ferrytrip1

The non Bose sound system in my recently aquired 2009 997.2 C2S is pretty poor. At a decent volume to hear the music (not overly loud or thumping) with the roof down I get vibration, distortion and low end "rattling" from both front and rear speakers. When taking a phone call the results are the same.

Just how many speakers are installed in my car - are there any specific units (bass, tweeters) units to identify?

Could anybody share information about the way to access the speakers (how to remove panels etc) so I can first check if there is anything physically wrong with the equipment (loose, damage etc)

Then could anybody share experience in replacing the stock speakers with something more suitable. I want to retain the head unit so would installing an amplifier in conjunction with new speakers help?

Any and all info is gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Simon

Racetwin2

This is tricky.

Speakers is maybe the easy part. I haven't done it myself but if you get the plastic prying tools and find the points where the clips are it should be easy to snap the covers off. New, better quality speakers might help a little but my guess is that amplifier is still too weak.

To get less distortion and better quality on higher volume you need also a better amplifier as you suggest. Problem with the 997 is that everything is optical/MOST. So to just buy a normal amp will not work. That is why most people do a complete upgrade I believe. Also including head unit.

I have Bose in my car and to be honest. It's not good quality sound even with the amp, subwoofer and extra speakers....

zirrah

Yeah, BOSE... Better Off w/ Something Else

Blue Chip

I had the same in my .1 cab... turned out the speakers were blown... I replaced them (the non Bose are VERY inexpensive - and cheap as well.)

ferrytrip1

I removed one of the rears - it has blown. I need to replace them - the PN is 997.045.941.01.

Does anybody know of a suitable replacement for these? I will look at local stores for a similar size - could anybody advise the impedance?

Thanks

Simon

Linnm

I had the same setup on my 997.2. Kept the head unit, replaced the amp and speakers(went to Focal) and added a sound processor. Changes made a huge difference in overall sound

Bruce In Philly

Coupla items:

Fact: most speakers "blow" or fail due to playing a system with an underpowered amp. This is totally counter intuitive, but that is what happens. When you turn up the volume, and the amp runs out of current, the wave form "clips" and squares off the top of the sound wave. If you were into keyboard synthesizers, you know that square waveforms have a ton of high-frequency content. That is why underpowered amps can sound harsh... this is from clipped waveforms. This results in too much high-frequency content that heats and damages speakers. This heat can either melt the very thin voice coil wire (speakers goes silent) or will melt the glues that hold the pieces together that can result in the voice coil rubbing against the magnet or separating either in part of full from the cone... this results in garbled noise or vibration sounds.

So.... assuming your speakers are damaged.... just replacing speakers will not solve your problem... assuming it was your listening habits that drove the problem. You can use aftermarket speakers like FOCAL or others that can dissipate heat better than the cheapo OEM speakers, but that will not make the system sound better. Clipped amps sound bad.

So..... in noisy environments, folks will tend to turn up the volume.... what this means is that if you like listening to your car audio system, you really should replace the head unit (audio controls/amplifier) and the speakers. You don't have to spend a ton of money as it doesn't take much to be better than the OEM systems in these cars.

FYI: I have the Bose system in my 2009 C2S and I replaced all speakers to upgrade the sound. This was a ton of work... I DIY... for only a small incremental improvement in sound. The real devil in our car audio systems, BOSE or not, is the head unit, not the speakers as most assume. If your speakers are not damaged, and you want to spend the least for a big improvement in sound, change the head unit, and not the speakers. (BTW, clipping is not the only reason these Bose and other OEM head units sound bad... they are just built cheaply and sound that way.)

With regard for digital sound processing..... if you are doing this as sophisticated equalizer, then they can be good. If you want the sound to appear as if in a "cathedral" or other wierd crap like that, IMO, it just damages the sound quality and removes definition. Definition, or what used to be called "high fidelity" is what good sound is all about. With high fidelity, you can hear details better and at lower sound volumes and not experience listening fatigue. This is why high fidelity sound systems are so good for noisy environments like cars.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Bruce In Philly

I just saw the tear in the foam speaker surround. That is not a "blown" speaker. Torn surrounds unless really really bad, only affect the lower register. Speakers can play "fine" with those types of tears. That tear is from the foam breaking down from time. That is one cheapo speaker.

Yes, it requires replacement, but if if you were hearing garbled noise or silence, it was most likely not from those outside surround tears. (Hmm... can you hear silence?)

Peace,
Bruce in Philly

Nip are

Bruce speaks truth. I've got experience with boat systems and they often suffer from insufficient clean power. Because they are in the open and boats are loud people turn up the volume, then they sound like crap and blow speakers. To make them right, first you have to add more power from a high quality amp, not over-rated cheapo's. Then you move on to the speakers. In marine, head units are going away. Most people use their phones to control the system so manufacturers are building the interface capability right into their amps.

ferrytrip1

Thanks Gents, and for updating me with degraded as opposed to blown.

I had music from all the speakers however the rear and door woofer were in the same state - so low bass was horrible.

I simply replaced them as I do not want to go the route of a new head unit at this time.

Thanks

Simon