The Bose system in my 2004 C5 Coupe sounds as if a speaker in the RF is damaged. If I do need to replace one I would rather just upgrade all of them.

I know almost nothing about car audio so I have been doing searches here and reading for the last couple of days. I learned that upgrading the 8" front speakers is a problem because they don't run off of the HU as the others do. They have their own amp and a resistance of about .5 ohm from what I have been reading. Apparently this is a method Bose uses to keep noise down.

So what can I do? Can I put a 12" enclosed unit in the back with an amp and drive it or them using the wiring for the stock 8" units as a pre amp? Then could I use the front space to put in a 3 way set of speakers?

I don't really want to rip out the whole system and then spend thousands on an aftermarket system. I was not really unhappy, for what it is, with the stock system until this problem started.

I have read much here about what can be done with the 3.5 fronts and the 6.5 rears but I haven't seen any solutions for upgrading the 8" front units unless you get a new HU. "Rip it all out and start over" is not a good solution for me.

What can I do????

 

For what is worth, it may be the 3.5's that are the problem. Don't know what yours sounds like, but I think the upper and mid ranges are more pronounced when damaged. If you are unsure, then a quick swap of the 3.5's would tell you if thats the problem and its fairly cheap and it will sound better.

 

Thanks Matt I will keep that in mind. Now that I have been thinking about it new speakers would be a good upgrade. I really hope someone knows how I can get past the 8" stumbling block.

 

Good luck , no one seems to want to answer my questions either.

 

Well guys.....you just discovered the weakness of this part of the forum. A lot of questions go unanswered, or, get answered days later. The problem is that there just aren't a lot of people who post on the audio forum daily. The ones who do are usually quite knowledgable, but they sometimes seem to pass on answering questions that they know have been asked quite a few times by others in the past.
I started out by just adding an amp and a stealthbox with a 12" JL Audio sub in the recess in the back. You don't need any type of interface to do this....you can just tap into the low-level outs from the head unit that go to the Bose amp. To replace the speakers in the door your best and cheapest option would be to just swap out the 3.5" spkrs for an aftermarket, like the Alpine 3.5" and leave the factory 8" running off of the Bose amp, but if your problem really is the 8" spkrs, then I'd pull all the door speakers and get an interface, like the PAC AOEM1-VET1 that plugs up to the factory hu and gives you the connections to add an amp. You could then buy an amp and 6.5" components for the doors. With this combo...amp, sub, and components in the doors...you'd be rockin. Probably cost from $500-700 to do it semi-cheap but good quality. Hope that helps a little.
Oh....and you'll need to fabricate a plate to mount the speakers in the doors, or buy some off of member Vrumvrum. I believe his are around $45 CNC'd out of nylon, and REALLY nice!

 

Oh.....I forgot to say.......Be sure to use the forum search function!!
There has been a crapload of info posted over the last coupla years about changing out the stock systems. You just have to get creative with your search words. Try Bose speakers, door speakers, add sub, or even Blose system, aftermarket hu, etc.

 

I saw some pictures of the work Vrumvrum does in my searches. The work looks like a quality peice.

OK, so you can't just run the feed to the 8" speakers directly to an amp. What exactly does the PAC AOEM1-VET1 you described do?

 

Here's the blurb from PAC:

The PAC AOEM-VET1 Premium Sound System Interface is a 'specific application' adaptation of the PAC OEM-1 interface. This adapter will allow you to add an additional after-market amplifier in your 1997 through 2001 Corvette with a Delco/Bose factory amplified sound system. You will be able to keep the factory amp and sound system unchanged, and still add a sub-woofer amp. The interface is transformer isolated, maintains phase and is linear from 20 to 20,000 Hz. This 4-channel interface will allow the output to be adjusted to the input requirements of the new amplifier, providing 2:1 gain and infinite attenuation. The input connectors plug into the factory stereo and vehicle harness. The 4 female RCA output jacks plug into the new amplifier. Comes complete with amplifier trigger wire. Just like the factory stereo system, the warning chimes will play through the front left RCA output of the interface.

Jerry

 

Thanks Rockrz,
This sounds like just what I need to do a reasonably priced upgrade to my system.

 

I replaced the 3 1/2" door speakers and my rear speakers, I left the 8" door subs alone.
the problem with the bose system is not enough highs, I used a 3 1/2" triaxial in the doors and infinity 505cs component speakers in the rear. the 8" door subs have plenty of "punch" for me.
the sound is much improved for me.

if you think one of the door speakers is bad then just pull both door panels off and swap speakers from one side to the other and see if the "bad" speaker travels to the other side of the car.
this is the mose inexpensive way to troubleshoot the problem. then you can decide what to do from there.