Auto Audio: The best car audio installer in the world

[SonnyM]

This post summarises my experience of doing a high end audio install in my Porsche.

Being an audiophile and a sound engineer in my spare time I was disappointed at best with the BOSE system that came with my RS60 Spyder.

I searched the internet the world over for a year to find the best components and installers who could deliver an incredible sound system in a Porsche. Suffice to say this is a specialist area and there are installers and forums on "fabrication" etc that make Detailing World look like kiddies play...

Based on recommendation around 2004 from a neighbour I remembered the name 'Auto Audio' in Park Royal, London. So I contacted Greg, told him I wanted a "high end" install and he invited me in to see a CGT they were working on. I made a number of trips to their Park Royal workshop and saw the incredible work Auto Audio do - everything from parking sensors and iPod cables (they are the official workshop for Porsche GB) to retrims and complete restorations. Clients cars range from Minis, rare classics such as E Types and 356 Speedsters, to Phantoms, Ferraris, Lambos, fire engines and boats! The clients range from average Derek like me, to A listers, (proper) rock stars and Russian billionaires. This gave me the confidence to ask Greg to plan the installation (with big restrictions from me) and let his team do the work.

It took months to find the right components and we had to wait for some things to actually be released because they did not exist initially to the spec I wanted. Anyway, here are the new components we settled for:

1. MOREL Elate 'Limited Edition' 3-way component speakers (the reference standard on the planet) - c. 2k

http://www.morel.co.il/products/mob_3way_elate_lim...

2. MOREL Ultimo 10" sub in passenger footwell - c. 1k

http://www.morel.co.il/products/mob_subwoofers_ult...

3. SINFONI Grave 4 channel Amplifier (x2) (handmade italian, one for 3-way speakers, one for Sub) - c. 3k

http://www.sinfoni.com/Amplifiers/Tempo/grave/

4. PIONEER AVIC F930BT Nav head unit (w/ iPhone / USB input cable - sounds excellent, large capacity recognition for USB, Nav better than TomTom) - c. 700 from CAS http://caraudiosecurity.com

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/25/111/241/AVIC-...

5. PIONEER Porsche Double DIN surround in Anthracite (381323-03-1. Was very hard to find OEM quality bezel and the Pioneer one is the best... I looked all the way from the US to Japan!) - c. 50 from CAS http://caraudiosecurity.com

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/25/38/18216/381...

6. High end cabling - c. 500+

Here are the restrictions I placed on the install:

1. No cutting at all
2. Completely reversible installation
3. No distortion or audible vibration at any level (based on my test CD of Trance / Techno / Ambient)
4. Stealth install
5. Lightest weight components

Greg and his team achieved all of this with incredible precision, and the result is I now have an in car system that sounds absolutely stunning - even with the roof down, PSE on and engine behind me. I am very happy, and even though it was not cheap it was worth every single penny, because music is my first love.

Do not believe the naysayers - it is possible to have an audiophile level sound system in a car that blows your socks off regardless of the environment.

I would like to say thank you to Greg, John and his fantastic team who made the entire experience personal, enjoyable and perfect from beginning to end. I highly recommend Auto Audio to anyone:

http://www.autoaudio.uk.com/

Here are some piccies for you:


The Elate Ltd - one of the last sets to be made.

The clarity from these speakers is absolutely incredible with a well EQ'd source.

The floor mat covers the Sub perfectly so it cannot be seen.

Crossovers fit nicely where the old PCM Nav unit was.

The Sinfoni amps sit at the bottom of the boot.


The Pioneer head unit with Pioneer bezel which is a perfect colour match.

An appropriate splash screen.

I didn't take pics of the best exotica - but spot the Ferrari, Aston, Bentley and of course Lambo, all having different work done.

[DKL]

It looks phenomenal, I dread to think what it cost and to go to that extent on something that moves and is subject to the vagaries of road noise, ambient noise, tyre noise etc could seem abit (or maybe alot) OTT. At worst unnecessary as said extraneous noise renders the undoubtedly excellent acoustics useless.
I take it you don't go to Halfords then
I'll stick to my Becker HU. As long as it works for you that's all that matters
Good write up though.

[baz1985]

That is fantastic and must make Rank 1- Airwave/Chicane- Saltwater/Dash Berlin- Sky falls down sound rather epic!

[EVOeng]

Great write-up and a lovely install.

I've dealt with Auto Audio in the past and have been very impressed with their work.

[SonnyM]

Thanks DKL - yes I took your points into account as many people mentioned the same thing before I went ahead, but the result really has to be heard to be believed. I have a pretty good ear, and the music is there to pleasure me when I want it...

I've broken down the prices of each component above though the () pound sign didn't come out. Total cost was 8500. That may seem like a lot to some people, but I can tell you some people spend around 4 times as much and never even turn their stereo on after they have it fitted...

I detailed this for you guys because Porsche installs require knowledge to do well - it took a lot of planning and research so I hope the info benefits PHers.

[SonnyM]

baz1985 said:

That is fantastic and must make Rank 1- Airwave/Chicane- Saltwater/Dash Berlin- Sky falls down sound rather epic!

Those songs are ALL on my USB as uncompressed WAV files...

[Captain James T]

Awesome! They'll never notice at warranty renewal time....

[mohitos]

Particularly impressed with the bezel. It looks standard.

