Looking for some speaker advice. I currently have an ‘02 Z06 with stock speakers and a Kenwood DMX906S using the axxess harness. Pretty underwhelmed with the audio quality. Would leaving the bose door woofers alone and going with aftermarket coaxial speakers front/rear offer good sound quality? Probably first choice if it would be worthwhile. A second option is pulling the door woofers (allowing larger speakers up front) and putting a sub elsewhere but I’d rather not give up trunk space - I’m usually pretty full when I head to track events. I’m not an audiophile so I don’t need anything crazy. For example, I’m very happy with the same DMX906S using the factory Infinity system in my ‘08 Wrangler which I know isn’t cream of the crop. TIA.

 

There are sub woofers out there that are made to go into that center space in the trunk.

 

I’ve seen those but I’ve actually found that cavity to be pretty useful for smaller items. Would prefer not to give that up.

 

What about...

 

That’s a possibility. I was also hoping to field some input on new speakers with the factory subs and how people liked/disliked that setup.

 

A bunch of people are fairly content with replacing the 3.5s up front and 5.25s out back (for your FRC) with better aftermarket stuff. I went a whole different route and did a full system where the sub box comes out, but I gave up the center storage for the amplifiers.

 

I just put a new JVC single DIN head unit in my 2000, I have the Axxess wiring harness as well. Like you I was underwhelmed and it sounded like a tin can that is before I turned up the gain pots on the Axxess to 3/4 on all 4 channels and then adjusted the EQ on the deck, and I enabled various sound enhancements on the deck such as position of sound (low, mid, high), bass boost, and gain in my JVC deck. It made a huge difference from sounding like an old Audiovox or Krako system to the point where I'm not going to replace the Bose speakers now. It's not thump thump thump, but it has bass, mids, high and clarity and doesn't sound like a tin can anymore. You may also have a bad Axxess unit if you already made those adjustments to the Axxess unit. If you never made any adjustments, make them and it will be a world of difference.

If you don't want to use the well then you could do a box across the deck or corner speaker boxes like these https://www.vettenuts.net/index.php?...t_detail&p=299

 

Here is an option: https://www.vettenuts.net/index.php?...t_detail&p=299

 

I'm in northern KY. Where in OH are you?

I have this for sale and this may be a great alternative.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ubwoofers.html

 

@AirJordan613 What you want to do is perfectly feasible, and the answer to your question is yes

Without a doubt, the easiest and least expensive way to upgrade the system with the more bang for your buck is new speakers that can be bolted on in place of the factory ones, keeping the rest of the system intact.

The C5 OEM speakers do not include any real tweeter. Bose used 4 plain-cone (paper) speakers to handle high and mid frequencies and called them "twiddlers". That's why you can make a big improvement by replacing them with a 2-way coaxial design.

OEM C5 Speaker Sizes:

-Front
Twiddler: 3.5"
Subwoofer: 8"

-Rear Twiddler
Coupe: 6.5"
FRC/Z06/Convertible: 5.25"


For bolt-on speaker upgrades, get 3.5" 2-way coaxial speakers to replace the doors' twiddlers and 2-way coaxials of the right size for the rear (yours is a Z06, so 5¼"). Don't touch the OEM subwoofers.

The JBL GX Series is very popular here and reported feedback has always been great. These speakers have a soft dome tweeter, which should deliver a smooth sound with a wide dispersion pattern. Add to that the Harman-Proprietary Tweeter Deflector, that according to JBL "acts as a waveguide, allowing for an angled, rotating speaker, which optimizes the off-axis sound performance. Because all cars are designed differently, this allows impeccable sound to travel throughout all locations in the cabin".

JBL GX Series 2-way car speakers:

• GX302 (3½")
• GX502 (5¼")
• GX602 (6½")

Not only they are from the same manufacturer, but they all belong to the same line. This should reasonably assure you they have the same timbre.

You are going to need as well. One kit will do both rears.


Independent confirmation that upgrading the 4 twiddlers makes a noticeable and worthwhile upgrade.

As for installation tips, it is very important to make sure the new speakers are in phase with each other, and more importantly, in phase with the door subwoofers. Otherwise, you might experience sound cancellation, resulting in tinny sound and lack of presence.

Using the above mentioned adapter harness to install new rear speakers should take care of this for you, however, the factory connectors for the "front" OEM Bose 3½" twiddlers are "spade" ones and they do follow Bose's standard, which is the opposite of what aftermarket manufacturers use.

To properly connect your new front speakers, you will need to cut the factory spade connectors and crimp new ones following the "normal" standard (reversed in relation to Bose), or create your own adapter harnesses if you don't want to cut and crimp the front OEM wires

Take a look at this Post for more details and tips on how to proceed.
​

 

I agree with GCG, if you don't want to spend a lot of $, replacing the Bose twiddlers is the way to go.

 

I think just speaker replacement makes sense to try. If I want to go bigger in the future, I could replace the door subs and 3.5 speakers with 6.5 component speakers and tweeters, and then add a trunk sub. But, just going with 3.5 front coaxials now plus replacing the rear speakers may be good enough, especially when matched with my aftermarket head unit. I don’t need crazy bass so maybe the Bose door subs would provide enough. Seems like a low-risk try since the rear speakers would be permanent fix regardless. I would just be taking a chance on the new 3.5 front speakers being later replaced if I later chose to gut the whole door setup.

 

I replaced my 02 vert front twiddlers and retained OEM subs and replaced rear 5.25" speakers with Infinity speakers recommend by Crutchfield also changed OEM head unit to single DIN Alpine 172B. Huge improvement.

 

Do you remember which models for the speakers? As I mentioned in my first post, I have a factory Infinity system in another vehicle and am happy with it.

 

Infinity Reference REF-5032CFX & Infinity Kappa Perfect 300m

 

What are some alternatives to the gx502 and Gx302? I don't want to add a sub in the back but I would like to have more bass and a better overall sounding speakers than the factory bose. I have a 00 FRC.

 

GCG- Those JBL GX speakers are getting a little hard to find. Most of the vendors I'm seeing look a little sketchy or they say that series is discontinued. Do you have any other recommendations?
Also_ I'm looking to change the head unit to the Joying JY-HOS01N4GS-1 using a AXXESS XSVI-2004. Would you still have the same speaker recommendation?

 

@JoeJ Yes, it's been reported that:

• JBL GX Series 2-way car speakers
  • GX302 (3½")
  • GX502 (5¼")
  • GX602 (6½")

are getting difficult to find, but their newer versions are still available:

• JBL GX Series 2-way car speakers
  • GX328 (3½")
  • GX528 (5¼")
  • GX628 (6½")

These others have also received very good feedback from forum members:

• JBL Club Series
  • Club 3020 (3½")
  • Club 5020 (5¼")
  • Club 6520 (6½")

• JL Audio Evolution™ C2 Series 2-way car speakers
  • C2-350X (3-1/2")
  • C2-525X (5-1/4")
  • C2-650X (6-1/2")

Let us know what you decide and, please, come back with your feedback

 

i agree and also make sure the speakers match the ohm load as the Bose amp so you don't mess that up. You can also out in components up front with the same ohm load. Back in the day Memphis made an 8 inch speakers which fit. It was the Memphis multisync and it was a beast.

 

I put the GX302 & 502's on order today, we'll see if they actually make it. Keeping my fingers crossed!