9XX/JMG Speaker upgrades

[sarbirus]

Having had the 9XX speaker upgrade in my old C2, I have decided to go the whole hog with my new (to me) 996 turbo.. The C2 always sounded leagues ahead of my Boxster S with Bose, and all the 996 turbo's I drove with Bose, so it is a no brainer for me!

Its all being done right now and I cant wait to get it back later today!

I remember there was a thread in here about the kits JMG sell, and remember a lot of members in this and other forums wanted to buy the adapter kits without speakers but at the time JMG were not able to sell them except for as part of a kit with either their custom Alpine speakers or with the off the shelf Alpine speakers.

The original thread was here...

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=412788&mpage=1&key=

Well, it seems due to the order lead times of the custom speakers, and general demand, JMG told me when I dropped off the car this morning that they are now selling not only the custom kit, but also selling just the adapter kit, including the adapter rings, adapter brackets and the wiring adapters, so people can just use their own aftermarket speakers or order them from JMG with the adapters... Not sure about the pricing as I am having the full monty, but a quick ebay search found this...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280396075443&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

According to the ebay page, the speakers that are certified to work with this kit are...

SXE-1025S (Budget)
SPE-10C2 (moderate quality)
SPG-10C2 (High quality)

And they are selling the speakers as well seperately, but I know Jon Mitchell at JMG told me this morning they cant compete with some online sellers or even Halfords for price. But they do stock them all in case anyone wants them mail order or for fitting there.

Anyway, they are still doing the Alpine custom speaker kits, which is whats going into my 996 turbo today, along with an Avic double din head unit (sat nav, cd, radio, ipod, dvd, coffee machine!), 3 amps, crossovers, door speakers and 2 active bass units!

I will report back later today with how it all sounds! Sooooo excited!

 

[sarbirus]

WOW.. the car hifi in her now sounds amazing... I'm off for another play!

Jon Mitchell of JMG has also said that until the end of the month he will be offering the adapter kits at £35 including shipping to those that order direct, not through the ebay offer (rather than £35 plus shipping)

Anyway... need to play with the Avic.

 

[jonbentley]

hi i am currently looking to get the becker satnav in mine (4720) upgraded. could you tell me a little more of what youve had fitted and who / where it was done

i am in the midlands and i know if i go for a double din unit i need to move the air con controls and fit new trim etc. The only place ive found who were willing to do the job with confidence were bass junkies in willenhall and that was for either a kenwood jvc or pioneer unit i think the kenwood matched my spec but was looking at 700 plus 100 fitting

any advice welcomed

also when you come to change the car will you be leaving the unit in - what are peoples views on this does it add sufficient value or detract because its not porsche OEM?

thanks

Jon

 

[sarbirus]

I will leave it in when I sell it, but if its a deal breaker I will still have all the old original parts with the car and would even pay JMG to revert it back to standard. The bonus is they have done everything in such a way as that nothing has been damaged or altered to make it all happen.

 

[jamma]

I had speakers fitted at JMG a few months back, the better Alpine ones, I don't have door speakers but I had an Alpine sub fitted too, this makes a massive difference. Sound is fantastic compared with stock set up.

 

[ChasR]

ORIGINAL: jonbentley

hi i am currently looking to get the becker satnav in mine (4720) upgraded. could you tell me a little more of what youve had fitted and who / where it was done

i am in the midlands and i know if i go for a double din unit i need to move the air con controls and fit new trim etc. The only place ive found who were willing to do the job with confidence were bass junkies in willenhall and that was for either a kenwood jvc or pioneer unit i think the kenwood matched my spec but was looking at 700 plus 100 fitting

any advice welcomed

also when you come to change the car will you be leaving the unit in - what are peoples views on this does it add sufficient value or detract because its not porsche OEM?

thanks

Jon

I would personally avoid Bass Junkies, unless you deal with Mart in Wolves. Try www.platinumincar.co.uk and speak to Lee and say Chas sent you. He may be a little OTT for the stuff you want but he may suggest something for your needs and budget and is a pretty decent bloke . Failing that, I'd be willing to give my view on how to go about it (I am based in Warwick).

IMO, HUs don't really detract value. It all comes down to the setup and finish. One with an OEM radio may be more desirable, but something like a Becker will not be a problem, nor will be a sound system that has been installed well.

Besides Alpine, I would also look at Rainbow. Cracking speakers for the cash. Most of the time IME OEM speakers are not the problem, but it is the HU (most manufacturers (even Porsche dare I say it) don't normally give you great HUs unless you pay quite a bit extra. Simply changing the HU for something decent will make a marked improvement I have found in most cases. But most people will happily talk speakers in order to have their cars looking stock.

I have proven this point with my old Peugeot 306 (2001 model) and my 1997 one now. The '97 sounds miles better (that has a Blaupunkt HU and stock speakers, the 2000 model had Alpine mids all round off the Clarion HU and sounded poor. Becker improved it but after I put my Rainbows in and my Genesis Amps the sound was fantastic but that is another story...).

I am not denying JMG's upgrade is not bad by any means though from what I have heard, but IME it will be superior to the BOSE system as suggested.

In case people are wondering what modern Beckers look like in the older Porsches here it is in my 944 albeit green and not orange(yes I know...):