986 Rear Speaker Installation (4x6)

[Frankyzambony]

Hello folks,

just wanted to share my latest upgrade for my 2002 Boxster S.

Several articles exist about mod-ing the rear storage compartment for speaker installation however all the articles I found talk about installing a single 3.5" speaker or two 3.5" speakers per side.

I wanted some additional low end in the system and was worried that 3.5" speakers just wouldn't deliver the lows.

Well, good news, I found that a 4x6" speaker JUST BARELY fits.

So if you are planning on a speaker mod, check out my pics below...

Pic1 - Front view of speaker mounted in plastic bracket (used cardboard to trim to shape then used as pattern on plastic)

Pic 2 - Rear view of same

Pic 3 - View installed in rear utility box

Pic 4 - Wire mesh waste paper basket (from Ikea) used to make speaker grills

Pic 5 - Project complete, installed back in car.

Tools / Materials used:

Thin cardboard / Scissors to trim to the correct pattern

Sheet of plastic ($8.00 at car stereo installation dealer)

Wire mesh waste paper basket for speaker covers

Dremel tool (Drill and Grinder tip) to shape plastic and drill out speaker hole

Tin Snips to cut wire mesh to fit

Hot Glue Gun to glue wire mesh to speaker opening

2 Kicker 4x6 speakers ($80.00 at local car stereo dealer)

The sound is MUCH better than the stock front and side speakers, the jury is still out on the sound quality of the kicker speakers.

I might try different speakers (Pioneer / Alpine etc) but for now these sound fine.

Please update the thread if you do this mod and share your pics / experiences.

Thanks and happy Mod-ing.

FrankyZambony

Edited June 4, 2014 by Frankyzambony

[jimmmyd]

Excellent job! Question are you using the original head unit ? If not how or where did you hook your speakers up ? Did you just splice into the door speakers ?

Thanks Jim

[lkchris]

I did this as well, using information from other posts at this forum.

 

i bought the kit from Suncoast, which provides two options for connecting the rear speakers ...

1.  Connect them direct to the head unit.

2.  Obtain a 996/911 M490 option 6x40 amp to replace existing 4x40 amp and connect rear speakers to the appropriate amp outputs.

 

#2 should be considered the highly preferred option if you have M490, but there's more ...

 

996/911 amps come in coupe and cabrio versions and imho for the Boxster you for sure want a cabrio version.  I found one with the same last three digits to the part number as my original 986 amp, 312 iirc.

 

interesting thing is that with this setup the original door speakers--which are subwoofers by original M490 option design--really came alive and I now have bass up the wazoo.  Somehow I think the original Boxster amp was misdesigned or something.  Not necessarily the speakers, that is.  Also, I initially installed a coupe version 6x40 amp, and subwoofer performance was unchanged ... leading me to believe "cabrio" is key.

 

Also imho "hi fi" in a Boxster borders on futile in any event.  I'm old, which could factor in, but unless the car is standing still, there's little sound besides wind and road noise when moving anyway.  I do know that mine's improved, despite that,  mostly with OE Porsche components, which appeals to me.  I'm saving my pennies for the Porsche Classic radio ...

Edited June 5, 2017 by lkchris

[lkchris]

JimmyD, you dont want to "splice into door speakers," because by design the original amp is only sending them subwoofer frequencies.

 

in addition, the options I noted in post above will activate your radio's fader control, which your splice option won't.

Edited June 5, 2017 by lkchris

[jimmmyd]

Thanks Ikchris for the info !