Heaven's In The Front Seat Of My Porsche

Our first ever review!

Heaven’s in the Front Seat of my Porsche

 

Dave Crane has owned his Porsche 911 “964” for five years now, He has recently had an “Audio Heaven” system fitted, Driving Sounds spoke with him to find out more; “I originally bought the car to celebrate some modest success I had with a business enterprise. I had always liked this particular model and eventually found mine, which had been on the fleet of watch manufacturer, Rolex. It had been well taken care of and had few miles on the clock, but had stood still for quite a while and various things required replacement. Originally I used the vehicle for Sunday best and showing at owner’s club events however, I so enjoyed driving it that it quickly became my favoured form of transport.”

So, why fit an audio system to his pride and joy we ask? “I have always enjoyed music, but felt that true Hi-fi in a car was not possible. However, I had to explore the possibility that the car stereo could be upgraded to compete with the engine and road noise typical with this sort of car. As a member of the Porsche Owner’s club I was particularly keen that the car remained in stock condition and approached my local FOUR MASTER with trepidation.”

Once Dave had listened to some equipment and looked at some pictures of other work carried out by the FOUR MASTER, he was better placed to lay down his requirements for a system install. FOUR MASTERS offer three quality levels of system called Audio Joy, Audio Heaven and Audio Expert - They do this to avoid customers from having to learn all there is to know about products and install techniques. “I thought the system names were very helpful in defining the level of system I was looking for without having to research heavily myself. – I try never to purchase “bottom of the range” and so plumped for an Audio Heaven system but made it clear that the car had to look as stock as possible and have the ability to be returned to stock condition for resale. We agreed a price and I booked the vehicle in.”

 

We asked Dave what he felt on hearing his new install for the first time an he was extremely enthusiastic in his response; “I took some of my favourite discs with me when I collected the car which I thought would be a matter of handing over some money and driving away, however the process was more involved than that. Firstly, I was shown around the install, the work was to the highest standard with great attention to detail, even the door speaker builds were covered in original Porsche material. I could not believe how well integrated the system was and although I could easily see the changes, many people I have shown the car to since have failed to spot where factory finish ends and aftermarket work begins.

It was explained that the speakers would improve with a good few hours “playing in” and I was concerned that I would have to live with something less than great to begin with. I listened to Massive Attack’s Angel, from Mezzanine and was totally blown away! To this day, the thought of that first experience puts a huge grin on my face, I was completely overwhelmed. We listened to a couple of other tracks which I had taken along and then the installer got some of his discs out and started playing tunes that I have subsequently had to go out and buy, because they sounded so good.”

We wanted to know what Dave thought after living with the system for a while. He is still enthusiastic “I use the car as often as I can now. OK, for the purist, it has been modified, for me it has more than doubled the joy I get from driving the car. I did return to my FOUR MASTER and have a larger subwoofer put in. The initial 6” was completely hidden under the dash, but I wanted more bass particularly when listening to acoustic and orchestral music. I am a huge advocate of car Hi-fi now and cannot wait to jump in my car at every opportunity!”

 

Top Five Tracks on the Move:

1.     Angel - Massive Attack, Mezzanine

2.     Real Life – Joan as Police Woman, Real Life

3.     Whole Lotta Rosie – AC/DC, Let There Be Rock

4.     Suddenly – XTC, English Settlement

       5.     Jeff Buckley – Dream Brother, Grace 


Car Audio Upgrades Made Easy

Find out what our partner, The FOUR MASTER Network, can do to bring Hi-Fi quality to your car. Simply put some brief details into the form below.

Not ready for that yet? You can use the same form to book a demonstration at your home, place of work or with your local FOUR MASTER

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