hjobe

I think that the mid-bass on the Non-Bose is acceptable, but would like to upgrade the highs. For the cheapest price of course.

Does anyone know if I can just swap out the stock non-Bose tweeters with some aftermarket tweeters (Infinity, etc)?

If anyone has tried this, I would like to hear how it sounds.

dannichols

Stock tweeter has a 4.7 uF cap soldered to its back. If the impedance of the tweeter is 8 ohm (?) that works out to something like 4.22khz crossover frequency. I think you would need to take this into consideration with the new tweeter and its crossover. But it is very do-able. In fact the tweeters are probably the easiest piece to replace if you get a small replacement and mount it behind the stock grill. Would it make much difference? I would say no.

hjobe

It wouldnt make a difference? I figured some high efficiency tweets might improve the highs a little bit.

Can I swap out the stock Non-Bose tweets with a set of 4-ohm Infinity Kappa Tweeters?

I appreciate the help.

dannichols

hjobe, you can do that, I just wonder if it will be worth the time. To flush mount those tweeters I think you need like 1 3/4" diameter hole, so you will end up modifying the pillar. Or you can try mounting them behind the stock tiny grill.

But, I think a component set is a better buy for the money. Do you already have these tweeters and crossover? If so then yeah try it. If not, consider what will happen if you also want to add the 6.5 later. Easier to find as a set with tweeters and crossovers is my point.

You sound like me when I was first looking to upgrade from stock. Try a little here and a little there until it sound good. All of that experimenting wastes time and money because eventually you replace the cheap stuff with expensive stuff. If I would have just done it right from the start I would have probably dropped like $2k on the whole thing including sound proffing, but instead I spent over $3k experimenting with things I had to later resell for less money because they weren't sufficient.

Figure out a long range plan for upgrading the whole thing and how much money you want to spend overall. New tweets aren't gonna help much with a poor head unit, wiring, low wattage, no amps, no sub, cheap speaker system.

hjobe

Very good point that could have probably saved me a bunch of money on several cars.

hjobe

I do not want to give up the stock head unit and would like to keep from spending $$ on amp'ing front replacement speakers.

Given that, any recommendations on improving quality of front sound? Would a decent set of 2-ways sound better than the stock components?

dannichols

That was my first step, replacing the font set with components. If you're keeping the HU, you might also consider using LOC converters or the hi input of an amp to drive the components as well as a 10" sub.

hjobe

Well, I am in the middle of an amp and sub install. The amp is 2 channel and I had it from my old car.

I know if I got a 4 channel amp, I could power some components plus the sub.

But...the 2 channel amp is free since I already had it. If I HAD to buy an amp to improve the front sound quality, I guess I would break down and do it.

But if there is any way to improve the front sound without buying an amp, even just a little, that would be my choice.

I am sure that this is the same thing people say early on before they end up adding/changing their system 4 times and spending $3K.

dannichols

Your HU is only putting out about 12w. Check out the specs for your new 6.5 comps and they will likely need much more power to sound clear with any volume. And your gonna need volume to compensate for the road/wind noise and bass.

Others have taken the path of keeping stock HU here and I even tried it early on. It will sound OK but not spectacular but you will AT LEAST need LOC and an amp for the fronts. Rear you can leave alone and use as fill. If your already running pwr wire and cable for the Sub, why not split the power and add a second amp? Most amps out there have HI input you can run the speaker wire in to.

Other possible option.. since your 2 channel amp is not a mono amp it has full range stereo output right? You could split the output to a 3 way passive crossover network and run the Subs (80 - 120 hz low pass), front 6.5's (100 - ~4.5k), and tweeters (4.5k HPF) from a single amp. You coulod get Xovers like that for <$40 a set.

hjobe

The 3-way crossover is a great idea as the amp has a lot more power than the little 10'' woofer needs (amp is 320w RMS, sub only needs like 125).

Do all amps have to be 3-way compatible or can any 2-channel amp be used with a 3-way crossover?

dannichols

I did a similar setup in my gf's SUV. I cut the inputs to her rear spkrs and ran them to LOCs, then into the Amp as RCA. I ran the amp output to 2 way passive Xovers and sent one side to the subs (2x10s) and the other back to the original rear speakers. It sounds pretty good and has some bass. I have a set of 3-way xovers I never used if you want them $10 plus shp. Let me know what amp you have,. Should work OK.