Can anyone recommend a new head unit?

[nlm13]

Hi ther,

My wife is thinking of upgrading the sound system in her 2005 Boxster S, as she would like to be able to stream music and also have Bluetooth connectivity for her phone.. She has Bose system currently. What are the most popular head units to change to? I was thinking of the Pioneer with Apple car play, but not sure how good this is?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[v8ksn]

With BOSE its a ball ache to change the head unit, you have to upgrade the lot - Head Unit, speakers and amp.

Something to do with the MOST system BOSE uses.....or something like that.

There is an adapter you can buy to run an aftermarket head unit with BOSE... but I don't know what its called.

...... not been much help have I?

[v8ksn]

Just found these threads...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=116...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=885...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=657...

[nlm13]

Haha, thanks! I seem to remember reading something about the Bose amp making it a pain to change anything, suppose it means more money!!

[kingston12]

nlm13 said:

Haha, thanks! I seem to remember reading something about the Bose amp making it a pain to change anything, suppose it means more money!!

That is exactly what it means - very little hassle, but more money!

I put the Pioneer SPH-DA120 CarPlay unit into my 2005S with Bose last year.

The easy way to do it is to buy this for £180:

http://www.connects2.co.uk/Product/ProductItem/CTS...

This adapts the output from the Pioneer (or your choice of aftermarket HU) to work with the Bose, so you can leave the amp and speakers untouched, and return the car to factory when you sell it. These proved quite difficult to get when I was looking for one, and you can actually use the Cayenne or 911 equivalents provided you DON'T have steering wheel controls. If you do, you need the Boxster/Cayman one.

It is an excellent upgrade in usability over the PCM2.1, and it even sounds a bit better to my ear, although I am not sure why given that the amp and speakers are the same! I am sure ripping out MOST/Bose would give an even bigger improvement, but it would cost a lot more money and make it impossible to reverse when you sell the car.

There is a bit of info in this thread:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[nlm13]

Thanks for the info Kingston. I don't have the steering whee controls so that's not a problem. Now that I know it can be done I just need to find a decent place to get it fitted in Glasgow or surrounding area.