speaker questions (2)

[JerryIrons]

For the first time in my life, I am replacing speakers, the 2 rears are shot, and the front passenger speaker is bad. I went to best buy and picked up a pair of pioneer TS-G650 speakers, nothing fancy but better than ones that don't work. As far as I can tell, I do not have bose speakers, they would actually say bose on them right? Of course, now that I have dug into this more, the speaker world in general is much more complicated than I expected, I am bringing myself up to speed on this stuff, instead of just making sure the size is right... The speakers I bought are 6 1/2 two way coaxial speakers, 4 ohm. I bought the adapters as well to make them plug into existing wiring harness.

Rear speakers:
original has 15242746 on it, and 8 ohm impedance.
Question: Can I use the speakers I bought (4 ohm) to replace these?
(I have already installed one and seems to work with brief testing)
I am thinking I need to put 8 ohm speakers there because the 4 ohm uses more power? How much does this really matter?

Front speakers:
original has 10366739 on them, with 4 ohm. There is also a tweeter in this assembly, separate from the speaker, and both share the same input and output wires. The tweeter actually works if I crank up the volume.
Question: Do I need to buy a different speaker for this? Because there is a tweeter on the side, I need to get a woofer? A coaxial speaker actually has a woofer and a tweeter built onto it from what I can tell.

 

[TollKeeper]

They are not Bose, I can tell you that, but beyond that, I cant help.. Been only researching Bose for myself.

 

[Chickenhawk]

Assuming you don't have Bose or Onstar, they will be fine. The fronts take 6 1/2-inch speakers, and the rears are 6 3/4-inch. (Many 6 1/2-inch also fit 6 3/4-inch mounting plates.) Crutchfield says those Pioneers fit front only, but if you got one mounted, it will be fine. 4 ohms vs 8 ohms will give you a bit more power, so you not only get better-sounding speakers but also a bit more "headroom" over 8 ohm speakers. The only issue with 4 ohms is a slightly greater possibility of frying speakers or the radio if you go crazy and crank it all the way.

 

[TequilaWarrior]

Whether or not you have Bose is usually indicated on the head unit when you turn it on... it will usually say "Bose" on the info display. Bose systems are more sensitive to speaker impedance than non-Bose systems.

As for the speakers - as already noted, you can usually fit 6.5" into 6.75" - many have dual screw patterns so that you don't even need an adapter plate, just screw them in. It appears the speakers you referenced are this type - just screw them in.
As for the coax speakers - this is a typical configuration as it provides a much higher quality sound at a much wider range of frequencies. It is common for factory speakers to have a tweeter separate from the mid/sub in the same assembly. A good coax can easily replace these quite well.
As for 8 ohms vs 4 ohms... most manufacturers install higher impedance speakers from the factory and in MOST cases (Bose being an exception) it is perfectly acceptable to replace them with their lower impedance equivalent (4 ohm instead of 8 ohm). The electrical mathematics is something I can't really go into in much detail but sufficed to say total "power" (in watts) should remain the same. Will the speakers sound louder - probably. Will the speakers sound better - probably.
I'm not a fan of Pioneer speakers, but that is a personal preference. I know installers who only user Pioneer. As a brand, they are fine.
Higher end composite systems will have separate woofers and tweeters and use a crossover - if you're not feeding these with a high end head unit, they are a waste.
Our factory head units have a peculiar behavior in that they cut bass as volume increases. The louder you turn the volume, the less bass you get especially at the highest volume settings.
I'm running Kicker brand speakers all around with a factory head unit and kicker AMP and 10" subs.

Install the speakers you bought and enjoy them.

 

[JerryIrons]

Thanks everyone for the replies, it's very much appreciated. So I ended up installing both 4 ohm speakers in the rear and everything seems to work fine. For each speaker, I had to use a dremel and cut off those 2 plastic nubs on the bracket, drilled 3 new holes (I used one existing one, they were slightly off) and screwed them right in, actually pretty easy. Also put little rubber weatherstripping tubes inbetween speaker and bracket just to help prevent any vibration or rattling. I was also careful to make sure the window would go up and down without you know what happening.

For the front, I did test one of my new speakers, but it did not sound as good as the existing working OEM speaker on the left hand side. The OEM sounded louder and slightly better. That's with the new speaker just sitting out, not mounted inside the door so I'm not sure if that would have improved things. Probably just what you get when you spend $35 for a pair of speakers...
So I ended up ordering in a new OEM replacement for like $60 total, easy plug and play and sound will be decent. It was either that, or getting a decent set of speakers and replacing both I think.

Regardless, it already sounds way better than my one speaker working before, and it was nice to turn on the radio and hear a KISS song as a test

Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[TequilaWarrior]

Your front speaker test probably sounded as it did because it was not balanced. The amplifier is divided into what I'll call "banks" and channels. The front bank has a left channel and a right channel so does the rear. If the impedance between channels does not match, the bank for some reason doesn't work quite right. So you're test was not a fair one. The left and right speakers in a bank should have the same impedance - ideally all the speakers should have the same impedance. Also, with them not mounted the speakers are fighting themselves in a way as the speaker will move as much as the air it moves (Newtonian physics and all that). There's nothing wrong with the factory speakers - they can be improved upon - but they're "ok".

To really let the system perform to its full potential you would've needed to replace both fronts with similar speakers to the rear - which is what I did. If I'm not mistaken I was able to put matching speakers at all four locations. Sound is "good" - at least as good as the head unit is capable of. I've reached the point where replacing the head unit is the only thing I can do to improve things.
Regardless, if you have a factory replacement coming, it should sound pretty good once installed. Enjoy.

 

[Chickenhawk]

I agree with my friend TW. They sound different when mounted for sure. They also sound different when mounted and the panel reinstalled. When I did mine, I got some of the replacement rubber adhesive and resealed all the plastic before I reinstalled the door panel. Made a difference.