Better sound

[LT1transAM]

03 north face trailblazer. I want to install an aftermarket stereo and some better speakers.

I'm trying to get away from the subs and amp but want it to still sound good. Anything I can do besides the subs?

 

[littleblazer]

Well for the envoy I did a new head unit and some jbl door speakers. I used one of those alpine mini amps and tucked it behind the dash. Sounds decent.

 

[LT1transAM]

What about component speakers?

 

[MAY03LT]

Long long long time ago my TB had aftermarket door speakers run off of an aftermarket head unit. It was better then factory but not that great. The biggest change came from adding a 4 channel amp to power the doors. The second biggest change came from beefing up the doors (sound deadening, ensolite) which increased the lows/mids.

 

[LT1transAM]

Are the front and rears 6.5"?

 

[SnowBlazer]

Are the front and rears 6.5"?

Yes. One thing I've noticed is, you can get the best speakers on the market but a sub completes everything. I have JBL door speakers that are loud as hell and clear as day but they do lack bass as companies design most speakers to be paired with a sub nonetheless.

 

[littleblazer]

Yes. One thing I've noticed is, you can get the best speakers on the market but a sub completes everything. I have JBL door speakers that are loud as hell and clear as day but they do lack bass as companies design most speakers to be paired with a sub nonetheless.

Those jbls have a hard limit at 55 hz due to the crossover as well. That's the main reason for it.

 

[dna59]

Well for the envoy I did a new head unit and some jbl door speakers. I used one of those alpine mini amps and tucked it behind the dash. Sounds decent.

Where did you put the amp. I have the same exact amp, I had it in my Colorado and took it out when I sold it. I'd like to put it in my Envoy once i get some better speakers than the temp ones I have now.

 

[littleblazer]

Where did you put the amp. I have the same exact amp, I had it in my Colorado and took it out when I sold it. I'd like to put it in my Envoy once i get some better speakers than the temp ones I have now.

That little drop down panel by the Trans tube on the front of the center console, it slid behind it perfectly. (The panel that hides the ground splice pack)

 

[dna59]

That little drop down panel by the Trans tube on the front of the center console, it slid behind it perfectly. (The panel that hides the ground splice pack)

Where did you get constant power from? Right at the radio harness or you ran a new wire from the battery?

 

[littleblazer]

Where did you get constant power from? Right at the radio harness or you ran a new wire from the battery?

I ran a wire from the trailer battery stud under the hood, I didn't want to pull from the radio as it would probably blow the fuse.

 

[LT1transAM]

What wire harness do I Need to install the stereo? I bought the axxess steering wheel control adapter already but that doesn't plug into the factory harness.

 

[Reprise]

If you have the Metra SWC, you might as well get the Metra GMOS-04 (or GMOS-01, depending if you have Bose or not). I have the GMOS-04, and it worked really well for me. IIRC, there's a spot on the GMOS where the SWC adapter plugs right in - they even give you an extra SWC harness (which you already have) to use.

Wire the GMOS to your radio harness in the house, then take it out and plug it right in to the GM harness after removing the radio (there are two harnesses, as I recall - Metra supplies both plug ends. With that, you won't have to cut or splice one wire besides what you had to do to connect the radio harness to it.

No, I don't have the SWC adapter - yet. I may break down and get it when I finish up my install - other things have priority right now.

 

[LT1transAM]

I cannot get it to work. Got the gmos01 and swc. I'm getting no accessory power.

Do they make a normal harness that way I can just not worry about the onstar?

 

[FearlessAZ]

Your best option is to get an aftermarket head unit and replace the door speakers. If you want to say away from an amp, make sure the speakers are closely speced to the headunit. As suggested above, a 4 channel amp works wonders. If they are only powering the door speakers, they can be found for pretty cheap nowadays as well.

They do have all sorts of harnesses for the different TB applications. Just double check all of your wiring. I have accidently connected wires (or forgot to connect) multiple times. Biggest thing about car audio is checking your work (solder points, connections, power, grounds, etc) before putting everything together or progressing on to the next step.

