# 2002 Porsche Boxster S



## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

We finally chose a toy to replace the S4, after a year and a half with an intermediate vehicle.

2002 Porsche Boxster S, 6 speed, 3.2L, red over black. Came with a hardtop.










It came with factory navigation - but it won't read the CD, and ergonomics get a 2/10. All of that will come out (tonight maybe) 

The bose system is better than the base model system but still sounds like an alarm clock radio. 
Tonight I'll see about putting me Denon in the dash, hooked up to the factory amp, then in the fall / winter I'll work on upgrading the rest.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

VERY nice choice! Can't wait to see what you do to upgrade the audio in this


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

In for this as well. Been searching for a MLC (mid life crisis) vehicle and Porsche is battling M3 for the honors.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

teldzc1 said:


> In for this as well. Been searching for a MLC (mid life crisis) vehicle and Porsche is battling M3 for the honors.


I hope to live beyond 64...


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## sirbOOm (Jan 24, 2013)

We bypass factory in these. That amp is a piece of cow poop - if they stay working.


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

the boxter s is a great car, well balanced and looks ok too! but..theres so little space to put anything anywhere.

Personally, I'd go for an m3


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I got the factory units out last night - it was all pretty easy.
Had to re-pin the adapter I got. The remote _*12v_ for the amp was in the right place, but the _*line out_ were not. Plus there doesn't appear to be a place to ground the signal.

The Denon is still not installed because the ground pin on the plug is bad. I'll be fixing that today.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Progress pic with the nav CD removed.


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## capea4 (Sep 2, 2010)

You do know The Boxter was made so that the wife could have a Porsche too right?

I'm just playing, the s is a very fun and capable auto


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## kustomkaraudio (Jun 20, 2009)

alm001 said:


> Progress pic with the nav CD removed.




Now your going to need one of these..



Console Storage Shelf:Suncoast Porsche Parts & Accessories


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

kustomkaraudio said:


> Now your going to need one of these..
> 
> 
> 
> Console Storage Shelf:Suncoast Porsche Parts & Accessories


Way ahead of you. Two of them are their way to me as we speak.


I "finished" putting the Denon in last night. The signal wires are earth grounded instead of shielded for some reason, so there is a bit of noise. This will all get sorted when I install my own amplifiers in place of the bose. I also removed the sub from the rear deck, since it offered little more than taking up space and adding weight. -On top of adding difficulty to accessing the motor.

For the amps, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I have the two matching JBL 4channels from my subaru. I don't know if I should use just one, or both... or sell them and get a smaller amp, or pair of amps. I have plenty of time to decide.

The plan is full active, tweeters on dash, mids in doors.


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## carlr (Feb 27, 2011)

Why not offload the JBL's and go for a Mosconi D2 100.4 DSP? Especially if form factor / weight is to be taken into consideration.


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## 1styearsi (Aug 13, 2012)

my wife had a white 1 just like that 5 years ago every time i drove it gay guy's hit on me....


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## sirbOOm (Jan 24, 2013)

1styearsi said:


> my wife had a white 1 just like that 5 years ago every time i drove it gay guy's hit on me....


And if you were driving a Camaro?


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## capea4 (Sep 2, 2010)

sirbOOm said:


> And if you were driving a Camaro?


strait men would hit on him?


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## Makky (Nov 15, 2014)

1styearsi said:


> my wife had a white 1 just like that 5 years ago every time i drove it gay guy's hit on me....


lololol :laugh:



sirbOOm said:


> And if you were driving a Camaro?


Then the more masculine gays would....


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## 1styearsi (Aug 13, 2012)

sirbOOm said:


> And if you were driving a Camaro?


but hay the BOXER was SUPER FUN TO DRIVE.great car!!!!!
just expensive to maintain the alternator went bad it was 1200 bucks to have it replaced.....
i don't have a camaro now but close......


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

1styearsi said:


> my wife had a white 1 just like that 5 years ago every time i drove it gay guy's hit on me....


You must be prettier than me. 0 activity on that front so far.

But it is very fun to drive.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Changed the oil last night. That is all.


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## Brian_smith06 (Jan 31, 2008)

binary license plate? love it


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Awesome pic. 13 your lucky number?


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Brian_smith06 said:


> binary license plate? love it





Kazuhiro said:


> Awesome pic. 13 your lucky number?


Yes, and yes! (I think - birthdate is 7/13)


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## capea4 (Sep 2, 2010)

Your instantly awesome based solely on your garage.


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

Brian_smith06 said:


> binary license plate? love it


I thought it was from the Clutch song :laugh:


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

capea4 said:


> Your instantly awesome based solely on your garage.


I don't want to lose this status... but it's a friend's garage.
My garage is a work in progress, but I do have a 5ft wide banner with a picture of my old audi on it, and about 20 license plates on the wall.

His garage is sweet though, it is a 3 bay barn, with a lift in the center. In his previous life he was a Toyota mechanic, so his tool selection is great. I drive about 30 minutes just to make use of it.


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

Yay for you! Though I missed the s4 part, I do remember the subie. Good luck on your build and keep us posted.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Mless5 said:


> Yay for you! Though I missed the s4 part, I do remember the subie. Good luck on your build and keep us posted.


