BealeAss

After finishing up all the mechanical short-comings of the car during the pandemic, it left one wildly frustrating thing to fix to make the car the way it should have been. The stereo. While I spec'd the upgraded Bose when I ordered the car, not being able to spec Burmeister from the factory has always been a point of frustration. While the Bose were "sufficient" at low speeds, with the windows up, and with the exhaust button closed they left as much to be desired as the the factory power flat spot in the mid-range. Also who drives that way? My original plan was to find a full Burmeister system and retrofit it, but over time as the Musicar kits got such crazy good reviews on the 991 forum it was only a matter of time.

Admittedly I was going to stair step my way into it with the Stage 1 + sound deadening now and then see how it went. If more was needed, cool, then I'd upgrade to the Stage 2 in the spring when the new version came out. Then I made the mistake of playing the scenario out with @jvit27 (who helped throw me over the edge to do the 4.5L). As always, he made the good point that in these scenarios you gotta go all the way or not go at all. It's good to have friends who help you spend money

Thankfully @12v Nick from Musicar was right there to catch me after taking the big fall off the Stage 3 decision cliff. The Musicar team was super helpful. They laid out a ton of details for me, compared the details of the systems w/ improvements over time, and most importantly hooked me up with a local installer here in the Northeast. Eric from www.carinstallations.com was simply fantastic. He does mobile installs and offered to make the drive from Rockland County, NY up here to NH. Talk about customer service, how cool is that?

Ok ok now on to the good stuff.

Overall
It's f'ing awesome. The system has 100% surpassed my expectations. Having spent a bunch of time in cars with the factory Burmeister setup I can confidently say this is better. The Burmeister is good, this is GREAT. It's the literal stereo equivalent of the stroker motor and I'm in love with it. There was a really funny moment when Eric was done. I threw some music on (Bob Seger "Hollywood Nights" followed by "Hypnotize" by Biggie cause you know variety) and just sat in the car for a minute letting it sink in. There wasn't a big emotional reaction, it just was like well heck that's how this should have been all along anyways and I got out. Job was done, mission accomplished, car as it should be.

It wasn't until a drive later in the evening with the windows down, enjoying the last of the warm air here in New England that I realized how huge of an upgrade from the Bose this really was. I could actually hear the music without distortion, shrieking, and bass falling off while driving. Keep in mind the car is obviously a little louder than stock with the headers/x-pipe/gearing whine etc, but still, anything over 50mph it felt like the factory unit was rendered useless. Even with the windows up it was so poor compared to what I knew was out there with the Burmeister option. Now it's truly as it should have been plus some. A perfect OEM++ upgrade that works in every driving situation.

While everyone's ability to judge on the internet is pretty subjective, I'd at least like to think I've got some merit on the audio side based on Burmeister seat time in close friends Panamera's and 911's. Plus I've got a decent little hifi setup at home (McIntosh + B&W), What I found immediately noticeable with the Musicar Stage 3 was just how wide the soundstage became. Even with the front only speaker setup in the GT4 it now feels like a mini concert hall in there. Sound fully surrounds you in the driver seat and it is glorious. In terms of high/mid/bass, the highs (tested some mid-90s Mariah Carey b/c why wouldn't you) are tight with no distortion even when you crank the volume. Mid-range fills in nicely, and the bass not dropping off (hip hop held up great as did some EDM stuff) as you increase the volume is so much nicer. Everything remains crisp regardless of volume and when there needs to be bass its there, when its not its all highs and mids + some cranking vocals.

Bonus, the doors feel insanely solid now when you close them. Just like that old school Mercedes ka-thunk.
So, if you're on the fence for doing some stereo modding in your 981, at a minimum I'd say go for the Stage 1 + dampening option from Musicar. It'll be a good entry level if you don't have the cojones to really go for it

Why Stage 3?
It took me a minute to make the decision, but knowing that the way the stages are setup not being able to go from Stage 2 to Stage 3 given the amps in each are different and that Eric was driving from several hours away helped push me towards going all in up front. Why stair step it and repeat work 2-3 times over to end up likely at the same place I got to now from the jump. Also let's be honest, the components look KILLER in the Stage 3. The quality of the parts and how they all come together is rad. There was an older thread recently revived from @Anu2g that was also a piece of the convincing puzzle.