 

[redline customs]

I have a double din dvd head unit and kickers in the front doors. Didn't bother with the rears as those are mostly just fill. I am also running dual xplod tens(which I added after everything else) and even before the sub's everything sounded way better than stock. Even if you replace the speakers and keep the stock headunit , you will see an improvement of sq. Like many people have said, amping your speakers will improve the quality even more. I opted to spend $20 on a generic Chevy interface rather than spending the $100+ on the interface to keep all the chimes. I don't have on star nor steering wheel controls or even Bose system, so all I really lost was the chimes. The only thing I had to do is run an accessory wire since the switched power for the stock is run through a data bus. I just used an add a circuit off of the window circuit in the unnderhood fuse box. If you are not wanting to use the space in the rear of your truck for sub's(the only way you are going to get full range sound), you can get a small 6-8 inch sub and mount under the seats or in the center console. This will bring in the lows and will keep the intrusion to a minimum.

 

[LT1transAM]

How do I wire a 4 channel amp?

 

[Blckshdw]

How do I wire a 4 channel amp?

Power, ground, remote (turn on signal), then the 4 speaker connections. That's it. All of the connecting points on amps are clearly labelled, so it's really self explanatory once you get your hands on one, or look at pics.

 

[redline customs]

Fine a fused power wire(must be of appropriate guage or larger for the wattage) from the battery. Ground is same story but grounds to frame(ideally) or a point that has direct contact with frame like seat mounting bolts or the like. The remote turn on comes from the head unit so that your amp only comes on with the stereo. Then you have your patch cables which are what carries the audio signals. Some amps have high level inputs that you plug the speaker wires from the hu into the amp and then run wires from amp to speakers, but this method doesn't carry the frequency as well so you will get more distortion and lose some of your sq(sound quality). To hook the speakers up to the amp you just run the wires from the speakers to the amp and insert them into the screw terminals. It really isn't going to hurt anything if you hook the speaker wires up backwards, but it isn't going to sound as good. Just make sure they are all hooked up with all either being correct polarity or all reversed. If not then you will have some cones hitting outwards(like they should) and some hitting inwards. This will lose some of your bass as well as make the bass echoey because the cones don't move as fast inwards as outwards(which is why it is best to hook them up correctly in the first place,but again not going to ruin anything.)

 

[FearlessAZ]

Just make sure the power runs down one side and the speaker runs down the other. Nothing worse than wiring an entire stereo and getting amp whine through it all. I have my power running down the driver side and speakers through the passenger side.

 

[richphotos]

Now, here is a question, Those cheap speaker baffles they sell on amazon that basically encases the motor, do they suffocate the speaker or actually help with bass and response?
I put fosgates all around and they sound amazing but I think I am losing a lot of the mid range and some of the bass from them inside the doors (I do have a sub)

 

[Blckshdw]

do they suffocate the speaker

If you attached it to the front of the speaker, it would.

 

[richphotos]

If you attached it to the front of the speaker, it would.

That was my plan... hahah!

But really, the reviews I saw, some people really liked them and some people said they suffocated the speaker having the motor and basket closed off. Did not make sense to me.

I think I might give them a shot, 40 bucks for all 4 is not bad, if it does not work I will remove them.

If they do work I will post in here to let everyone know.

 

[Reprise]

I'd get at least the front two - there's a lot of space in the front door, and having those baffles *should* improve the bass response, I would think. Especially if you're not going with a sub.

 

[redline customs]

Yep give it something to compress against. Basically like a sub for sealed enclosure vs a free air sub.

 

[Thebiggestboss]

If you have the Metra SWC, you might as well get the Metra GMOS-04 (or GMOS-01, depending if you have Bose or not). I have the GMOS-04, and it worked really well for me. IIRC, there's a spot on the GMOS where the SWC adapter plugs right in - they even give you an extra SWC harness (which you already have) to use.

Wire the GMOS to your radio harness in the house, then take it out and plug it right in to the GM harness after removing the radio (there are two harnesses, as I recall - Metra supplies both plug ends. With that, you won't have to cut or splice one wire besides what you had to do to connect the radio harness to it.

No, I don't have the SWC adapter - yet. I may break down and get it when I finish up my install - other things have priority right now.

After trying to put a double din in my 04 gmc envoy slt i got gmos 4 interface but i get no sound at all from the speakers everything works ok just no audio