Just wanted to show how I got bigger speakers into the stock locations on my 996 w/o the stereo kit from Porsche. I put 5.25" MB Quart speakers in the dash and rear panel by building a support structure. I also had a subwoofer in the stepped part of the rear deck but didn't like that so I found some MB Quart 6.5" Woofers and built boxes for them to go in the rear foot well. All of this for around $700 including the amp I have in the trunk.

 

the 5.25 in the dash is HUGE. little to much for me but props. the rears and boxes look great though. question is how do the SOUND?

from looking @ your interior, you dont have speaker pods for the doors? i see a pocket and no speaker in your right door?

also, gotta find a good location for the harmen unit

 

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck.......I am just gonna go there and come right out and say that although I applaud your efforts, that was a ricer move on your part to surface mount those that way. That looks so bad, I would even be willing to help you re-do that install to save the sanctity of that Porsche.

Again, don't hate me for lighting the flame-thrower because I do commend you taking the initiative but there is a much better way to do that. You will actually get much better sound stage by having a tweet and 4" up top with a mid-bass driver in the door. Since you have the same color interior as mine, I have an absolutely sick Boston 10" sub enclosure for the rear seat that you may want to consider purchasing on the cheap.

 

Remember the saying,
Thing are bigger in Texas!

 

Well I did expect some positive and some negative feedback. By the way, LowStro I don't like cabriolet's, but to each his own. Anyway, I had a sub in the rear but I didn't like it taking up the space. Also, unlike you LoStro I don't have tons of money to throw into a car. So although there might be some good 4" speakers out there I bet they are pricey. Yep, just saw you had Focal's. I thought a lot about the looks of these in the dash, and ultimately I decided with all of the angles and projections of the dash it really wasn't an issue. Besides these are only about 0.25" higher than the stock grill.

Yes Jay, I don't have the speakers in the door. I thought about doing that mod but just didn't think it was worth the effort. The HK iPOD screen is a little funky but very functional. It is just below my line of sight out the front. I looked at other units that would have me looking lower as I was changing songs and decided this was the best for me. Ultimately I think I am going to get an iPhone and mount in about the same location. Controls are right at my fingertips and I can easily see the screen.

 

I think it looks tastfully done on the backs kudos's, how the sound?

 

I think the sound is pretty good for my tastes. I don't consider a Porsche the optimum place for a premium sound system since it lacks the sound deadening material to eliminate road and engine noise. This set up works pretty good for me at least. As I mentioned I did this on a limited budget and with my own hands. So it isn't top quality but I was pleased with the result. Keep in mind I just had the original speakers in the front and rear. Absolutely no bass sound at all. I am a little surprised that Porsche could get away with this considering that even very inexpensive cars have reasonable stereos these days. Although, many will say the best sound comes from the engine!

 

My recommendation if you're sticking with this setup would be to source some spray in the same color as your leather and paint the grills.

Black on tan on wood is a harsh combination. If the grills are the same color as the dash it will blend in better to the overall look of the vehicle.

Cheers
Aaron

 

I definitely agree...I doubt the reactions would be as harsh if the colors matched better. Also, I'd bet that a 3-way setup would be better. I don't think you'd have to spend that much money. I bought a CDT 3-way from eBay for around $300--put them in my daily driver, the 4 and 1 in the kick panels and 6.5 in the doors, sounds pretty good on my zapco amp.

 

Flash,
I had considered the 3 way you suggest but I don't have speakers currently in the doors. I thought about modifying them but didn't want to go to that much trouble. I thought about painting the dash speakers but the center console is black also. The current wood trim will probably be deleted since it is coming apart. Probably go back with black trim there. I think the contrast looks okay to me. I had seen another car with some contrasting colors (black and savannah beige like mine) and I like it. Originally it was all one color but the console was so scratched up it looked bad so I painted it.

 

I am sure it looks better in person.

 

agreed....

 

I like the work done on the subs. How did you match the carpet? Is there enough air in those boxes to really get the subs moving?

The rear coaxes came out nice.

I think I will like the dash ones better when you replace the wood trim with black. Then your whole contrast theme might work. Having the three contrasts right now is not really working for me.

I bet it sounds a ton better and had the benifit of being in your budget! (which personally is always a huge issue for me)

 

Flyer,
Those are not true subs but they are woofers. The boxes were a compromise for the space I wanted to fit them into so they are only as deep as the back of the woofer (~3" inside depth). The specs on these from MB Quart were not too far off of a sub from Kicker for a 6.5" sub. Keeping the sub upright minimizes the space used and I couldn't see how anything bigger than 6.5" would fit unless you slant it. I wanted to stick with MBQuart because the grills are steel and cover the full size of the speaker so my kids don't kick a hole in them. There is a company out of California (I think www.caraudioconcepts) that makes sub boxes to go in these locations (rear floor or behind the seats. I wanted a much more compact design and I had already gotten rid of the box for behind the seats. The carpet came from www.GAHH.com. Cost about $80 for a 3' by 6' roll. I agree with LoStro and others that the best option would be to put a 3 way system in utilizing door speakers with mids and tweets up top. The cost to do that was way beyond what I wanted to spend. To modify the doors themselves to fit a woofer I was quoted ~$1000. I thought about modifying the doors but if I didn't like it I would be stuck with a big hole in the door. As it stand I can always remove all of these speakers (except the rear woofers in the footwell) and just put the stock grills back in place.

 

Yeah I have kids in the back also sometimes so that's why I was really interested in your design.

I could also tell (but others may not) that your whole surface mount design is reversible if need be.....very cool!

The GAHH carpet is a great match, thanks for that info.

I have just about a complete set of vents, dash strips and instrument surrounds available soon. I bought another whole set to paint silver. So if your looking to swap out the wood let me know.