in order to improve resale/trade-in value? Given the reputation that Bose (deservedly) has as a not-so-great system, and the fact that it's in a Porsche---as opposed to a more sound-insulated, road-insulated environment like a Lexus sedan---I'd say your dealer/salesperson is just trying to increase their bottom line on this deal. In fact, anybody who's looking for a higher end system in a used Porsche would probably be happy NOT to have the Bose, since they wouldn't be paying for it and would be able to use the "savings" to go out and have the system they really want installed.

The B

Yeah that.

gravedgr

Hauser, they haven't really pushed any options on me at all. It really has been a "no pressure" deal so far. His comments were along the line of "Please don't take this as me telling you what to do, because I would never tell you which options you should or should not order, but I really think you should consider the Bose - if only for resale or trade-in."

Right now, I'm at $13k in options, so $1350 isn't going to matter much either way.