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Sound System Plus upgrade

Forrester

Active member
Joined
11 May 2014
Messages
37
Well, I've just finished the first part of my upgrade to the Sound System Plus (SSP) in my C4S.

I've replaced the bog-standard (and pretty useless) tweeters with a pair of (dismantled) Dynaudio Esotec MD102 and machined up a couple of delrin adapters to fit them in. I also got a pair of Burmester tweeter grills to cover since the original grills won't fit over the tweeters without modification.

The result is really excellent! I can now hear the drum hi-hat clearly and there's a good, resolved sound stage audible now (absolutely nothing before - really mushy). High guitar notes are clear and present; stereo separation good. All in all, I'm more than satisfied with the result: it's considerably better than I was hoping for.

This is the first stage of my proposed complete replacement of the SSP.

The next stage is a simple replacement of the door woofers with some Audison or Focal 8" woofers (I'd love to go for Dynaudio woofers but the price is horrific). The main trouble with door speakers is that, well, they are attached to *doors*. Doors wobble and flex. In contrast my standard BMW 8" woofers are bolted to the floor pan underneath the seats and sound excellent (why didn't Porsche think of that?) I'll probably add some sound insulation as well.

Then I'm going for a decent sub-woofer (Focal 5" 13WS probably with a Rockford Fosgate amp). The main problem here is manufacturing the adapter for the sub-woofer under the dashboard. It looks doable but will need some thought.

The final stage will be to replace the ASK amplifier with a Mosconi 60.8 DSP. I'll scrap the middle console and rear 4" speakers in the process - I don't think they add much, if anything.

I'm adopting the rule that everything must be a) reversible and b) fit into standard locations - no boom box on the back shelf or amplifiers in the frunk, thanks.

I got lot a lot of these ideas from a Rennlist thread on upgrading Bose, so kudos to the pioneers over there.

I'll post a couple of pics later showing the Dynaudio tweeters and adapters.

Burmester - eat your heart out!
 
Good to see mods happening on a 991 look forward to pics and more updates :thumb:
 
Some pics ...

taking apart the Dynaudio tweeter isn't difficult - but it probably does void the warranty :D

The main difficulty is building the adapter. I took the overall idea from some other sources, but it's difficult to make without access to a milling machine. However, I think that there might be a much simpler approach (hand tools only) that I'll try out when I come to install the DSP amplifier: I'll have to remove the 10uF series capacitor then, so that will involve opening the tweeter grill again.

Another approach is to use the Burmester air motion tweeter (which will fit directly into the aperture), but the consensus seemed to be that the Dynaudio tweeter was a lot better. So Dynaudio MD102 it was.
 

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great pics and a nice methodical approach :thumb: :thumb:
 
Forrester said:
The main difficulty is building the adapter. I took the overall idea from some other sources, but it's difficult to make without access to a milling machine.

Do you have any friends with a 3D printer?

Anybody competent with 3D modelling software and a 3D printer could knock you up some custom ABS adapters in no time. 3D printers are very useful for these sorts of projects.
 
3D printer: that's a good idea! I'd forgotten about them - just a quick bit of research on them shows that they are a lot cheaper (and better) than when I last looked. Also, the program I used to generate the 3D adapter design will output to a 3D printer. The program is Autodesk Fusion 360 - it's really good - thoroughly recommend it - though with a bit of a learning curve. Also, it's free to hobbyists. I might well get a 3D printer for my business.

On another tack, it seems that the Burmester system isn't all that you might think at first glance. I came across this https://w205audio.wordpress.com/2016/04/16/upgrading-the-w205-burmester-audio/ on the Burmester system in a Merc C300. I also noticed in my researches that the Burmester sub-woofer seems to be made by ASK (at least it looks like it has an ASK label on it). ASK are the people who do the base SSP. I always thought that 3K was a bit on the low side for Burmester stuff. Single speakers seem to start at around that price and you can easily get into 5 figures without working up a sweat.

Incidentally, the guy who wrote the article makes the point that I made about the sound system on BMWs. Woofers bolted to the floor pan (so they can't move around) are a good idea. My BMW sound system certainly is't Harman Kardon, but it's streets ahead of the SSP.
 
Forrester said:
3D printer: that's a good idea! I'd forgotten about them - just a quick bit of research on them shows that they are a lot cheaper (and better) than when I last looked. Also, the program I used to generate the 3D adapter design will output to a 3D printer. The program is Autodesk Fusion 360 - it's really good - thoroughly recommend it - though with a bit of a learning curve. Also, it's free to hobbyists. I might well get a 3D printer for my business.

I was also a little dismissive of 3D printers a couple of years ago but they have improved remarkably over the last 2-3yrs. People across numerous forums knock out their own components for their vehicles. I'll be looking to get one myself in the future.
 

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