2012 Bose still not sounding good
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,820
Likes: 1,728
From: Summerville SC
2012 Bose still not sounding good
I have a 2012 C6 w/ Kenwood DDX9703S H.U.,Rockford Forsgate P132 3 1/2" in upper door, Kicker 6 3/4 CSC67 in lower doors. Kicker DSC50 5 1/4 behind seats, with center dash speaker unplugged. I sound proofed the entire back of the car. and the doors. I kept OEM wiring when I installed the speakers and also the Bose amp. It still sucks. a little. Not as bad as when I started this, but not acceptable to me. My 2020 Nissan Frontier sounds much better. In fact, the $75.00 JVC HU I just put in my C3 project sounds better. When I bump up the music in the C6 to levels that I used back in the day, it sounds great. You can hear everything going on in the song. But at normal levels, as in the volume you use when trying to have a conversation in the car, the speakers in the doors sound like empty tin cans.
My question to those of you who know is this...do I need to ditch the bose amp? I want whatever controls go through the PAC adapter, chimes and steering wheel controls. Do I need the Bose for that to happen? Can I just disconnect the speaker wires from the Bose amp and wire directly to the HU? I know enough about stereos to know I don't know this answer, so please help.
My question to those of you who know is this...do I need to ditch the bose amp? I want whatever controls go through the PAC adapter, chimes and steering wheel controls. Do I need the Bose for that to happen? Can I just disconnect the speaker wires from the Bose amp and wire directly to the HU? I know enough about stereos to know I don't know this answer, so please help.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,427
Likes: 2,309
From: Billings Montana. Out in the wild west
Did you check the Ohm ratings of the new speakers, compared to the Ohm ratings of the stock speakers ? My guess is that they’re not close, so I’d look at getting a separate amp to power them. and not use the stock amp.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,820
Likes: 1,728
From: Summerville SC
The OEM Bose door speakers in my 2012 were 1 ohm. I don't have the others around anymore and can't find any definitive answers on the web. The new speakers are all 4 ohm and the Kenwood is good for 4-8 ohms. I am not well versed in this but if I understand correctly the Bose amp works better a lower ohm speaker than I have put into the car. So I might need an amp powering 4-8 ohms. In my mind I am pretty sure this is the bottleneck in the system ( the Bose amp) but I have difficulty sorting it out in that same mind. This gettng old sucks. Thanks for yur input.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 452
Likes: 159
Your bose amp, or something else in the OEM stuff has a crossover in it so your upper doors aren't getting too much bass, and you lower doors aren't getting highs and mids. You put in full ranges speakers that are not currently getting the full range.
Yes, you can run the speakers right off the HU.
Or you can ditch that bose amp, install an aftermarket amp that runs directly off the HU with RCAs, and run new speaker wire to your speakers.
Yes, you can run the speakers right off the HU.
Or you can ditch that bose amp, install an aftermarket amp that runs directly off the HU with RCAs, and run new speaker wire to your speakers.
Last edited by BurntOut; Dec 16, 2023 at 05:31 PM.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,820
Likes: 1,728
From: Summerville SC
I think it is the amp. I think something in the HU and the Bose are fighting each other. I think a new amp might be on my WINTER project list. IF it wasn't such a PIA I would just pull it all apart and hook the speakers direct to the HU just to see. But with what's involved I think I should have an amp sitting there inc case that isn't the problem.Thanks.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,847
Likes: 439
From: Spring Texas
I have a 2012 C6 w/ Kenwood DDX9703S H.U.,Rockford Forsgate P132 3 1/2" in upper door, Kicker 6 3/4 CSC67 in lower doors. Kicker DSC50 5 1/4 behind seats, with center dash speaker unplugged. I sound proofed the entire back of the car. and the doors. I kept OEM wiring when I installed the speakers and also the Bose amp. It still sucks. a little. Not as bad as when I started this, but not acceptable to me. My 2020 Nissan Frontier sounds much better. In fact, the $75.00 JVC HU I just put in my C3 project sounds better. When I bump up the music in the C6 to levels that I used back in the day, it sounds great. You can hear everything going on in the song. But at normal levels, as in the volume you use when trying to have a conversation in the car, the speakers in the doors sound like empty tin cans.
My question to those of you who know is this...do I need to ditch the bose amp? I want whatever controls go through the PAC adapter, chimes and steering wheel controls. Do I need the Bose for that to happen? Can I just disconnect the speaker wires from the Bose amp and wire directly to the HU? I know enough about stereos to know I don't know this answer, so please help.
