Ultimate Sound System Upgrade for 996

[Haiyan]

Just a quick look I had the Porsche High Performance Audio System "HPAS" upgrade fitted in my car and that is a Porsche tequipment accessory and it is intended for vehicles with M490 Sound Package and it could be installed on vehicles with M680 too, the kits includes amplifier, four 160mm woofers and two dash speakers with midrange and tweeter the rear speakers are optional and similar to the dash ones.

 

 

However, the sound system in the 996 was falling apart the speakers went out and followed by the amplifier so I had two options whether to stay OE or do a proper upgrade in which I had a limited choices due to the speaker layout and configuration in the 996 also not to mention the limited space. 

 

I went with the following:

1- Alpine iLX-705D Head Unit.

2- Alpine PDX-V9 5 channel amplifier.

3- Two Alpine R2-S653 3-way Component system, 6.5 inch woofer + 3 inch mid range + 1 inch tweeter

4- Two Alpine R2-W8D4 8 inch Subwoofer 

 

The whole system

 

3-way component 

 

speaker grills included

 

1 inch Tweeter 

\

 

3 inch Midrange 

 

6.5 inch woofer 

 

Crossover network

 

8 inch subwoofer 

 

 

Subwoofer grill

 

I decided to run a new 14 AWG speaker wires instead of the factory speaker wires for better sound quality, also made easy connectors for the speakers for ease of removal and installation.

 

Proper soldering is needed for that perfect connection 

 

 

 

 

 

Now with the dash speaker in the 996 are one unit and the only way to fit an aftermarket speakers is to use adapter which will involve cut & glue, and personally I don't prefer this option as the speakers will sit a bit under the dash and speaker installation/removal is difficult, therefor I had to design dash speaker pod that allows for ease installation with great look so I opted for Ash wood for quality and durability:

 

Wood cutting

 

 

Midrange and tweeter fitted and installed

 

 

For the door speakers I had to go for a custom pods as I will be fitting two 6.5 inch woofers and these are heavy also the Porsche HPAS pods are made from plastic that would break easily, again Ash wood is used:

 

Wood cutting

 

 

Painted high gloss black 

 

 

Used Boom mat speaker baffles to protect the speakers

 

And the pods are installed

 

 

With the 3-way component installed now we switch to the subwoofer where a custom subwoofer box is made, utilized 18mm waterproof MDF and for the perfect fit and look I had to use Ash wood then cover it up with leather.

 

Threaded insert for ease of installation and removal in future.

 

Stainless Steel screws to secure the subwoofer to the box

 

 

Rear seat delete so I'm not concerned about them.

 

Now we move to the amplifier and crossover network setup. The amp:

 

Crossover network

 

Crossover rack

 

Amp and crossover rack installed

 

T-SPEC V16 RCA cable were used to insure clear signal

 

T-SPEC Amp power and ground wires with connectors 

 

Again T-SPEC fuse holder

 

With the Alpine iLX-705D supports integrated solutions I had to add newer technology and safety features to the 996, starting with the Alpine HCE-C2100RD rear view camera:

 

 

Camera mount to have the OE look and angle

 

 

 

 

That OE look....

 

And we move to the front Dash cam where the Alpine DVR-C320S is installed along with the rear dash cam Alpine RVC-C320:

 

 

 

 

This dash cam is advance and it offers the following safety features:

1- Forward Collision Warning 

2- Back Collision Warning 

3- Front Vehicle Departure Warning 

4- Rear Vehicle Approaching Warning 

5- Lane Departure Warning 

 

Lane departure warning in action 

 

Forward collision warning in action 

 

And finally the Alpine iLX-705D head unit installed

 

To clear our thoughts, I wasn't sure if an aftermarket system would perform or look like OE as the level of challenges and limitations would require a full custom solution but when you get to hear a system that is Hi-Res capable with 900W RMS power you would realize that we are limited by OE.

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Haiyan

[987_RDC]

Looks great. Nice work!

 

I will be adding the PCCM+ with aftermarket rear camera soon.