Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

Another Head Unit Replacement Thread!!

DucatiRob

Well-known member
Joined
22 Jul 2015
Messages
2,236
Yes, I know this has been done to death but I have a few questions that I hope I can get some help with.

Replacing the HU was one of the first mods I had planned when I bought the car over two years ago, but the Bose system isn't a bad sound and other more interesting things got in the way. But now it's starting to bug me, the PCM 2.1 was probably out of date when the car was new and recently the sat nav has died again, replacing the disc makes no difference!

Anyway, I have narrowed down my options to either the Alpine ILX-700

https://www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/SingleView/iLX-700

or the Pioneer AVIC F88 DAB

https://www.pioneer-car.eu/eur/products/avic-f88dab

There is a fair price difference between the two, I do like Alpine products, quality stuff and I like the clean lines of the ILX-700 but not sure I want to go fully digital/mechless at the moment. The Pioneer has everything, including DAB, DVD, Android compatibility and Sat Nav which would be useful when travelling in Europe as my iPhone is a work one and can't be enabled outside the uk! I am tending towards the Pioneer, I wish Alpine did a similar HU.. any other suggestions would be welcome :thumb:

My questions are around connection the the Bose sound system, it would bug me to shell out £00s just for a analogue/digital interface when for similar money I could just replace the speakers with much better quality items than the standard drivers and probably include a 4+1 amp for not much more! Has anyone done this? Would be interested to hear views on sound quality difference over the standard Bose system etc.

My other worry is the facia/surround. Best place to buy from? I have seen pics of a few installations and to me they never look to fit that well. Any help here would be welcome, fit, finish etc.

Thanks in advance :thumb:
 
I recently purchased an Alpine, you wont look back when you get one. I've always bought alpine since the early 90`s, the one I got is the one in the link to give you some idea.. the one the gave the cut to my throat was to also purchase the NavTV converter, there were a lot of other cheap Chinese stuff that would have done the job but for how long, so I called up NavTV in UK and also they programed the device for Alpine as well

https://www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/advanced-navi-station2676/ine-w977bt

I purchased the stereo from the Car Audio Centre below, but online, a big drop from the original price etc...

https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-ine-w977bt_p-32446.htm
 

Attachments

  • 1_391.jpg
    1_391.jpg
    183.5 KB · Views: 8,010
  • 2_166.jpg
    2_166.jpg
    181.6 KB · Views: 8,010
  • 3_133.jpg
    3_133.jpg
    221.8 KB · Views: 8,010
I looked at this again recently as I wanted a DAB radio connection and my pioneer SPH-DA120 doesnt support it (yeah mad I know!).

So, told by my "best in the area" ICE people who really know their stuff that this is a great new release pioneer

Pioneer avh-z5000dab

Now, you might have an Iphone, but the next person may well have an android. Can't believe they advertise that pioneer as "exclusively developed for apple carplay", which is just insane, I mean, hey we have left something out, i.e. android auto support, is not a selling point!

They also suggested a Kenwood, which I listed on another thread, which was excellent as well, but I do like the look of a pioneer with no buttons......

Frankly a ZX81 is an improvment over a PCM2.1!
 
I like Alpine as well but really surprised they dont do a unit with carplay or mirroring that has its own build in sat nav and relies on everything coming from your phone :nooo:
 
I had to fork out for a MOST and to be honest the BOSE amp is providing the sound so the stereo output 4X50w is not in use, using the front RCA outputs from the stereo to the MOST is all you need,I would rather use the outputs from the stereo rather than MOST but it means there would be a ***** load of wiring to 're-route under the carpets and a whole load of panels coming off for access etc... when I called up NavTV to order the MOST, I asked them what kind of build is this unit, Chinese? What are the fail rate etc.

The guy said the circuit was designed and built in the US and also none have failed to work, there has been no complaints, reliability is No.1

The sound quality is excellemt, no loss of sound and loud as he'll, the rear sub box comes alive as intended as well as all the speakers, in would recommend get NavTV MOST if your going down the optical fibre route...

I'd recommend spend a good solid amount of money for a stereo and only buy for what you going to use it for, I.e. DAB, Apple etc.... I have an android and hate the Apple with a paassion so was not interested with any Apple functions on the stereo although connected the iPod and video lead USB in the glove compartment, I'll only ever listen to MP3 in the car so radio for me whether DAB or standard don't bother me etc...

Kenwood stereos are not as good as they were back on the days and many car audio specialists told me just keep away from them as they are well known to overheat as the fan at the rear stops working... Pioneer is good but the build quality is not very good also the user interface was said is like the cheap Chinese double din stereos with large icons....