My question to those of you who know is this...do I need to ditch the bose amp? I want whatever controls go through the PAC adapter, chimes and steering wheel controls. Do I need the Bose for that to happen? Can I just disconnect the speaker wires from the Bose amp and wire directly to the HU? I know enough about stereos to know I don't know this answer, so please help.
also like madsonp said, you have reduced the output power of that amp by 75% just by going to a 4 ohm 6.75" speaker.
Add an amplified subwoofer (8" 100W six even everything out).
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,820
Likes: 1,728
From: Summerville SC
You nailed it. 6 tweeters. I guess I meed to research what I need to do to pull out the Bose amp, put in a similar size amp under the floor and run some wires to the speakers I have already installed and learn about crossovers. Or maybe just call Crutchfield. Ha! Thanks all and Merry Christmas. 
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Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,820
Likes: 1,728
From: Summerville SC
I actually had already gone through that thread and it was helpful, thank you. I Also looked and Crutchfield has a few small amps that I might be able to use in that location. If I replace the Bose amp with another amp,, I assume it might be easier to just run new wires to each speaker. That way all of the PAC controls still work for the steering wheel etc.. And since I have a tweeter and a woofer in each door, will I need a crossover in between to connect to the 4 channel amp? My plan would be to just cut the speaker wires off the HU, use the RCAs to the amp, and then new wires to the speakers. Does that sound reasonable or am I missing somethng really obvious. Thanks.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,847
Likes: 439
From: Spring Texas
You don't really need to run new wire. The 2012 should also have a dash tweeter.
my suggestion:
use a 4 channel amp to run the door and dash speakers ( two channels to the 6 inch and two channels to the 3.5 and dash tweeters. Use an amp with a built in crossover)
run the rear speakers if the radio power.
While you're doing this, go ahead and run rca, power, remote wires to the back so you can add a powered sub later.
my suggestion:
use a 4 channel amp to run the door and dash speakers ( two channels to the 6 inch and two channels to the 3.5 and dash tweeters. Use an amp with a built in crossover)
run the rear speakers if the radio power.
While you're doing this, go ahead and run rca, power, remote wires to the back so you can add a powered sub later.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,820
Likes: 1,728
From: Summerville SC
That sounds like a plan. I couldn't figure out the dash tweeters and the door tweeters. Didn't think of them on the same channels. I am not sure WHY I didn't think of that. And the rear speakers off the radio. Hadn't thought of that either. Perfect. I will start looking for this type of system after the holidays. You made this simple for me. WIll update this thread once I start to gather things up. Thank you Sir. And have a great holiday.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 17,388
Likes: 6,531
From: Melbourne, FL
I have a 2012 C6 w/ Kenwood DDX9703S H.U.,Rockford Forsgate P132 3 1/2" in upper door, Kicker 6 3/4 CSC67 in lower doors. Kicker DSC50 5 1/4 behind seats, with center dash speaker unplugged. I sound proofed the entire back of the car. and the doors. I kept OEM wiring when I installed the speakers and also the Bose amp. It still sucks. a little. Not as bad as when I started this, but not acceptable to me. My 2020 Nissan Frontier sounds much better. In fact, the $75.00 JVC HU I just put in my C3 project sounds better. When I bump up the music in the C6 to levels that I used back in the day, it sounds great. You can hear everything going on in the song. But at normal levels, as in the volume you use when trying to have a conversation in the car, the speakers in the doors sound like empty tin cans.
My question to those of you who know is this...do I need to ditch the bose amp? I want whatever controls go through the PAC adapter, chimes and steering wheel controls. Do I need the Bose for that to happen? Can I just disconnect the speaker wires from the Bose amp and wire directly to the HU? I know enough about stereos to know I don't know this answer, so please help.
My question to those of you who know is this...do I need to ditch the bose amp? I want whatever controls go through the PAC adapter, chimes and steering wheel controls. Do I need the Bose for that to happen? Can I just disconnect the speaker wires from the Bose amp and wire directly to the HU? I know enough about stereos to know I don't know this answer, so please help.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,820
Likes: 1,728
From: Summerville SC
Sorry to disagree. If I recall, the original HU for the car sounded OK with all of the Bose set up. But I wanted bluetooth. A back up camera was a bonus. The simple way was to change out the HU. And that started me down this rabbit hole. I tried the new HU with the OEM Bose 10's in the doors . They didn't sound good at all. That is WHY, step #2 I replaced all the speakers. Now it appears that I just need to do ( What I thought all along) ,change out the Bose amp. Thanks. And Happy New Year.