# Porsche 981 Cayman S SQ Build - Mosconi, Illusion Audio, Audio Frog



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

I think i have mentioned cars that i have a love/hate relationship with when it comes to installing systems. Porsches are no exception...on one hand, their interior makes them pretty good SQ platforms for a true sports car, but on the flipside, they are pretty labor intensive to work on, run wires through, and there usually is three areas of fab work (front trunk, rear, and interior) versus most cars's two. 

This is our first 981 Cayman install, and compared to its bigger brother the 991 style 911, there is again, some give and take...the interior is pretty much identical to the 911, and the hatch back rear cargo area affords more room to work with than the 911, but running wires through the interior means a lot more panel popping with the mid mounted engine. but enough whining, maybe i am just getting old and my back and knees hates me for crawling in low slung sports cars 

the goals:

1. achieve a nice level of sound quality

2. maintain a relatively low key appearance throughout the car with just a hint of showiness

3. ability to hide all the products and maintain a little bit of storage space

first up, the car. i know many feel that porsche design evolution is no change at all, and all the cars pretty much look similar, but i am a big fan of the subtle steps involved with each generational upgrade. With perhaps only the 993 to 996 change not being one of my favorite. 

this new 981 design i like a lot, and i think it really sharpens up the car overall versus the previous generation. Like the 997 to 991 change, the interior also got a lot more easy to work on and uses higher grade components:














































starting with the headunit. using a very cool kit from suncoast, which seems to use an oem porsche part (the box said genuine porsche part on it), we were able to install a pioneer 8100NEX all in one double din unit, the fit is very precise and looks very oem:



















we also added both a front and rear facing camera to the customers request, both Rydeen parts:



















the rear bumper was removed from the car, and the rydeen camera installed, and the wires were ziptied to the factory loom entering the car:



















and the front camera was done in a similar fashion, no more danger of rubbing the front bumper ont he curbs 



















i also integrated the mosconi remote bass knob into the little pocket behind the switch panel, and maintained the led that lights up the knob:










While the suncoast part fit and looked great, it did require a bit of modification to properly fit the oversized faceplate of the 8100NEX. without it, the unit can only slide a little bit forward, and as a result, it wont be able to open fully. so what i did was, tape strips of acrylic to the sides of the kit, and after a deep breath (one mess up and its a 150 bucks down the drain ), carefully routered the edges down so it would clear the face plate edge of the pioneer unit. you can see this the best on the 2nd picture below:




























and here also are two pictures of the remote bass knob mounting:



















moving onto the front stage...whcih consists of a set of Audio Frog GB60 midbasses and a pair of illusion audio C3cx point sources. the GB60 was installed int he stock lower door location. first, new speaker wires were run into the door:










then, since the porsche doors are known to be very solid and rattle free, i simply did a bit of additional sound proofing with focal BAM XXXL on the inner door skin, and some blackhole tiles on the outer door skin:










then i fabricated a set of spacer baffles, matching precisely with the oem speaker basket, and coated them with several layers of truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:



















and then this baffle was secured to the car using oem hardware and mounting points:










next, the audiofrog GB60 was wired up and installed:










and a set of FAST rings were put on to close the gap to the door panel:



















the same procedure was then repeated on the passenger side:























































and finally, the inside of each door card received some STP CLD damper to help with resonance:



















moving onto the illusion audio c3cx install...these were installed into A pillar pods wrapped in factory headliner material...with the desire not to be too obtrusive, these were aimed relatively off axis. first, some pictures of them with the grille off:









































































and then, with the protective grilles in place:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

some quick build pics of the pillars. 

Joey jumped in and did the initial aiming and molding of the a pillars, and then jesse sanded them smooth. and as usual. i dont have pics of their steps .....this pic is after the pillars have been molded, reinforced from the insided with a resin/filler milkshake, and then sanded smooth 



















i then wrapped them in oem headliner material, and wired up the c3cx:




























i also fabricated the grilles for them:



















moving onto the front of the car. first up is the custom fabricated metal fuse holder bracket, securing a stinger fuse holder:










i welded it up using metal bars, painted it, and it bolts to an oem bolt and locates the fuse holder in a convenient spot next to the battery:




























Here is the front trunk area when covered up, very similar to a 997 we did a few month back. nothing to see at all and you can still load some groceries in there. 










