[AK12]

Hey Fellow 718 fans,

This is my first post and I'm excited to hear from you experts out there. I recently purchased a CPO 718 Cayman S - the build has every possible option I wanted except it has the stock sound system. IMO it sounds terrible. This is my daily driver, so I really want to have a decent sound system. I know there have been many many discussions on the forum discussing the stock vs. Bose vs. Burmester sound packages, but this post isn't about that. I've also seen a couple posts about complete sound system overhauls, not interested in that either.

I wanted to know if anyone out there has just added a subwoofer to their stock set up and loved the improvement. If so, which sub did you use? Did you install it yourself? Any hacks/recommendations on where to hide a subwoofer are welcome too .

I'm really hoping that someone has had success with just adding a sub, but if speaker upgrades and an amp are required, then that's helpful to know too!

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

 

[Viffermike]

Hey Fellow 718 fans,

This is my first post and I'm excited to hear from you experts out there. I recently purchased a CPO 718 Cayman S - the build has every possible option I wanted except it has the stock sound system. IMO it sounds terrible. This is my daily driver, so I really want to have a decent sound system. I know there have been many many discussions on the forum discussing the stock vs. Bose vs. Burmester sound packages, but this post isn't about that. I've also seen a couple posts about complete sound system overhauls, not interested in that either.

I wanted to know if anyone out there has just added a subwoofer to their stock set up and loved the improvement. If so, which sub did you use? Did you install it yourself? Any hacks/recommendations on where to hide a subwoofer are welcome too .

I'm really hoping that someone has had success with just adding a sub, but if speaker upgrades and an amp are required, then that's helpful to know too!

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

May I ask why you think that only a sub will improve the sound so drastically?

Please share your goals in improving the sound. Bass is not the car's problem. There are 7" drivers in the doors that handle everything above 80 Hz or so reasonably well, so ...

Several of us are bonafide audiophiles and 'know our stuff'. I'm one of those -- and I'm a long-time bass player, so I know those frequencies very well. Just adding bass or sub-bass is almost never a primary solution to any SQ issue.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

May I ask why you think that only a sub will improve the sound so drastically?

Please share your goals in improving the sound. Bass is not the car's problem. There are 7" drivers in the doors that handle everything above 80 Hz or so reasonably well, so ...

Several of us are bonafide audiophiles and 'know our stuff'. I'm one of those -- and I'm a long-time bass player, so I know those frequencies very well. Just adding bass or sub-bass is almost never a primary solution to any SQ issue.

The car I bought had all the options (that I cared about) but lacked the Bose sound upgrade. I played around a little bit with the various radio stations and volume and my non-audiophile ears felt like it sounded good.

What is your assessment of the stock system?

 

[antennahead]

May I ask why you think that only a sub will improve the sound so drastically?

Please share your goals in improving the sound. Bass is not the car's problem. There are 7" drivers in the doors that handle everything above 80 Hz or so reasonably well, so ...

Several of us are bonafide audiophiles and 'know our stuff'. I'm one of those -- and I'm a long-time bass player, so I know those frequencies very well. Just adding bass or sub-bass is almost never a primary solution to any SQ issue.

Cool. I'm a long time guitarist, currently working on putting another blues/rock band together!

 

[Viffermike]

What is your assessment of the stock system?

It's not all that bad as base systems go. I opted for the base system (called Sound Package Plus, or SPP for short) because it has all-analog output after the head unit and I had plans, that I still may try partially, to upgrade the drivers and add an amp and DSP. The reason I have not is because PCM4's built-in DSP apparently varies tonality as well as volume automatically depending on a number of factors, which makes applying DSP to the analog signal next to impossible.

The SPP suffers most from the two most typical OEM mobile audio shortcomings: a lack of power per channel and substandard speaker assemblies. Upgrading the speakers only (using relatively high-efficiency replacements) would likely result in a significant improvement in clarity, soundstage, and projection because the car's biggest aural limitations are a lack of midrange definition -- likely the result of the DSP being tuned to present low-quality digital programming through OEM midrange drivers -- and a very narrow breadth of treble definition borne from a tweeter assembly that's not optimized for either wide-angle (i.e. off-axis) or reflective (i.e., sound waves thrown off the windshield) projection. That said, better drivers can only do so much to combat DSP biases and low, imbalanced power levels that would likely be exacerbated by upgraded drivers.

