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To BOSE, or not to BOSE... That is the question...

MarkC4S said:
One thing that surprises me about the 997 is the amount of tyre road noise in the cabin. My car has Bose, but frankly any HiFi would do against the background noise. Choice is the sound of motion (with the tyre and engine symphony) or stereo up very load, but how can that be a hifidelity sound worth paying huge sums for? But hey, each to their own.

Nice easy way to reduce road noise is some dynamat, or similar, and adhesive neoprene foam inside the rear panels, wheelarches and inside the rear body panels! Cuts down road/tyre noise a fair bit without spoiling the engine noise! Have also found that my Ohlins suspension has reduced tyre roar significantly at speed, surprising as it's a fair bit firmer now than stock!
 
Thanks - lots of good insight. I'm a stickler for originality so I don't want to change to a non PCM head unit, so BOSE is winning the race here. Sport Chrono should I come across a car with all of the options would be a bonus. I might just have to wait it out to see what comes up for sale.
 
Personally, I think the standard Bose in the 997 is garbage compared to the likes of an Audi. I've had both & after hearing both, it wouldnt sway me.

If I were you, I'd take sport chrono over Bose & fit better speakers & HU.
I'm a stickler for originality, but the factory fit is woeful.
If I had the option when I bought mine, I'd have it without as its cheaper & easier to upgrade without the Bose option.
 
DucatiRob said:
MarkC4S said:
One thing that surprises me about the 997 is the amount of tyre road noise in the cabin. My car has Bose, but frankly any HiFi would do against the background noise. Choice is the sound of motion (with the tyre and engine symphony) or stereo up very load, but how can that be a hifidelity sound worth paying huge sums for? But hey, each to their own.

Nice easy way to reduce road noise is some dynamat, or similar, and adhesive neoprene foam inside the rear panels, wheelarches and inside the rear body panels! Cuts down road/tyre noise a fair bit without spoiling the engine noise! Have also found that my Ohlins suspension has reduced tyre roar significantly at speed, surprising as it's a fair bit firmer now than stock!

Good suggestion Rob, thanks
 
MarkC4S said:
DucatiRob said:
MarkC4S said:
One thing that surprises me about the 997 is the amount of tyre road noise in the cabin. My car has Bose, but frankly any HiFi would do against the background noise. Choice is the sound of motion (with the tyre and engine symphony) or stereo up very load, but how can that be a hifidelity sound worth paying huge sums for? But hey, each to their own.

Nice easy way to reduce road noise is some dynamat, or similar, and adhesive neoprene foam inside the rear panels, wheelarches and inside the rear body panels! Cuts down road/tyre noise a fair bit without spoiling the engine noise! Have also found that my Ohlins suspension has reduced tyre roar significantly at speed, surprising as it's a fair bit firmer now than stock!

Good suggestion Rob, thanks

Rob was it you that had a thread about fitting the dynamat or was it some else on here. I remember reading it and thinking it was a good idea. :thumb:
 
Phil 997 said:
Rob was it you that had a thread about fitting the dynamat or was it some else on here. I remember reading it and thinking it was a good idea. :thumb:

No it wasn't Phil, but I do remember the thread, will have a search! One of the things that I forgot to take pics of when I did mine :wall:
 
I would go Chrono all day long, then upgrade the stereo once you've realised the headunit is terrible as standard wether it's a bose car or not.

I think the sound quality of the bose is great. But everything else about the head unit is really poor imo.

Chrono is fantastic!
 
Drybeer said:
Whether it is nobler to... sod it, forget all that rubbish.

Question for the community:

I'm going to change back into a 911 in the next couple of weeks.

I'm looking at 997.1 Carrera S models with manual trans, and I've seen two that I like. Providing they both remain for sale I think my choice is between these two.

One car has BOSE but no sport chrono.
The other has regular hifi but does have sport chrono.

As a music lover what have your collective findings been ref the hifi without BOSE? I'm concerned it would be disappointing...

Thanks,

Andrew.


I am a music fan too .

However, when buying a car, the sound system is irrelevant (unless buying new).
Condition of the car should always be paramount in your decision .
Aftermarket upgrades are readily available. One company I have seen do Focal speakers (better than Bose) ard sound deadening in the doors etc for circa £1400. (A snip compared to buying a mechanical 'lemon")

Another 'However", you really should consider the 'source" of your music.....mp3. Take whatever is in the car......you won't get DAB in a 997.1... CD is more of a reason to upgrade, but the road noise from those fat tyres!!! :nooo:
Personally, I would prefer to spend the money on upgrading my system at home.