The S4 was before the Subaru. I count it as my last "real" car.


I got one pocket for the dash, and made a quick and dirty blank panel for the other opening. Here's a pic!


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Wowzers! That looks sharp in there!


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## Brian_smith06 (Jan 31, 2008)

almost need the denon gauges for in there too. That does look sharp though!


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I have a non working bose amp on its way to me, I will be gutting it and using as a housing for my miniDSP.

I think these JBL amps are too big to put in the frunk.










I'll lose over 3" of depth, and I don't think I want to sacrifice it. Meanwhile pictures like this make me want to go to a single PDX or JL HD.










Thoughts?


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Zapco has a very nice Class D five channel available also. 

There is also the Soundstream Tarantula Nano and PPI P900.5 if you want to keep costs down.

Nothing wrong with a Class D five channel at all. I'm running a Class D six channel and mono for the first time, and have no regrets so far.


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

I think you'll be happy with the PDX, PDR, HD or XD. I do like class AB sound, but modern class D sounds pretty damn good. I'd also check out the Biketronics as well. Hit up Architect7 for more details about high pass filter. They're based off of very hi end hypex class d modules.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I started taking apart the stock amp, and laying out the MiniDSP. I have my wiring diagrams done, basically.










It doesn't look like I'll be able to fit 9 banana connectors, 4 RCAs and the USB port on the side of the amp like I had imagined, but I have the whole 'face' of the amp to mount terminals.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Progressed a bunch this weekend.
Murdered the Bose plug:









Soldered on my wires:


















Put in some 10mm stands and wired the DSP. (I fixed the reverse wired RCAs from my last install)










So now I'm ready to connect an amp or two. I'll put one of my JBL in tomorrow to test.









The store I went to didnt have a USB header, so I just used a cable.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Pics on last two posts not showing


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Kazuhiro said:


> Pics on last two posts not showing


Thanks for the heads-up. I think I fixed it. I can't change the older one, though.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I threw one of my JBLs into the trunk and wired it up, then did some preliminary xovers and levels. I'm much happier than with the OEM amp. The stock [drivers] have obvious limitations.

Phase 2 will be choosing and installing an amplifier.

I'm not going to post a pic of the temporary amp, as it is velcroed to the floor and wires are everywhere.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Anyone have any input on this amp?
GM-D8604 - Class FD 4-Channel Bridgeable Amplifier | Pioneer Electronics USA

Dimensions are similar to an Alpine PDX, but fits my budget a lot better.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

A user here called toylocost recently had a bad experience with a couple of those, and wasnt able to get anything done about it.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Hardtop is on till the spring;










Still kind of looking for an amp. Gave some thought to those Sure boards, but I don't really want the headaches. Waiting on the right deal for a PDX 4.100 or 4.150, or F4 at a super discount.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I came across this DLS amp that would fit where I need it to, and its class ab..
http://www.amazon.com/DLS-Reference...ie=UTF8&qid=1446754625&sr=1-4&keywords=pdx-f4

Just slightly outside my budget. 

Does anyone know of any a/b 4channel amps that are similarly sized? I need to stay under 10x9.5


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Excessive bokeh


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I have been having trouble with google's recent "photos" site for sharing pics on forums, so I'm reposting a couple pics from this thread.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Super badass on gutting the amp making your plugs.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

optimaprime said:


> Super badass on gutting the amp making your plugs.


Thanks! I'm happy with the way it came out, although I would have liked to find a good USB plug to mount to it.

I have an amplifier on my Christmas list, so we will see if that got fulfilled and I can make some progress.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I pulled one of the dash _*spea.kers_ out, and looked at mounting a tweeter in there. This counts as progress!

Here's a pic while I was working on the intake.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I made a quick and dirty plate to mount the tweeter in this location. I'm going to test it out and see how I like it.

The positioning is not ideal. After I test them out I'm going to work on moving them farther toward the pillars.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Finished both sides.



















Crossovers are set at 1500hz. They sound decent - still have to spend some time level matching the mids and playing with settings.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

No progress! But it's clean.










I did get some new tires.


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## Sine Swept (Sep 3, 2010)

I recently did a 02 S for a guy. He had the stock single din so our conversion was all involved. The heater controls were relocated, added the new pocket and installed a Pioneer App radio. Took the car into the future where it belongs. His oem amps were still in use, though the amp was marked 996 and not 986. The car also had the bose subwoofer, which could only be tamed by playing with the xover points.


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## adrianp89 (Oct 14, 2007)

Oh those putting a double-din in those is fun. I now get scheduled to do every Porsche lol.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Sine Swept said:


> I recently did a 02 S for a guy. He had the stock single din so our conversion was all involved. The heater controls were relocated, added the new pocket and installed a Pioneer App radio. Took the car into the future where it belongs. His oem amps were still in use, though the amp was marked 996 and not 986. The car also had the bose subwoofer, which could only be tamed by playing with the xover points.


Moving the hvac is a pain. I decided to keep mine where it is.
Most parts on the car are actually marked with 996, as they shared parts to save costs.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I made some progress! I'm not happy with the mounting at all, but I can fix it over the winter when I think of a solution.

