Make your Bose system awesome for $600 ish
04-14-2020, 10:38 AM
#1
Make your Bose system awesome for $600 ish
Some of this info has already been mentioned but wanted to share my recent experience upgrading my system.
1. Replacing the sub is biggest improvement for your money. I initially tried a Rockford Fosgate powered 10" sub and it sells for $250 new. Sounded pretty good and would probably satisfy most people. I later upgraded to a JL 12'' 400 watt powered sub and that will definitely satisfy anyone that isn't into high end builds.
2. Next move for better sound is ditch the factory amp, it's garbage. I bought a used JL twk88 sound processor ($175), used JL 6 channel amp (240), 2 TX-1A transformers ($50) and ran a new speaker wire to the tweeters in the sale panel.
- I tapped the pre amp wires coming from the head unit before the bose amp
- The TX-1A transformers worked perfect to straighten the signal out so my equipment would work. They convert the balanced audio signal to an unbalanced signal, which is what most aftermarket equipment is looking for. Huge thanks to Milosz from this forum helping figure out the signal issues and recommending the transformers, they work perfect and were the cheapest option.
- I used the factory speaker wire for the 4'' and 10'' but you have to run a new speaker wire for the tweeters. This was actually really easy. Instead of trying to fight the Molex I used an existing hole in the door jam that was covered with a small plug. Then drilled a hole in the bottom of the rubber boot on the molex and fished my wire through that.
- NEWS FLASH - The factory Bose speakers are not junk, they actually sound pretty good if you get them all playing the same volume (db) and a little eq using the sound processor. I set the tweeters to play 3200 hertz and up, the 4'' door speakers 250-3200 hertz and the 10'' mid bass to play 80-250 hertz. My amp delivers 110 watts per channel at 2 ohms and I was shocked how well the factory speakers performed. I guarantee this setup would satisfy 98% of G owners. So for $500-$800 you can make a huge improvement if you do the work yourself and spend a little time learning how to tune using a sound processor.
This is my first time using a sound processor and it was pretty easy to learn the basic adjustments, time alignment, matching sensitivity and flatting out the high and low spots in freq response. For now I just loaded Audio Tool for Android on my phone and used the mic.
Personally this was just an experiment to see how good the factory equipment was. I'll be upgrading to Scanspeak tweeters, Audio Frog GB25's and Steven's MB8's (most likely). I also ditched the powered sub and running a Phoenix Gold Ti3 1200.4 to an Alpine Type R for now. Found a good deal on the amp and love the way it looks. Most likely will change to infinite baffle subs in the future.
1. Replacing the sub is biggest improvement for your money. I initially tried a Rockford Fosgate powered 10" sub and it sells for $250 new. Sounded pretty good and would probably satisfy most people. I later upgraded to a JL 12'' 400 watt powered sub and that will definitely satisfy anyone that isn't into high end builds.
2. Next move for better sound is ditch the factory amp, it's garbage. I bought a used JL twk88 sound processor ($175), used JL 6 channel amp (240), 2 TX-1A transformers ($50) and ran a new speaker wire to the tweeters in the sale panel.
- I tapped the pre amp wires coming from the head unit before the bose amp
- The TX-1A transformers worked perfect to straighten the signal out so my equipment would work. They convert the balanced audio signal to an unbalanced signal, which is what most aftermarket equipment is looking for. Huge thanks to Milosz from this forum helping figure out the signal issues and recommending the transformers, they work perfect and were the cheapest option.
- I used the factory speaker wire for the 4'' and 10'' but you have to run a new speaker wire for the tweeters. This was actually really easy. Instead of trying to fight the Molex I used an existing hole in the door jam that was covered with a small plug. Then drilled a hole in the bottom of the rubber boot on the molex and fished my wire through that.
- NEWS FLASH - The factory Bose speakers are not junk, they actually sound pretty good if you get them all playing the same volume (db) and a little eq using the sound processor. I set the tweeters to play 3200 hertz and up, the 4'' door speakers 250-3200 hertz and the 10'' mid bass to play 80-250 hertz. My amp delivers 110 watts per channel at 2 ohms and I was shocked how well the factory speakers performed. I guarantee this setup would satisfy 98% of G owners. So for $500-$800 you can make a huge improvement if you do the work yourself and spend a little time learning how to tune using a sound processor.
This is my first time using a sound processor and it was pretty easy to learn the basic adjustments, time alignment, matching sensitivity and flatting out the high and low spots in freq response. For now I just loaded Audio Tool for Android on my phone and used the mic.
Personally this was just an experiment to see how good the factory equipment was. I'll be upgrading to Scanspeak tweeters, Audio Frog GB25's and Steven's MB8's (most likely). I also ditched the powered sub and running a Phoenix Gold Ti3 1200.4 to an Alpine Type R for now. Found a good deal on the amp and love the way it looks. Most likely will change to infinite baffle subs in the future.
The following 2 users liked this post by Bman427:
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Smithers911 (08-24-2020)
04-14-2020, 12:33 PM
#2
Registered Member
Good information there. I was thinking about going a similar route until... I went a route that I thought would improve the sound marginally, but, to my surprise, it was impressive as Hell. It also lets you make custom frequency setups for older recordings that may be decades old in sound processing. The biggest problem with the Bose system in these cars is EQ ability with the ability to drive those frequencies & the system itself. I purchased an app for iOS called EQu. It was like 4 bucks. The result was staggering. The 10' subs in the doors came to life like I could not imagine.It lets you preamp drive the system to levels not possible with using just the standard controls. I twas like installing a whole new system.Anyway, thought I'd throw this out there for folks to try. For just a few bucks, it makes a substantial improvement. I think you will be surprised like I was.
You should still be able to use a sound processor to fine tune it as well.
You should still be able to use a sound processor to fine tune it as well.
04-14-2020, 12:41 PM
#3
I could not believe how good the stock speakers sound. I actually installed a pair of $400 Beyma 6.5'' in the doors and I actually think the stock 10" drivers sound better, lol. They definitely play better below 90 hertz. I took them out and put the stock 10's back in. Anyone listens to my stereo doesn't believe it has all stock speakers in the front stage. I'm wanting to double the power so I'll be upgrading but I'm shocked how cheap you can upgrade this system. Even for a first timer... all the wire taps are in the trunk and running dedicated power and speaker wires to the front was easy for the most part
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Boomstryker (04-14-2020)
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