[kfahmi]

I love my 718, but the Bose audio system is a joke. I'm actually serious when I say that the base system in my 2012 Mazda 3 is superior.

Last night I sat in both cars, engines off, in the quiet of my garage. I played the same CD in both systems. The quality of my lowly Mazda's audio was honestly superior to the Boxster's Bose system.

I used to be a professional recording engineer in a previous life, so I know a little about audio. IMO Porsche should be ashamed of their 'upgraded' audio system.

 

[ninesix]

I love my 718, but the Bose audio system is a joke. I'm actually serious when I say that the base system in my 2012 Mazda 3 is superior.

Last night I sat in both cars, engines off, in the quiet of my garage. I played the same CD in both systems. The quality of my lowly Mazda's audio was honestly superior to the Boxster's Bose system.

I used to be a professional recording engineer in a previous life, so I know a little about audio. IMO Porsche should be ashamed of their 'upgraded' audio system.

I disagree, yeah It's not Burmester but it is still better than stock. It's satisfactory for me. I didn't really buy this car for a good audio system though.

 

[Deddie]

I was shocked at how bad it is. I went into the settings expecting to see something turned off, turned down, anything. Would not change my purchase decision at all, but the lack of sound quality really surprised me. Probably the only thing about the car that fell below my expectations.

 

[aeronca65tl]

I previously thought both the basic and first option systems were Bose.
But now I realize the standard system (8 speakers vs. 10 in the Bose) is some sort of unbranded system.

In any event, when I listen to music, my standard audio system is nothing great. My wife's stock Honda CRV seems to sound better to me. And it sounds like the 2nd tier Bose option isn't much better.

I mostly listen to National Public Radio (with news and stories) and not so much music so this is not a real big deal to me. I'd love this car no matter how bad the audio system was.

I will say that my Cayman has a lot of interior road and tire noise....it's worse than my old soft top Miata. So maybe the Cayman environment isn't a good platform for music.

I'm deaf in one ear and my other car only has an AM radio with one speaker. So I may not be the best judge of this type of thing.

 

[Optical TDI]

Yes not great. Have the Bose in a 2013 Audi and it’s much better than the 718. Oh well, better than base system, so that must be worse!

 

[TheLip]

I, too, was disappointed in the Bose system. I did a lot of fiddling with the settings until I got to a point where I just stopped. The longer I listen to it in its current settings the less I notice its shortcomings. The Bose system is nowhere near as good as the system that was in my Audi, or the ones in my various Infinitis. Then again, the 718 is a sports car not a luxury GT, and has less sound deadening materials than any of the cars I have had previously. So I take it for what it is. And, frankly, I find myself driving with the audio system off much more than I used to because I love hearing the sound of the engine. YMMV.

 

[JakiChan]

I only spent about $6k on the system in my truck, but I'm pretty sure even the Burmester wouldn't be sufficient after how much I like my truck's system.

 

[8833]

I love my 718, but the Bose audio system is a joke. I'm actually serious when I say that the base system in my 2012 Mazda 3 is superior.

Last night I sat in both cars, engines off, in the quiet of my garage. I played the same CD in both systems. The quality of my lowly Mazda's audio was honestly superior to the Boxster's Bose system.

I used to be a professional recording engineer in a previous life, so I know a little about audio. IMO Porsche should be ashamed of their 'upgraded' audio system.

Interesting. I have Bose in my Miata and had it in a Corvette (sold). Both systems disappointed me with a bass heavy sound. I guess a fair amount of folks like the Bose sound. I do not.

