Bose Replacement Adice
06-14-2003, 11:40 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 33
Fella's,
My Bose doors have finally gone. I'm going to go ahead and entirely re-wire the car for a new system.
I'm eyeing the Polk's 5 1/4's seperates for the front doors. I've already got a Bazooka tube for the back and an Alpine amp. Do you think the seperates in the doors will be enough or will I need to put something in the rear pocket compartments (Touring withour then grilles)?
Your advice is appreciated!
Thanks,
GEB
BTW. I'm not a giant BASS fan, nor am I trying to crank it up for everyone else to hear. I just want clear, tight sounding tunes...
My Bose doors have finally gone. I'm going to go ahead and entirely re-wire the car for a new system.
I'm eyeing the Polk's 5 1/4's seperates for the front doors. I've already got a Bazooka tube for the back and an Alpine amp. Do you think the seperates in the doors will be enough or will I need to put something in the rear pocket compartments (Touring withour then grilles)?
Your advice is appreciated!
Thanks,
GEB
BTW. I'm not a giant BASS fan, nor am I trying to crank it up for everyone else to hear. I just want clear, tight sounding tunes...
06-16-2003, 02:29 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 502
I've arrived at my current setup by trial and error. I started with the bose and wasn't happy. I replaced EVERYTHING with an alpine head, MTX 4 channel amp, BA 5.5s in the doors and 6x9 rallys in the storage bins. The staging was all messed up. There was too much high from behind the seats.
Next I replaced the 5.5s with 6.5s in the doors. the 6.5s are (imo) too big. It's nearly impossible to mount them properly without having fiberglass inclosures made. I still haven't gotten around to this but it's next on the list. price is about $300 to have a local shop make a set. I'm thinking of commissioning my friend's shop to manufacture them for a group buy. I'll post when I get more info on this but please don't hold your breath
. Regardless, 5in speakers are fine for the front.
Next I replaced the MTX amp with a JL 4 channel that has 4x75 watts RMS vs 40 for the MTX. This definately brought up the bass in the front and rear speakers. I still wasn't happy though.
Next I put a bazooka tube in the trunk. That provided me with enough bass, but it was either on or off and basically just sounded like noise.
Finally, I dumped the bazooka and the 6x9 and (get ready for this) put the bose sub back in and ran it off the JL amp
Believe it or not it sounds VERY NICE. The amp makes it sound brighter than I remember with the stock bose amp. It has a very nice punch, but is still relatively tight. The car still looks stock and chicks dig the acusta tube sticking out of the trunk
Total cost of the final setup was
$450 for the front speakers
$550 for the amp
$399 for the head unit.
Next I replaced the 5.5s with 6.5s in the doors. the 6.5s are (imo) too big. It's nearly impossible to mount them properly without having fiberglass inclosures made. I still haven't gotten around to this but it's next on the list. price is about $300 to have a local shop make a set. I'm thinking of commissioning my friend's shop to manufacture them for a group buy. I'll post when I get more info on this but please don't hold your breath
. Regardless, 5in speakers are fine for the front.Next I replaced the MTX amp with a JL 4 channel that has 4x75 watts RMS vs 40 for the MTX. This definately brought up the bass in the front and rear speakers. I still wasn't happy though.
Next I put a bazooka tube in the trunk. That provided me with enough bass, but it was either on or off and basically just sounded like noise.
Finally, I dumped the bazooka and the 6x9 and (get ready for this) put the bose sub back in and ran it off the JL amp
Total cost of the final setup was
$450 for the front speakers
$550 for the amp
$399 for the head unit.
06-17-2003, 04:54 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,985
I found that replacing the Bose tube with an Infinity Basslink subwoofer provided a moderate amount of 'booming' for the hip-hop, and a clear, crisp sound for most everything else.
Benefits for me:
Price (~$300)
All-in-one (Amp, sub and enclosure, makes for easy removal)
Easy tunability (for sound quality)
Runs on the factory hi-output or RCA-Style input (If you like it like that)
Fits in the trunk (No custom/home built/crappy wood encolsures)
Lightweight (Less than the factory Bose, I believe)
As for the head unit, I replaced mine with a 2003 Mazda Protege 6-CD In Dash, double DIN head unit I got off of Ebay (new) for $175, with a wiring harness. Coupled that to a factory amplifier integration unit and I have a kick-*** sounding, factory looking, bass-bumping, female-impressing, easy-to-use, fun-to-hear stereo. I retained the factory amplified Bose units in the doors and dash.
Benefits for me:
Price (~$300)
All-in-one (Amp, sub and enclosure, makes for easy removal)
Easy tunability (for sound quality)
Runs on the factory hi-output or RCA-Style input (If you like it like that)
Fits in the trunk (No custom/home built/crappy wood encolsures)
Lightweight (Less than the factory Bose, I believe)
As for the head unit, I replaced mine with a 2003 Mazda Protege 6-CD In Dash, double DIN head unit I got off of Ebay (new) for $175, with a wiring harness. Coupled that to a factory amplifier integration unit and I have a kick-*** sounding, factory looking, bass-bumping, female-impressing, easy-to-use, fun-to-hear stereo. I retained the factory amplified Bose units in the doors and dash.
06-19-2003, 12:07 AM
#5
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 2
I replaced my '93 tourings bose system as well because it was pretty much shot.
1) New rear panels with brackets/grills and front non-bose speaker mounts ~$200
2) JBL Rear 5x7's ~$100
3) Alpine front 5.25" ~$75
4) MTX 4x90W amp ~$250
5) Empeg (Linux based) MP3 player ~$600
6) Wiring for speakers/amps/etc ~$100
I cut the highs from the back speakers and the lows from the fronts with the mtx amp and balanced the sound with the built in equalizer on the Empeg
This sounded excellent, but for many things the low end was missing, so I custom built a removable 10" sub for the hatch.
1) Parts for sub box ~$100
2) MTX 1x325W amp ~$150
3) JBL 10" sub ~$100
4) Foam baffle to hold it in place ~$30
Now I have a sub when I want it, or less weight/more room when I need that.
Total Cost: $1700
Total Time: 2 people spent 3 evenings over 3 months, so around 30-40 hours
I'm extremely pleased with the results, even given the high (to me) cost. It sounds substantially better than my home system, and often I go out to the car just to listen to music for a while.
Eventually I might make a few extra rear sub boxes exactly like mine if anyone is interested. If/when I do that I'll have photos galore and parts listings etc.
1) New rear panels with brackets/grills and front non-bose speaker mounts ~$200
2) JBL Rear 5x7's ~$100
3) Alpine front 5.25" ~$75
4) MTX 4x90W amp ~$250
5) Empeg (Linux based) MP3 player ~$600
6) Wiring for speakers/amps/etc ~$100
I cut the highs from the back speakers and the lows from the fronts with the mtx amp and balanced the sound with the built in equalizer on the Empeg
This sounded excellent, but for many things the low end was missing, so I custom built a removable 10" sub for the hatch.
1) Parts for sub box ~$100
2) MTX 1x325W amp ~$150
3) JBL 10" sub ~$100
4) Foam baffle to hold it in place ~$30
Now I have a sub when I want it, or less weight/more room when I need that.
Total Cost: $1700
Total Time: 2 people spent 3 evenings over 3 months, so around 30-40 hours
I'm extremely pleased with the results, even given the high (to me) cost. It sounds substantially better than my home system, and often I go out to the car just to listen to music for a while.
Eventually I might make a few extra rear sub boxes exactly like mine if anyone is interested. If/when I do that I'll have photos galore and parts listings etc.
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