Subwoofer and rear speakers for porsche boxster?

[rodonline]

My friend bought me and GT Porsche magazine, while looking through it i came across a site called Design 911( http://www.design911.com/ ) Browsing this site Ive come across a rear speaker package that contains a sub woofer that I'm interested in buying. My question to you is has anyone ever purchased parts from this site and whats your opinions on this sub woofer enclosure, is it really worth spending close to $700 on?

Direct link to item

http://www.design911.com/Speaker-Bose-Upgrade-Porsche-986/prod1263/

[rogerjohnsen]

The link looks like it shows a standard option available in Boxsters. My MY '03 Boxster S has the same Bose box as part of the stereo option when I bought the car new. It does add a good sounding bass to the stereo system but isn't very powerful IMHO since I *always* had the bass set to "9" or max on my system. After searching around for a while - I found two after-market options. One installed where the Bose Bassbox goes and the other in the passenger footwell. Since I already had the bassbox, I decided to go with the one in the passenger footwell and have been super pleased with the result. The bass is worlds better than the bassbox ever produced. I then ended-up upgrading the bassbox by removing the cheap Bose speakers and installing after-market kicker subs. That improved the sound of the bassbox orders of magnitude - to the point where I could probably eliminate the passenger footwell enclosure. My understanding for the after-market bassbox is people have been pleased with the product and I assume it comes pre-loaded with decent subwoofers or you can add a decent subs yourself. Would I pay $700 for the Bose bassbox - no way! I'd look at either one of the after-market solutions - way more cost effective and the sound is much better.

The other thing to consider about the Bose bassbox is your current stereo setup. If you're running a stock setup, I don't think the Bose bassbox will simply "Plug in" to your existing setup. I had a CDR23 head unit with an amp with a specific output for the Bose subwoofer option. Looking at the link you provided; they mention wiring not necessarily being available to plug the bassbox into (Copied from the site's item description --> NOTE: The Bose unit does not have any wiring loom which will reach to the front of the car, we recommend that it is fitted & wired at a hifi /stereo fitting centre. Porsche retrofit products do not come with any instructions as Porsche recommend all products are fitted by trained or experienced mechanic. ) and that makes me wonder... Yes, you can add the wiring but what are you hooking it up to? Does your system have a subwoofer output on the current amplifier? If you didn't get the bose option (which I'm assuming you didn't since you're looking at the bassbox as an add-on) then this is a relevant question to add. You're going to be into this well over the $700 you're talking about.

Check out this post:

[rodonline]

do you have any pictures of the foot well sub in your car?

so from what your telling me i would save a lot of money and time getting a rear speaker kit for the box i have and putting a sub woofer in my passenger foot well

[rogerjohnsen]

I'll take some pictures of the footwell sub and post them - it's hard to see because it's black to match the interior.

What kind of stereo / amp do you have in your car? You're likely going to have to add an amp to your setup - at a minimum for the sub.

[rogerjohnsen]

Pictures of:

1.) The footwell sub enclosure in my Boxster

2.) Rear Bose bassbox in Boxster

3.) Sub enclosure in my turbo cabriolet

The footwell in the Boxster takes some room from the passenger's leg room but since I rarely have anyone except my son or wife in the car, it's not a big deal. If I had it to do over, I'd probably go with a shallow mount sub in this area (like the one I had fitted into the turbo's bassbox) to save room. I've also seen a footwell enclosure for the Boxster that fits on the side like the 911 turbo cabriolet. That would probably be the best in terms of overall leg room for the passenger.

Ultimately I'd ping ALBERTQ17 to see what he's got. I saw in the post I referenced above somebody was asking about rear speakers added to the custom bassbox he did. Assuming you could get it all together, I'd go that route so you don't have the lost leg room. Even though I upgraded my Bose bassbox in the rear, I still like the thump a 10" subwoofer can hit with; which is why I have both in my car.

Hope this helps... :)

Edited April 21, 2011 by rogerjohnsen

[rodonline]

everything is stock right now, on mod i have is the door speakers i have 6 1/2 in kickers. i plan on getting a new amp and head unit, but not for a while