The 964 Speaker Distortion Issue

Since it arrived at our home last October, the air-cooled 911 (964 C2) has completely captured my husband’s heart. At delivery, almost all the issues that concerned him had been fixed, so he had no complaints about the “driving” experience. However, he said, “there was one thing that really bothered me.” That was:

The speaker cones (originally made of paper) had completely deteriorated, causing the sound to distort when the volume was turned up.

My husband usually belongs to the “no music in the car” camp. Especially with cars like the 981 Boxster GTS, he prefers to enjoy the engine sound rather than listen to music or the radio inside the car.

However, with the 964, he says he somehow really wants to play music. It’s not that he dislikes the engine sound of the 964—in fact,

he finds it somehow more enjoyable to drive while listening to music or the radio.

He often listens to nostalgic tunes by artists like Yuming and Southern All Stars.

But when driving along pleasant coastal roads with music playing, he would happily say, “It feels just like California~,” only to have the speakers distort as soon as the volume was turned up, ruining the wonderful mood. He often complained about this.

So, he looked into replacing the speakers. Unfortunately, the rear speakers had already been discontinued and were very difficult to get brand new. When searching for aftermarket options, he found that while there were suitable front speakers available, there were no good aftermarket options for the rear speakers.

Since he is someone who insists on genuine, original parts, he thought, “If possible, I want to use Porsche genuine parts”, but time passed without a solution.

Discovering Porsche Classic Catalog

One day, my husband came across the newly published Porsche Classic Catalog “ORIGINALE” Issue 3 and learned from the Porsche Classic Parts section that reproduced front and rear speakers were now available.

He immediately contacted the nearest Porsche Center to check stock, and they said,

“They are not currently in Japan, but can be ordered from Germany.”

So he placed an order right away. Also, since the door panels would be removed during the speaker replacement, he decided to replace the door stoppers at the door hinges as well, which had become loose with age and allowed the door to open fully with almost no resistance—he was worried about accidentally hitting the neighboring car’s door. He ordered that part too. (Part number “964 537 057 00” Door arrester)

About three weeks later, the dealer informed him that the parts had arrived, and the replacement was promptly carried out.

How’s the Replacement?

After the replacement, my husband said,

“The sound quality isn’t exactly high-end, but it’s ‘just good’—and importantly, there’s no distortion anymore. Now I can clearly hear the music even at higher volumes, which is great.”

It seems many 964 owners face similar inconveniences with their speakers, so I highly recommend checking the Porsche Classic Genuine Parts Catalog. By the way, here is the front speaker part,

and here is the rear speaker part.