I did this too! I like the results. I may also do the rear speakers at some point, but I am not sure my old ears would notice.

anothercrisis

 

Passing this on for ya! -

!! DISCOUNT !! at Crutchfield.

If you use a VISA card to pay for $100 or more at Crutchfield, you get $20 off by using this discount code 3A171 during checkout. This applies until 02/29/2008. PM me if this code doesn't work...

NOTE - the discount does NOT apply to Polk Audio, but remember that you can get a 2nd set of Polk 3.5's for 1/2 price, as mentioned above.

Though Infinity's DO have 95db of sensitivity (the key to the efficiency that the Blose amp needs) I see two possible issues with the Kappa series here :

1- These speakers have OUTBOARD crossovers, that have to be mounted separately. I'm not sure where you would mount them in the doors.

2 - They are true 2-ohm impedance speakers, whereas the OEM Bose are something like 3.4-ohms and the BA's & Polk's are 4-ohm. Knowing how dead-wimpy the Bose amp is, I seriously doubt that it has enough hi-current capability to support these speakers. They may distort like crazy at high volume levels. Distortion is what really destroys speakers over time.

And finally, I am not sure there is enough room between the Kappa's tweeter and the door grills - they look REALLY extended above the woofer in the available pics at Crutchfield...

Maybe someone else that has actually INSTALLED the Infinity's in a C6 can comment...
.

 

I just wanted to post a big THANK YOU for the guys that posted here. I now know ALOT more than I knew about my speaker situation before this post.

With everyones help, I have decided and have ordered (2) pair of the POLK audio db351 from crutchfiled "yes the second pair was half price", and I picked up a pair of Polk audio db521's from Circuit City, along with (6) of the speaker harness clips to attach right to the BOSE factory clips. I will be changing out all (5) of the speakers and will report back on the "WOW" factor.

**NOTE: being that I ordered (2) sets of the db351 (3 1/2) speakers and only need 3 of the 4 speakers...I may be willing to part with the extra speaker along with the speaker harness to attach to the factory bose clip. If anyone is interested.....let me know. This would be exactly what you need to upgrade the (1) center speaker in the dash.

Thanks again guys...great forum

 

Just a quick update....having only a few hours of daylight after work, I was able to get one of my rear 5 1/4 speakers changed out. Took a little longer than I would have liked...due to this was my first time disassembling the rear panel. All-in-all it wasnt too bad....the little clip that goes around the arm of the shock was a pain in the azz to get back on. and the little metal clips that the speaker screws tighten into kept stripping with little effort. I ended up going back to the stock screws and clips. So with (1) Bose in the rear and (1) Polk...I have to say I notice NO difference. I am not totally shocked by this. I was told the rear speakers would make little difference, but I feel a lot better knowing the BLOSE speakers will be no longer anywhere in my vette when I am done. Door and center speaker should be here by friday. I will stay posted on results.

 

Yes - please let us know your results with the front speaker replacements. This time, you should be able to easily notice some improvement with this same '1-old & 1-new' experiment up front.

Also try it WITHOUT the center channel, then install your new Polk up there. THAT comparison will be interesting.

I kinda thought the upgraded rears would not have much impact, but I TOTALLY agree that De-Bose'ing your car is a not a bad thing...

I am curious about adding the Polk's to my own car ...

BTW - Did the CircuitCity harnesses help out, and fit without need of modification in the rear?

 

I just finished replacing , 5 minutes ago, the Bose speakers with the same Polk speakers you have ordered. I also ordered them from Crutchfield. I had to slightly bend the tabs on the Polk speaker to keep it from hitting the grill. Not much of a bend just enough to lower the speaker about 1/16 of an inch. Be careful removing the grill so that you don't break it. Also don't drop the socket down the defroster vent like I did and you will save time. Good Luck

 

I will be sure to listen to each speaker as I go and give results. I will also test with and without the center speaker plugged in.

BTW..the Circuit city harness was great...simply plug square end into the factory clip that detached from the bose and plug the pigtail right into the negative and positive of the Polks. Cant go wrong, because one spade in each pigtail is different sizes.

