Sound package plus new 981 - what visible signs?

[steveatesh]

First Porsche so forgive me, still getting used to it. Just taken delivery of a new 981 Boxster 2.7 PDK, so far so good, drives like a dream. When I specked it I kept the standard CDR audio ( wife does not use sat nav thingys) but specked the Sound Package Plus speaker upgrade because I heard a standard audio system on a test car and thought it was quite poor.

I am wondering if there will be something visible I will be able to see to verify the SPP has actually been fitted because the audio, to be frank, is rubbish and I can only hear sound from the door speakers. The brochures are not clear about where the 7 speakers and amplifier with SPP are fitted in the car, can anybody advise where the 7 SPP speakers should be?

There is no fade setting to play with in th CDR options, just balance, treble and bass, and although the are speaker grills behind each seat nothing seems to play out of them suggesting they are blank grills?

Is SPP just a crap upgrade not worth bothering with, or is it possible they have just not put it in or it's bust?

[itsybitsy]

i have had spp in a 986 boxster a cayman and now a boxster spyder. i must say it does not work as well in the boxster as in the cayman(or any coupe) because you get rear speakers whereas the boxster ones are all forward so dont expect to much on the sound front

[DaihatsuNinja]

I don't know about the Sound Package Plus but I had the Bose upgrade in my 981S and bizarrely the main speakers were located BEHIND the seats. This meant that I had to drive with the seats unfeasibly far forward to get decent sound quality.
When I had the drivers seat in a comfortable position for the clutch and high gear lever then most of the sound was muffled leaving just the door speakers to do the work.
Because it never occured to me that Porsche wouldn't know that sound travels through air, it took me ages and a couple of forum posts to work out what the problem was! (doh!) I'm six foot tall, maybe you've got the same problem?

[steveatesh]

DaihatsuNinja said:

I don't know about the Sound Package Plus but I had the Bose upgrade in my 981S and bizarrely the main speakers were located BEHIND the seats. This meant that I had to drive with the seats unfeasibly far forward to get decent sound quality.
When I had the drivers seat in a comfortable position for the clutch and high gear lever then most of the sound was muffled leaving just the door speakers to do the work.
Because it never occured to me that Porsche wouldn't know that sound travels through air, it took me ages and a couple of forum posts to work out what the problem was! (doh!) I'm six foot tall, maybe you've got the same problem?

Thanks, I sat with the car on the drive and pulled the seats forward and put my ear against the speaker grilles behind the seats but can't hear a thing - either there are no speakers there or they are disconnected. I can't find a picture with the SPP speaker locations I know it's unlikely but I'm even doubting its been fitted !

[itsybitsy]

it most likely has been fitted should have the factory extras in the service manual it use to be on the inside of bonnet lid.thing is as i said before there are no rear speakers in a boxster pre 981 mostly likely 2 in each door/footwell and 3 in front dash

[steveatesh]

itsybitsy said:

it most likely has been fitted should have the factory extras in the service manual it use to be on the inside of bonnet lid.thing is as i said before there are no rear speakers in a boxster pre 981 mostly likely 2 in each door/footwell and 3 in front dash

Cheers I'llhave a look. Have to express disappointment at this upgrade for nearly £400.

[itsybitsy]

it has been mentioned in the past any sound upgrade in a boxster is not that good.try playing around with the sound boost,bass,treble etc to get best sound

[itsybitsy]

just had a quick look on the configurator the 981 cayman has 2 more speakers which will be the rear ones.although there are 9 speakers on the cayman only 4 of them are your main speakers and 2 main on the boxster the others are all small

[steveatesh]

Thanks for that, I guess the 2 speaker holes behind the seats are for the Bose upgrade. I thought it unlikely that the upgrade could be missed out, but the sound quality is really poor.

Thanks for your help, think I'll leave it switched off and just enjoy the rest of the car!

Edited by steveatesh on Wednesday 2nd January 18:36

[stevod]

Yes the grilles behind the seats are just for the Bose.

Pretty sure the SPP has a speaker in the centre of the dash under the windscreen - should be the easiest to test.

What source are you using?

S

[steveatesh]

stevod said:

Yes the grilles behind the seats are just for the Bose.

Pretty sure the SPP has a speaker in the centre of the dash under the windscreen - should be the easiest to test.

What source are you using?

S

Used the CD player and the radio, I was hoping the CD player would bring in the benefit of the SPP package but didn't seem to make a difference. I saw the grill on the dashboard, couldn't feel any vibration from it so assumed it was something to do with air circulation. Nice to know its a speaker thanks! I presume standard audio doesn't have that central dashboard speaker?

[ooral]

Not exactly the same, but in my 987 Cayman, the sound quality was terrible, I actually replaced all apart from the rear speakers.
Not warranty friendly, luckily the car was past that stage...

[steveatesh]

ooral said:

Not exactly the same, but in my 987 Cayman, the sound quality was terrible, I actually replaced all apart from the rear speakers.
Not warranty friendly, luckily the car was past that stage...

A job for the future I think. I made the mistake of thinking premium car would mean premium audio.... Fortunately it's not too important an issue.
Rest of car is superb up to now though. Especially the PDK.

[Moog72]

Yup, just to confirm the grilles behind the seats are only used by the Bose upgrade hence why you don't have any sort of fade control.

[tracydeedance]

On the boxster 981 rear speaker grills has anyone had a look to see if the wires are there as it may be possible to fit the bose speakers in without much effort to get a little more sound for just the standard set up.
I have had a look you can buy the bose rear speakers.

[chip-boy]

steveatesh said:

A job for the future I think. I made the mistake of thinking premium car would mean premium audio.... Fortunately it's not too important an issue.
Rest of car is superb up to now though. Especially the PDK.

Steve; what upgrade did you do? i have a Cayman Gen 2 with SPP and its a bit poo coming from Bose in my last Audi, so looking to get a better sound set up as its my daily. thanks rOb