Musicar stereo upgrade group buy
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 7:31 am
I’m putting together a musicar upgrade group buy. Let me know if interested. Final prices will depend on number of people. Pm me for the normal prices of the various stages. I am not affiliated with musicar nor am I selling these. Just gauging interest in a group buy. You would purchase directly from them. See info from musicar:
Here's a more detailed rundown with specifics — Since we started offering these direct-fit upgrades for Porsche back in 2015, we've done a considerable amount of research on the platforms to develop the best solutions. We have three non-negotiable goals when it comes to our offerings — great performance, long-term reliability, and a non-invasive installation. We've recently revisited our lineup and came up with three all-new Stages that dramatically improve the performance without modifying the car in any way. Here's a quick breakdown on what we have to offer for "Version 3" of our performance audio upgrades for the Porsche 718:
STAGE ONE
Detail & Clarity
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Upgrading the sound in any vehicle needs to start with a good plan, and we can't strategize without first evaluating our weaknesses and opportunities. In the 718 platform, the weakest component in the system is definitely the factory dash tweeters.
The factory tweeters are a very compact design with a small diaphragm. The frequency response of this speaker doesn't allow it to play a large range of notes, and the low-quality composition leaves the notes that it does play sounding harsh and overly bright. This also limits us from turning up the volume to enjoyable levels when the tweeter starts to distort before the rest of the components reach full potential. We can turn down the treble, but that also lowers the output of the top end of the midrange. What we're left with is the choice of higher volumes without detail, or lower volumes with an overbearing tweeter. This is exactly what our Stage One upgrade is designed to fix.
The core speaker we use for this upgrade is a variant of the Elate-series components from Morel of Israel. They are designed specifically to work well with the OEM amplifier power or with the power and control of our more involved upgrade paths. The silk diaphragm is more than 2x the area of the OEM versions, so we have a much lower resonant frequency, allowing the tweeters to play much lower notes that help elevate the sound
Upgrading the sound in any vehicle needs to start with a good plan, and we can't strategize without first evaluating our weaknesses and opportunities. In the 718 platform, the weakest component in the system is definitely the factory dash tweeters.
They're also built with much better materials that are designed for a reference-level listening experience. The result is a more "mellow & neutral" response that reveals more detail in your music without coloring the sound with harsh resonant overtones. Here are Musicar, we tailor them to be a direct fit for the factory location with a plug-in adapter for the wiring. No holes drilled. No wires cut. Just a great sound without sacrifice.
STAGE ONE PLUS
Clarity & Impact
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Acoustic Treatment for Doors
With this kit, we also include a sound-damping kit for the front doors to help mitigate the potential vibrations and rattles that can come from the added power. This also cuts down on road noise and improves the bass response from the woofers. And don't worry, we're only adding about 2-3lbs per door, so you won't see a difference on track days other than a better experience driving to and from the event!
STAGE TWO
Power & Performance
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Acoustic Treatment for Doors
Premium DSP Amplifier
Once we've taken care of the weakest link, the next logical step is to work on the second weakest component. In this case, that's the factory amplifier.
Factory amplifiers are always a handicap, no matter which car or audio package we're working with. In this case, the BOSE amplifier is built with low-quality components that are underpowered and overprocessed. The bad design and low power leave us with a lack of overall detail, but also an insufficient amount of headroom to get proper dynamics range.
The dynamics of a sound system refers to its ability to provide the necessary power to resolve the loudest note in the recording vs the quietest. When the drummer strikes the snare we should hear the initial snap of energy from that first contact with the head, and it should be impactful and believable. We should also hear the majority of that sound trailing off afterwards. With low power and poor processing, we hear enough of that to know it's a snare drum, but not enough to believe it's a real instrument. This is true for almost all instruments in a recording, but most notably in the percussion section, which includes the piano!
We also have issues controlling the final response curve in the car. In a perfect world, if you put a microphone in the driver's seat at your headrest and measured the response, you would see a relatively "flat" curve. That means no notes in the system are emphasized or attenuated over another. The yield is a musical experience that's very close to what the recording engineer intended you to have. The problem with factory audio is that we have nowhere close to that experience. The response looks more like an exciting/terrifying roller coaster that leaves holes in the response and hot spots that mask the other notes around it. All the while they only give you a 2-band equalizer to correct that — bass & treble. This is where our Stage 2 Premium DSP Amplifier steps up to the plate.