The wife had a jag with a Meridian £2k upgrade.........but only ever listened to FM radio or occasionally Bluetoothed mp3 :wtf:

Please take care and buy a good 997.1 :thumb:

You're in the right place to get some good advice.
 
If all you listen to is mp3 files, i really wouldn't recommend spending a load on money to upgrade the sound system...imho :D
 
Bose pretty much only adds a sub, and it's not worth it.

Much better is to put a new good head unit in. PCM 2.1 is just an awful pile of crap, so outdated, even when it was launched it was outdated. Nav is next to useless. Tech has come so far in 15 odd years. I changed mine, but look for one with full on apple carplay and android auto. Puts apps on your phone on the unit, and of course Waze and google Nav are by far the best nav options. You can of course download routes and maps for offline use if that worries you as well.

So, back to the sound.

Mine now powers the mini subs in the doors (they are 8") properly. I was told they are actually pretty good speakers, but just under powered. So, powered properly, they sound fine. I have a cabrio, and I have a good quality sound in mine with a head unit which does everything I need. Plenty of Bass, it's balanced, all good.

One thing to note, if you have a lack of Bass, then the amps are notorious for failing. I've had mine fixed by Tore in Norway (I think!) which cost about £100 and he gives a 5 year warranty.

Get the sport chrono car!
 
Rhodris-dad said:
I am a music fan too .

However, when buying a car, the sound system is irrelevant (unless buying new).
Condition of the car should always be paramount in your decision .
Aftermarket upgrades are readily available. One company I have seen do Focal speakers (better than Bose) ard sound deadening in the doors etc for circa £1400. (A snip compared to buying a mechanical 'lemon")

Another 'However", you really should consider the 'source" of your music.....mp3. Take whatever is in the car......you won't get DAB in a 997.1... CD is more of a reason to upgrade, but the road noise from those fat tyres!!! :nooo:
Personally, I would prefer to spend the money on upgrading my system at home.

The wife had a jag with a Meridian £2k upgrade.........but only ever listened to FM radio or occasionally Bluetoothed mp3 :wtf:

Please take care and buy a good 997.1 :thumb:

You're in the right place to get some good advice.

Thanks - that's a useful post. I listen to CD for quality if in the car. The difference between BT audio and CD in these matters is profound. i do sometimes listen to BT audio for podcasts only. However this would be in my company car - so if I was out for a drive in my own car for pleasure it would be quality music I want.

My prev 996 with BOSE was just about good enough imho so I certainly wouldn't want to go down in quality from that.

Therefore I presently feel a properly researched and satisfactory pre purchase inspection BOSE car will be my choice, and if it had Sport chrono then it's a bonus.
 
As the owner of a 997.1 Cab with both the BOSE and the Sport Chrono I can't say I'd choose BOSE of the two. The sound is OK but nowhere near as good as a previous 996 with Focal/Genesis/ setup. Indeed it's poor in comparison to the BOSE setup in my Audi for example, however this may be 'cos it's a convertible sports car with massive tyres!

I'd save the BOSE money and upgrade the speakers to Focal personally given an either/or choice, there are several threads on this.

The PCM 2.1 is extremely limited/dated even with Tooki bluetooth/ipod connection. I'm considering upgrade purely for functionality and looks (too many buttons!). If you're looking for a closer to OEM look then some go for Dynavin N6/7, but not for me.

Good luck in your mission...
 
I'm guessing the difference doesn't only come down to these two options although these are clearly more important for you. Colour, greater spec, mileage etc..
I have a 997.1 Turbo 6MT which came standard with Bose and my local OPC added Sports Chrono without the wart for £1,200 in Jan 2018. I also retro fitted PSE to my 996.2 a few years back and hard back sports seats so some things can be done later. Bose would be more fiddly and cost prohibitive to do but it is better than the standard set up.
Probably best, all being equal, to go for Bose and retro fit Sports Chrono. Play the same song in both cars and you'll be able to decide, I would also do it when driving at speed as background noise may reduce the perceived quality of Bose.
You definately have one of the better problems to have. The search is fun, good luck and keep on going until you find the right one. They do exist and you'll instantly know it when you do find the 911 for you.
 

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