astrnmrtom
06-17-2005, 09:47 PM
I've been reading various threads regarding replacing the Bose speakers with aftermarket ones. My previous vehicle had a custom stereo that I put together and I loved the sound. When I traded it in for th Envoy I thought the Bose system would be a fair replacement. At first I thought the Bose system was as good as my custom one, but after listening a while I noticed something missing from the music - mostly good highs. I'm happy with the subs in the front doors - although I'm going to add a Infinity Basslink for more punch. The dash speakers look like they would be hard to replace, so I looked to the rear door speakers first. But what WERE those back speakers? I've read 2ohm, 10ohm and who-knows-ohm so I got out my multimeter and pulled a speaker to measure its resistance. Yup, 2ohm... RATS! How will I replace these!!?? I almost gave up until fate forced my hand. While tinkering I discovered the left rear speaker was blown so now I MUST do something to fix the system.
The only thing I could come up with was to get a 4ohm speaker and ADD a second 4ohm speaker in parallel to equal 2ohms. I wanted to try Infinitys since so many people like them, so I picked up a pair of 3-1/2s as the second pair. I was going to put these in the door somewhere along with a pair of 6-1/2 inchers in the factory location - but where would I mount these second speakers??? While shopping for a good price on the 6-1/2 coaxes I came across a deal on the Infinity component system of the same size. Weeeeelll, when they arrived I pulled the door panels to brainstorm. On a hunch I wired up just the 6-1/2 incher on the left side to see how much less power it had than the factory 2ohm-er on the right due to its higher resistance. SURPRISE! the sound output seemed identical to the factory speaker on the right. WOW, I don't need any double speaker set-up after all. Now its EASY!
With the door panel off I placed the tweeter at various locations (using its magnet to hold it to the inner door metal) trying to find the best spot. I didn't want it shooting at some-one's leg, and I wanted a spot where both tweeters would have unobstructed sound paths to the driver's ears. I ended up placing them at the rear end of the upper door panel, even with the dividing line between the wood insert and the padded panel. By swiveling the mount slighty to the front I can get great imaging from the driver's seat. Yeah, at passenger in the back seat may slightly block the tweeter but hey, I mostly drive alone, so no big deal. Here's an image:
Rear door speaker (http://home.att.net/~Solartom/Solar/photo001.jpg)
The highs are now great and the high mounted tweeter makes the soundstaging sound 3d. I found the tweeter a bit strong so I changed the crossover setting to -3db and its much better now. :D
Now I have a pair of 3-1/2" coaxes that I don't need. Hummmm... wait a minute, maybe they'd replace those dash speakers.
My suggestion for those wanting to swap out the rear door speakers. Choose a speaker rated for a lower wattage and/or one that has a high sensitivity rating. My Infinitys were rated at 92db efficiency. This, the enhanced highs by the additional tweeter, and its raised location made up for any loss from the higher resistance which in turn lowers amplifier output.
Hope this helps others. :m2:
Tom
The only thing I could come up with was to get a 4ohm speaker and ADD a second 4ohm speaker in parallel to equal 2ohms. I wanted to try Infinitys since so many people like them, so I picked up a pair of 3-1/2s as the second pair. I was going to put these in the door somewhere along with a pair of 6-1/2 inchers in the factory location - but where would I mount these second speakers??? While shopping for a good price on the 6-1/2 coaxes I came across a deal on the Infinity component system of the same size. Weeeeelll, when they arrived I pulled the door panels to brainstorm. On a hunch I wired up just the 6-1/2 incher on the left side to see how much less power it had than the factory 2ohm-er on the right due to its higher resistance. SURPRISE! the sound output seemed identical to the factory speaker on the right. WOW, I don't need any double speaker set-up after all. Now its EASY!
With the door panel off I placed the tweeter at various locations (using its magnet to hold it to the inner door metal) trying to find the best spot. I didn't want it shooting at some-one's leg, and I wanted a spot where both tweeters would have unobstructed sound paths to the driver's ears. I ended up placing them at the rear end of the upper door panel, even with the dividing line between the wood insert and the padded panel. By swiveling the mount slighty to the front I can get great imaging from the driver's seat. Yeah, at passenger in the back seat may slightly block the tweeter but hey, I mostly drive alone, so no big deal. Here's an image:
Rear door speaker (http://home.att.net/~Solartom/Solar/photo001.jpg)
The highs are now great and the high mounted tweeter makes the soundstaging sound 3d. I found the tweeter a bit strong so I changed the crossover setting to -3db and its much better now. :D
Now I have a pair of 3-1/2" coaxes that I don't need. Hummmm... wait a minute, maybe they'd replace those dash speakers.
My suggestion for those wanting to swap out the rear door speakers. Choose a speaker rated for a lower wattage and/or one that has a high sensitivity rating. My Infinitys were rated at 92db efficiency. This, the enhanced highs by the additional tweeter, and its raised location made up for any loss from the higher resistance which in turn lowers amplifier output.
Hope this helps others. :m2:
Tom