Hello all,

I have a 1995 coupe with the bose system. I replaced the head unit with a JVC that I have had for a while and absolutely love. Now, since I didn't do anything with the original bose speakers, my system is giving me the "pop" that many of you know about.

So, if I was to put new speakers in, will I be able to use the existing wiring? Or will I need to run new wires? I will most likely just be putting speakers in, no amplifier.

Another option is to leave the bose speakers and get rid of the "pop". Is this even possible? How would I go about doing that?

 

To run regular speakers you'll have to run all new wiring.

On the pop, it depends on how your JVC unit was connected to the stock speakers. The usual method is to use an adapter harness which plugs into the RCA pre-out jacks on the back of the receiver. If that's your case, usually you can use ground loop isolators to solve the pop. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127SNI1/PAC-SNI-1.html

 

Guys Educate me on this,
I thought the OEM Bose speakers would not work with after market units, is that wrong?

 

Can't say what I did is the best way, but I taped the new wire to the factory wire and pulled them thru. Took a couple of hours to get all 4 run, but all the speakers work and sound good.

 

As someone about to buy a c4 and looking to upgrade speakers I would love to see some progress pictures if at all possible!

Edit: also a 95 coupe, Kenwood headunit already installed.

 

Well my plan was originally to get rid of the pop, but I am thinking that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. So, I'm starting to think that I am going to replace all my speakers. While i'm at it, i'd like to have a well-rounded system, so I will most likely run my 10" JL Audio subwoofer. I'm wanting to fabricate something to put my sub into the rear compartment behind the passenger seat, but that seems like quite a job. But I will most definitely keep this thread updated on what I decide to do and document it well.

Thanks for the tips! And keep them coming if you have any other considerations.

 

The stock wires are a small gauge, as the signal carried is low current, essentially a preamp level versus a much larger, amplifier level, current. Upgrade to larger wires. Taping the new to the old for pulling is a decent method if the carpet remains in place.

You may not get satisfactory sound levels with no external amplifier. I have never owned a head unit that delivered the goods adequately. Do not trust the power ratings on any unit except for a very select few brands, like McIntosh, maybe MbQuart. I learned that lesson decades ago, as an importer of Japanese audio equipment.

A ground loop isolator eliminates hum in a system; there being two components to signal path: (+) and (-). The electrical potential at different ground points is the cause. A common and excellent ground point is part of the cure for hum.

Read about others' experience with speaker replacement; not a simple chore. I detest Bose and was eager to dump it, so I went the whole 9 yards and enjoy far superior sound.

From the description, the "pop" is a power ON or OFF noise, usually handled with a delay in the amplifier's power WRT to the head unit, or a failing part in the amp. I believe the stock unit had a delay before powering up the four stock speaker-box amps. Many aftermarket units offer it, too, but the installer needs to know which wire is the trigger for amplifier power.

I installed 8" subs in the rear speaker holes, but mine are too deep and had to be raised. There are 'short throw' woofers. My new high quality amp is a slim design, fitting nicely under the passenger seat. I removed the carpet under the amp for cooling and height clearance.

The Blose amplifiers will work with any head unit, but the input signals levels are higher than the typical head unit offers. Initially, with only a head unit change, I ran a pair of equalizing pre-amps, but there are simpler and more options all these years later.

 

Two questions:

1. Is that one unit per system, or one unit per speaker?

2. Have you tried this cure and does it work work well?

 

It's one per speaker pair, so it takes two for the stock speakers. One for the fronts and one for the rears.

Yes these did cure the pop that I had. However even with these I had a problem with an electrical hum whenever I had my headlights on, that's why I finally decided to run all new wiring and switch to regular speakers.

In answer to an earlier question, this is the harness adapter you need to hook any head unit with RCA pre-outs to the stock Bose amps.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1207018...s.html?tp=3486

It worked well for me, other than the headlight hum I mentioned. It's a royal pain to install though.

 

Well here's what I ended up doing:

I ran new 16 gauge speaker wire to every corner (all four speakers) and installed new speakers. I kept the bose speaker harnesses in the car and ran my speaker wire along the harness path so that I could put everything back to original if I want to or a future owner could.

In the rear:
I put in 6.5" Rockford Fosgate speakers that bolted directly into the existing speaker enclosure. Very simple once the speaker wire was run.

In the front:
I put in 4" Pioneer speakers. The speaker enclosure has an in-set molded area where the original bose speaker sat. The mold shape was very odd, so my Pioneer speakers would not bolt directly to the original enclosure. So, I fabricated brackets by tracing the original bose speaker shape onto a piece of high density fiber board and cut it out. I then cut a 4" hole in the brackets for the speaker.
Since the Pioneer speakers had 4 screw holes and the bose speakers have 3 screws, the bracket became difficult to get the Pioneers bolted to with all 4 screw holes (because the bracket's bose shape along with the hole in the middle made for a thin outer edge).
So what I ended up doing was making 4 brackets, then sandwiching each speaker (really only the screw tabs) with two brackets. I then drilled, countersank, and bolted the brackets together with the speakers in between so that the back of the bracket (the side that would be against the original enclosure) was flush. Then I drilled 3 holes, where the original bose holes were placed, onto the brackets I made.
After the holes were drilled, I found screws with the same threads as the originals that came out with the bose speakers but longer (to account for the thickness of two brackets and screw tabs) and screwed them into the original enclosure.
Hopefully this makes sense. I only went to this trouble instead of building a new enclosure because I wanted to keep everything I did reversible and I was pressed for time on this project.
I will try to take pictures next time I have the carpet up and door sills off. It will make much more sense when I attach pictures.

It came out really well and the speakers all sound great. I am planning on building a custom box and putting my 10" JL audio subwoofer in a rear compartment to really round out my sound, so hopefully that will go well. I'll post a new thread and link to that when the time comes. Thank you all for your help! Hopefully I can be some help to anyone looking at a speaker replacement in the future.