I have a 2012 Base model and about 9 months ago I put in a Kenwood DDX9903S HU. I love it and it immediately made listening to the sound system much more fun. While I was in there I removed the center dash speaker and I attributed that to making the sound better along with the HU. It had the Bose system in the car and I left all of the speakers in place, just changed out the HU. Now it's a few months later and the sound doesn't sound that good anymore. It sounds like everything is echoing like it was in the bottom of a trash can. When I mentioned this to my wife she immediately agreed, saying she thought it was just her.. If we turn the volume up things sound pretty good. Really don't want to blast the thing every time we go out. I know the road noise can be an issue,, but even at low speeds driving around town, the sound just isn't there. I have played with all of the controls with the Kenwood, even played with the equalizer but it still isn't quite right. When I bought my first AT HOME stereo system and it was time to pick the speakers, the salesman told me to turn around so I couldn't look at the speakers and pick whichever pair sound the best. No point buying a $1000 set of speakers if my ears could only hear a $500 set. That is my problem right now. Would a speaker upgrade ( including a Bose bypass)help the sounds I am getting now? I know it's hard for someone here to know what I can hear and what I can't ( 72 yrs old and have some hearing issues thanks to a long loud life). Just looking for some ideas and feedback as if what I am hearing is not out of the ordinary for a set of what was in 2012 supposed to be a state of the art audio system. Not looking to spend thousands of dollars, don't think I need a sub woofer box. Or do I? Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome. Or maybe it might be my ears...

 

A sub makes a huge difference, try not to ever go without one in any location. My year bose didn't come with a tweeter or a sub so I did add one and upgraded the top door speakers (co ax). I spent around 300 with kicker brand. The sub I used the provided straps around the storage door lid to secure it. That was very quick and easy but the wiring took longer still nbd though.

 

I'd say to take it to a local audio shop and have them listen to it, and they could tell you if it's your system or you.

 

Thanks for your input. As for maybe my ears, my wife brought up the fact that things seemed "muddled" at low volume,, which was the same thing I was hearing. So I started looking into this more. Most of the threads I came across suggested #2 mod after a new HU was the 3.5" twiddlers! Pretty much what AArdwolf mentioned above. And then since I have the doors apart to replace the twiddlers with real tweeters, I might as well replace the other speakers . Looking at Rockford Fosgate R165 6 1/2 lower and the P132 3 1/2 for upper doors. Not a lot of money, certainly not top of the line. I will also check out the Kickers. Not going to do anything with the speakers behind the seats. If I see an improvement then I will think about a sub in the back. Also going to put some dynatmat or similar in the doors. I have a 2015 Nissan truck and the sound is way better than the Bose in the C6, so maybe the ears aren't as shot as I think they are. 27 yrs of driving a truck, ,the first 10 or 11 having no A/c so had the road noise, and the engine noise with the windows openon the highway, then of course had to turn up the radio is finally taking it's toll. THX for your replies.

 

Probably not your ears. But I would not suggest replacing the door woofers unless you plan on going with a new amp and also adding a subwoofer. Look to replace the 3.5" door speakers and also the rear 5.25" speakers to see if it helps. The 3.5" speakers will probably do the most to help clean up some of the muddy sound in the cheap Bose speakers..

 

Fred, thanks. I am waiting for my Christmas present to arrive in the next few days from Crutchfield. Kicker 6 1/2 for the doors, Kicker 5 1/4 mid panel behind the seats and Rockford Fosgate Punch P132 for upper doors. Haven't decided on the sub yet, not sure if I need it (and I don't want to have to take the console apart to hook it up if I don't have to). And I do't think it's my ears either. As said, My 2015 nissan truck sounds just fine for us and it is far from a high end system. I just figured that since I was going to have the door panels off, I might as well do both sets of speakers at the same time. I am annoyed that about 7 or 8 months ago the door woofer in one door became unusable, so I bought a factory replacement ( my wife is big on keep it as stock as possible). So I at least know how it all comes apart. Thanks for your insight. BTW, where in Morris County are you? I lived in Union, Morris and Somerset Counties almost my whole life until I saw the light...and moved to South Carolina!

 

So the BT calling pickup is in a different location than the ANC & OnStar pickup?

 

I am pretty confident that you will find that replacing the 8" woofers with the 6-1/2 Kickers in the doors will not sound correct and that you will indeed need to install a subwoofer. Most of the base in the car originally came from those 8" woofers and I haven't heard anyone ever say that replacing them with just the 6-1/2's was enough. More likely that you will find the sound lacking bass afterwards. Also, are you connecting all these new speakers to the existing stock amp in the car? If so, I believe the 8" woofers are 1 or 2 ohm. If your 6-1/2 Kickers are 4 ohm, then you will notice a DRASTIC reduction in sound output after the change.

Also note that the original rear speakers (the 5.25") are connected in mono, not stereo from the stock amp.

If you really don't want to install an aftermarket subwoofer in your car, I would HIGHLY suggest keeping the 8" woofers in the doors (or replacing with new 8" GM woofers).

 

NB, I have a follow up thread posted on 12/16/23 and went into more details about the ohm rating on these aftermarket speakers. And they all are connected to the original amp. I believe we concluded that the amp is the weak link in the car right now. As I said in that thread this all came about because I wanted BlueTooth in the car. I really didn't have an issue with the Bose set up sound but wanted the BT and a rear camera was an added bonus which is why I switched the HU out. That all led me down this worm hole. My next decision is finding a small enough ( space wise) amp to fit as close as possible to the OEM amp, then the wiring. Just run new wires to everything or splicing into the Bose amp plug. I am a little gun shy about messing with all of it because I don't want to give up my steering wheel controls, which work fine.Once I figure the speaker wiring, I will cut into it at the amp plug and use the existing wires. I will then have to figure out the mono set up in the rear speakers. I am sure I can get some help here on that.
I know it's not my ears because the sound in my 2020 Frontier and my 78 C3 all sound great. I did the set up in the C3 with a 2 channel amp for the rear speakers and all is good. I know my way around wriing pretty well ( I have a complete custom wiring harness from Ron Francis the the 78 with nothing resembling stock in the car. THe stereo thing is something I have not run into previously. It was usually plug and play but the BOse hybrid thing is making me crazy. I am just hesitant right now because of unintended consequences that I don't see coming. Like all of this happening because I wanted BT and CarPlay. thanks for your input. And Happy New Year.