remove the breathable top floor cover, and you see two stacked mosconi AS200.4 amps looking at you. they power the front stage with an active 6x200 watts rms, and sends about a kilowatt to the subs. the amp rack is done in graphite vinyl with a white vinyl trim around the amps. there is a honeycomb mesh under the white vinyl trim piece to give some additional visual effect. again, similar to the 997 we did not too long ago as it has basically the same sized trunk and identical equipment.























































some build pics of the amp rack. first, a portion of the carpet was trimmed and four rivet nuts installed into the floor of the trunk, this will serve to secure the foundation plate and there for everything else above it:










here is the foundation plate, itself loaded with threaded inserts to secure the layer above, and after bolted to the vehicle:



















the immediate next layer secures one of the AS200.4s, the mosconi 6to8v8dsp and the power distribution. followed by a 2nd layer that secures the next 200.4 here they are before upholstery:










and here are the various support pieces before and after painting black:



















here is the first layer after vinyl, and after the spacer has been secured to it:



















and this is it bolted onto the foundation plate in the car:










the AS200.4 and the 6to8 was then secured and wired up:










this is the second level board after vinyl, and then the spacer pieces were bolted to it as well:




























and then this was bolted in place and the 2nd AS200.4 wired up:



















here are the two top floor pieces before vinyl:










this is the trim piece after vinyl, and then after the mesh has been secured, it was bolted to the car:




























and this the top floor panel after vinyl:










and finally, the vented top cover piece before and after carpet:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

so thats it for the front trunk. next, some wiring pics, a lot of wiring runs through oem channels that were impossible to take pictures of, but here are waht i have. including the remote bass knob cable in the center armrest area:



























































































to the final piece of the puzzel, the rear hatch area. again, when covered up, you cant see anything and you can still throw a few small pieces of items back theree:




























lift off the floor and here is what you see. two illusion audio carbon c10 subwoofers reside in a sealed enclosure of about 1 cubic foot, it is trimmed in an identical fashion as the front amp rack with graphite and white vinyl, with a thicker chamfered side wall to clear the magnet, pretty simple looking














































some build pics of the enclosure. first, the area was stripped and the floor covered withi STP CLD damper:



















next, the incredibly thick oem foamed carpet floor was trimmed to gain as much mounting depth and air space as possible:










then, the enclosure with a matching open bottom was laid in the car, and the floor was built using 5 layers of fiberglass:





































when that cured, i pulled the sub enclosure out, and secured a single rivet nut that will hold down the enclosure:










while the enclosure itself got topped, and the mounting holes cutout for the sub. then it was vinyled, and bolted back into the car:














































two side brackes were bolted on, these had to be bolted on after wards as the enclosure cannot fit through the hatch opening with them in place:










here it thick chamfered trim panel before and after vinyl, and then bolted onto the enclosure:




























and here is the top panel before an after vinyl:



















and finally, the rear vented top floor cover before and after carpet:



















so thats it, quite time consuming and my kneeds and back have turned to dust, but it came out pretty nice.

the sound is very pleasant to listen to. the porsche doors, being so solid, means the GB60s are able to produce a lot of midbass impact and extension, solidly anchoring the bass upfront. the two illusion c10s, in such a small space, can really shake the cabin and move some air with very good extension down to 25hz or so on the rta.

the c3cx...well they continue to impress and now that it seems we have done them in all sorts of configurations and aiming angles, they just work well no matter what. very good detail paired with smoothness means they are just a great, natural speaker that can provide hours of enjoyable listening without fatique. the center image is prety precise, hovering right over the oem center channel grille at the front edge of the dash, depth is right to the edge throughout, wide is pillar to pillar, and height is about 6 inches up from the dash. 

so after it all, despite the ache and pains, i am glad we got to do this car and provide the owner with a listening experience that is now on par with his driving experience 

until next time, 

Cheers,

Bing


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## lashlee (Aug 16, 2007)

One of my favorite cars! Great install, again!


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

I'll take it!


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## jonyb (Nov 27, 2009)

When you do the front and rear camera's, are you using a switcher? How is the front camera viewed?


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## LBaudio (Jan 9, 2009)

super nice install


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## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

I'm so happy I finally found a good install in a 981 since I ordered a 981 Cayman GTS which is due to arrive in November. Very nice install. I can't imagine what 2 C10s sounds like in such a small cabin. 

Since you've had a good look into the depths of this car, I was wondering if you could answer a couple of questions that might help me with my own system. I've seen another install where someone put an Elate 9 in that door midbass location. I think the factory driver is an 8" from what I've read. Elate 9 is about the same size as a Dyn MW182 even though the 182 is advertised as a 10". Do you think I would have any issues fitting the 182 in there? Was thinking of doing the Dyn 3-way with the 182 and 142 in the door and the 102 in the dash tweeter locations.