But that's an individual thing... not knocking any stereo as they all function good but I'm going by people's experience with their units and I waited a long time with research before I departed my hard earned to be satisfied for what I wanted fitted, also my screen size is 7" which is the largest you can fit for the fascia ..

J
 
I agree with J and used the most unit from navtv very good kit and the tech support in the uk was very good . :thumb: prior to fitting the new head unit I had used navtv products to get bluetooth and ipod connections to my pcm2.1 also good products for what they did with the clunky old 2.1.
 
Thanks for the advice guys :thumb:

I'm doing a lot of research too but good to hear that the results are a major improvement ver the stock PCM2.1, and I'm not surprised, the limiting factor to sound quality is always the source!

Also having second thoughts about both the Alpine and the Pioneer I mentioned, the Alpine is just too iPhone orientated and I do have an Android phone too. I like the features on the Pioneer but not over keen on the styling, real shame Alpine don't have a similar unit.

I will probably go down the separate amp and new speakers route,, I do like a project :D
 
Rob, When my amp packed up in the gen1 I fitted a Beats Rainbow amp it went in the cubby space left from removing the satnav bits from the frunk , made a huge change to the sound quality, it seems from what I was told the speakers in the 997 are pretty good quality but the amp is the big let down to the sound quality :thumb:
 
Phil 997 said:
Rob, When my amp packed up in the gen1 I fitted a Beats Rainbow amp it went in the cubby space left from removing the satnav bits from the frunk , made a huge change to the sound quality, it seems from what I was told the speakers in the 997 are pretty good quality but the amp is the big let down to the sound quality :thumb:

Thanks Phil, will take a look at them, not a name familiar to me, but it has been may years since I have messed around with hifi. Which amp packed up btw?
 
DucatiRob said:
Phil 997 said:
Rob, When my amp packed up in the gen1 I fitted a Beats Rainbow amp it went in the cubby space left from removing the satnav bits from the frunk , made a huge change to the sound quality, it seems from what I was told the speakers in the 997 are pretty good quality but the amp is the big let down to the sound quality :thumb:

Thanks Phil, will take a look at them, not a name familiar to me, but it has been may years since I have messed around with hifi. Which amp packed up btw?

Rob it was the non bose amp mate in the gen1 tiny little thing in the frunk when I saw it wasnt surprised it was crap
 
Rob,

Let us know what you decide on and how it goes - following this closely as I also need to change my unit (996 though but with Bose).

I like the idea of the Pioneer one and one of the techs also mentioned Kenwood DMX7017 if you want to have a look or anyone else has experience?
 
I put the Kenwood in mine and I'm very pleased with it. Great bit of kit and not silly on the price.
 
Phil 997 said:
Rob, When my amp packed up in the gen1 I fitted a Beats Rainbow amp it went in the cubby space left from removing the satnav bits from the frunk , made a huge change to the sound quality, it seems from what I was told the speakers in the 997 are pretty good quality but the amp is the big let down to the sound quality :thumb:

Phil, didn't you bother to get another second hand BOSE amp to replace the faulty one? Would have been quicker and easier, also changing a BOSE amp from another car to mine would it need coding of any such or is it a direct swap over and play??

Replacing the BOSE optical fibre did you replace the speakers as well? Cos the BOSE speaker impedance is lower then of standard speakers etc !!

In honesty I'd rather use the power amp from the stereo 4x50w direct to the speakers than having to go via optic fiber than speakers etc... but the sound is good ..... so far anyway :D

Cheers

J
 
Have been doing loads of research into this, there is very little info out there regarding the 997 Bose speaker set up and not many have ripped out the complete system as I intend to do.

The standard speakers are very cheap units, not surprised they degrade over time plus there are 13 of them in total :eek: marketing over quality I suspect.

I intend to replace the speakers with either a 2 or 3 way set up, tweeter, mid and woofer, probably Focal units driven by a decent Class D amp, possibly Hertz or Alpine with 5 channels so I have the option of a sub in the rear. I will probably replace the sub with a bespoke made unit the same size and shape as the existing, hopefully I can find some carpet to match.

Will also be sound deadening all the interior panels and door skins, plus making sure the speakers are fixed solidly and braced.

Really hard to find feedback on speaker set ups and amps, Crutchfield in Canada are a good resource but very little else.

If anyone has any info or links I would really appreciate it, have been through all the usual forums etc. Also if anyone knows where to bu carpet that is a good match for the Porsche black it would help. :thumb:
 
Have a chat to Audiofile Incar in Bishops Stortford, they've done a load of work to 997s, including sound deadening etc. They said that the standard speakers are actually pretty good, just underpowered.
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,350
Messages
1,439,414
Members
48,705
Latest member
Scratch
Back
Top