ggourley

Sorry, I know there are a lot of threads on this. I have a 2005 base model. I replaced the 3 1/2 speakers, and I have twin 8" subwoofers in the rear. I also have a Sony AX1000 stereo unit. Can I just replace the lower door Bose speakers with standard 6 1/2s, or is a full wiring replacement necessary? Also, I read that the volume level might be significantly lower, so is an amp required or just turn the volume up more? Thanks!

blownbayou

I think you will need adapter plates for the 6.5s to replace the 10s in the lower door.......Being an 05 model, I think you might have the speakers with the little amps attached to them. If so, then you can do a clean swap. If you are running off an aftermarket radio, your volume to the speakers will be unchanged. It is the factory BOSE radio that utilized an amp (or amps) to get the volume needed.

ggourley

Yeah, they are the Bose with the little amps attached. I think Crutchfield sells adapter plates, so I think I'll order some 6.5's and see how they work. The one issue I always have is getting those top clips on the door panel pushed back in under the rubber seal and over the metal edge. Those seem to defy me every time, lol. Thanks for the info!

blownbayou

Those clips are keeping me from rewiring my front twiddlers straight to my Pioneer Head unit..... Pain in the ***

FAUEE

If you replace the 10s with 6.5s you will have 6.5s that now only play midbass frequencies, which 6.5s are not good at.

What are you trying to do? Are the midbasses blown and so you're trying to replace them due to that?

ggourley

The current Bose speakers are fine. I'm just trying to get better midrange tones as the 3 1/2 upper speakers are ok but not that full of audio. I have plenty of bass from the rear subwoofers so just the midrange. I was guessing the Sony stereo would provide it and that the Bose speakers are only designed for lower bass but 6.5's would still be able to get a mid-range tone. Am I incorrect in that?

FAUEE

No. That speaker line is crossed over in the factory DSP. You're not gonna get anything extra in the midranges, unless you start getting really.into it.

What 3.5s do you have? You're probably better off upgrading those to something that's nice and very efficient. You're on the cusp of adding an amp for your door speakers and running new wire to get what you want. But truth be told, the right 3.5s should get you where you want to be, small speakers like that can get LOUD without a ton of power. I would recommend Infinity or JBL speakers for that usez they have high sensitivity (basically power efficiency), and they run at a slightly.lower impedance to boost power they receive. They also tend to send good, if a little bright. But that sounds like kinda what you want.

As a first step, I'd consider lowering the sub setting until you get the amount of vocals you're looking for. That will at least tell you if the issue is that you want more volume in general, or if the 3.5s output isn't matched to your subs.

ggourley

I got some Rockford 3.5's, they are inexpensive. The JBLs are about triple the price but probably are triple the sound. I've always liked JBL. I'll probably return the ones I just bought and if I'm not happy with the new sound (sometimes it takes a while to get used to it) upgrade to those JBLs. Thanks for the info, it confirmed what I was just recently researching. It does seem the Bose system is a pain, although for proper money it can all be bypassed. Right now I'm getting new wheels, tires and suspension, so my money is in that direction. My car is fairly loud inside, so even with the subwoofers the volume needs to be a bit high to really hear things. Have a good one!

blownbayou

Bypassing the BOSE system and running purely off your aftermarket head unit will do wonders for your sound...... I still have my fronts running off the BOSE amp (dread pulling the door panels) but the rears are direct to the head unit and it is night and day. To get the space right, I have to fade more to the front from the rear (this would change if I ran the wires to the fronts). Here is what I have for now:

Front Twiddlers :
Stock subs in the door
Rear Speakers:
Rear Sub:
Middle speaker detached

Overall good sound with some kick to it..... Need to go ahead and run the wires to the fronts to complete the bypass.

FAUEE

Another good point. The rear speakers are like, right by you head. If you upgrade those, you'll hear a difference. They're also mono from the factory DSP, for what that's worth.