 

[nineball]

I previously thought both the basic and first option systems were Bose.
But now I realize the standard system (8 speakers vs. 10 in the Bose) is some sort of unbranded system.

the 718 has 3 levels of audio systems.

the base system is the "upgraded" 2nd tier system from the previous generation. it has 8 speakers and all amplification/dsp is handled by the headunit. 8' and 4" in each door, tweeters in the dash, 4" (i believe) in the rear. the headunit in this configuration does not have an optical/digital output.

the next step up is the bose system ($1,000 option). it adds the optical/digital interface for the headunit, 2 additional speakers (center channel, subwoofer), 505watts total, features virtual surround sound and noise compensation technology dependent on driving conditions.

the final step is the burmester setup ($4,700 option). ups the power to 821 watts (300 of which go to the sub), 12 speakers, ribbon tweets and the same noise compensation technology.

 

[dpcompt]

Noise compensation

the 718 has 3 levels of audio systems.

the base system is the "upgraded" 2nd tier system from the previous generation. it has 8 speakers and all amplification/dsp is handled by the headunit. 8' and 4" in each door, tweeters in the dash, 4" (i believe) in the rear. the headunit in this configuration does not have an optical/digital output.

the next step up is the bose system ($1,000 option). it adds the optical/digital interface for the headunit, 2 additional speakers (center channel, subwoofer), 505watts total, features virtual surround sound and noise compensation technology dependent on driving conditions.

the final step is the burmester setup ($4,700 option). ups the power to 821 watts (300 of which go to the sub), 12 speakers, ribbon tweets and the same noise compensation technology.

Is there any information available about this technology regarding the 718 Caymans?

 

[nineball]

Is there any information available about this technology regarding the 718 Caymans?

i am guessing you mean the noise compensation. all i know for certain is what the site says:

BOSE® Surround Sound System with 10 loudspeakers including center speaker and an active subwoofer integrated into the vehicle body. Fully active sound system with a total output of 505 watts. BOSE® Centerpoint® 2 and SurroundStage® technologies enable the system to play stereo recordings in a virtual surround mode. AudioPilot® Noise Compensation Technology ensures that the acoustic pattern is constant and well balanced in all driving conditions.

this is what i found by googling "Audiopilot Noise Compensation" (came from a review of GM cars with the a bose system and the same feature):

Officially known as Bose AudioPilot Noise Compensation Technology, the feature detects ambient noise levels and analyzes vehicle speed to continuously monitor and adjust the audio volume. The end result is that your music or audio programming sounds the same at a set volume no matter how fast you’re traveling, or how much ambient noise is present in the vehicle due to speed, or other factors.

For instance, let’s imagine that your radio volume is set to level 5 when you’re driving 10 mph with little ambient noise. When you hit 80 mph with significantly more ambient noise, the system automatically increases the volume to level 10.

The beautiful simplicity behind Bose AudiPilot is that it has two modes: on and off. It’s most effective at lower radio volume settings where background noise can truly affect how well the music can be heard while being played through the vehicle’s audio system. At higher volume settings, where the music is much louder than the background noise, there may be little or no adjustments by AudioPilot.




so to me it's basically the same thing that tons of vehicles have - as you go faster the volume increases. i've turned that feature off in every vehicle i have ever owned with it. i hate when it turns the volume down when i am slowing or leaving the freeway.

Burmester® High-End Surround Sound System with a total output of 821 watts and 12 individually controlled loudspeakers. Includes a 300-watt active subwoofer with class D digital amplifier integrated into the vehicle body. Features sophisticated high-end audio components, e.g. special ribbon tweeters (air motion transformers, AMT), and a total diaphragm surface area of more than 1,340 square cm enabling precision playback even at very high sound levels. A wide selection of preset equalizers ensures a first-class audio experience, while a sound conditioner based on microphone technology adapts the sound sensitively and in real time to the driving situation.

google revealed this (from a review of a panamera):

Sound Conditioner adjusts the volume and frequency response depending on the noise level inside the car. I found it to be pretty subtle, and the car is quiet enough at speed that it’s not like you’re really missing out on a lot of detail because of road noise. I didn’t find any drawbacks to using it, either.


a rose by a different name it seems...