Packaging
Normally packaging isn't something you call out with car mods, but as you can see in the photos below, the Musicar stuff was really well done. The engraved wood was a cool touch as I opened several of the boxes. Even the stock stuff going in those boxes looked better because of it.

Install
It took Eric right about 6 hours or so do the install, which was right on the money in terms of estimated timeframe from both him and Nick. Credit where credit is do, it was cool to watch a professional at work. He came prepared with moving blankets to lay out in the garage, methodically laid out the pieces for install, had the battery cared for on a trickle, and went to work carefully breaking down and apart the interior pieces. Pics are below of most of the process for folks to see.

Huge thanks to @12v Nick for his guidance and making such a great product and to Eric for the install. I HIGHLY recommend if you need anything electronic done to your car in the Northeast give Eric a shout at eric@carinstallations.com.

The Pics!

jbatchelor

Thanks for the write up there - I've been watching out for your updates. A great review and endorsement for the work that Musicar has done on these staged kits.

It looks as though the Stage 3 drivers have moved on since the earlier 991 Stage 3 kit from Musicar and that they are now all (?) Morel drivers rather than the Dynaudio units used previously. You mention that Musicar explained the step-by-step development to you and it would be great if you could share some of that and provide some more detail. Are the changes specific to the 981 (with the 991 Stage 3 kit remaining as before) or is Stage 3 now based on these new drivers across the board, for both 991 and 981?

Any further context or detail would be very good to hear!

James

BealeAss

You're most welcome James and yes the drivers have changed to Morel. I'll let @12v Nick chime in with the details around the kit!

9elheven

Outstanding contribution here...thank you very much. Needless to say, I'd like to follow the trail you've blazed, both with engine sound and interior sound!

12v Nick

Thanks for posting your experience with the upgrade — I'm absolutely thrilled that that the install went smoothly you're loving the sound so much!

To answer @jbatchelor 's question, this is somewhat of a soft introduction to the new and improved "Version 2" of our Stage Three system for the 981/718/991 platforms. In 2020 we ran into some supply chain issues and uncovered some poor business practices involving one of our previous vendor partners. Being that we've had a great relationship with Morel of Israel for over a decade, we decided to work together for a solution that would outperform the original design and keep the cost similar or less! After testing and tuning with many different combinations we ended up using the Elate Carbon MW9 woofers, Elate Carbon MM3 midrange, and a custom version of the Elate MT350 that's designed specifically for our Porsche applications.



Tweeters — The original Dynaudio versions were an incredible upgrade from the stock tweeters, even on the OEM amplifier power. Replacing them was a tough decision and required a good deal of testing to make sure we weren't taking any steps back. After running through about a dozen different drivers, the Morel Elate tweeters stood out amongst the crowd. We had great resolution and detail without distortion as well as a similar low-frequency response to the Dyn's. Where these new versions puled ahead is in the sense of "air & sparkle" that we heard in the very top end. That's something that's not easily attained in a compact tweeter. The mounts have also been redesigned fora better fit, use of more reliable materials, and to accommodate the vented back of the tweeter — a design element that's instrumental in it's performance.





Midrange — The choice to changeover to the Elate MM3 was an easy one. As phenomenal as the old Dynaudio E430's were, they had an Achilles' heel with their resonant frequency overlapping with that of the small plastic enclosure in the Porsche door. That combination yielded a large spike in the response curve at around 400Hz. Knowing we can't do anything about that physically, the only option was to dial back that frequency range in the DSP, meaning we didn't hear much of the musical information in the range, and missing musical information is never a good thing. The Morel not only fixes that issue with resonance, but also has incredibly purity in the midrange frequencies with the ability to stay in control at higher volume levels. Again, new mounting systems were designed for fitment and reliability.





Woofers — These were the easiest choice. We absolutely loved using them in our previous kits and only wished we could get a bit more transience and visceral impact from them. Well, with the new Carbon version we gained exactly that. More of the "punch" that gives us tactile feedback means our sense of touch and sound are working together to tell our brain that this is a true performance we're experiencing. In my opinion(and that of many audiophiles), one of the main elements of a great sound system is the ability to create the illusion of instruments/performers in front of us and not a set of speakers playing music — a true removal of the middleman in the recording. The mounts are the same but have been upgraded to one solid piece of 1" media rather than two 1/2" layers. This helps with acoustically coupling the woofers to the door.





