BrockPorsche

It has 490 (hifi) but not 696. Is this a concern or is this only a 996 thing?

Are 680 or P73 that much better that I should hold out for one seeing that the MOST system is semi difficult to upgrade? P73 seems RARE

OPTION490 HI-FI Sound (Digital) $830
Six loudspeakers including two bass boxes,
680 P73
six-channel output with 2x40 and 2x70
watts.

Thanks

First986NJ

I think it might be a 996 thing. My 03 also has M490 with no other stereo related option designations. The M490 was for the "Digital Sound" system, which means CDR23 with the 6 channel amp, the 2 component dash speakers and the door speakers (w/Bass boxes). It is MOST bus.

M680 is listed as "Digital Sound" same as M490. I believe that M490 may be the newer designation.

I'm not familiar with the P73 option, and could not find that designation on any of the options lists I know of:

http://www.986faq.com/4-0/default.asp

http://p-car.com/technical/option.html

http://www.kindel.com/Porsche/options.asp

BrockPorsche

P73 option was found in the MY03 Boxster S buying guide on Renntech. It's unclear to me the difference b/t 680 and P73 other than "windstop" but isn't that the standard Option 551? Actually it probably is since 551 is listed as a conflict with P73. Answers my own question

OPTION490 HI-FI Sound (Digital)
Six loudspeakers including two bass boxes,
six-channel output with 2x40 and 2x70
watts.

OPTION 680 Bose High End Sound Package
Six-channel amplification with equalization
tailored to the Boxster's interior. Bose-
patented Two-State Modulaton (TSM)
switching amplifier (100 watts), five linear
amplifiers (5x25 watts) , 10 high performance
speakers

OPTIONP73 Bose (Digital) W/Windstop
Six-channel amplification with equalization
tailored to the Boxster's interior. Bose-
patented Two-State Modulaton (TSM)
switching amplifier (100 watts), five linear
amplifiers (5x25 watts) , 10 high performance
speakers Also includes windstop. Note: this
option removes the rear storage box behind
the seats

First986NJ

Ahh so those are the BOSE system option numbers. Learn something new every day. I don't have that and never pursued it because I saw one too many guys calling it the "BLOWS" system. Might be worth a search on here to read some about it.


I just upgraded the stock system with better drivers. <$600 doing it myself. Have a new 6x100 amp put away and will put that in when I have the cash for the Nakamichi head unit I want.

BrockPorsche

Pre 03 MY I'm guesssing? From what I gather what you are saying is difficult or impossible to do in pieces with the MOST system.

First986NJ

I'm not sure how I gave that impression, but sure you can upgrade the system in pieces, just not with the amp and HU at separate times. They have to be changed together as one "piece".

Mine is a MY03. As delivered, it had the M490 option and the rear storage compartment (with no speakers installed). I swapped out the dash component drivers for MB Quart DKD-110 4" coaxials. I added the PNP rear storage deck speaker kit, which puts (4) 3" coaxial drivers in the rear storage deck (there are stock mounting point in there for them as Porsche offered this option, but their drivers suck) and drives them off channels 5 and 6 of the stock M490 amp. Then I replaced the door speakers with 6 1/2" MB Quart DKE-116 mid bass drivers mounted on baffle plates I made up myself. I could have just replaced the stock 5 1/2" mid bass drivers and kept the stock bass reflex ports and mountings for a plug-n-play upgrade, but I wanted to increase the driver size and there is room to do it and still maintain a stock appearance.

I kept the stock HU and Amp for now, so all of this cost less than $600, made the system sound 500% better, and improved the sound stage dramatically. It only took one weekend to do at a leisurely pace. If you want to read more detail about what I did, there is an article I wrote in the DIY section of this list, or you can also read it at

http://images.wikia.com/boxster/imag...te_article.pdf

The MOST system is just optic communications between the HU and amp. All having it means is that you will have to change both the HU and Amp at the same time if you decide to upgrade the HU. It has nothing to do with the speakers or the wiring to them.

Eventually, I will change the HU to a Nakamichi CD400 or 500, and add the JBL 6x100 amp that I have put away for this. But for now, it sounds fine....certainly a LOT better than it did.

BrockPorsche

Great description, thanks! What I meant by the previous statement is that it's more difficult to swap pieces (headunit for example) in an 03 system. Gotta do head unit/amp all at once.

Cheers

First986NJ

No Problem....hope it helps out.

Yea, you do have to swap them both at the same time in a MOST system. If you could get your hands on a blank "amp side" connector, like direct from Becker maybe, that would make the conversion really easy since all the stock speaker wirings terminate at that connector.

Otherwise, I guess the easiest way would be to use tap in connectors instead of cutting and splicing all the speaker leads. This way you could preserve the stock amp connections in case you wanted to revert back down the road. Either way, not very hard to do.

I guess the most accurate way of saying it would be that it is a bit more inconvenient then the non-MOST system to upgrade, but its really not any more expensive or difficult to do.

BrockPorsche

Great info, thanks. Glad to hear it's not as onerous as I had envisioned. I really want to vector towards an 03 for the various upgrades it has.