If you decide to go Polk...let me know...I will have that extra dash speaker and harness.

I will be adding 2nd rear and unplugging my factory center tomorrow....stay posted

 

So what speakers did you change out? Just the center???? or doors and rears as well?

And give us some results....don't keep us hanging like that.

 

I want to upgrade my Blose Speakers also let u know ASAP please!!!

 

Well I will reply with the results....but if you search around.....this upgrade has already been a "proven success". Some just unplugging the center speaker to find an improvement, some upgrading only the 3 1/2 doors to find better results, and others changing all 5. However, the center and rears seem to have less of an impact than the doors. I am upgrading all 5 because I rather have to live with a little less of a "WOW" factor with my Polks than to keep the BLOSE. THE BLOSE MUST GOES!

 

I replaced both door speakers and center speaker, no rears with the Polks. I also used the Metra plugs from Circuit City they were a big help and fit perfectly. The Polk's sound better than the Bose, but not what I would consider a major upgrade. What can you expect for about $100 bucks? I don't drive the car enough to go the route of a complete upgrade. So for now this will be the limit of my stereo upgrades. BTW I also have 1 Polk speaker and 1 harness left over, probably save it just in case.

 

Yes, we seem to be in the same boat. This car is not a daily driver for me "only 600 miles". I can't justify a major upgrade. The thought of amps, speaker boxes and rewiring a whole new system just does not appeal to me. You hit the nail on the head....for $100, this has to be one of the cheapest upgrades on a corvette, because I am finding out that anything with the name corvette on it seems to made of gold.

 

Agreed, not as big of an improvement as I hoped for. Did replacing the rears make a justifiable difference?

 

well....as I posted earlier....I only got to change (1) of my rears today. So I have (1) Bose and (1) Polk....and to be honest....I can not tell any difference. But, I have a good feeling once I add the doors and either unplug or change the center speaker I will notice a small noticeable change.

Have you tried just unplugging you center? I have read where some members have done this and have replied with some noticeable improvements to the output to the other speakers. Don't seem to make any sense, but these guys are saying it helps. I will be trying that tomorrow while I await my 3 1/2's to arrive from shipping on Friday.

 

A final note about upgrading ALL functioning speakers to one brand, model and construction:

In the audio world, there is a characteristic called 'timbre-matching'. It means that if you use speakers of ALL the same design, frequency response and impedance, the sound will be more natural and smooth, while the stereo image will be more uniform.

In other words - you'll probably get the best overall sound with either ALL Bose or ALL xxx brand, but not a mix of both, even though the noise floor of a C6 is high enough to mask a lot of these subtleties.

You should also plan to spend some time tweaking the EQ settings once you get them all swapped out - before passing final judgment on your investment. I guarantee you will end up with different settings than the ones that sounded best with the Bose...

(No Highs, No Lows, It Must Be Bose)

 

Did you install the filter that came with the Polks? I did not know if I should install them and asked for advice on the forum. I recevied no response from forum members so I just left them off.

 

Hmmm I am not sure what filter you are talking about. I will look a little closer in my box, but don't remember seeing any filter. Maybe this filter is just on the 3 1/2 and not the 5 1/4's?

 

I have read other threads covering this exact topic, yet this is one where I am anxiously awaiting your results. I have also heard that by disconnecting the center speaker the on star can no longer be heard, can you verify that before finishing the complete install?

Audio separation is supposed to be excellent without the center speaker enabled; while I do not use on-star often at all I would like to be able to if I want it. Maybe a cut-out switch would be possible for that center speaker?

JR

 

UPDATE: I did a search between the 2 speakers mentioned above, and in Crutchfields "Whats in the box" tab, indeed the 3 1/2's come with a bass blocker for each speaker, whereas the 5 1/4's don't have this. IMHO, I would prob install the bass blockers since most of the bass will be coming from the "Blose" 10" sub-sub below the 3 1/2. I will try it both ways and report my findings over the weekend.

 

From what I read on this topic is that disconnecting the center speaker DOES NOT disable any onstar sound. But I will be sure to do a test for you.