Our client drove his Carrera S over from Vancouver because he wasn't happy with the stereo. He wanted better sound and more control over it than the factory bass and treble settings allowed.
Amplifier and processor, in that order
We started with the signal going to the speakers. The factory head unit has already equalised, level-limited and time-smeared it to suit the original drivers. Better speakers alone would still be playing that compromised signal.
We fitted a new amplifier and processor to deal with that. The Helix P SIX DSP MK2 is a six-channel amplifier with an eight-channel digital signal processor built in — it takes the factory signal, undoes what the car did to it, then hands each driver its own filtered, delayed, level-matched feed. It gives us the power and control we need in one chassis that fits the space available in a 911.
That processing matters in a cabin like this. A 911 puts the driver hard against one side of a small, glassy, asymmetric space. Without per-channel timing the stage collapses toward the near door, and no amount of EQ fixes it. With timing set properly, the music sits out on the dash in front of you.
The speakers
Once we'd sorted the signal, we replaced the factory drivers with French-built BLAM Signature series speakers. We use this range when the owner wants a natural sound.
How it turned out
The owner could hear quiet detail at low volume, and the soundstage stayed in place as speed increased. The system also stayed clear when turned up. He got the control he'd wanted, too: we can adjust the system to his ear and change it again later.
We tune every system at this level on-site, in the car. That's how we get the speakers, amplifier and processor working together.