The 10-Channel amplifier is designed specifically for these applications where we're looking to extract all of the potential performance from the factory speakers(minus the tweeters we've already replaced). The added power is going to give us the dynamics we're missing, and the DSP(digital signal processor) within the amp allows us to "tune" the final response to get a more accurate and engaging experience.
Each of the amplifier's ten channels has its own independent 30-band equalizer, phase adjustment, and time-correction. We've spent HOURS in the 718 tuning this sound perfectly to compensate for the shortcomings in the factory speakers and the acoustic environment. That "tune" is now archived so that we can send you an amplifier with the exact same sound we've achieved here at our facility in Portland — No guesswork involved.
Of course, just like the tweeters, this is all tailored to be a bolt-in/plug-n-play solution that requires no modification to the car.
STAGE THREE
Reference & Resolution
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Premium DSP Amplifier
Acoustic Treatment for Doors
High-Performance Midrange Replacement
High-Performance Woofer Replacement
Optimizing the factory speakers is a good step, but replacing them with better performing speakers is, well, a better approach!
The midrange in the door is probably the most critical speaker when it comes to the discernible differences in musical sound quality. It's where the bulk of our detail in both vocals and instruments are realized. Knowing this, we sourced a very well-built conical midrange, also from the Elate Carbon series of components from Morel of Israel. The resonant frequency of this speaker is very well-suited for the small plastic enclosure within the door of the 718, and the response we get from it is nothing short of phenomenal. Clear and pure audio reproduction. Of course, not unlike the tweeters, this is customized by Musicar to be both bolt-in and plug-n-play with your car.
Building on the same principles as the midrange, we also replace the door woofers with a set of 9-inch bad boys from the Elate Carbon line-up. This is how we're going to achieve deep, controlled, and accurate bass response without a dedicated subwoofer!
We don't need to add an extreme amount of bass, but we do want to add enough power and control to resolve those dynamic and impactful notes that make a sound system believable and engaging. In that effort, we do get a bit more output from the bottom end.
Once again, these are designed by the team here at Musicar to utilize factory hardware and wiring adapters so we're improving the sound whilst retaining the OEM integrity of the car.
Here's a more detailed rundown with specifics — Since we started offering these direct-fit upgrades for Porsche back in 2015, we've done a considerable amount of research on the platforms to develop the best solutions. We have three non-negotiable goals when it comes to our offerings — great performance, long-term reliability, and a non-invasive installation. We've recently revisited our lineup and came up with three all-new Stages that dramatically improve the performance without modifying the car in any way. Here's a quick breakdown on what we have to offer for "Version 3" of our performance audio upgrades for the Porsche 718:
STAGE ONE
Detail & Clarity
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Upgrading the sound in any vehicle needs to start with a good plan, and we can't strategize without first evaluating our weaknesses and opportunities. In the 718 platform, the weakest component in the system is definitely the factory dash tweeters.
The factory tweeters are a very compact design with a small diaphragm. The frequency response of this speaker doesn't allow it to play a large range of notes, and the low-quality composition leaves the notes that it does play sounding harsh and overly bright. This also limits us from turning up the volume to enjoyable levels when the tweeter starts to distort before the rest of the components reach full potential. We can turn down the treble, but that also lowers the output of the top end of the midrange. What we're left with is the choice of higher volumes without detail, or lower volumes with an overbearing tweeter. This is exactly what our Stage One upgrade is designed to fix.
The core speaker we use for this upgrade is a variant of the Elate-series components from Morel of Israel. They are designed specifically to work well with the OEM amplifier power or with the power and control of our more involved upgrade paths. The silk diaphragm is more than 2x the area of the OEM versions, so we have a much lower resonant frequency, allowing the tweeters to play much lower notes that help elevate the sound
Upgrading the sound in any vehicle needs to start with a good plan, and we can't strategize without first evaluating our weaknesses and opportunities. In the 718 platform, the weakest component in the system is definitely the factory dash tweeters.
They're also built with much better materials that are designed for a reference-level listening experience. The result is a more "mellow & neutral" response that reveals more detail in your music without coloring the sound with harsh resonant overtones. Here are Musicar, we tailor them to be a direct fit for the factory location with a plug-in adapter for the wiring. No holes drilled. No wires cut. Just a great sound without sacrifice.
