Bob,

I remember the window-up being a key issue for the woofer installation...

Wow - you've been busy! I guess that's what you guys in the Arctic Circle do when it's too cold to drive it... Actually, as long as mine has been in the shop, I've sorta had to do mods "in absentia" myself, meaning I've got a stack of boxes on my workbench ready to be installed... I'm hot to do the sidemarker/turn signal hack - the animation I saw of that mod is pretty cool. One question with that - how does that exactly work, do the sidemarkers stay on when you have the headlights on at night, or are they off until the blinker is used?

Glad to hear you got to got out for a drive - do you have heated seats? Not that it gets that cold here, but the heated seats sure do the job at night when the chill is out...

Can't wait to hear the stereo post-mod... they really are pretty crappy now, but it sounds like there's hope. BTW, my wife was really happy about the total expenditures - had a get together with some friends and the two audiophiles in the group mentioned spending more than $3k on their systems (too bad they were in POS cars)... so the $200 or so (plus the $75 iPorsche Ipod kit) I'm spending made me look downright frugal...

Thanks!
Rudy

 

Rudy, where did you order the 1 inch spacers for the subs? I figure that the magnet ( 2" diameter, BTW, I have the speakers, here in hand) can't protrude too far past the sub enclosure, because if you have to worry about the dremel hitting the glass, then you'd have to worry about the magnet hitting the glass, right? I have another DIY post printed where someone used a shallow 6 1/2" sub and a 3/4" plywood spacer, and the OEM door panel still covered it. 1" might be too thick.

 

Maybe these at same site?

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=265-821

 

Doh!!!!

 

Those would be the ones...

Rudy

 

Perry,

Do you have that DIY? It doesn't sound like Bob (RThomson) had a problem, so I'm not sure if the spacers solve a problem... I'm just a little concerned about having to cut the hole in the enclosure - it these spacers help me avoid cutting the enclosure while still looking good on the panel, that's what I'll probably do... But, I am interested in the DIY you mentioned.

Rudy

 

Rudy,
Here are two different ones, same idea for both. 2nd requires you to be a registered renntech.org member. He used 3/4" oak plywood in place of the sub enclosure, which I'm not inclined to do, but states that 5/8" would have made the job easier. I don't know if they didn't just try to cut a spacer for around the speaker area and keep the enclosure.

http://www.iterasi.net/openviewer.as...jkuifbsqqzqlow

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...e=post&id=5022

 

Rudy,
The side marker lights are on with the parking/headlights and when you engage the turn signal, they flash alternately with the turn signals. It's a pretty straight forward hack. You need to remove the headlights and patch a wire from the headlight connector to the side turn signals. If you are going to do it, I would recommend removing the yellow plug retaining clip to gain better access to the wiring harness. It's WAY easier to do it that way.

Nope. No heated seats. Did not matter though, I still had a blast!

I think anyone would be pleased with this speaker mod unless they "expect the world" of performance from an inexpensive sub.

 

Door subs finally installed this morning - took about three hours. Really happy with the sounds (the Infinity Kappas in the dash and rear, Tangs in the door)... So great not to hear the speakers rattle at high volume (with the top down)... But I'm thinking... a better amp would really help things. I'll probably wait until I put the Navi unit in, but are there any recommendations for an amp? What kind, two channel, four channel or six channel? Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Rudy

 

I'm in the same boat as you now! I've had my car a year now and I think my next investment will be a head unit and amp. I asked for recommendations on this topic on another thread but got very little response so far. My local car audio place that specializes in high end cars is telling me to budget 2500. I'm going to do a bunch of investigating over the winter and hopefully come up with a more economical solution that has significantly better sound, nav, blue tooth and I'm even shooting for a backup cam.

 

I've settled on what I want and it's going to be a lot less than $2600... I've got my heart set on the JVC NX7000 (something like that) and plan on getting the bluetooth, ipod and XM radio modules... the unit and modules by itself should be just about $1,000... I picked the JVC units because they have detachable displays - that should help with securing it while the top is down. With that I'm going to put in a four channel amplifier (for the dash and doors)... Planning on installing it all myself, there are lots of good DIYs out there... and a good kit on eBay that should help a lot.

Rudy

 

Have you considered a double DIN unit? That should give you all you are seeking for........bluetooth, nav, back-up cam......

Here's my recent install.

 

Looks great! Nice and clean install. Yes, in fact the JVC head unit I'm looking at is a double DIN unit.

Rudy

 

i have the tangs and barely any bass is coming through them at all, they are currently not wired up to the sub output of my head unit as i cant find an amp that will work with them, everyone is telling me that an amp is too powerful and will destroy them

any ideas ?

 

I decided to revive this old thread, since, as the king of procrastination (not really, just way too many more important things on my plate all the time it seems), after almost 3 years I FINALLY installed the door subs!!

There are many threads on removing the door panels, but for some reason no one ever mentioned the things that were really trouble and could have caused disheartening damage.

First, those airbag plugs are ROYAL PITA to get off without damaging either the plug or the leather airbag cover. I had to use a sturdy plastic thin spatula type tool I had to pop them out. You have to shove it in between the plug and leather deep in order to get them out. Any type of screwdriver will for sure damage either the plug or leather. They do not just pry out easy. Be prepared.

Next, on my 2002 (I thought all 996) there are 2 electrical connections at the door latch, one for the leds that light the handle, and the other to allow you to unlock the door by double pulling the latch. The wires are short to the panel and the connectors are small and flimsy. They would be easy to break if you pulled on them the wrong way, and you would be really up the creek to repair them. Not a great design. Watch out for them.

The plastic screw in the door rest compartment is at the top near the center. WHen everything is balck on black on black, it was not real easy to find, as you have to just open the lid enough to get your hand in there to find it. Open it all the way and the top covers the screw.

Once the panel is off, I found it much easier and safer to remove the enclosure. There are 4 philips screws holding it in place and you have to cut or peel up the vapor barrier to get it out.

I used a 2 1/8" hole saw in my drill to make the opening for the magnet in the back. Porsche was nice enough to mold a small circle in the back that marks the center of the speaker opening. I also had to dremel 4 wide shallow indents into the speaker enclosure flange to allow the basket of the sub to fall fully into the enclosure. I did not modify the sub at all. I bought a pair of 5 1/2 XTC foam baffles, and cut off the bottom and top foam flange and only used those parts. The bottom is pushed through the hole by the magnet and makes a very watertight and acoustic seal, and prevents any rattling against the enclosure, and does not interfere with the window or anything at all. The foam flange allows you to screw the new subs to the enclosure and seal the many molded opening acoustically to the speaker. As a plus the tabs for wires onthe speakers are the same size as the OE subs, so you just pull them off the old speakers, use a pliers to tighten the spade connector a little, then push them on the new ones. Sorry for the mediocre cell phone pics, but it was all I had handy and they get the message across. Took about 2 hours start to finish per door for me. YMMV. Even though the others in this thread expressed their satisfaction, I was still shocked at how good thes small subs performed with the stock 10 speaker system!! The bass was REALLY deep and had excellent punch, with no distortion or rattles. FAR, FAR deeper and cleaner than teh stock POSs in there. I had already replaced the other speakers with Infinity 4x6 2 speaker plates, and I find even with the stock HU and amp, it is very listenable, especially for the few dollars it cost. Highly recommend these, if they are still available!!