Upgrades for 07 Bose system

[GeoGoGo]

Hi Everyone!

I love my new TB but I find the stock Bose system lacking. I thought the Bose would be a really nice set up but it just doesn't seem to be a very full, rich sound. I am coming from a 2000 Deville with a base factory deck and it sounded so much better than the TB.

What are some of you guys running? I know that being the Bose system it can throw a lot of complications in the process of upgrading speakers and amps. I really like the features of the stock headunit. Not too much a fan of the aftermarket decks so I would like to retain the factory one.

I am not looking for a trunk full of speakers, 1000 watt amps, or 120 dB sound pressure levels. I just would like a fuller, richer, better staged sound.

I would love to hear (no pun intended) some suggestions, ideas, opinions, and input from anyone. Thank you for the time and TGIF!!!

 

[Denali n DOO]

I have the BOSE in my Envoy as well, not overly impressed. I also have BOSE in my Maxima and it sounds really good. I think the placement of the speakers have a lot to do with it sounding better in a car.

I always wondered about adding extra Bass (sub n amp) to the envoy with a separate gain control and then being able to turn down the bass to the rest of the factory speakers, I think it might sound much better.

 

[littleblazer]

The bose setup in the 360s isn't great. Mids and highs are done in dash bass in the front doors and full range out back. I believe this kind of limits the sound stage because the rear has no tweeter. That being said I replaced the speakers and head unit in my friends envoy (leaving the dash ones) with the factory amp and it sounded decent. Not mind blowing but much much better than what was there. Had a full sound to it if you would. But there is no replacement for a full build.

 

[gmcman]

Good topic to discuss, been contemplating this as well. Having the tweeters bounce off the windshield takes away from any system but finding a placement for a mid range and a tweeter other than than the stock locations will surely bring in some r&d.

I have some Memphis Audio seperates from another vehicle we had waiting for a good home. I wonder how the crossover network is setup in our Bose systems? Are they simple in line resistors or bass blockers or is it an electronic x-over?

Maybe the Bose amp is adequate for a set of components but I want to speculate it's nowhere close.

 

[Matt]

Isn't it tweeters in the dash, mids in the front doors and drivers in the rear?

 

[littleblazer]

Good topic to discuss, been contemplating this as well. Having the tweeters bounce off the windshield takes away from any system but finding a placement for a mid range and a tweeter other than than the stock locations will surely bring in some r&d.

I have some Memphis Audio seperates from another vehicle we had waiting for a good home. I wonder how the crossover network is setup in our Bose systems? Are they simple in line resistors or bass blockers or is it an electronic x-over?

Maybe the Bose amp is adequate for a set of components but I want to speculate it's nowhere close.

The crossover is built into the amp I believe, it's internally crossed and it may be electronic. It is comparable power wise to my amp which pushes around 55 rms. Not awesome but would be adequate for the time being. It isn't a simple setup like in the vette where each speaker has its own separate amplifier.

 

[gmcman]

Isn't it tweeters in the dash, mids in the front doors and drivers in the rear?

If I had to guess, the door uses a mid bass driver but lower freq than a regular midrange and the dash speaker is a midrange.....kinda like their cube systems.

The sub plays low but extends higher than most. Typical Bose, I wish I could have bought mine without it but it wasn't a deal breaker.

Ok, so.if the x-over is in the amp then that definitely means a seperate amp will be needed for most component setups as their own x-over is designed for those speakers. I don't think you can go wrong with non-matching x-overs but with the Bose system we have I don't know where they x-over at. I don't think our door speakers play up to 3 or 4K Hz, could be wrong, but that's where alot of component midranges are.

 

[littleblazer]

Yea. The fronts are big 8 inch woofers so they don't play too high. The dash has 3 inch (2.75 or something weird). As for the rears they seem to get full range since just replacing them with coaxial speakers made the rear sound clear instead of muddy. The front doors definitely don't get anything in the mid range as far as my ears could tell. Maybe 800hz but that's a stretch even. It's a weird design.

 

[gmcman]

The problem with our door speakers is if you put a 6 or 8" midrange in there, you wouldn't have a good focal point for critical listening if that's your goal. Granted this isn't a home stereo but you would want the speaker to aim slightly upward or towards the center console, not straight across. I'm sure a good component set would work better than what we have, even with the stock mounting location.

If our door speaker is 8", then we could likely get a 6.5" mid slightly angled and stay behind the factory door grill.

 

[littleblazer]

It's bigger than 6.5 but maybe not quite 8. The problem is its rear mounted, so front mounting a component leaves a quarter inch or so of room. Iirc it's tight. A custom mount would need to be made for that effect. There is room. Other thing is once you get a decent speaker behind the panel it will rattle... ask me how I know. New clips with felt pads helped alot though.

 

[Snailblazin']

I've been ruminating on this for a spell myself and the answer lies in what your goal is, your skill/knowledge level and how much money you want to throw at it.

Option 1: replace factory speakers with slightly better aftermarket offerings.
Option 2: Hack into factory Bose amp to maintain functionality of the head unit but add aftermarket speakers/amps/subs, etc.
Option 3: Buy an expensive (almost prohibitively so) digital sound processor and maintain factory head unit functionality without all the splicing and then add components/amps/subs - this option requires a considerable time investment tuning for x-over points and staging, etc. And a laptop on which to tune it.
Option 4: Gut it and start fresh with whatever you want but lose factory functionality including nav/RSE, if you have.

Bear in mind that if you're keeping the factory wiring and adding high-powered speakers and amps that it's like dental floss thin and probably won't support the power levels necessary.

 

[GeoGoGo]

Thanks, Snail! I think I would like to go with option 1. What kind of aftermarket speakers are everyone running? Any recommendations? Years ago I was a huge supporter of Eclipse and the Infiniti Kappa series but I had much more disposable income then.

Let me know what you guys (and gals) are running. Thanks for the time, everyone! TGIF!!!!

 

[xavierny25]

Years ago I was a huge supporter of Eclipse and the Infiniti Kappa series but I had much more disposable income then.

I have a few sets sitting at home by Infiniti and kicker. I have a thread on the for sale section if you wanna have a look. Also I'll work with you or anyone that wants any of the stuff.

 

[Snailblazin']

I've had a bunch, right now I have a set of Hertz Mille Legend components waiting on my work bench. Just need a head unit and a nice 4 channel and I can start my own build.

 

[DonnyDrywall]

I'm pretty happy with my upgraded bose setup. I left the bose amp in place using the PAC-0S-2C-BOSE interface with my Pumpkin Android double din Headunit. Kicker DS65 in the back doors, Kicker 11ds35 in the dash, and Dayton DA175-8 7" subwoofers in the front doors. I also added two 12 inch kenwoods in a banpass box with a Alpine V12. Before I added the extra 12s I had a nice rich full sound. but with the 12s I adjusted my mids and highs so the big subwoofers handle the bass.

 

[Mooseman]

Which head unit did you get? Got a link? I'm looking to get one and wondering about a few things like using Torque on it with a Bluetooth ELM327. Also wondering if it works well in general and any quirks I should know about.