Thing is, PCM4 is capable of playing hi-res digital files via SD Card. With adjustments and with high-quality programming, it can sound decent and live-able. I can't tell you how many 'base' systems can't even be dialed in to that degree.

 

[johan]

Aint there a sub in the dash on all the 3 systems, or is it just Bose and Burmester?

 

[Viffermike]

Aint there a sub in the dash on all the 3 systems, or is it just Bose and Burmester?

Nope. No dedicated sub in the SPP. Only in the Bose and Burmester.

 

[johan]

Nope. No dedicated sub in the SPP. Only in the Bose and Burmester.

Thank you, still Learning 0

 

[Viffermike]

Thank you, still Learning 0

>

We all are ... always. Only way to live (and drive!).

 

[AK12]

May I ask why you think that only a sub will improve the sound so drastically?

Please share your goals in improving the sound. Bass is not the car's problem. There are 7" drivers in the doors that handle everything above 80 Hz or so reasonably well, so ...

Several of us are bonafide audiophiles and 'know our stuff'. I'm one of those -- and I'm a long-time bass player, so I know those frequencies very well. Just adding bass or sub-bass is almost never a primary solution to any SQ issue.

Thank you for your reply! Definitely not set on adding a subwoofer, but I was hoping that would help round out the sound closer to my liking. I like music, but definitely not a self proclaimed audiophile, so super excited to hear what your inputs are. To clarify what I am looking for: Currently when I am listening to music in my car, at higher volumes, the speakers seem to be cracking. Please note that the volume is not at max and the bass setting is at 75% (halfway between center and max). I am looking for a little more bass and being able to play the music at higher volumes, without getting the cracking feedback.

Maybe if you could provide the steps you took or would take to update this system, that could help? For example:
1) Replace the 7" drivers in the door (if sound is still not as desired, go to step 2)
2) Add amplifier
3) Etc.

Any feedback you could provide would be much appreciated.

 

[Viffermike]

Thank you for your reply! Definitely not set on adding a subwoofer, but I was hoping that would help round out the sound closer to my liking. I like music, but definitely not a self proclaimed audiophile, so super excited to hear what your inputs are. To clarify what I am looking for: Currently when I am listening to music in my car, at higher volumes, the speakers seem to be cracking. Please note that the volume is not at max and the bass setting is at 75% (halfway between center and max). I am looking for a little more bass and being able to play the music at higher volumes, without getting the cracking feedback.

Maybe if you could provide the steps you took or would take to update this system, that could help? For example:
1) Replace the 7" drivers in the door (if sound is still not as desired, go to step 2)
2) Add amplifier
3) Etc.

Any feedback you could provide would be much appreciated.

Your first task is to determine what is causing the 'cracking' because it may not be distortion from overdriving the speakers -- in fact, I bet that it isn't that.
- From what source are you feeding the system music?
- What type of music (genre, mainly) are you playing?
- Is the cracking coming from all speakers or just certain ones, such as the bass drivers?
- Is there a pattern to when the cracking happens? In other words, does it happen when the volume crescendoes overall? When the music is dense but at a lower volume? When a treble-heavy signal reaches a specific volume? When a bass-heavy signal reaches a specific volume?

Look at it this way: An engine can misfire for a variety of reasons, but one doesn't consider replacing the cylinder head as the first thing to try to fix a misfiring engine. See where I'm going with that?

You need to diagnose first. After that, then and only then should you start thinking about what to upgrade to eliminate the problem.

 

[pdt84]

AK12 did you ever end up doing anything? I just got a 2018 GTS with base system and I wish I would have been able to find one with at least the Bose.

Viffermike can you give me any insight into whether I can just replace the speaker without adding an amp would make a difference? I went by my local shop and they quoted me $4500 to replace all the speakers, add an amp and subwoofer. I don't want to spend that kind of money. I just want some more clarity.

