I'm seriously thinking about replacing my bose speakers on my 07'... How much better do the BAs sound over the stock bose system if all 5 speakers are replaced?

 

I know that in the C5 it is a night and day differnce, with the stock headunit.

 

<purist warning> Any afermarket speaker will sound better than the stock Bose. BUT the Bose amps are designed to compensate for the speakers they're using with digital wizardry/equalization so any speaker you use as a replacement will not sound as good as it might otherwise. Incremental gains with speaker replacement, only realy gains are to replace amps and speakers entirely, and preferably stock head too. </purist warning>

 

Some great info here guys, thank you! I have heard so much about the BA S55's and BA S35's.
What amp do you suggest to push the 5 replaced speakers?

 

 

I just got through changing the front 3 speakers with the BA S35 (1 dash and 2 door speakers) and also the rears with the BA S55. There is definitely an improvement in the front and a minimal improvement in the rear. Im happy with the system for now. The speakers fit right in with no problem at all.

 

Im thinking of doing this swap as well.

Can I ask you a question or two?

What you did you use for connectors, or did you cut the factory wires and splice?

If you had to do it again, would you still have replaced the rears?

Thanks for your help.

 

I cut the factory plug off and used the little wire connectors that came with the speakers and spliced them onto the factory wires.

If I had to do it again in the rear,,,,,lol...anyway, I probably would still do it only because I know there is a small improvement and later down the road I may do more to the system. But changing the front 3 is where it made the most difference and im glad i did it.

 

Two more questions please, (if you did the job yourself) how hard was it to replace the rear speakers and take off/replace the door panels?

 

Yes i did the job myself, i always do my own work. As for the rear panels, get a plank of wood or something to support the hatch, take a screwdriver and pry the little retaining clip off the ball for the gas struts and the strut will come right off. You dont have to remove the clip all the way, just enough where the strut will pop off. After the speakers are changed, just push the strut rod back onto the ball and it will pop right on. The panel itself is attached with those "push in" serrated prongs. I just used my hand and popped the aft part of it inward toward the middle of the car and then used a roll of duct tape to hold the panel out of the way, it wasnt necessary to totally remove it. As for the door, roll the windows down. For he driver side, after you pop off a little plastic cover under the handle you use to close the door with, you will need to remove 2 screws and after that, if you look under the bottom of the door panel, there should be a small gap which is where i inserted a plastic scraper and used that to pull the door panel toward me. There are several of those platic prong things all around the door. You will need to slowly work your hand around the door panel pulling it off. When its all off, then you will have to pull upward at the window edge to pull it loose. There are about 4 metal tangs that go into the door frame. The same for the passenger door except the 2 screws are different. You will need a small screwdriver to remove the "door opening button". There is one screw under it and another screw down under the handle itself, the hole isnt covered on that one.

EDIT: when putting the door panels back on, get the 4 metal tangs lined up first and make sure the panel is lined up with the platic prong holes, you can move the panel fore and aft slightly at this point to make sure its lined up. Then just pop the door panel on a little at a time all the way around until its fully seated.

the speakers themselves are just held in with screws, then cut the plugs off the wires, strip and splice new wires that come with speakers and reinstall. Just make sure you get the polarity right

 

Hey thank you so much! I may just attempt the job myself now!

 

No problem and if you have any questions, let me know. Definitely do the job yourself.