DSP Amplifier — Last but certainly not least is the Itatlan-built Class-A/B amplifier from Mosconi. This is the same platform we've been using only with about 30% more power. 90w to each tweeter an midrange with a whopping 250w to each woofer! This amplifier is a phenomenal choice for a few reasons, and the first being it's topology and how it amplifies the signal. This is an analog amplifier and not a digital platform like most newer compact amps. Digital amps have a tendency to sound cold and lifeless while analog amps have warmth and presence. Think of the high-end systems you've seen with glowing tubes mounted to them. These are Class-A designs that are built to offer the purest and cleanest possible amplification one could experience. They're obviously a bit impractical in an automotive environment, so a Class-A/B is an adaptation of that technology that keeps the majority of sonic characteristics we love while making it more suitable for a car audio application. On top of that, we have a built-in DSP(digital sound processor) that allows us to optimize the final sound specifically for the acoustic environment of the Porsche. This is key when it comes to getting the right sound and the only realistic way of compensating for the shortcomings of the acoustics in the car.











Hopefully that clears up some of the questions other may have, but please let me know if anyone has anything else! I'll be making an official post on this at some point soon, but they are available right now with an average of two weeks lead time on new orders. If anyone is interested in an order, please email me at musicarnw@gmail.com for more details.

-Nick

jbatchelor

Thank you Nick - that is a fascinating story and a great update. Very informative and insightful!

James

BealeAss

You're welcome and you totally should follow that trail! It's a good one

jbatchelor

One follow up, probably for 12v Nick to respond to. Does the upgrade also apply to Bose equipped cars? My (new to me) 718 Spyder has Bose and the optical MOST 150 interface into the currently fitted Bose amplifier. Would that be a problem or is there a solution that makes the Stage 3 upgrade a possibility, please?

James

12v Nick

James, we do have Stage 3 applications for the Bose and Burmester cars. We just recently did a local Stage 3 install for @bradStyle in his 718 with Burmester, so maybe he can chime in on how he likes the sound(before we added the crazy custom subwoofer setup, lol). We have to use a MOST150 adapter to convert the optical signal into a useable analog signal for the new amplifier. Because of that, we do lose the rear speakers, center channel, and dash sub. Trust me, they won't be missed.

It's not the easiest to see in the photos, but this is the module we use and a photo of it installed. It goes on an OEM bracket above the passenger kick panel:






-Nick

jbatchelor

Thanks Nick - got it; good to hear that there's a route through to make Stage 3 work with MOST (Bose and Burmester) specced cars. I'm actually UK based so not likely to be a direct customer of yours but if I were based in the US I would be buying from you without any hesitation.

By the way, I imagine that remotely locating the the MOST 150 adapter might be more difficult on RHD cars because the underfloor cavity for the amp remains on the RHS of the car (so under the driver's seat for us) but, of course, the pedal box and steering column takes up a fair chunk of real estate on the RHS lower bulkhead and kick-panel areas.

I look forward to reading of other's successes with the upgraded Musicar Stage 3 installation.

James

iammacey

@BealeAss This write-up is great and I do not mean this in a condescending or negative way. You mention ordering your GT4 and optioning Bose, but I didn't think you could get Bose in the 981? I thought it was the base audio or upgraded audio, but no Bose available. I've never seen Bose in a 981 GT4. Can you confirm this was optioned on your car?

Again, not an attempt to condescend or be one of those people. I'm genuinely wondering.

BealeAss

Not condescending at all, you're right I didn't phrase it right. Whatever the upgraded factory option was on 981 I have it. It's been so long since I spec'd the car so my bad

iammacey

Thank you for clarifying and for taking my question as intended!

12v Nick

We've done a couple RHD kits back in the day with our original versions so we may be able to work something out if you're really wanting one of our Stage 3 systems. Feel free to PM me if you decide you want to explore that path!

You're correct — as far as I'm aware, all North American GT4's came spec'd with Sound Package Plus, which is what this car had.

jeron

I can't recommend the Musicar tweeters enough. Nick was very helpful with the ordering process too.

Together with my already installed Focal door speakers, these are a fantastic upgrade. I have the JoyAuto Carplay box also which does aid things due to it's adjustable EQ. Next on the list will be to get some insulation in the door cavity.