Here is the temp setup:









Pioneer GM-D8604 after I sanded the front plate down some. I have more work to do on this.









And here is the amp mounted in place of the CD changer:









The previous owner of the amp must have had it reverse mounted, and had drilled two holes through the case. I cut off the mounting feet for space reasons, so I was going to use the holes to run screws into the OEM CD changer bracket. This plan went south when I drilled the holes too large, and the screws easily stripped it.
Plan B was running zip ties to hold it in place. 
As far as solutions go... I may put some nylon or leather straps to hold it in place.

Another stumbling block was with the limited space, I had to improvise on the RCAs.
The only 90deg RCAs I could find locally were $17 a pair, and I thought that was ridiculous. So I cut the plastic connectors open, and just ran them like that for now. There may not even be space for real 90 degree connectors. I could always just solder right to the board, or make my own hot glue and shrink wrap dressings.

Sorry for the ****ty pics. I'll take better ones when I am happier with the outcome.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Meanwhile in the winter beater









My friend wouldn't let me borrow his Denon so I could have matching cars... Some friend!


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Update! I've installed a bluetooth receiver.
I used a Sure Electronics receiver board, and stuffed it in the dash.
https://www.parts-express.com/sure-...dio-receiver-board-aptx--edr-12-vdc--320-351#!











I just got the car out of storage last week. I'm hoping I can find some time to order some Dayton woofers soon. I have spare door enclosures ready to go.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Here's a random picture from last week, when I released her from the confines of the garage for the first time since November.


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## bcbsox (Sep 14, 2010)

And then? 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk


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## pentavolvo (Nov 12, 2008)

alm001 said:


> Update! I've installed a bluetooth receiver.
> I used a Sure Electronics receiver board, and stuffed it in the dash.
> https://www.parts-express.com/sure-...dio-receiver-board-aptx--edr-12-vdc--320-351#!
> 
> ...


Any noise with this Bluetooth adapter


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

pentavolvo said:


> Any noise with this Bluetooth adapter


No noise, it actually works and sounds great.



bcbsox said:


> And then?


Not much.

I did just get my Dayton RS150P-4A in today. So I can start working on mounting them into the door enclosures.

Unfortunately, it seems as though my water pump has failed so I have to fix that. This came two days after I had finished fixing the voltage regulator:


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I also ordered some ND28F to try out instead of the TB ceramics I have in the dash now.

Last time I used the ND28F, I had 3 per side, on axis, in a partial array, and it was amazing.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Lots of updates!

The waterpump was shot. I didn't want to risk driving it to my friends lift, so I replaced it in my garage on jackstands, along with a new Tstat, some random hoses and coolant.










I got a set of spare door enclosures, and mounted the Daytons in with some grinding, and spacers and caulking.









The swap was real easy once I had the enclosures assembled, it took me about an hour to swap enclosures on both sides.

most importantly, I removed the BOSE logos from the doors.










When the humidity drops below 99% I'll spend some time in the garage tweaking xovers and levels - and I still have to swap in the Dayton tweeters.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

I did quite a bit of hacking on my dash mounts to put the Dayton tweeters in










The aiming puts them away from the windshield a couple degrees, and in toward each other slightly.

Currently crossed at 4k (Minidsp's Bessel filter: 12db/octave?) I want to bring the crossover down some, so I'll try out steeper slopes after I let them run-in a bit. Pretty happy so far with tonality and resolution


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Updated system diagram.









The tweeters seem to have run-in, I'll be messing with levels and crossovers this weekend.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Dude this is **** ton of work you have done its awesome!!! Love car big Porsche fan.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

optimaprime said:


> Dude this is **** ton of work you have done its awesome!!! Love car big Porsche fan.


Thanks!

I did a little tuning this weekend. Brought the crossovers down to 3k - I think what I was listening to was a problem. It was Smashing Pumpkins Disarm, but I think it was a bad rip - More harshness than I expected, and very little info in higher fqs. I'll stick with the IASCA or Sheffield drive CDs I have.










In non audio work, I painted the discolored plastic on the front bumper.

Before:








After:


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Well this car is gone now. We traded it in toward a bigger car for the wife.

I kept the Denon, but I'm considering selling it.

I am now daily driving a 2016 Impreza 2.0i, so that's exciting! At least its manual. I'll start a build thread shortly but I just ordered some Dayton RST28F tweeters since they are on sale.


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## carlthess40 (Aug 21, 2018)

All the years as a Porsche tech at a independent shop. When that model came out no o e would work on the mid engine car.
And me being the low man in the totem pole I was the one that had to work on those and all of the front engine ones Porsche’s. 
I learned to love them. I did a lot of track setup for Sebring Florida race week
Those little things turned out to be good little track cars. After pulling all the a/c and heating stuff and anything not needed for the week long racing. And had to make room for the Becool cooler and hoses for the cooling suit. I had the weight setup to a 51% front and 49% rear. It was easier to get the 50/50 but the 51/49 worked better for the left and right turns
Now I’m disabled and did my last track car 6 plus years ago. I never thought I would miss those 18 hour days for race week



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