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Musicar Audio Development for Macan w/ BOSE

8845 Views 53 Replies 24 Participants Last post by  OmniGLH
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Hey folks!

Some of you may know me from other forums, but my name's Nick and I run the Porsche Audio division at Musicar Northwest. We're a local shop in Portland, OR that specializes in custom audio and radar/laser integrations, but we've also been building plug-n-play Porsche audio system upgrades for the last 7 years. In that time we've helped hundreds of Porsche owners improve their experience with music in their car — I'm sure there's a handful of you here that are running our Stage One tweeter upgrade in your Macan or a Stage Two/Three in a 991 or 718!

Later this month we'll be working on development in a '22 Macan with Bose. This is going to be for our Stage Two solution. If you're unfamiliar with our upgrade paths, that's going to include:
  • Premium Tweeter Replacement
  • Pre-Cut Acoustic Treatment for Doors
  • Audio Interface for BOSE® system
  • 10-Channel Premium DSP Amplifier
The goals are in line with what we currently offer for the 911 and Cayman/Boxster — A healthy improvement to the detail, clarity, imaging, and dynamics of the sound system with a simple, non-invasive DIY installation that utilizes all factory locations. Everything we do is bolt-in and plug-n-play. No wires cut and no holes drilled. The feedback we've received from these systems in the other Porsches has been fantastic and the Macan has a lot of potential for being an even better platform, acoustically speaking.

Here are some photos of what that setup looks like in the 718 now:















I'll be keeping a log of our progress as we work through developing the mounting systems, wiring harnesses and tuning the sound processor for the Macan's acoustics. If all goes as planned we should have that process wrapped up by the end of the month. That puts production somewhere in the Late August/Early September timeframe.

I wanted to also use this post to gauge some pre-production interest and see who might want to get involved in one of these upgrades. We typically launch new applications with a group buy to help promote the new solution and help early adopters save some dollars on the inaugural build queue.

Let me know what you all think and what questions anyone has. Feel free to PM me with questions, but I encourage asking those publicly to help anyone else that might have the same query.

Looking forward to finally adding the Macan to the roster for our Stage Two systems!

— Nick
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Hi everyone! Apologies for the delays on updating this thread — we had some production issues that pushed our projected timeline back quite a ways. That said, we're finally ready to take orders for the Stage Two system and the goal is to get everything shipped in the next two weeks depending on how many orders we get.

Total cost for the Stage Two is $3,595 and includes:
  • High-End Dash Tweeter Replacement
  • Pre-Cut Sound Damping Kit for Front Doors
  • Premium DSP Amplifier
  • Fiber-Optic Audio Interface
Everything comes pre-tuned for the Macan acoustics and shouldn't take more than a few hours to install(the amp takes like 10min). We're also doing free domestic shipping on these initial orders. Shoot me a PM here if you're interested or send an email to [email protected]

—Nick
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Nick
is there any sub upgrade that is either stand alone. or in addition to the stage two as noted above ?
Also gearing up to order a stage 2, would like to know how the planned sub addition is coming along?

also, how long is turn around for an order?

thanks!
What does the stage 1 cost?

thanks
Any update Nick, been a while
My Stage 2 arrived earlier this week. So far I've just installed the hardware (tweeters + amp/DSP), I'll have time to take the door panels off this weekend to do the damping. But I couldn't want so I jumped in with the hardware and... HOLY SH** this is a HUGE improvement.

Haven't done a TON of listening yet but so far, the soundstage and imaging is fantastic. Instruments and voices are distinct and pinpoint-able. The glare and muddiness of the OE Bose is gone (why can't Bose just do this in the first place?)

I'm excited to get the door panels done...
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(why can't Bose just do this in the first place?)
Margin.

You're making me want to pull the trigger on a Stage 2 myself.

But $3600+tax makes me also consider new shoes from BBS...

Wheel Tire Automotive tire Hubcap Automotive design
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Final edit on the install video is finally up! Sorry for the long wait:

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Just pulled the trigger on this kit with the intention of eventually upgrading the sub when it becomes available. I've been impressed with the Burm system in the macan in the past - so if this exceeds that (with the eventual sub upgrade) I'll be thrilled.
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Margin.

You're making me want to pull the trigger on a Stage 2 myself.

But $3600+tax makes me also consider new shoes from BBS...

View attachment 269881
Margin - maybe? But I mean... while obviously the updated hardware from Nick contributes to the sound quality improvements... I've spent enough time playing around with home systems (speaker placements, room tuning, messing with Audyssey settings) to know that, at the absolute minimum, half of the beauty of the end result here is in the tuning that Nick does with the DSP. It's obvious enough just based on how you can alter the sound of the OE Bose by flipping "Linear" on and off. Why can't Bose get the DSP tuning right? If Nick spent 80 hours doing the tune, I'm sure Bose could just bump their option price up from the $900 they currently charge to $1000, nobody would feel it, and they'd make their money back over paying an engineer for a few weeks of his time to tune it better.

Just pulled the trigger on this kit with the intention of eventually upgrading the sub when it becomes available. I've been impressed with the Burm system in the macan in the past - so if this exceeds that (with the eventual sub upgrade) I'll be thrilled.

I traded in a 2015 Cayenne with the Burmester for this 23 Macan GTS. I deliberately skipped the Burm on this because I knew I'd just go Musicar, after my experience with their setup in my Spyder. So far - this MusicarNW Stage 2 in my Bose-equipped Macan smokes the Burm from my Cayenne in every way except maybe actual total volume. You will be very, very happy. I don't think the sub needs anything either, post-Musicar updates. Crazy how just simple DSP changes can even impact the sub (IIRC the sub is on it's own amp in the Bose system?)

When I say "total volume".... went for a cruise yesterday afternoon. 80mph, windows down, moonroof open, listening to some Elle Goulding (one of Nick's test tracks got me back into an old Elle Goulding rabbit hole, used to listen to her all the time).... I could absolutely enjoy the music, clearly, tightly, and with a sense of "yeah this is awesome... music cranked while rolling down the highway". But I noticed that I had it almost (not quite, but almost) all the way up when looking at the graphic representation on the dash.

My memory from my Cayenne with the Burm - I could actually make it TOO loud in the same conditions. 80 mph, windows down, roof open... it was actually possible to CRANK it and think "yeah this is too loud". Now my Cayenne had the old PCM 3.1 and there was no graphic to tell me how close to "max" I was. Maybe when experimenting, I did crank it to max? I know I played around with it because I was comparing it, to the setup I put in my Spyder (and the Stage 3 in the Spyder you can absolutely turn it up TOO much!)
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Why can't Bose get the DSP tuning right?
Good point. The hardware itself is the margin issue, but the "software" tuning is a bit perplexing.
Good point. The hardware itself is the margin issue, but the "software" tuning is a bit perplexing.
It's more surprising with the sports cars.

The OE Bose in the Macan (and Cayenne, and Pana's for that matter) doesn't sound horrible. Not great but not "ugh wtf". But in the Boxster/Cayman/911... its godawful. I went through all 3 stages in my Spyder and Stage 2 sounded SOOOOO much better. Again, I'm sure, largely due to his tuning.... how can Bose get it SO WRONG??
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