Also, how hard was it to run wiring into the front trunk? Did you have to drill new holes or were there unused grommets in there for wiring?


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## DLO13 (Oct 24, 2010)

What made the client decide to go for two c10s in 1 cube, rather than a single c12xl?


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## damonryoung (Mar 23, 2012)

DLO13 said:


> What made the client decide to go for two c10s in 1 cube, rather than a single c12xl?


Probably depth... Looks like they already had to cut the carpet to get that cube... and that's with the inverted magnets!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

jonyb said:


> When you do the front and rear camera's, are you using a switcher? How is the front camera viewed?


to be honest i havent found the perfect solution to this.

i used to use the beatsonic switcher, which is hooked to the speedsensor wire and when you go below i think 5mph, it will kick on the front camera. however, it is very annoying after a while becuase EVERYTIME you go below 5mph, it kicks it on...so i end up using the manual switch on it...

the new pioneer is a manual switch as well, but it isnt too bad, its two presses to activate the front camera..so for those tight spots, it takes about a second to activate it, and then one touch to deactivate it. 

i wish there was some kind of module that knows when you are parking (versus when you are just slowing down for a stop sign or traffic light)...like some OEMS do...but i dont know of any off hand.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

HIS4 said:


> I'm so happy I finally found a good install in a 981 since I ordered a 981 Cayman GTS which is due to arrive in November. Very nice install. I can't imagine what 2 C10s sounds like in such a small cabin.
> 
> Since you've had a good look into the depths of this car, I was wondering if you could answer a couple of questions that might help me with my own system. I've seen another install where someone put an Elate 9 in that door midbass location. I think the factory driver is an 8" from what I've read. Elate 9 is about the same size as a Dyn MW182 even though the 182 is advertised as a 10". Do you think I would have any issues fitting the 182 in there? Was thinking of doing the Dyn 3-way with the 182 and 142 in the door and the 102 in the dash tweeter locations.
> 
> Also, how hard was it to run wiring into the front trunk? Did you have to drill new holes or were there unused grommets in there for wiring?



1. 9s will fit no problem, why you rarely see me use 8s or bigger as midbass is deep down, i prefer 6.5" as midbasses, you will find people who are of either schools of thought, but i just like a 6.5" for various reasons. i also find that for some cars, an 8 or 9 sounds very stuffy, prehaps due to not enough airspace in the car's door cavity, and i ended up having to really kill 125-250hz...but again, just my preference, but a elate 9 will be no problem...i know people who have fit that as well.

2. one thing about small cabin cars, like the 981, (any other small cabin sports cars i have worked on), is that it tends to suffer from ultra low (sub 30hz) extension with all the windows closed...this one was no exception, though the craziest i have ever seen was in a mini cooper haha. but yeah, row down the window a little and subsonic freq improve by like 2-3 db 

3. this car was a pdk, so there was a very handy grommet that i believe would be used for the clutch pedal rod. so no new holes needed to be drilled. i cannot really speak to a manual 981 as i havent worked on one yet to be honest. 

4. getting wires through the secondary wall (Between battery cavity and the front trunk, did require drilling and grommets...if we were running a simple two way passive system, it may not be neccessary, but no way could we fit that many spekaer wires and rcas through the stock grommet. 

hope this helps. 

Bing


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

DLO13 said:


> What made the client decide to go for two c10s in 1 cube, rather than a single c12xl?


yeah depth was definitely an issue. honestly, with the c10, though it may be hard to see, the subbox, with the top trim on, already is at the edge of the hatch trim panel, as it slops downward at the back. if the box rises above this threadshold, it makes for a more awkward trim and i am not sure how it would look. as in the back, it would be past the bottom of the oem trim panel, but still be far below it at the front. 

when he initially came, we had a c10 here and sat it on the trunk, and i realized how close it was infact, without carpet trimming, there is no way it would fit right. and get enough air space. 

but even if we had the depth, i probably would have preferred two 10s versus 1 x12 in that space for cosmerics...i like to have to have a decent amount of trim space around the equipment to set it off, and a single 12, in a relatively wide but short space, to me would look more weird 

also 2xc10s at 1000 watts will be louder than a single c12 at 700 watts


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## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

Thanks Bing. Very helpful. I wish I could just drive up and drop the car off with you but that's not happening until someone invents a vehicle to drive across the ocean! The only experience I had with large midbasses was with my current vehicle. The issue I had was I could never get the mdbasses and sub to blend. It was either lose some of the midbass or lose the low end extension. My car will be PDK so hopefully I can take advantage. I'll be keeping the OEM HU.


