I am currently replacing all my Bose factory speakers with all new speakers. I ran into a snag, the door speakers. Does anyone know what I need to do to upgrade them, I see the wiring is different because of the amps on the speakers, I'm replacing them with 6.5" Kicker speakers. but I'm lost on how to wire them up....HELLLP!

 

You'll need to run your own wiring from the radio or your own 4ch amp to the speakers. The bose speakers have built in amplifiers which geta small preamp signal from the bose unit itself which prevents from just tapping into the oem wires.

also: to add, depends on the year too, later years had external amp but the original statement of running your own wiring is still valid

 

This, just did it myself on a 13, i had to take out my factory amp and tap into the factory wires on the backside of the factory amp to run to my new amp. Like UWU said though, the year makes a difference slightly. Easiest way would be run all new wires to a 4 channel amp.

 

Man I appreciate that help, I was lost as hell on this!

 

For sure! its worth it to delete the Bose... I did a 4 ch behind the passenger seat and ran a speed wire back up to the factory amp connection to tie in. They make more compact solutions though if you want to keep it up front. I'm assuming you have an aftermarket Head Unit to tie in with the RCA cables that will go to the Amp... if its a factory radio still im not so sure on this. Theres a great sticky in the audio section for C6 audio FAQ, Check that out as a good starting point.

 

I'll repeat the advice I give everyone who starts messing with the stereo on a c5+.

Until you're ready to put thousands in ps and high end 8 to 10" woofers in your front doors, don't touch the door woofers. Change the midrange 3.5, the rear apeakers, the dash speakers if tou have them, add a sub... but leave those woofers alone. The cost to replicate the front midbass they provide is immense, and if you don't replicate that, you're making your stereo worse.

 

Typically I agree with you on most things FAUEE but I just did this on mine and I cant say we agree here. I replaced the rears with pioneers and then in the doors did two focal 6.5s and tweeters replacing the 3.5s, all driven off a 4ch amp... they sound 1000xs better than my factory woofers did. I've got zero distortion now and they the highs and mids all sound much better. I'd say its an 8 inch. sub and some sound deadener away from being perfect. I'm far from an audiofile but my stock woofers would distort at any kind of volume if the song had any kind of real bass to it.

 

I agree, the factory door subs sound horrible. I am adding a down firing Kicker 10" and Kicker all around. Can't wait to get it all hooked up. Thanks for the advice again

 

I'm taking out all factory speakers, amp and head unit. I am not convinced that any high-end name slapped on a factory system is going to be decent. Simply compare the speaker when you remove it from the car to the one you are putting in its place.
I am running all new wiring for the speakers and amps since the Bose stuff is lower impedance. You might fry your new head unit if you try to push your new speakers with that old wiring.

 

Here's the thing, 6.5s with a sub will sound good, until you hear something with 8 or 10s up front. It's really astounding what a difference putting a large diameter driver up front makes in your overall sound quality..

In my TBSS I've got an active 3 way front, with an 8 inch kicker midbass driver, 2.75 midrange, and a 1.5" tweeter. The 8 isn't a sub replacement in my mind, but to the average person they'd swear it has a sub. Once I add the sub, it's gonna sound epic.

Displacement matters in a speaker. The c6 gifts you with the option of a big diameter front midbass. Squandering it with a 6.5" is like switching your ls motor out for a ka24 because it's the best Honda motor. Sure, it's a nice enough motor, but if you have the space, the ls is better in every way.

I worked my way through college doing this stuff, outside of a few VERY particular speakers and enclosures, which likely would not fit in a c6 byw, you're leaving a lot of meat on the bone not going with a larger diameter speaker. Those big woofers in the doors only.play up to a couple hundred Hz. The rest is covered by the midrange. A high end 3.5 in the door with some better source, processing, and power to back it up is money FAR better spent than replacing your woofers with a 6.5.

 

I'm sure your right, but like you said the cost to do so would be astronomical compared to a good set of 6.5s The problem I had with the factory door speakers was distortion. If I tried to play any sort of rap or hip hop with heavy base they would just muffle and sound like hell. So def may have lost some good midbase but the bump in clarity was enough for me to feel like its a huge improvement. Out of curiosity though what are some good aftermarket woofers that will fill the hole? Never hurts to plan the next upgrade. I'm getting ready to do one of those sub/amp box combos wired on a quick disconnect so I can pull it in and out for track days. Figure I'll see how it sounds once I do that then if Im still not satisfied maybe ill look into bigger door woofers... either way lotta good info in this thread so far!

 

Depends on budget. A lot of shallow subwoofers have historically been thebbudget favorites, a few guys in the audio section swear by the mb quart shallow subs. If you're gonna do it big, the dynaudio mw182 is probably the top dog, an old set of jl zr800s would work great too.

The Dayton reference 8" woofer looks like it'd fit, i dont know anyone who has done it yet. Sb acoustics has a nice 8" woofer that fit as well.

The really cheap and easy option is to just pilfer the dynaudio speakers from a mid 00s Volvo c70. They've got a version of the mw182 with a stamped basket, an awesome tweeter, and a 3.5 dome mid that would make a killer setup. They used to be cheap on ebay, but now, not as much. Still an amazing bargain, but like 50% more expensive than they were like 3 years ago. I've got a 6.5" based version of this in my c4 and its honestly amazing sounding, just doesn't have the front midbass I'd like. The c4 has a pair of 8.inch subs instead of rear speakers as well to try to cover the lows, but its not the same experience.

 

did u bypass the amp? the door speakers are 10" subwoofers. if you did u should have 2 smaller wires but I cannot remember the color. Can you show me the wiring at the door speaker.

 

I'll have to look into it for sure. Hopefully the Sub will put me where I want to be for now but again, may be a future upgrade for sure. Appreciate the info!

 

10 inxh speakers fit on c6 doors? Without modification?

 

Not just any, they have to be pretty shallow to clear the door glass when its down.

 

but in place of the speakers that are there 10 in fit without any additional cutting?

 

FAUEE, is the opening 10 or 8? I can't recall off the top of my head but I want to say its 10

 

also if anyone is going to a 6.5 setup, metra sells an adapter that bolts right up.

Metra 82-3014 Speaker Mounting Brackets Install 6" to 6-3/4" speakers in select 2005-13 Chevrolet Corvette vehicles at Crutchfield

 

I'm also updating the sound system, AlpineINE-W970HD head unit, I would also like to change some speakers. Is it possible to leave the 10" alone then replace the 3.5" and 5.25" but still use the bose amp?