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Adding a bose subwoofer

Luke997

Member
Joined
20 Sep 2017
Messages
17
Looking to upgrade my non-Bose audio by adding a bose sub from eBay.
Have two choices;

Second hand parcel shelf Bose unit (albeit with a retrofitted non bose controller)

Or

997 convertible footwell subwoofer.

My initial thoughts are that the footwell woofer will be an easier install, and lighter, but are they any good and do they compromise passenger legroom?
 
I suppose it depends on how much you value OEM look v sound quality.
Bose is ok, but you might find your cash is better spent upgrading the existing speakers amp and head unit.

From memory the footwell unit takes some space, the coupe shelf unit doesn't really notice.
Guess either would need some sort of fitting kit and wiring.
Check your existing amp can power it ok as Bose trends to be an odd impedance.
 
Don't bother. The problem is the 8" woofers in the front doors are underpowered. Power them right, and it sounds so much better. The speakers installed aren't bad quality, its just the install and setup is a bit mad and rubbish.

I changed my head unit, everything sounds so much better just from doing that, but a new amp would I am told be even better. To be honest, I get plenty of Bass just from that, in a cabrio, roof down, so depends how 'trevor from Harlow' you want to be........
 
Luke, Before you go to lots of expense, check your car has fibre optic cables as many non bose cars don't and bose equipment wont work without it. personally if you want the bose shelf I would be buying a bose shelf and retro fitting some good subs and stuff in it, fit something like a rainbow beats amp in the luggage area. you will end up with better sound than Bose :thumb:
But the very first thing I would do is change your Amp as the OE one is the weak spot on these cars ,the speakers are not bad, then after doing that if you still want more then maybe put a slim sub under the seat. and then if needed change the speakers .

those are my 2 suggestions :thumb:
 
Good point Phil

Also, is the amp definately working as they do fail and you lose the bass. Really not uncommon!

Bose doesn't really make that much difference, it was more an 'upgrade' so Porsche could charge more........
 
resigner said:
Good point Phil

Also, is the amp definately working as they do fail and you lose the bass. Really not uncommon!

Bose doesn't really make that much difference, it was more an 'upgrade' so Porsche could charge more........

ah true mate , my amp failed on the gen1 . fitted the rainbow beats amp and it completly changed the quality of the audio in the car. not audiophile but the cars not right for that type of quality anyway. but a very good sound.
I think to be honest better than the bose sound on my gen2.
 
+1 for comments above.
I have removed my bose subwoofer after upgrading the rest of the audio.
I used a jbl 5 channel amp to power the existing speakers (including the door woofers).
After that, I really didn't need the bose subwoofer, plenty of bass as it is.

Also - the bose stuff is unnecessarily complicated - funny ohmage etc.

If you do add a sub - follows Phil's advice and stick a proprietary one under the seat.
 
If it is sound quality your priority then don't even consider the Bose unit, it is not a subwoofer! It has very small, 4 - 5 inch drivers and very cheap ones at that, they are not able to reproduce true low frequency signals. If you do go this route, I would source some decent quality drivers to replace the Bose items.

I am in the process of replacing my complete Bose system (a big job :eek: ), all of the drivers I have removed are very flimsy units, the amp itself is not very substantial and would not be able to drive 13 high quality speakers anyway.

There is not much space in a 911 for a subwoofer box anywhere other than where the Bose unit is located, I am building my own unit to fit this space, albeit slightly larger to fit two 8 inch subwoofers, as well as the new amp and crossover units!
 
I remember swapping everything out of my old 996 when it had no bose. I upgraded front and door speakers and added a good amp, I didn't bother with the sub it's only a small cab and enough base anyway.

I have bose in the turbo but prefer to listen to the Kline :D
 
Ok thanks all, any recommendations on an amp? Will also look at putting a proper kenwood unit in.
 
Luke997 said:
Ok thanks all, any recommendations on an amp? Will also look at putting a proper kenwood unit in.

I used a rainbow beat 2 amp that and the alpine head unit worked well ,but I am sure there are lots of good options :thumb:
 
Phil 997 said:
Luke997 said:
Ok thanks all, any recommendations on an amp? Will also look at putting a proper kenwood unit in.

I used a rainbow beat 2 amp that and the alpine head unit worked well ,but I am sure there are lots of good options :thumb:

As Phils said, Rainbow make some good stuff, I've bought a set of their two way drivers for the rear as they fitted very neatly and good quality, but there are lots of options, depends if you want an amp to power the whole system or just the sub? Rockford Fosgate make some good sub amps! I am in the process of swapping out everything and will post up a thread with pics etc. soon!
 
Why not get a BOSE subwoofer, gut it out, fit a crossover to lower the frequency in Analog form and fit X2 8 inch Subwoofers to a good quality amp and wire the subwoofers in series giving you 2ohms output for real RMS and not watts for a better quality output, then and control that from the head unit, regards to the footwell subwoofer, you can forget that, I've seen it and there is no space what so ever for the passengers feet at the back and to be honest it looks hideous !!!!

Cheers

J
 
Phil 997 said:
Luke997 said:
Ok thanks all, any recommendations on an amp? Will also look at putting a proper kenwood unit in.

I used a rainbow beat 2 amp that and the alpine head unit worked well ,but I am sure there are lots of good options :thumb:

Was that a direct replacement for the existing amp or did you have to rewire things? I have a feeling my amp is on its way out again and can't see why I would put another'known to be crap and fails' porsche amp back in!
 
resigner said:
Phil 997 said:
Luke997 said:
Ok thanks all, any recommendations on an amp? Will also look at putting a proper kenwood unit in.

I used a rainbow beat 2 amp that and the alpine head unit worked well ,but I am sure there are lots of good options :thumb:

Was that a direct replacement for the existing amp or did you have to rewire things? I have a feeling my amp is on its way out again and can't see why I would put another'known to be crap and fails' porsche amp back in!

The stock Amp is a tiny thing so really no room to replace it in the location it came from, as I had removed all the PCM bits the space in the frunk where the dvd drive was located on mine it was just under the centre plastic lid with access also from the forward facing lid the Rainbow fitted in there nicely and the wiring was re routed from the original amp so no major rewiring needed.
it all worked very well with my Alpine head unit , Also it gave easy access to adjust the rainbow from its top controls to get it set perfectly for me , which from what I remember was at about 50/60% :thumb: My OE amp had packed up completely and the only reason I was getting any music with virtually no bass was due to the built in Amp in the alpine trying to compensate.
 

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