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## jonyb (Nov 27, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> to be honest i havent found the perfect solution to this.
> 
> i used to use the beatsonic switcher, which is hooked to the speedsensor wire and when you go below i think 5mph, it will kick on the front camera. however, it is very annoying after a while becuase EVERYTIME you go below 5mph, it kicks it on...so i end up using the manual switch on it...
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply. I don't use pioneer, only Alpine and Sony. We've only had 1 request so far for a front camera and had to use it as an aux in too an alpine head unit. Not easy to operate... 

Install looks awesome as always!


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## What? (Jun 5, 2008)

Alpine sells a two camera setup but it is high. I have it on my F150. It has a multiple view feature which is pretty awesome. 

We did a 957 Alpine two weeks ago and put two Rydeen cameras directly on it. They are selectable through the "My Favorites" button as separate front and rear camera buttons and of course it goes automatically to the rear camera image upon reverse gear selection. For forward viewing, you must press "My Favorites" and then the front camera button. Two button presses is no big whoop and it is the same way Alpine cameras would work.

Obviously, the front camera must not be reverse image.

Also, The Alpine cameras that have the 190 degree view are way wider than the "170 degree" cameras (there is no way these things are 170 degrees. Maybe 130 degrees...maybe). The wide viewing angle makes the Alpine cameras a safer choice than the cheap cameras.


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## JoeHemi57 (Mar 28, 2006)

My dream car and system, i really want those C3x but can't justify spending that much for a FRS. My car is just too noisy to make it worthwhile, i wish somebody made a similar speaker closer to the $250-300 range. 

The Cayman is beautiful, if i had 80k to spend it would be a tough choice between it and the F Type but the Porsche would get my money 9 times out of 10.

Great job as always guys!


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## jonyb (Nov 27, 2009)

What? said:


> We did a 957 Alpine two weeks ago and put two Rydeen cameras directly on it. They are selectable through the "My Favorites" button as separate front and rear camera buttons and of course it goes automatically to the rear camera image upon reverse gear selection. For forward viewing, you must press "My Favorites" and then the front camera button. Two button presses is no big whoop and it is the same way Alpine cameras would work.
> 
> Obviously, the front camera must not be reverse image.
> 
> Also, The Alpine cameras that have the 190 degree view are way wider than the "170 degree" cameras (there is no way these things are 170 degrees. Maybe 130 degrees...maybe). The wide viewing angle makes the Alpine cameras a safer choice than the cheap cameras.


I don't remember the 957 having 2 camera inputs, other than the Alpine Specific input and the standard composite camera input. Obviously 2 Alpine camera's work there...

I carry Alpine in my store and noticed the system you're talking about. I guess I'll bring those in and try them out.

Thanks for the advice.


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## What? (Jun 5, 2008)

For 2 non-Alpine cameras, you have to use the RCA input for one (front: set as Other on Aux camera setup) and hack the Alpine proprietary camera input for the rear camera (set as rear on Direct camera setup). Reverse is only going to trigger the Direct camera.

Or use Alpine camera with proprietary plug for rear and any non-reverse image camera on the RCA input set as "Other". 
Either way, both camera view selectors in My Favorites will be lit and you can select either camera. 

If you do order the Alpine multi view front and rear cameras, you may need to go into the camera menu on the deck and adjust color, brightness, etc. The out of the box image was not good on mine.


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## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

As always, stellar work. Amazing how you guys could shove 20 lbs of **** into a 5lb bag. LOL
Bet it sounds super sweet. I really likes the single C10 in Chads car and I bet the pair in that tiny thing really has some nice impact.
Kudos sir.


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## Huckleberry Sound (Jan 17, 2009)

Amazing.


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## vrrroommm (Jan 10, 2018)

Would really love to see the pictures. Somehow, for the past few days, all the pictures wouldn't load.

Just got myself a 718... similar/same size frunk and boot space... looking for some ideas. Yours is always the best I've seen.

Thanks!!


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## vrrroommm (Jan 10, 2018)

Finally, the pictures are back!!! Wow.. amazing stuff!


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## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

I see there was a Pioneer HU installed in this car. I'm trying to finish off an install of a Pioneer HU in my Cayman but the only thing that's left is trying to get the reverse trigger for he backup camera and illumination wires connected. I'm not that worried about illumination but the reverse trigger is a must. Where were you able to tap that signal to activate the backup camera? From the wiring diagrams I've seen, its a black wire with blue stripe. It is obviously available at the rear tail light but if I can get it somewhere closer to the head unit I'd prefer that. If there is an easy tap near the HU for illumination that would help too.


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