2011 G37 Sedan Sound System Overhaul
08-07-2017, 12:15 AM
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2011 G37 Sedan Sound System Overhaul
Hey guys long time member of the forums, newbie and first time Infiniti owner. I drive a 2011 G37 Sedan Journey 7AT and I love the car overall, but there were some things I wanted to change/upgrade. The sound system definitely being one of them. The factory BOSE sound system in our cars isn't terrible it actually sounds really good, it just wasn't loud enough for me lol (I'm only 17 so I like my music LOUD). Anyway after some planning I decided on the route I wanted to take as far as upgrading the audio in the car.
The plan:
Factory NAV Radio
Audiocontrol LC7i
Factory Center channel powered off the factory BOSE amp
Factory Tweeters and Midranges in front doors powered off factory BOSE amp
2 CT Sounds NEO Pro Audio 8" to replace the 10" midbass in the front doors
2 CT Sounds NEO Pro Audio 6.5" to replace the 6.5" midrange in the back doors
Factory 8" subwoofer powered off the factory BOSE amp.
2 Kenwood 8406 4ch's
1 Kenwood 9106 Mono
2 Precision Power Dual 2 ohm PPI.12s
So, I basically only changed the lower door speakers in each door.
Power:
As of right now I'm on factory electrical although I do plan on getting a Mechman 270a HOA and 2 Optima RedTop batteries as well as doing a BIG 3 Upgrade eventually.
Breakdown:
Driving the entire system is 2 Kenwood 8406 4CH amplifiers. Each amp is bridged. One amp drives the 2 8" CT Sounds NEO's in the front doors. The other amp drives the 2 6.5" CT Sounds NEO's in the back doors. Main reason I did this is to get as much power as I can to the speakers AND because I already had these amps laying around from my last car.
Driving the bass is a Kenwood 9106 Mono amplifier. 1000w @ 2ohms RMS. I have 2 Precision Power PPI.12's in a ported box tuned to 39hz in the trunk.
Installation
As far as the install went it was pretty in-depth to get the system to work with the factory radio. I put the factory NAV radio's output signal wires to an oscilloscope and ran a few tones threw it and saw that it was putting out about 2V all the way turned up with no distorting signal. To fix the low voltage issue I decided to go with an AudioControl LC7i to boost the signal voltage and to supply me with the RCA output's needed for my amps.
SHOUTOUT TO IRONCHEF2008 HERE ON MYG37 FOR THE BOSE WIRING DIAGRAMS
Wiring:
I spliced in and soldered my own signal wires at the BOSE harness to the factory signal wires from the headunit and sent over to the LC7i. The LC7i, I actually ended up mounting under the rear deck on the right side of the factory sub to keep all the wires and RCA's hidden under that top trunk panel.
Then, I cut the wires coming out of the BOSE amp that was going to the Front Left Midbass; Front Right Midbass; Rear Left Midrange; Rear Right Midrange speakers and extended all those wires to where my amps were going to be mounted.
I bundled all my RCA's and speaker wires in TESA tape and split loom and ran them on the left side of the trunk.
The power and ground for the LC7, and remote turn on relay I ran on the right side of the trunk. I ended up cutting a piece of 1/2" MDF and wrapping it in carpet so it could hold all 3 amplifiers and then mount to the back of the rear seats.
Only downside to this is I have now permanently blocked my ski hole passthrough but I never used it anyway
The 3 amps actually fit perfectly side by side by side on the board behind the rear seats along with my TSPEC distribution block and wires.
Power wire:
For the power wire I just ran 2 runs of 4GA OFC wire down the passenger side of the vehicle all the way into the trunk.
The ground for the amps was all done on the right side of the spare tire. Sanded the paint down, bolt, lock washer, star washer, and nut from the bottom of the vehicle and the grounds were rock solid with 0 voltage drop at the amps!
Door Speaker Install: *sorry no pictures of install*
The front doors were, well a pain in the a** to say the least.
