I'll be detailing the installation of the front door and rear panel speakers. I'm not a big sub or amp guy as I favor crisp, accurate mid bass more in my car audio installations.
That being said, I picked up a set of JL Audio C5650's for the front doors. I'll fabricate the MDF adaptor plate for the oversized 6 1/2" and detail the mounting of the 3/4" tweeter in the sail panel. I'll also use Dynamat Extreme.
The rears will be JL Audio VR690-CXi. They should be a bolt in replacement and I'll take as many pics as I can. Dynamat Extreme here as well.

Everything should be here in two weeks so if there's anything you guys want measured or done, post up and I'll try to accomodate.

 

I am going to subscribe to the thread and will be paying extra attention to any tips/points you have about the front door install. I know I will be doing something very similar in the future.

Looking forward to the pics and comments.


Good luck and thanks.

DN

 

Thanks man. I'll be sure to show where all the screws and clips are for the door panel and other pertinent things as well.

 

Have you really thought this out? Do you understand all of the problems you might encounter with just dropping in speakers? Here are a few points you might want to consider:

1. If you are using the stock amps, do you know what impedence are the stock speakers (i.e. 2,3,4 ohm). Bose has a history of low loads.

2. If you keep the stock amps then you will have to deal with the Bose internal DSP EQ. All of their EQ'ing is done in the amp and could very well likely make your new speakers sound like azz. They design their crappy speakers to work with their specific crappy curves.

Just some food for thought and good luck!

 

1- Replacing a low impedance speaker with a higher one places less load on the Bose amps. For this reason, I'm not concerned.

2- I used to think that I needed to dispense with all of the factory amps and speakers for that very reason. I've performed installs with Cleansweeps, Re-Q's, and other equipment to get past the equalization. My install in a Bose equipped FX45 had thousands of dollars worth of equipment and wiring. But on my last three cars, two with Bose, I've found that keeping the stock amps and EQ settings sound better if just performing a speaker change, and with far less hassle. Bose and Infiniti spent countless hours managing the crossover and equalization settings for each speaker in each location. By replacing the speakers with the JL's, I hope to gain better detail and crisper mid bass response.

 

Good luck.

It seems that you are pretty confident with your car stereo knowledge. I personally think that you are not approaching this installation fully informed. I suggest you go to a forum that deals with car stereo ONLY to get some good advice before you commit to this install. Google
'DIYMA' and get some good info there before you make a mistake that will cost you mucho $$$. I want your system to rock!

Just my 2 cents.

FC

 

I totally understand your opinion and respect it. The key thing to point out is that rockin' system to you is probably not one for me. I have no desire for heart pounding subs, extremely loud volume levels, and wiring the heck out of an expensive car. I've had good luck in the past with speaker swaps when using high quality speakers. I fully understand that the Bose woofer amp puts out low frequency only, etc.

This write up is for those of us out there that want a little something simple, not the high dollar, complicated stuff!

 

Let me give you my defition of "Rock": To me "rock" is all about sound quality, not quantity. High power, or better say high current, is not about high output for me, it is all bout having the muscle to effortlessly CONTROL the speakers, even at low levels. My car is fully sound deadened and I did it to ble able to play at low volumes with lessened road noise.

If you like it, that is all that matters. Enjoy your system!

FC

 

Hopefully I'll enjoy it, and if not I'll sell it on EBay!

What I was also hoping to accomplish was to provide detailed pics and instructions for the replacement of these speaker locations. That way, if someone wants to plan a more complex setup than mine, they'll at least have these basics to review. Either way, it'll be a fun experience!

For me, the testing is half the fun. On my old FX, and this will sound ludicrous, I bypassed the stock, Bose spare tire subwoofer amp and wired a JL Audio 250/1 to it instead. That little sucker pumped 4X more than stock and delivered clean bass with no cargo loss. I ran it like that for a few months to no ill effect. My point in mentioning this is that everyone told me the sub was a piece of crap, but I enjoyed the challenge of messing with it. Was it show quality bass? Hell no! But it was still a fun project.

I installed for two years while attending culinary school and have never stopped playing around since. I used to be a complete nut with AudioControl this, JL that, custom fiberglass boxes, hours of slot port research for frequency tuning, etc... But now, I just really enjoy a crisp system that uses JL Evolution speakers. For some reason to my ears, they are just spot on. No shrill highs, and they've repeatedly surprised me with their bass response in every application. I'm curious to see if a 4 ohm, 6 1/2" mid woofer from JL can outperform a 1 ohm, 10" subwoofer from Bose keeping everything else the same. I bet it will!

 

I am almost sure the JL will not, but I know there are plenty out there that will. Let me know how it turns out.

Please post detailed instructions on how to take the doors apart to get to the speakers, I would be very interested in that.

Take care and keep having fun!

 

subscribed and hoping it is an improvement. Please provide and honest review of the sound and it's differences. And would you consider doing one set of speakers at time to see if one improves the sound more than the others.

thanks in advance for imfo on how to get in the doors.

 

Absolutely. I'll be the first to tell you if it's worth it or not. I'm never one to be tied to something just because I bought it or the brand name. I'll start with the rear speakers first as they have the least overall impact on the soundstage. I'm actually looking forward to the Dynamat more than the 6x9's. The G is a bit rattly back there!

 

1. It's not about using a higher impedence speaker as impedence changes with frequency, but efficiency. Not only is ur load higher, but how efficient is the pioneer?

To each his own, but crossover points, slopes etc were not designed soley for the speaker locations, but also for the specific speaker's dispersion characteristics.

Given that your goals of "crisper midbass" and "better detail" are subjectively measured, I can almost garauntee that you will obtain your goal. I, however, can almost blueprint some inherent problems you will have with the overall system balance. Since your expectations are so low, I feel it will all work out for you and good luck with everything. Enjoy!

 

Just an FYI, you can maintain stock wiring and most likley not notice any loss.

 

Three screws, unplug plugs and pop panel off! LOL Probably 3 min.