Aftermarket speakers on bose amp?

[rxer311]

My bose system is "okay" for the most part but it seems that when I crank my music the highs kind of cut and the sound gets muddy. I was thinking some new speakers could help remedy the problem. I am kind of unsure about the output of the Bose Amp but after some digging on here it seems that the amp puts out about 30-35w rms at 2ohms putting it at approx 15w rms for 4ohm speakers.

I was talking to an advisor at crutchfield that recommended these...
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_136TR65...=3&tp=94&avf=N

I have run these off of an Alpine HU in the past and they sound great. I am wondering if i would be underpowering these with the bose amp. I really just don't want to go through the hassle of rewiring the entire car and running amps. I want to keep this thing stock looking and don't want to spend a whole lot of money on a "system" for this car.

Anybody else in my same boat? What other speakers have you tried? Help!

[rxer311]

Am I the only one who has thought about doing this?

[8520]

1. Tell us what car you have

2. Tell us what speakers those are (your link doesn't work)

3. Unless you are looking at 2ohm speakers like infinitys, I don't recommend it.

[rxer311]

1. 2006 A4 with bose

2. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_136TR65...Si.html?tp=106
JL TR650 CSi components

3. They are 4 ohm. What is the output at 4ohm of the bose amp? Nobody seems to be able to give a straight answer. If its 15w then the crutchfield advisor thinks that it will be fine.

[Audiophyle]

At 4 ohm the output from the amp will be close to half of what it was at 2 ohm.
So if it puts out the 15w with oem speakers, running at 4ohm would get you 7~10w.

7~10w is not enough for just about all aftermarket speakers, even though the JLs are rated from 10w-50w. You will be very disappointed with them until they.

The fact that the Bose amp has a rather small fuse and running 8 speakers, leads me to believe it is running very little power, even at 2 ohm.

[rxer311]

At 4 ohm the output from the amp will be close to half of what it was at 2 ohm.
So if it puts out the 15w with oem speakers, running at 4ohm would get you 7~10w.

7~10w is not enough for just about all aftermarket speakers, even though the JLs are rated from 10w-50w. You will be very disappointed with them until they.

The fact that the Bose amp has a rather small fuse and running 8 speakers, leads me to believe it is running very little power, even at 2 ohm.

Thank you. This is the most complete answer I have gotten so far.

How difficult would it be to run a small amp high pass to power some aftermarket speakers while still retaining the stock amp to run the center channel and sub?

I am looking for low cost, low fuss, factory like solution. Thank you.

[Giantsfan10]

You were asking for quality so... the only solution i have found so far is JL clean sweep or rockford 3.sixty. These 2 products will give the amp a clean signal. After that, hook up aftermarket amp. I'm looking into this solution very carefully. The next step is to replace entire head unit for more options and control of quality. If there is another solution i would love to hear it.

[rxer311]

Well it looks as though infinity is my only choice...

[Audiophyle]

Adding an aftermarket amp isnt that hard, and would open your speaker options up greatly. JL makes a 6ch amp that would run everything for ya.

[rxer311]

Adding an aftermarket amp isnt that hard, and would open your speaker options up greatly. JL makes a 6ch amp that would run everything for ya.

Great option but not trying to spend that much money. Just want to make it sound "better". I found a set of JBL components as well that run at 2ohm and have a bit better sensitivity. I may try those...

[Audiophyle]

Check out Partsexpress.com for replacement tweeters, OEM tweeters are 4 ohm.

For the fronts you can try these.
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-2-OHM-CUSTOM-W...#ht_3857wt_909
I have tried them before & they sound great & only takes mild modification to the doors to install.

[rxer311]

Check out Partsexpress.com for replacement tweeters, OEM tweeters are 4 ohm.

For the fronts you can try these.
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-2-OHM-CUSTOM-W...#ht_3857wt_909
I have tried them before & they sound great & only takes mild modification to the doors to install.

Could I just get coaxials for the door and then get aftermarket tweeters? Sounds interesting...

