New stereo install: need your ideas / inspiration!

[pontifex4]

So while I did put a fair amount of time into deadening the "white car" (my 944S), it kind of ended there, and I never really finished the stereo install. I still have the car (it and my new 951 are hibernating until April, since it's winter up here in Canada) but the lure of an all-in-one, Turbo-powered, track-ready stereo is growing, and I'm beginning to find owning three cars a little silly.

The bottom line is that I want to have a slick, fairly OE-looking stereo in the 951 which is either light enough or modular and removable enough that it doesn't spoil the car for my occasional track day forays.

There's a big pile of leftover audio equipment kicking around at my house, and I would love to hear some ideas and see some pictures of good, OEM-plus style stereo upgrades, as well as other good 944 interior work like CurtP's. I'm particularly interested in pictures and experience with 3-way component sets up front, and have no interest in retaining the back seat.

Let's hear some ideas!

[fbgh2o]

my new 951

Do tell... and talk to CPR. He is the stereo king... I think his amp has more power that the engine...

[ramius665]

I've modified the audio components on two of my 944s over the years. I think your best bet will be to source the panels out of an M670 equipped car and just swap over to the 10 speaker set-up. It's considerably easier than trying to fabricate everything, and the only speaker that you couldn't go buy at Best Buy are the 3" mid-range in the doors. I don't have any pics of my set-up, only because it appears exactly as stock. But if you have an '87+ body, you can mount 6.5" speakers in the rear, 5.25"/3"/1" tweeter in the doors. With a decent head unit you should have all of the bottom end you could ever want, and it will still sound great. Total investment should be under $1000, including the panels. If I read your sig right, you have an '86 body, which means you're stuck with 4x6s unless you want to fabricate some form of speaker box.

Or you could try to source the rear shelf from a 968 cabriolet and use the "cubby holes" as speaker boxes for 6x9s. Haven't seen it personally, but I imagine that it would sound pretty good.

If you're looking to keep the weight low, just get a nice HU and replace the stock speakers with the nicest examples you can afford. You should still get a good sound, and it won't weight any more/less than stock.

[pontifex4]

Hey Fergus! I will talk to CPR! He is setting me up with a few new things for the car, and I'll put some photos up when I have them installed! I was kind of hoping he'd jump in with some more pictures of that double-din head unit install of his, too!

The new 951 is a bit of a franken-car: an '86 NA donor shell for a '88 Turbo with LSD. I've just done an AC delete to go along with replacing the 10 year old belts, and the previous owner (fittingly) scraped all the original sound deadening out when he retubbed. Very low mileage, cheap, noisy, and a little rough around the edges.

Warning: boring audio stuff follows, but then, pictures!

I compulsively collect 12V and home audio hardware. I've even toyed with the idea of a period-correct stereo install, since I have a line on five unopened PPI Art Series amps (the white ones with the terrible '80s graphic art on them). That dream kind of died when I realized that there's no good way to reconcile an Alpine 7909 with an MP3.

Anyway, enough of the self-indulgence -- on to my idea so far!

Basically, I'm thinking of:

• A decent contemporary deck (likely an Alpine 9886, since I have one on hand)
• An external DSP
• One BIG 5-channel amp:
  • the four front channels will either run a set of classic Rainbow 2-way components active, or be bridged to run a Dynaudio 3-way set passively
• Either one 12" dual 2Ω subwoofer behind the driver's seat, or two 8" 2Ω woofers, one either in each rear quarter panel or arrayed as shown below in Flash968's install

I'm going to attach some pictures of rear seat and door treatments, in the hope of starting the ball rolling, even though I think these doors are a bit over the top! (Not all from the same car, and not my photos).

Let me know what you think!

[pontifex4]

Aaron, thanks for the suggestion on the 10-speaker panels. I currently have a set in my White car with a set of components in the front speaker positions, and it is pretty good, if a bit prone to rattles.

I'm not opposed to a bit of fabrication, though, and I definitely think the front sound stage could benefit from some better speaker positioning. Basically, I want a project for my new car, and I'm not sufficiently mechanical to do anything really hard with the stuff under the hood!

[fbgh2o]

Charlie

Alpine 9886 is a great head unit. Sold mine to Carlege... Is the best sounding one that I have had. regreat it a bit, but the brightness of the buttons drove me nuts.

FYI - I have done the following:

• High-end JVC KD-R600 head unit with iPod compatibility
• 10 speaker set up – stock speakers in doors (all work)
• 6 ½ Infinity rear speakers
• 600W low-profile subwoofer in hatch area

Any time you want to some up and see it, please let me know...

[ramius665]

Charlie,
If you're looking at re-positioning the speakers, maybe try sourcing a set of door cards on ebay and re-covering and modifying them for your speaker placement? I've seen it done before on a "custom" 944 somewhere on the internet and it didn't seem too bad. I think if you can figure out how to mount a 6.5" and tweeter in the doors, as well as 6.5" speakers in the rear, you should get a nice, even tone.

I *REALLY* want to do something with the speakers in my wife's cabriolet, but there are some significant limitations with the cabs. The ONLY provision for rear speakers are 4x6 mounts, with no backing plate or anything else to help contain the sound from the rear. Unfortunately, the folding top components take up all of the available space. So I'm looking at the Infinity Reference 4" woofer mounted on a 4x6" plate. I'm currently running a set in my '86 951 and was very happy with the sound.

I completely agree with the rattling issues on the M670 door speakers, it's especially bad with our 968. If I could find an aftermarket manufacturer that makes true 3" speakers, I would replace her entire audio setup immediately. Instead Porsche charges $40/ea for those mid-ranges. And with how difficult to find the speaker pods are getting these days, I'm hesitant to modify them.