Edited by mohitos on Saturday 5th April 20:37

[spareparts]

DKL said:

It looks phenomenal, I dread to think what it cost and to go to that extent on something that moves and is subject to the vagaries of road noise, ambient noise, tyre noise etc could seem abit (or maybe alot) OTT. At worst unnecessary as said extraneous noise renders the undoubtedly excellent acoustics useless.
I take it you don't go to Halfords then
I'll stick to my Becker HU. As long as it works for you that's all that matters
Good write up though.

^ Agreed.
I love music and appreciate audiophile sound, but imho there is a law of diminishing returns when installed in a convertible subject to as much external noise as a Boxster is subject to. The value of the audio modifications effectively adds at least 50% to the insured value of the car?!

That being said, Auto Audio are superb and always the first car audio specialists I have recommended to many.

[Callughan]

Sounds like they have changed or raised their game. I went there a few years ago when I had the CLK and they were clueless, couldn't identify a simple fault and were asking me to change the entire sound system. It turned out just to be a faulty connection on the amp.

[mankey]

That's quite a shopping list and I congratulate you for taking the leap.

I go with DKL though, on the likely external effects. How does road and tyre noise interfere with the perfect audio experience? A few years ago I fitted a similar Pioneer unit to a 2005 Boxster and the improvement in functionality was amazing but I could still profoundly hear those 19" tyres.

[SonnyM]

Captain James T said:

Awesome! They'll never notice at warranty renewal time....

What warranty?

[baz1985]

SonnyM said:

baz1985 said:

That is fantastic and must make Rank 1- Airwave/Chicane- Saltwater/Dash Berlin- Sky falls down sound rather epic!

Those songs are ALL on my USB as uncompressed WAV files...

Must sound very melodic with your setup! The 5h!those in my G8yman was pretty lame...always to much hissing on tracks like Cerf, Mitiska and Jaren You Never Said and excessive crackling on Daniel Kandi- Venice beach.

[Tino]

What made you go for the Pioneer. I had an F900BT and outed it for an alpine. I liked the sound of the alpine better, but there were far more features on the pioneer, so wouldn't mind trying one again.
With that budget though, I would have thought an all in one unit would be aout of the question, with slightly more money going towards a proper audiophile component unit.
ETA I rememer auto audio from my install days, starting out under the arches off wood lane, and then in a petrol station on the wood lane itself. They are now very highly regarded in the motor trade, and i know of a few main dealers that use them.

[SonnyM]

Tino said:

What made you go for the Pioneer. I had an F900BT and outed it for an alpine. I liked the sound of the alpine better, but there were far more features on the pioneer, so wouldn't mind trying one again.
With that budget though, I would have thought an all in one unit would be aout of the question, with slightly more money going towards a proper audiophile component unit.

Hi Tino,

Yes we a did a LOT of research into head units. Alpine used to be the class leader in high end units (and I had one before and loved it) but in recent years Pioneer has taken their place. The demise of Alpine's F1 status with no suitable replacement (at the time of choice didn't give much hope either).

Pioneer's high end P99RS was a strong contender but had poor USB support (limit on size, speed problems etc) and is a number of years old.

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/25/121/61/DEX-P...

I was about to go down this route and do an install like this GT3:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/build-logs-pro...

However after doing much research and speaking with Greg who has fitted most of the high end head units to cars, we realised the difference between the F930BT and P99 would be hard pressed to hear in the environment, with a well EQ'd source.

Also, the other high end units like McIntosh etc do not have USB support so were immediately ruled out given I have about 500Gb of WAV files.

The car audio industry moves at a slow pace and appears to be around 5 years behind the technology available at anytime - this is quite frustrating when you want to make the most of new mobile and USB devices / technologies.

[SonnyM]

mankey said:

That's quite a shopping list and I congratulate you for taking the leap.

I go with DKL though, on the likely external effects. How does road and tyre noise interfere with the perfect audio experience? A few years ago I fitted a similar Pioneer unit to a 2005 Boxster and the improvement in functionality was amazing but I could still profoundly hear those 19" tyres.

Yes you do have to turn the volume up as the speed increases but I have found this with most cars unless you have something a bit more luxury that has double glazing...

[SonnyM]

Here's a pic with the door and sub covered up. BOSE badge is still intact but when you turn it on you instantly realise it just couldn't be BOSE!

[SonnyM]

FYI for those of you who do use USB sticks with your head units...

A lot of head units such as the Pioneer insist on FAT32 disk format for your USB. Windows will only allow you to format a USB as FAT32 if the USB size is 32Gb or less. This means you may think you can only use a USB of 32Gb or less, which is not true!

If you have a larger USB, e.g. 64Gb, and you want to format it as FAT32 on Windows, all you need to do is download one of the free formatting tools, such as '2TWare FAT32 Format' which will format your USB to FAT32 in seconds...

http://www.2tware.com/product/8/2tware+fat32format

Then you can use as large a USB stick as you like with your head unit...

[crxvtec]

Hi Sonny,

I popped in to see Greg yesterday; he is recommending a similar setup to yours in my Cayman R and suggested I take a listen to your car if you can spare the time.

If you happen to be around the west end/central London anytime, please drop me a line and I'll buy the beer.

Cheers,

Chirag.

[dry664]

What a great install. People think the Bose systems are fantastic until they hear something like this.
For the naysayers, it is worth noting that you have gone for the absolute best that Morel and Sinfoni have to offer. Even the lower ranges of these premium manufacturers would make Bose sound like and iPhone speaker but would cost a fraction of the price.

I do like the look of that sub. How deep is it and whats it like sitting in the passenger seat when the stereo is on loud?