Question for the Audio Gods

[Matt]

What exactly are the speakers in the full Bose system in our trucks?

I believe they are mid's in the rear, 2-way in the fronts and 2-way, but may be tweeters in the dash...please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[24v 4.2]

Tweeters in dash

Mids in front doors

Coaxials in rear doors

 

[Matt]

OK. What about this:

Coaxial: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_9111_Polk-Audio-db651.html
Mid: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_37223_Power-Acoustik-MID-65.html
Tweeters: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_9329_Polk-Audio-db1001.html

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

I thought there was an issue of ohm difference with the factory Bose vs aftermarket, but may be wrong on that.

 

[Matt]

I thought there was an issue of ohm difference with the factory Bose vs aftermarket, but may be wrong on that.

So did I but I really don't know.

For everyone that will say it...

I just want to change the speakers, nothing else, yes I know all about how the Bose system sucks but I'm happy with the HU and amp.

 

[Black_tb]

not a 100 percent sure on this but i pretty sure if you want new speakers you need to take out the amp.... just like all bose's stuff they go hand n hand cant mix them

 

[dmanns67]

Not sure if you searched already, but here is a recent thread on Bose, Ohm, and amp. There are quite a few threads actually. http://gmtnation.com/forums/topic/12491-bose-question/?hl=bose

 

[24v 4.2]

So did I but I really don't know.

For everyone that will say it...

I just want to change the speakers, nothing else, yes I know all about how the Bose system sucks but I'm happy with the HU and amp.

The Bose speakers do indeed have unique ohm ratings that are difficult to exactly match in my experience, aside from replacing them with the same Bose speakers.

Why do you want to replace the speakers?

You likely wouldn't gain any noticeable sound quality from just replacing the speakers if that is what you're after.

If they are bad or blown, I would recommend replacing them with Bose speakers (to avoid damaging the amp and costing yourself more in the long run)

 

[SnowBlazer]

While we are talking about it, if I go to my junk yard and pull some Bose out of an LT, can I instal them in my LS that's not wired for Bose? Just a thought since my Pull a Part yard only charges $5 a speaker.

 

[littleblazer]

The bose are a different size than the the non-bose atleast in my expirence the rear doors and front doors are different sizes.

 

[linneje]

So did I but I really don't know.

For everyone that will say it...

I just want to change the speakers, nothing else, yes I know all about how the Bose system sucks but I'm happy with the HU and amp.

I believe that changing the rears and the front door speakers and keeping the Bose amp and head unit is no problem. You can use Crutchfield as a reference and find replacements from Pioneer, Sony, etc. You will have to cut the factory harness off to use the replacement speakers, but I did it without problem and the sound is great. The dash, I did not try, I bought some used Bose ones to replace a cracked dash speaker because my research was that a swap with an aftermarket speaker would not work well because of the unique impedence of the dash speakers.

 

[Matt]

The Bose speakers do indeed have unique ohm ratings that are difficult to exactly match in my experience, aside from replacing them with the same Bose speakers.

Why do you want to replace the speakers?

You likely wouldn't gain any noticeable sound quality from just replacing the speakers if that is what you're after.

If they are bad or blown, I would recommend replacing them with Bose speakers (to avoid damaging the amp and costing yourself more in the long run)

Just because, they're not blown or bad.

Ok. Thank you. Looks like they're staying...until I have about $1000 to change the whole thing but the amp.

 

[Blckshdw]

Why do you want to replace the speakers?

Just because, they're not blown or bad.

Pay attention everyone, THIS is what happens when you starve your mod bug!

Matt, after you source some new OEM Bose speakers, you may want to post that info up, I'm sure someone at some point is going to want to do the same. So it would be helpful if we have a place to reference, in case it happens to be cost effective, or not.

 

[Matt]

Pay attention everyone, THIS is what happens when you starve your mod bug!

Matt, after you source some new OEM Bose speakers, you may want to post that info up, I'm sure someone at some point is going to want to do the same. So it would be helpful if we have a place to reference, in case it happens to be cost effective, or not.

See above for the edit. Not going to happen at this stage, but I might be able to put mix and match speakers to match the ohm's needed...just thinking out loud.

 

[Sib]

I was recently thinking about doing the same thing (replacing the Bose speakers). Went to an audio shop near me and when I told the guy I had the Bose he kind of chuckled. Said a lot of people want to replace their Bose. He told me to either add a sub and leave the Bose for now (possibly replace other speakers down the road with a new amp) or replace all door speakers (with amp).

I thought one of mine was going so took the door off and reseated the connector and works fine again.

So, I haven't done anything yet except turn the music up louder. Maybe if I "accidentally" blow a speaker, or more, it'll get me to upgrade sooner rather than later.

After looking around, and confirming when I took door panel off, the front doors are 8" and back doors are 5.25". Not many options for a component speaker that is not very deep to throw in the front doors.

If you decide to upgrade let us know what you did.

 

[dmanns67]

Plus the 2.5" speakers in the dash. I have only seen Infinity speakers as an aftermarket option for those. I have Bose and adding a small 10" sub to the cargo area makes a huge difference. I would definitely like to replace the HU with an Android one.

 

[linneje]

You are limited on the depth but I am pretty sure I read a post where someone used a rotary tool to cut out more space for some deeper speakers.

I was recently thinking about doing the same thing (replacing the Bose speakers). Went to an audio shop near me and when I told the guy I had the Bose he kind of chuckled. Said a lot of people want to replace their Bose. He told me to either add a sub and leave the Bose for now (possibly replace other speakers down the road with a new amp) or replace all door speakers (with amp).

I thought one of mine was going so took the door off and reseated the connector and works fine again.

So, I haven't done anything yet except turn the music up louder. Maybe if I "accidentally" blow a speaker, or more, it'll get me to upgrade sooner rather than later.

After looking around, and confirming when I took door panel off, the front doors are 8" and back doors are 5.25". Not many options for a component speaker that is not very deep to throw in the front doors.

If you decide to upgrade let us know what you did.

 

[24v 4.2]

I did some Dremel work to the 5.25 rear brackets to fit my 6.75 mids in the doors. (Bolted into bracket from front.)





The same 6.75 mids I bolted in from the back of the 8' (reverse firing mid) Bose front door brackets. (I filled in the gap with dynamat)



I then drilled out the plastic weld that held the tweeters to the plastic brackets in the dashboard. Then glued cardboard (plastidipped) to the top of the bracket and cut a hole in them to mount the tweeter. I mounted the rear tweeters to the door panel.



(This post makes sense to me, but if anyone needs any clarification or wants more pictures; let me know.)