STAGE ONE PLUS
Clarity & Impact
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Acoustic Treatment for Doors
With this kit, we also include a sound-damping kit for the front doors to help mitigate the potential vibrations and rattles that can come from the added power. This also cuts down on road noise and improves the bass response from the woofers. And don't worry, we're only adding about 2-3lbs per door, so you won't see a difference on track days other than a better experience driving to and from the event!
STAGE TWO
Power & Performance
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Acoustic Treatment for Doors
Premium DSP Amplifier
Once we've taken care of the weakest link, the next logical step is to work on the second weakest component. In this case, that's the factory amplifier.
Factory amplifiers are always a handicap, no matter which car or audio package we're working with. In this case, the BOSE amplifier is built with low-quality components that are underpowered and overprocessed. The bad design and low power leave us with a lack of overall detail, but also an insufficient amount of headroom to get proper dynamics range.
The dynamics of a sound system refers to its ability to provide the necessary power to resolve the loudest note in the recording vs the quietest. When the drummer strikes the snare we should hear the initial snap of energy from that first contact with the head, and it should be impactful and believable. We should also hear the majority of that sound trailing off afterwards. With low power and poor processing, we hear enough of that to know it's a snare drum, but not enough to believe it's a real instrument. This is true for almost all instruments in a recording, but most notably in the percussion section, which includes the piano!
We also have issues controlling the final response curve in the car. In a perfect world, if you put a microphone in the driver's seat at your headrest and measured the response, you would see a relatively "flat" curve. That means no notes in the system are emphasized or attenuated over another. The yield is a musical experience that's very close to what the recording engineer intended you to have. The problem with factory audio is that we have nowhere close to that experience. The response looks more like an exciting/terrifying roller coaster that leaves holes in the response and hot spots that mask the other notes around it. All the while they only give you a 2-band equalizer to correct that — bass & treble. This is where our Stage 2 Premium DSP Amplifier steps up to the plate.
The 10-Channel amplifier is designed specifically for these applications where we're looking to extract all of the potential performance from the factory speakers(minus the tweeters we've already replaced). The added power is going to give us the dynamics we're missing, and the DSP(digital signal processor) within the amp allows us to "tune" the final response to get a more accurate and engaging experience.
Each of the amplifier's ten channels has its own independent 30-band equalizer, phase adjustment, and time-correction. We've spent HOURS in the 718 tuning this sound perfectly to compensate for the shortcomings in the factory speakers and the acoustic environment. That "tune" is now archived so that we can send you an amplifier with the exact same sound we've achieved here at our facility in Portland — No guesswork involved.
Of course, just like the tweeters, this is all tailored to be a bolt-in/plug-n-play solution that requires no modification to the car.
STAGE THREE
Reference & Resolution
High-Performance Tweeter Replacement
Premium DSP Amplifier
Acoustic Treatment for Doors
High-Performance Midrange Replacement
High-Performance Woofer Replacement
Optimizing the factory speakers is a good step, but replacing them with better performing speakers is, well, a better approach!
The midrange in the door is probably the most critical speaker when it comes to the discernible differences in musical sound quality. It's where the bulk of our detail in both vocals and instruments are realized. Knowing this, we sourced a very well-built conical midrange, also from the Elate Carbon series of components from Morel of Israel. The resonant frequency of this speaker is very well-suited for the small plastic enclosure within the door of the 718, and the response we get from it is nothing short of phenomenal. Clear and pure audio reproduction. Of course, not unlike the tweeters, this is customized by Musicar to be both bolt-in and plug-n-play with your car.
Building on the same principles as the midrange, we also replace the door woofers with a set of 9-inch bad boys from the Elate Carbon line-up. This is how we're going to achieve deep, controlled, and accurate bass response without a dedicated subwoofer!
We don't need to add an extreme amount of bass, but we do want to add enough power and control to resolve those dynamic and impactful notes that make a sound system believable and engaging. In that effort, we do get a bit more output from the bottom end.
Once again, these are designed by the team here at Musicar to utilize factory hardware and wiring adapters so we're improving the sound whilst retaining the OEM integrity of the car.