What I found was the best and easiest route was unscrewing the 4 8mm bolts that held the BOSE 10" midrange to the bracket and then creating my own 3/4" MDF spacer the bolted back to the factory brackets. A regular component or coaxial speaker could've gotten away with just a 1/4" or 1/2" thick baffle but my Pro Audio 8s in my front doors were over 3" deep so this was the only way I could get them to fit. 
The brackets then bolted back to their factory mounting locations and the speakers were then installed and connected to the factory BOSE wiring in the doors. Barely getting lucky with only a hair of space left, the factory door panel fit back over nice and snug 
The rear doors were super simple, new 1/2" MDF adapters to bolt to factory mounting points and then installed my new Pro Audio 6.5s to those and the door panel went right back over them super easily.
Final Stage:
With everything finally installed all I could say is damn I was happy. The system was way over the top loud when I finished tuning the amps. So loud I actually had to turn the amps down a good amount to make sure I don't deaf myself LOL. Overall it sounded amazing, super clean response out of the CT Sounds NEO mids and with the factory BOSE tweeters and mids along side them it was the PERFECT system with an awesome front stage setup. As I said before I do now plan on getting a mechman 270a high output alternator and 2 optima redtop batteries to help with the electrical system and reduce the major voltage drops when the bass hits but overall it works fine for now. Plays full tilt all day long with no issues thus far.
As far as the rest of the vehicle goes I do have a lot of plans for it (coils, wheels, lip, skirts, diffuser, catback exhaust system, downpipes, test pipes, intakes, stillen grounding kit, supercharger, headlight halos, etc.)
The plan:
Factory NAV Radio
Audiocontrol LC7i
Factory Center channel powered off the factory BOSE amp
Factory Tweeters and Midranges in front doors powered off factory BOSE amp
2 CT Sounds NEO Pro Audio 8" to replace the 10" midbass in the front doors
2 CT Sounds NEO Pro Audio 6.5" to replace the 6.5" midrange in the back doors
Factory 8" subwoofer powered off the factory BOSE amp.
2 Kenwood 8406 4ch's
1 Kenwood 9106 Mono
2 Precision Power Dual 2 ohm PPI.12s
So, I basically only changed the lower door speakers in each door.
Power:
As of right now I'm on factory electrical although I do plan on getting a Mechman 270a HOA and 2 Optima RedTop batteries as well as doing a BIG 3 Upgrade eventually.
Breakdown:
Driving the entire system is 2 Kenwood 8406 4CH amplifiers. Each amp is bridged. One amp drives the 2 8" CT Sounds NEO's in the front doors. The other amp drives the 2 6.5" CT Sounds NEO's in the back doors. Main reason I did this is to get as much power as I can to the speakers AND because I already had these amps laying around from my last car.
Driving the bass is a Kenwood 9106 Mono amplifier. 1000w @ 2ohms RMS. I have 2 Precision Power PPI.12's in a ported box tuned to 39hz in the trunk.
Installation
As far as the install went it was pretty in-depth to get the system to work with the factory radio. I put the factory NAV radio's output signal wires to an oscilloscope and ran a few tones threw it and saw that it was putting out about 2V all the way turned up with no distorting signal. To fix the low voltage issue I decided to go with an AudioControl LC7i to boost the signal voltage and to supply me with the RCA output's needed for my amps.
SHOUTOUT TO IRONCHEF2008 HERE ON MYG37 FOR THE BOSE WIRING DIAGRAMS
Wiring:
I spliced in and soldered my own signal wires at the BOSE harness to the factory signal wires from the headunit and sent over to the LC7i. The LC7i, I actually ended up mounting under the rear deck on the right side of the factory sub to keep all the wires and RCA's hidden under that top trunk panel.
Then, I cut the wires coming out of the BOSE amp that was going to the Front Left Midbass; Front Right Midbass; Rear Left Midrange; Rear Right Midrange speakers and extended all those wires to where my amps were going to be mounted.
I bundled all my RCA's and speaker wires in TESA tape and split loom and ran them on the left side of the trunk.
The power and ground for the LC7, and remote turn on relay I ran on the right side of the trunk. I ended up cutting a piece of 1/2" MDF and wrapping it in carpet so it could hold all 3 amplifiers and then mount to the back of the rear seats.