[Audiophyle]

Coaxial speakers have a built in tweeter (obviously), so if you go that route it would be in your best interest to unhook the OEM tweeter and not plan on ever using any other tweeter except for the one on the Coax speaker. I would advise against it anyway, as it will kill the soundstage.



Here is what I would recommend, as an installer of 10+ years & a pretty big SQ person.

1. Replace the oem radio. A quality aftermarket radio will make a huge difference, because it will be sending a much stronger & cleaner signal to the Bose amp, which will result in an equally cleaner signal reaching the speakers. Problem solved. It will also open up your options for sound tuning, further increasing the sound improvement.

2. Replace the Bose amp. The next weakest link in the system is the Bose amp, and the problem here would be due to not having enough power. Bypassing with an aftermarket amp is a little complicated, but very doable and without loosing any speakers in the process. After this you will have a very clean & VERY loud system, much clearer & much louder than OEM was.

3. Replacing speakers. At this point the speakers are now the only weakest link in the system. After this you will have a system FAR superior to the OEM in every way.

Why in that order?

1. OEM radios are not that great, and at high volume the signals are weak & get very muddy. Ish starts clipping & distorting, and the amp will play whatever signal it gets, regardless of clarity. Amp & speakers get a bad rap for something caused by the deck.
At this point the system will sound noticeably better than all OEM did.

2. It doesnt take uber expensive speakers to get incredible sound. The Bose speakers are a great starting platform, they can play clean & loud, and have a great sound to them. With a clean & powerful source (radio), the only other reason why the speakers would sound "muddy" would be because the Bose amp just cant keep up & more power is needed. Replacing the Bose amp requires either a new radio or something along the lines of the JL clean sweep, which is a waste of money UNLESS you have no other choice but to keep the oem radio.

3. Now you are just being incredibly picky, but luckily upgrading the speakers now is a simple choice because the aftermarket amp opens up a world of options.


& thanks for the pos rep.

[8520]

^ Yup.

It's amazing the difference a good source unit makes.

[rxer311]

^ Yup.

It's amazing the difference a good source unit makes.

I agree, however I really don't want to replace the stock HU because I really want to keep my interior stock. I just don't want something in my dash that doesn't jive with the rest of my car. Being that I just purchased a satellite tuner for the HU I also don't want to get rid of that. I also don't want to spend a huge chunk of money on my stereo with this car.

It seems like the only option is to go big or go home. I may just be keeping it completely stock.

[Audiophyle]

How do you figure? There are radios out there that look great in the dash of an Audi, and it can be done quite affordably. Just upgrading the deck alone will make a major improvement over everything, there is no need to go all out.

But its your car, I'm just trying to help.

[rxer311]

How do you figure? There are radios out there that look great in the dash of an Audi, and it can be done quite affordably. Just upgrading the deck alone will make a major improvement over everything, there is no need to go all out.

But its your car, I'm just trying to help.

I know you are trying to help. Do you know of any good looking HU out there at a good price? I would also want to keep my Sirius. Can't live without that!

[koolade9]

Audiophyle...

...from termpro...??

[EuroFreak]

I agree that an aftermarket HU offers the best sound but I'm in a similar boat with my 01 S4 with the Bose system - I want to keep the HU original but still want improved sound overall. I recently replaced the front door speakers with Infinity Reference 2 ohm components and although the sound is cleaner than with the OEM drivers and tweeters, I have little to no midbass. Highs are crisp and clean but overall the system really lacks mids even after tweaking the hidden EQ settings on the HU. I've even been asked by a passenger if I had actually reinstalled my mid drivers yet.
I'm guessing this is attributed to the internal filtering/crossover/EQ of the Bose amp. Does this sound right? This might be something the OP should think about as well because i was really excited to get new speakers in there but now I'm wishing I had waited until I had a 4 ch amp to replace the Bose amp with.

[chirp]

I upgrades my headunit with a Double Din JVC touch screen. Looks great in the dash. It made a huge difference in sound and had more options for tweaking the sound settings. It actually improved the bass (mostly midbass) in my system.
Right now I still lack the low bass I enjoy, but I have an RE Audio 15" sub, RE Amp coming in this week. It should round out the sound.