ay37

Wondering if there is anything I can replace the factory speakers with? Just a simple drop in and better sound? Possible? I have not even opened the door panels yet so I don't know what it looks like. I do not want to add an amp or run extra wires. Simply put, I wanna know if there is something better than the factory Bose speakers setup I can replace with and be much happier with. One speaker is already starting to go in the front right door. I have the Bose system in a 2012 37x sedan.

CRiME

iTrader: (2)

It won't be a direct drop in - the bose system carries 10" woofers in the doors, with 3" midrange above, and then separate tweeters in the pods. A regular 10" woofer wouldn't fit in the factory location due to depth / clearance issues with the window. What people usually end up doing is mounting a 6.5" where the 10" goes, via the use of an adapter. The adapters are available for sale, but I didn't like the quality so I ended up building my own.

In the end, though, replacing the bose speakers and running them off the factory amp didn't sound right to me. I ran this setup for a couple of weeks until I got the time to install my amps and sound processor. The bass was flat and everything just sounded unbalanced.

ay37

Thank you for that answer... that's exactly what I was looking to find out. I think I will leave them alone and just swap the one speaker making funny noises.

Much appreciated.

blazeplacid

iTrader: (1)

Bose 10" to a 6.5" adapter
PVC Speaker Adapters - CNC Machined - In Stock or Custom Made

Tweeter adapter
PVC Speaker Adapters - CNC Machined - In Stock or Custom Made

RA081224

FWIW There are numerous drop in replacements for that 10" pancake woofer. Im not sure there going to offer any better sound than the Bose POS but there available.

I wound up following the same route as you did regarding replacing the drivers before ditching the amps and experienced the same underwhelming sound.

CRiME

iTrader: (2)

Cool, I wasn't aware that many options were available. In my research, I only found one person who had installed a shallow 10" in the doors, but he had a g35. His install still required the use of MDF rings and modification of the sheet metal. If anyone is interested, the page is here:
2007 Infiniti G35 Sedan, real 10?s in the doors | Robin Wainwright's Blog

Do you have any links handy of the 10"s that will work as a direct drop in? Now I'm curious to see what they look like.

RA081224

Heres one from Rockford Fosgate

PRIME Subwoofers - R2SD4-10 - Rockford Fosgate®

JL Audio

Car Audio - Subwoofer Drivers - TW5v2 - JL Audio

Kicker

CompRT | KICKER

I think Pioneer, Audiobahn, Kenwood and others have them. Focal has a shallow mount but I don't think its shallow enough for our application without adding filler to the door panel. Im not going to go on about the tonal quality of these drivers. At best I would call these mid bass or maybe even woofers. With the limited excursion these suckers have, your not going to get much usable below 80-100Hz. However, if you are careful to low pass limit the door woofers high enough to keep the drivers from distorting and use the subwoofer to cover any holes left by the door woofer, the resulting sound is much fuller and the bass impact will be much greater than the standard Bose setup. Will you get better performance from a smaller, higher quality woofer in the door; probably but if you keep in mind the limitations of the driver you've chosen to work with and compensate for any shortcomings with the other drivers, you should come out OK. I can't comment much on level balancing different drivers with the pancake woofer in the door and you may gain some bass by constructing a fiberglass woofer "basket" to help seal the driver from the door cavity but for all the sweat of doing this I didn't notice all that much difference.