jeffsnavely

I recently bought an '08 C2 with BOSE & nav in which the previous owner had installed a Kenwood DDX-9902S head unit using a kit from Del Rey Customs with a factory look faceplate and the Nav-TV MOST HUR 997 interface.

It was nice to have Carplay, Bluetooth and USB interface.

However:

--Many people say aftermarket units sound better but this wasn't the case with this unit, the PCM seems to sound a bit better.

--The Kenwood had audible hiss (didn't change with RPM so not a grounding issue) when audio was paused or not playing, with both Carplay (and maps) and the Kenwood functions. Very annoying. I emailed Nav-TV and they said the gain was too high on the MOST HUR interface and would need to be pulled out, connected to a PC (no Mac support) and I must experiment with turning down the gain a few numbers at a time. This would be a big hassle to turn down a bit, then hook up in the car again and repeat until no hiss. I wasn't excited about doing this. I haven't seen anyone else on this forum with this issue -- why doesn't the interface just work correctly out of the box, especially for the price.
I was willing to mess with it but the other issues below convinced me to go back to OEM.

Even if there was no hiss, the biggest problems were the lack of a volume **** and lack of speed-dependent volume compensation.

With the high level of road noise in these cars, this latter feature is essential. I was constantly adjusting the volume for driving speed, especially when coming to a stop. Compounding the problem was the volume buttons (which most aftermarket head units have) that you can't use by feel -- you must look over at them.

Switching back to the OEM PCM unit made things so much nicer. I can easily live with listening to CD's or the radio because now I just blindly reach for the huge volume **** without looking, but I don't need to adjust it nearly as much due to the BOSE Audiopilot noise compensation. This feature doesn't seem to do nearly as much as traditional speed-dependent volume adjustment so I do wish it was also available, but it is better than the Kenwood.

Despite the clunky interface, it is also nice to have the OEM trip computer functions back. I won't ever use the nav for destinations but the map does work fine for its age.

The PCM (despite looking dated) also looks much nicer to me than a double-DIN head unit. The faceplate I had did match the factory color nicely and looked good, but the OEM unit looks much nicer to me and better integrated. The only solution that looks about as good would be the Dynavin (and I did consider switching to it), but it sadly uses volume buttons instead of a ****.

Another negative of the Kenwood was an overall mediocre interface and terrible playback from a USB drive -- at the end of a folder the next folder would either never start playing or have huge delays. USB was generally frustrating and barely worked with a terrible interface.

I know many people love their aftermarket systems, but this post is a caution to those on the fence about upgrading. Considering the cost of the upgrades my car had (about $1200) the issues were completely unacceptable.

It was not hard to remove everything and go back to stock although the two torx bolts holding on the carpeted panels on either side were stripped so it took way longer than it should have and I needed to order replacements.

rodH

This is why I think the iTranzit option is probably the best choice unless you are truly putting big money into a system. This is actually the FIRST car I have ever owned and not put in a full custom unit, amps, subs, components, etc.... In fact, back in the late 70s and early 80s my dad had a high end car stereo shop in newport beach and he did a ton of 911s, Alpine head units that had to be customized to allow an external Linear Power amp and then KEF subwoofers in the floors in the back.

Bruce In Philly

I have a similar story, but don't agree with all your points...

I put in an Alpine unit and a Mosconi, then JL amp into my 2009 PCM3 system and got alternator whine.... after a few months of re-working the system many times, the installer gave my money back and re-installed the original. He was a respected installer who did two of my cars before and I was nothing but happy. .... this one was a problem.

I am back to stock electronics (I did my own speaker swap outs that did improve things a bit).

So..... lessons learned here.... IMO, some folks just want to do something different and or are looking for something specific like maybe ground shaking bass. I guess this is called "taste". I NEVER believe anyone who says their new system "blows away" the original as these newer OEM systems really aren't all that bad. They are far from great IMO, but not awful. Upgrading these Porsche Bose systems can be a good thing... I have heard some and I do enjoy more accurate sound. My pursuit is high definition, some do this as fashion, other well... they just do it and make a mess.

Your issue with the gain imbalance is a common issue when installing new systems.... any installer should know that this is an issue and common 1st step "tuning" process. You have gain controls, or really volume controls, on each piece of electronics.... the objective is to provide the lowest noise floor while providing enough volume to satisfy most listeners.... this tuning takes 10 mnts at most. The installer of your system sucked.... sorry, but they couldn't do the basics.

Speed dependent volume: To each his own... this is the first thing I turn off on all my cars and rentals. I am very aware of its action and it drives me nuts. If you have a nice high definition system, you don't need to change volume with noise level as the system is clear and easy to for your ear/brain to understand.

****: I am with you. I want a ****. That Alpine unit didn't and it drove me nuts.

The PCM3 that came in the '09 can decode 5.1 DVD Audio with the few discs out there really sound cool.... but I found it odd they put in a dinosaur.

The cell phone integration on the PCM3 was awuful in that the microphone / speaker sucked... I just use a bluetooth headset with my android and was done with it. The Alpine unit with its own microphone worked really well and way better than the Bose system.

USB playback.... the PCM3 was actually pretty good in that it reflected the file structure on the USB stick, played back in that order, and held quite a few files. The Alpine did none of this and played back in the order the files were written.... pretty stupid and useless.

Overall, I feel the Bose amplifier is the evil problem and not the head unit... the amp/processor has a classic, cheap "hard transistor" sound. However with the premium sound system, the fiber optic link to the Bose amp (located under the passenger seat) is proprietary and you really have to 1) replace both the headunit and the amp, or 2) have a dealer re-code your headunit to non-premium which activated the analog outs in the unit's rear.

