Planet 9

Does anyone know if the issues with the Bose suwoofer have been resolved in the 09 cars.

what issues?

There are posts on this website about muddy and booming base. Apparently people are ripping out the subwoofer and stuffing with polyester filling with some benefit. I have ordered car with Bose and just wondered if Porsche had addressed this in the newer cars.

Bass is pretty sloppy in my '09 car w/ Bose.

I just keep reminding myself that it's a Porsche, not a concert hall...

Anyone simply disconnected the sub?

Actually, I found the setup for the Bose. Windows down at 45mph+ bass down a bit (or treble up), and at that point it is fine, especially when driving through great scenery. I think you are spot on though.

Don't disconnect. Don't just put up with it. Get some poly batting and do the deed. It works great. Takes 20 minutes and is much easier than disconnecting things and risking blowing up an amp.

Oh and you don't need audiophile stuffing. Poly batting is available at craft stores and fabric stores. Ladies use it for making decorative pillows. You need a bag of this.

Tools: two torx bits a 3/8" ratchet and an extension.

The hardest things about this are:

A. Realizing that the center slat in the subwoofer vent in passenger footwell just pulls out to reveal the first bolt you need to remove and...

B. sliding the subwoofer assembly back on the two tracks on the center hump...It's just a little tricky, not rocket science. 2 bolts and one electrical connection need to be removed and replaced. That's it. Read directions the night before, gather tools, go to sleep. Wake up in the morning and do this....

Just DO it!!!

SO many keep asking more questions without trying this. It looks too simple, but it frikkin' works!


-Six

'06 CS/Stuffed Bose/PCM2.1/PASM/SC+/19s/adjusted clunk and rear latch...otherwise STOCK. I now use the stereo most of the time instead of never.

I got it. End of discussion!

I'll add that this will likely sound better than removing the subwoofer. I'll also add that stuffing this plastic thing does not show anywhere when you're done.

Here is the link to the article you must read: Bose Sound System - My Articles

If you have tools, the cost of the batting is under $10.

-Six

Highly agree, I basicly turned the subwoofer down to 0 before doing the stuffing of the sub routine. Stuffing it definately works, and makes the system worth listening to, otherwise, it not worth listening to. One of the best tricks someone discovered on these cars.

To answer your question, I don't know if the sub in the '09 V2 Cayman has been fixed.

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Is this a Cayman Issue or does it also apply to the Boxster? I haven't experienced any issues with the Bose system in my 08 Boxster. If it does pertain to the Boxster as well, perhaps my hearing is deficient.

Yes, much of this is in the ear of the beholder...

brad

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22-year PCA Member
PCA DE Instructor

Everyone points out that the location is different between the Cayman and Boxster but for bass that usually isn't a driver as long as you avoid nulls/peak locations in the standing wave patterns that are set up in any enclosed space.

What no one has answered and I don't know is if Bose re-equalized the system for the Cayman. Many of their systems were equalized specifically for a given car. If it wasn't tweaked then the slightly larger enclosed space of the Cayman could result in the muddy/boomy/resonant bass that exists. The Boxster soft top might add some damping too that doesn't exist in the Cayman.

Stuffing the box is on the list. I don't use the radio/CD changer much so it hasn't been a high priority. And while I'd agree that the pillow stuffing would work the stuff designed for damping resonances in speaker cabinets will likely do a better job of it. That's what it's designed for.

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Les

Very true. But when the inside of ones CS sounds like one of the rolling boom boxes you see kids driving then at least for me it's time to do something. This is with the bass control cranked all the way down.

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Les

Perhaps, but I don't find the sound of my Bose system to be like that - I like it just fine and have not stuffed the sub, or anything else. It did take me a while to fiddle around with the controls until I got it to sound good to my ear, and I'm pretty picky. At one time, I was a studio musician and record producer. I don't listen to the radio much, but all of the CDs I make for the car, have never been ripped out to any compressed format - they all stay in Audio CD. Pre-recorded CDs sound fine to me on the system, too.

I'm also not expecting a concert hall experience, either - the motor is loud, and the tires are loud, it's not a good environment for music.

brad

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22-year PCA Member
PCA DE Instructor

I'm not expecting a concert hall either, for all the reasons you've mentioned. Given this I've always found the premium system offered by a manufacturer to be adequate for my purposes. As a result I was more than a little surprised at the poor bass quality in my CS. It's only certain notes that really set things off. One of these days I'll pay attention to which track so I can reproduce it on demand and thus tweak it properly. As it is it sounds like the speaker is hitting its resonant point. Fine for one note boom but not so much for music. Until then I'm still searching for the magic combination. A bit of damping in the sub cabinet could work wonders if not overdone. But maybe I'll get lucky and find the right settings before I add stuffing.

Nothing I'm listening to has ever been compressed. I have a thing about MP3's which the kids at work find amusing in the old dog. Nor do I use the radio. The reception on a CDR24 with weaker stations isn't good enough to be useful.

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Les

See http://www.planetporsche.net/cayman-...nd-system.html for my initial question about the poor-sounding bass and MR in the CS.

I thank Sixisenuff for his instructions about removing the woofer system and stuffing it. I did that to mine today. Found a 16-ounce bag of '100% Pure Polyester Fiber' for $2.75 at a fabric store and removed the SW.

First thing I discovered is that the thin-plastic enclosure is VERY flimsy and rings a LOT. Removed the driver...





...and the port tube and decided to add a bunch of damping material to the flat-and-nearly-so inside surfaces. I used 1/8"-thick Soundcoat I had purchased from Sonic Craft. I cut it with scissors and covered as much of the interior surfaces as I could and even 3 layers deep in spots.


Doing so substantially reduced the sound of the enclosure, but it still makes too much noise*.

Then stuffed the enclosure, replaced the tube while redistributing material around...

...reinstalled the driver and porttube and then filled it.


If you decide to stuff your woofer and don't feel up to removing the driver, at least remove the porttube before stuffing the 'box'; doing so will allow you to get lots more fiberfill in the box.

The driver seems to be well built, with a stiff cone and surround and a substantial magnet, but strangely enough, I could NOT get a DC-resistance reading from it--it behaved as if there's a capacitor in the circuit, which is really weird for a driver-only.

More tomorrow on the results of this easy project--it's now about 130-degrees F. in my garage and the woofer system is still sitting on my bench.


* Not to put too fine a point on this, but the sound of a speaker system is supposed to come from the drivers and the port (if any) and NOT from the walls of the enclosure. It's no wonder it sounds muddy in the midrange and ill-defined in the bass.

Hi what's the reason for removing the porttube? Is it so that you can stuff more Polyester Fiber in there? Thanks...

-kim-

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2006 Porsche Cayman S, Lapis Blue, Tiptronics, 997TT-style wheels, Sprint Booster, HIP clear engine cover, Schild trunk liner, Milltek catback exhaust

My 05 Boxster Bose system sounded much better than the same set up in my Cayman. I guess it is due to the placement in the Boxster verses the Cayman location.

Yes; I should have written that. I'd guess that you could get the interior only MAYBE one-third full without removing the driver or porttube. Removing both--which might take you 2 minutes--allows you to FILL the enclosure.

This entire system is SERIOUSLY underdamped and probably benefits from absorbing as much of the upper frequencies as possible.

There are guidelines about how much stuffing one ought to add to a ported system, but those guidelines assume an inert enclosure, and the Bose enclosure is VERY 'live'.