​

 

[Nickmo718]

I tried the BOSE system, in a parked 718, thought it sounded OKAY, but after reading this thread, I decided to drop it from my build, and in lieu of it added the leather package in black.
My SA just emailed me back, the change has been made. I'm pretty sure he's going to murder me if I make any more changes in the configurator before my final change date of April 16th.

Thanks all!

Edit: My SA said he was able to make the changes, but that the final change date was 03/22 ???
I think he's confused, but its all good now.

 

[Porsche2018]

My SA said he was able to make the changes, but that the final change date was 03/22 ???
I think he's confused, but its all good now.

Was your car in V210 status (Change Freeze Point Reached)? Although, you can still make changes it may impact the delivery date of your car. I made changes when my car was V210 and it pushed out my delivery date by a few weeks.

 

[Charles Brenner]

I am 3 weeks into my 718 Cayman S which has the base stereo. I purchased this fun go cart for the Driving on winding country roads (windows down ) definitely not for the stereo ( even though it’s not really to bad. These cars do have cabin noise which I like in a go cart). I use my 2 year old M4 for when I want to listen to some good tunes. My brother jokes to me, how much did u pay for that 4 wheeled stereo(M4)?

 

[JakiChan]

I suppose...I'm not locked yet...I could add the Burmester. Any chance someone in the Bay Area has it? I'm not sure I wanna drop $5k on a system I can't listen too. I wonder if I'm better hoping that the aftermarket comes up with a MOST150 solution?

 

[Yipekiye]

The Bose sound in my 2011 Cayman was one of the reasons why I wanted to trade up to a different car. I tried a different head unit, which helped, but I was constantly frustrated.

I didn’t know enough to want to attempt to go the custom route, plus I know there are a lot of purists who will discount a used car if they see a lot of customizations.

So I ponied up and am one of the few who bought the Bermester in my 2018 Cayman Base. I listen to NPR or podcasts probably 50% of the time, but for the remainder, I didn’t want to be frustrated with all of the compromises that come with the other Porsche systems. I am happy with the decision! This system isn’t perfect, but it is leaps and bounds better than what I used to have.

But it is only marginally better than what is in my 2010 Toyota Tundra. I guess there is a lot more room in trucks and large vehicles to fit better equipment. Plus they have less road noise.

Overall, I think that there is only so much that can be done in a car of this size and agility before you compromise other features that are even more important.

 

[JakiChan]

@Yipekiye Do you think it was worth the money, though? I mean that's a judgement thing, I know, but if I paid that much for a sound system and it didn't sound any better than a stock system from a truck I'd be cranky.

If anyone in the Bay Area has the Burmester system installed, let me know. I'd love to meet up and audition it if I could.

 

[Yipekiye]

It was worth it for me. Sound in this car is compromised by definition. I knew the Bose in my 2011 was crappy and I didn’t want to spend many years in this car getting annoyed by bass boominess, muddy sound, etc. With solid inputs when connected via wire to high resolution audio sources, the Bermester sounds great. With average inputs like radio, Sirius, Bluetooth music, it sounds very good. The Bose would never sound good enough for me. I am untrained, have no professional audio experience, make no claims to high knowledge, but I do notice when the sound is inadequate.

 

[GregW]

I love good sound. My home system is well into 5 figures. I find the standard system in my Boxster perfectly satisfactory especially with the wind noise. Many times I don't want the music on at all.

If I want to listen seriously I stay home.

 

[ejdd]

I got the Bose, you can turn it up loud and there's no hissing etc. That's about all i need, as im only using standard 320kbps mp3's on an SD card. As an extremely average music listener it's fine for me. Once I worked out how to export my itunes collection into an organization on the sd card (less than 1000 folders, less than 1000 songs per folder) that the PCM liked - its been smooth sailing ever since!

** If anyone's interested - i used a program called media monkey to export, used the disk# category in itunes to sort 999 songs in itunes into different 'disks', then used media monkey to export the songs into disk# folders onto the SD card. It exports playlists as well with no hassle.