Anyway..... to each his own.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Bruce In Philly

You may want to describe what iTranzit is for readers here... it reads like it is a system replacement.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Shred

I have a Pioneer AVH-4000nex in my 997.2 Cab with Bose and really don't like that it has no volume **** (tiny little buttons) and there is no speed dependent volume. No auto screen dimming at night either.

I am very happy with the TranzIt-Blu on my 986S with Bose.

pavster

My 997 is also the first car where I did not touch the sound system. First of all it sounds pretty damn good out of the box. Second, the car's cabin is so tiny that there must be significant DSP turning going on to compensate for the less than ideal environment. No way that a generic off the shelf system would come even close. And yeah all the aftermarket systems just have a giant touch screen which I think is dumb in a car.

Domer911

might start trying to get used to it...

rodH

When referring to "high definition" are you referring to 24bit decoding ability?

I am a big fan of Audio (home and car) and I HATE all things "Bose" and I absolutely despise the fact that my car has their product in it, but the amount of money, time, and most importantly, the added wt of a proper sound system in a sports car like a 911 just isn't worth it, as I think the bose is "good enough" (which I thought I would never say).

Critical listening is kind of pointless in a car anyways and when we have such a good sound coming out of the engine/exhaust, i'll just have to leave that to my home system

aaks38

I installed a Kenwood DDX6902S along with a new Alpine M400 amplifier. If you go aftermarket, i personally feel its better to use an aftermarket amplifier as it ensures the head unit and amplifier have proper impedance/preamp drive level matching as well as the fact that many of the aftermarket amps can handle the low speaker impedance of the Bose Speakers. I ended up spending about $850 to do the complete system (500 head unit, 200 amp and 150 on a trim kit with bose amplifier breakout wiring kit.

I had no issues and don't miss the PCM at all. My head unit has the time/delay and eq correction which will rival what Bose has done with the PCM but it sounds so much better.

Racetwin2

Tranzit BLU ISFM 2351 is a small Bluetooth streaming and Hands fee device which lets you use the original PCM. You can hide it completely behind the center console. It's an FM modulator NOT FM transmitter. It is using radio frequency but feeds the signal directly into the stereo and by that disconnecting the normal antenna completely. This gives dramatically better audio quality than FM Transmitters. It has parallel antenna lines so you can still listen to radio. It shuts down music for incoming calls, shows the caller ID or song title in the original PCM screen (via RDS) Believe me - I have tried even the best FM transmitters and Tranzit Blu beats them by far.

This is a video I made after my installation. You can see how it works. It's the most common retrofit to the 997 audio if you read this forum.

https://youtu.be/CSfYFyoBIuo

There is a separate thread on how to install it here on the forum. Search for Tranzit BLU + 997 turbo and you will find it. Here is that thread:

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-turb...pcm-2-1-a.html

wc11

One thing I never understood about this industry is how some will spend thousands on performance improvements to gain that extra second or two in performance and then negate it with 300lbs of stereo equipment.

Ben Z

I installed the Tranzit, in fact I may have been the first or one of the first on here to do so, and am perfectly satisfied. 997.1 like mine has a noisier cabin than a 997.2 or 991. I never felt like I wanted to throw money at improving the sound system, just wanted to add handsfree phone and stream Spotify. That said, if the PCM ever goes bad I would probably switch to an aftermarket head unit before I spent the same or more on a crapshoot used PCM.

GT2RSobsessed

I have PCM 3.0 (997.2) and have debated going aftermarket with the head unit (with apple/android car play, bluetooth, all the new features, etc) + new amp and speakers. My car has the Basic sound system (not sure what the official name of it is) not the Bose one, and I don't have Universal audio interface. The sound is pretty much poop.

I'm not sure if it'll be worth it to go aftermarket at the end, since I'm not planning on a super high end build. But at the same time to purchase oem Universal audio interface + install will probably already be around $1000, maybe slightly under. If I also added the oem bluetooth, that would add another $5-600 and I'm not even sure if the call quality on the bluetooth is worth it. So in total ~$1500-2000. That alone could buy some good quality aftermarket system parts.

My question is, which of these if any are worth it? It annoys me that I can't play my music via ipod or aux connection on long trips. Also this car is not my daily, but I have taken this car on road trips.

Bruce In Philly

By having the base system in a PCM3, you actually have a nice opportunity. Note: This information I have is second hand... I have not actually touched a PCM3 base system. As I understand it, your head unit has analog outs and you can simply swap out your Bose amp for a new higher-fidelity amp.

See here for all the information you should need:

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...-system-2.html

In my opinion, if all you want to do is upgrade the sound fidelity, then I recommend changing the amp only. It is inexpensive (relatively) and keep the speakers and head unit. If you are then unhappy, edit: try upgrading the head unit, and lastly the speakers. (edit: I originally suggested speakers before headunit but I made a mistake).

My opinion differs from most as most think the item with the biggest impact on sound is the speakers. IMO, the amp is the biggest issue for sound quality. I have a 2009 PCM3 premium and cannot change just the amp as there is a proprietary optic link between the headunit and amp thus presenting a different problem.

I did swap out all my speakers for Focal units and installed an L-Pad to control the volume of the center speaker. I DIYd this and it was tough and time consuming requiring dremelling the heck out of stuff. The result? Better but I am not sure it was worth it.

I did hear a PCM3 premium system in an '09 coupe like mine (side by side to mine in my own driveway) where the owner swapped the amp and headunit and kept the Bose speakers.... wow, this excellent... what I wanted. Beautiful smooth articulate sound.

Anyway, good luck. If you do this work, post your work and results on this board.

My taste in sound? Accuracy. Fidelity. Big booming base? Barf. Ear-bleeding sizzle? Keep if for the dogs. For me, music in all in the midrange and it must be smooth and articulate. Bass and treble are secondary and even then, I want accuracy not show.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

DC911S