Only downside to this is I have now permanently blocked my ski hole passthrough but I never used it anyway
The 3 amps actually fit perfectly side by side by side on the board behind the rear seats along with my TSPEC distribution block and wires. 
Power wire:
For the power wire I just ran 2 runs of 4GA OFC wire down the passenger side of the vehicle all the way into the trunk.
The ground for the amps was all done on the right side of the spare tire. Sanded the paint down, bolt, lock washer, star washer, and nut from the bottom of the vehicle and the grounds were rock solid with 0 voltage drop at the amps!
Door Speaker Install: *sorry no pictures of install*
The front doors were, well a pain in the a** to say the least.
What I found was the best and easiest route was unscrewing the 4 8mm bolts that held the BOSE 10" midrange to the bracket and then creating my own 3/4" MDF spacer the bolted back to the factory brackets. A regular component or coaxial speaker could've gotten away with just a 1/4" or 1/2" thick baffle but my Pro Audio 8s in my front doors were over 3" deep so this was the only way I could get them to fit. The brackets then bolted back to their factory mounting locations and the speakers were then installed and connected to the factory BOSE wiring in the doors. Barely getting lucky with only a hair of space left, the factory door panel fit back over nice and snug The rear doors were super simple, new 1/2" MDF adapters to bolt to factory mounting points and then installed my new Pro Audio 6.5s to those and the door panel went right back over them super easily.
Final Stage:
With everything finally installed all I could say is damn I was happy. The system was way over the top loud when I finished tuning the amps. So loud I actually had to turn the amps down a good amount to make sure I don't deaf myself LOL. Overall it sounded amazing, super clean response out of the CT Sounds NEO mids and with the factory BOSE tweeters and mids along side them it was the PERFECT system with an awesome front stage setup. As I said before I do now plan on getting a mechman 270a high output alternator and 2 optima redtop batteries to help with the electrical system and reduce the major voltage drops when the bass hits but overall it works fine for now. Plays full tilt all day long with no issues thus far.
As far as the rest of the vehicle goes I do have a lot of plans for it (coils, wheels, lip, skirts, diffuser, catback exhaust system, downpipes, test pipes, intakes, stillen grounding kit, supercharger, headlight halos, etc.)
03-03-2021, 09:30 PM
#2
Wow, such a great write up! I can’t believe nobody has responded this whole time. I too have a G37 sedan with Bose/NAV. I’m in the process of upgrading to a 5ch amp, but I ask that you please clarify some of your statements. The 5ch amp I have selected is a JL AUDIO RD900/5 along with 6.5” 2-way components up front, 6.75” coaxial in the rear, and a single JL 10”.
At what point in the wiring did you install the LC7i? Is it: headunit -> LC7i -> aftermarket amp -> speakers? Or is the LC7i after the BOSE amp. I have heard of both ways.
My other concern is if I actually need the LC7i at all. I have already picked up a JL AUDIO RD900/5, and it has some unique features that other amps don’t. For example l, they accept differential-balanced inputs.
In my head, wouldn’t I be able to completely bypass the BOSE amp and tap into the speaker signal wires coming from the head unit via an RCA conversion?
Or is it that I NEED the LC7i to perform a signal sum in order to get a full range signal to the JL amp for it to sound right?
I really appreciate any help you can provide!!
At what point in the wiring did you install the LC7i? Is it: headunit -> LC7i -> aftermarket amp -> speakers? Or is the LC7i after the BOSE amp. I have heard of both ways.
My other concern is if I actually need the LC7i at all. I have already picked up a JL AUDIO RD900/5, and it has some unique features that other amps don’t. For example l, they accept differential-balanced inputs.
In my head, wouldn’t I be able to completely bypass the BOSE amp and tap into the speaker signal wires coming from the head unit via an RCA conversion?
Or is it that I NEED the LC7i to perform a signal sum in order to get a full range signal to the JL amp for it to sound right?
I really appreciate any help you can provide!!
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