I own a 2015 Porsche Macan. I ordered it back in June 2014 when the model first came out and had to wait 6 months to pick it up... 92K miles later, I still have it, and I enjoy it very much... Never had a car for so long.
Up until now, I have tolerated the Bose system that this SUV has, but knew that it was sub par. I had made several modifications to this car, including lowering the air suspension, wheel spacers, added a front spoiler, etc.... but something was still missing, and it was the audio...
I started my upgrade in May 2020, and although I'm mostly done with it, I wanted to document what I have done and how. There are many aspects I'm still working with.
First, I had been working closely with @Ge0 in the macan forum. My experience, prior to this one, with aftermarket audio systems is almost nil. I had done a couple of upgrades many years ago with standard instructions from Crutchfield, and these were the times when cars only have speakers in the back. @Ge0 had been a tremendous help with my upgrade, as he is also doing the upgrade in his Macan.
My original intent with the upgrade was very modest. Just changing a couple of crappy Bose speakers to improve the audio. But that quickly turned into an "all-in" experience.
From a couple of speakers, I ended up changing "ALL" 14 speakers in the Macan, not once, but twice, some three times. With each iteration, the sound improved. I also changed the amplifier, as well as the subwoofer amplifier. I also learned how to use REW, with an UMIK microphone with the help of @Ge0. I learned about the Harman Curve and how to theoretically tune the system, although I'm still working on that.
In any case, I want to start this series with the subwoofer, as this was the first upgrade I did...
PART 1: SUBWOOFER
This is the original Bose subwoofer. It has an 8” subwoofer, which I assume is 2-ohm.
I replaced the subwoofer with a Rockford Fosgate P3SD2-8. I had to use a 1/2” spacer. It was driven by the same Bose Sub Amp, in the photo. The RF subwoofer performed very well, it had a nice punch to it (honoring its name).
I then replaced the Rockford Fosgate, with an Audison APS-8D. At that point, I realized that the Bose Amp wasn’t driving these subwoofers appropriately and decided to also upgrade the amplifier.
Used a TORO MR2 amplifier. This tiny amplifier woke up the subwoofer, and was able to drive it very well. For the price, you can’t get anything better than Toro.
As I continued to upgrade my other speakers and even my amplifier, I’ll talk later about them, I realized that I needed more power. I realized I needed to get out of the OEM plastic box and upgrade the size of the subwoofer.
I decided to build my own box... more on my next post (to be continued)...
Up until now, I have tolerated the Bose system that this SUV has, but knew that it was sub par. I had made several modifications to this car, including lowering the air suspension, wheel spacers, added a front spoiler, etc.... but something was still missing, and it was the audio...
I started my upgrade in May 2020, and although I'm mostly done with it, I wanted to document what I have done and how. There are many aspects I'm still working with.
First, I had been working closely with @Ge0 in the macan forum. My experience, prior to this one, with aftermarket audio systems is almost nil. I had done a couple of upgrades many years ago with standard instructions from Crutchfield, and these were the times when cars only have speakers in the back. @Ge0 had been a tremendous help with my upgrade, as he is also doing the upgrade in his Macan.
My original intent with the upgrade was very modest. Just changing a couple of crappy Bose speakers to improve the audio. But that quickly turned into an "all-in" experience.
From a couple of speakers, I ended up changing "ALL" 14 speakers in the Macan, not once, but twice, some three times. With each iteration, the sound improved. I also changed the amplifier, as well as the subwoofer amplifier. I also learned how to use REW, with an UMIK microphone with the help of @Ge0. I learned about the Harman Curve and how to theoretically tune the system, although I'm still working on that.
In any case, I want to start this series with the subwoofer, as this was the first upgrade I did...
PART 1: SUBWOOFER
This is the original Bose subwoofer. It has an 8” subwoofer, which I assume is 2-ohm.
I replaced the subwoofer with a Rockford Fosgate P3SD2-8. I had to use a 1/2” spacer. It was driven by the same Bose Sub Amp, in the photo. The RF subwoofer performed very well, it had a nice punch to it (honoring its name).
I then replaced the Rockford Fosgate, with an Audison APS-8D. At that point, I realized that the Bose Amp wasn’t driving these subwoofers appropriately and decided to also upgrade the amplifier.
Used a TORO MR2 amplifier. This tiny amplifier woke up the subwoofer, and was able to drive it very well. For the price, you can’t get anything better than Toro.
As I continued to upgrade my other speakers and even my amplifier, I’ll talk later about them, I realized that I needed more power. I realized I needed to get out of the OEM plastic box and upgrade the size of the subwoofer.
I decided to build my own box... more on my next post (to be continued)...