I was hoping I could change the speakers and start there. They said it all depends on the what the current system uses as far as Ohms.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Viffermike]

Can you give me any insight into whether I can just replace the speaker without adding an amp would make a difference? I went by my local shop and they quoted me $4500 to replace all the speakers, add an amp and subwoofer. I don't want to spend that kind of money. I just want some more clarity.

Upgrading the speakers only will almost certainly make a significant positive difference. Which ones to choose will center around this question: What am I willing to potentially also upgrade to improve the sound?

After speakers, the next upgrade should be an amp, which would deliver more power per channel. Therefore, you'd need to select speakers that can handle both the OEM power and extra power well enough. The key stats to pay attention to: efficiency (anything around or above 90 dB should be OK) and RMS power handling (I estimate the OEM base amp module delivers between 10 and 15 watts per channel; some channels get more than others. Most multichannel amps top out between 50-100 watts per channel. Look for speakers that can handle both.)

After an amp, the next upgrade would likely be a DSP correction/tuning unit. Why? All OEM stereos have digital signal processing added before speaker output for several reasons. This will present a problem with both upgraded speakers and an amp because the DSP will not be canceled by either -- in fact, it will be accentuated by either. Is the OEM DSP drastic enough to likely make sound worse through better hardware? Possibly (and that's partially subjective), but I'd say that it's not.

Those here who have performed drastic audio upgrades such as @phroenips and @nineball can speak to OEM speaker ohms. I'm pretty sure everything is 4 ohms, though, in the base SPP system.

By the way: Depending on hardware, $4,500 is not an unreasonable charge. I was quoted about $3,200 for a full mid-grade swap-out (speakers, amp, DSP, tuning) by a place local to me that has Porsche experience. The good thing about doing just speakers first is that it's by far the most difficult and labor-intensive part of an install. You only want to do it once, so choose wisely.

Good luck!

 

[pdt84]

Viffermike - Thank you for a very through response. I really appreciate it. I was hope to just start with the speakers. I plan to keep the car, but I said that about my M4 and I held onto that for a year and a half. So far I am enjoying the car, but sucks doing the break in period. I am only at 700 miles.

So what did you end up doing to your car? Did you change out anything sound wise?

 

[phroenips]

Those here who have performed drastic audio upgrades such as @phroenips and @nineball can speak to OEM speaker ohms. I'm pretty sure everything is 4 ohms, though, in the base SPP system.

In the base SPP system, I found the factory midrange speakers were closer to 8 ohms (measured 6.something on a DMM). I can assume the tweeter is also 8 ohm (I didn't measure that one), wired in parallel would result in a 4 ohm load on the head unit/amplifier.

 

[pdt84]

In the base SPP system, I found the factory midrange speakers were closer to 8 ohms (measured 6.something on a DMM). I can assume the tweeter is also 8 ohm (I didn't measure that one), wired in parallel would result in a 4 ohm load on the head unit/amplifier.

Thank you for your input. I will go back and talk to the car audio shop and share all this info and go from there.

 

[phroenips]

Thank you for your input. I will go back and talk to the car audio shop and share all this info and go from there.

No problem, here's my build thread with more information and some pictures: https://www.718forum.com/threads/cayman-sound-system-upgrade.18416/

 

[pdt84]

No problem, here's my build thread with more information and some pictures: https://www.718forum.com/threads/cayman-sound-system-upgrade.18416/

That is a sweet setup you got there.

 

[Viffermike]

Viffermike - So what did you end up doing to your car? Did you change out anything sound wise?

I have actually done nothing to the audio, and likely won't now that it's more than 2 years old. The SPP has its sonic faults, but it actually doesn't sound too bad with regular tweaking dependent on source material. I've sunk money into my home and personal/mobile systems instead.

 

[pdt84]

I have actually done nothing to the audio, and likely won't now that it's more than 2 years old. The SPP has its sonic faults, but it actually doesn't sound too bad with regular tweaking dependent on source material. I've sunk money into my home and personal/mobile systems instead.

I hear you. I am getting use to it as well. It could be worse but could be better haha.