I've got a '95 BMW 525i with the 10 speaker option, and it's given me some ideas. Basically, the stock bimmer stereo runs straight to a 10 channel amp, which then sends the signals out to each speaker. So in essence it acts as an amp and a 10-way crossover. And the nice part? You can source one on ebay for about $20. I've given serious thought to going this route, at least on my 951, because I'm far from an audio wizard but I know I like the overall sound of my BMW.

But with how much I listen to my ipod, I'm also looking into the digital media receivers. It seems like an interesting idea, but I'm concerned about how easy it would be to add music over time.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Hope this helps!

[pontifex4]

Aaron, I didn't know the cabs were short on room in the rear speaker area, but I guess it makes sense. That first picture above of the two 8" subs in the back seat enclosure is from a really nice install in a 968 cab (Flash968's car). There are more pictures from it on Pelican.

I'm not thinking too much about rear full-range speakers for this project because I am guessing that they'll interfere with staging once I have the car properly quieted down (to any non-stereo folks who may be tuning in, staging is the analogy that audio people make for the perception that the music is coming from somewhere just beyond the windshield -- when it's "just right," you really do feel as though you could reach out and touch it). I'll be looking at that once I start tuning and time aligning everything, but much work needs to be done before then!

I'm attaching a shot of the speakers I think I'll likely end up using, but there's still much deliberation on where to put them and how to mount everything. This is a Dynaudio 3-way set, comprised of 2-1.1" tweeters, 2-3" soft dome midranges and 2-7" woofers. That stuff will all be up front, then I think I'll probably use a single 12" sub woofer for ease of removal at the track. I'm now wondering whether it would fit nicely into the box shown with its lid up in one of the pictures above.

[pontifex4]

Originally Posted by ramius665

If I could find an aftermarket manufacturer that makes true 3" speakers, I would replace her entire audio setup immediately. Instead Porsche charges $40/ea for those mid-ranges. And with how difficult to find the speaker pods are getting these days, I'm hesitant to modify them.

Aaron, about 3" mid-ranges: DLS, Dynaudio, Hybrid Audio and CDT all make great 3" drivers, though they tend to be a little expensive and slightly bigger ($40 each is a bargain by car stereo standards!)

For some cheap alternatives, have a look at these:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=285-010

Also, for a 3" traditional cone driver, these would almost fit, but you'd need to cut the back out of the plastic speaker plate:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=264-844

Note that these links are both to "non-car stereo" speakers, so they aren't 4 ohm. Showing an amp a higher impedance directly is perfectly fine, but the factory crossovers in the doors put all three speakers in series[edit: I think they're in series, but the bottom line is that they may or not be compatible].

Having said that, have a look around the Parts Express site for something (perhaps a full-range) which looks fitting. The odds are very good that you can find a direct replacement on there cheaply!

[pontifex4]

Originally Posted by fbgh2o

FYI - I have done the following:

• High-end JVC KD-R600 head unit with iPod compatibility
• 10 speaker set up – stock speakers in doors (all work)
• 6 ½ Infinity rear speakers
• 600W low-profile subwoofer in hatch area

Have I seen a picture of the sub? Was it a challenge to get the power wire to it? I would love to see your 951 (and your new one)! I'll send you a message this spring when I'm stir crazy from having had two porsches in a garage all winter. I'm sure you'll be able to relate!

[chris white]

The Dynaudio stuff is nice – I have a set of the 240 in my 968 cab – mounted in the doors with a little mod. The three way is a little over kill – especially with the mounting hassles.

[pontifex4]

Originally Posted by chris white

I have a set of the 240 in my 968 cab – mounted in the doors with a little mod.

Let's see a picture!

[chris white]

Sorry...its kinda burried in winter storage!

I'll see what I can do, it may take a while.

[pontifex4]

Ha, okay! Mine has been on a hoist for the last two months, undergoing what may be the slowest 944 belt job in history. It's running, again, though, and my mechanic thinks I can pick it up shortly. Of course, I'm just going to put it into storage immediately, anyway, but it promises to be quite a reunion!

Apart from taking it to the mechanic to have him do the belts, etc, I've never really driven this car. The belts were nearly 10 years old, and I didn't want to chance it, low mileage or not!

[CurtP]

Originally Posted by pontifex4

Aaron, about 3" mid-ranges: DLS, Dynaudio, Hybrid Audio and CDT all make great 3" drivers, though they tend to be a little expensive and slightly bigger ($40 each is a bargain by car stereo standards!)

For some cheap alternatives, have a look at these:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=285-010

Also, for a 3" traditional cone driver, these would almost fit, but you'd need to cut the back out of the plastic speaker plate:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=264-844

Note that these links are both to "non-car stereo" speakers, so they aren't 4 ohm. Showing an amp a higher impedance directly is perfectly fine, but the factory crossovers in the doors put all three speakers in series, so they won't play nice.

Having said that, have a look around the Parts Express site for something (perhaps a full-range) which looks fitting. The odds are very good that you can find a direct replacement on there cheaply!

Thanks for your post. I just got a set of M670 speakers and door cards and am in need of replacement speakers. So far I haven't found much and I've been thinking about re-foaming the 3" speakers and re-coning the 6.5" rears. The front mid-range speakers look to be in good shape, but I haven't tested them yet. I don't know what I'll do about the front speakers either - the factory ones are trashed (mounting tabs broken and one of them has the terminal ripped out). The problem I'm having is locating a decent set of non-China made speakers, which I'm convinced is impossible today.

FWIW, the factory speakers are 8Ω, which I thought was odd. I haven't pulled the factory crossover apart yet to see how it's wired.