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Replacement speakers for Bose '87

yungnbord

Active member
Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Messages
32
Location
Stroudsburg, PA
Corvette
2004 Triple Black Convertible
I have the "Infamous" Bose system in my '87. I want to just get rid of it! I know I can put 6X9's in the rear. I can't seem to find out what size or brand speaker will fit in the front doors. I checked Crutchfield and they had none. Of coarse they don't carry all brands. Does anyone know what I can put in there, without making this a big dollar project? I'm not looking to win any stereo contest, just a little background music. I'm not worried about the dash speakers. I think you need to take the windshield out to access those? Any brand and model suggestions for the 6X9's would be helpful. Thanks for any help!
 
By just removing the Bose speaker in the door and now the enitre box and amp assembly it sits in just go out and by some 5's, they will go in with a little bit of cutting but not to to much. If you like the 6" sound it'd be a good Idea to remove the box (Real pain) and install a new MDF box or panel for the 6" to sit in

Hope this helps.

And the 6x9's from my EXP and in my humble opinion not to be taken offesively...I hate Alpine period Ive had Alpine Ive blown Alpine Ive nuked Alpine so guess what I dont buy Alpine

A good 6x9 you can get from Pioneer, JBL, JL, Boston, I think Kicker has one to these are all pretty good I prefer the JL speaker my self and also Boston Ive heard is wicked.
 
Would you just leave the amp assembly in the box? I noticed that there are 4 wires going into the amp. I should be able to use two for the new speakers correct? I would imagine the red and black were for power to the amp and the greys for the speaker.

On another note where did you ground your new deck? I have heard that it is a nightmare to find a ground. Thanks for you help.
 
Im not sure about the wireing harness TO the amps but I have run the Wires FROM the amp and that works fine. If your going to run an Amp I (and did) run new wiring.

I used the factory ground for my deck I just traced back some wires until one hit the steel frame of the car, and it works fine.

A typical setup on this car is basicly like mine I never went nuts but didnt cheap out niether

Panasonic Dx 99 5v Cd player
Sony 7557 Mobile ES 5 channel amp
JL 6x9's
JL 6.5's
(new subs this year will either be Kicker 12"x2 or Infinity Pefect 10's

I run a Capacitor (1 Farad) to aid in the power to prevent power loss.

On my wiring its all Directional Stinger RCA's, Pheonix Gold Speaker Wires and Pheonix Gold Power/Ground/Distribution/and Fuse Blocks.

This all took my about 3 days to install and ive had to tink around a little to prevent some static noise and my crazy antenna problem (that was a result of my alarm dont worry about the antenna)

But like I said if your running just speakers nothing fancy have your Stereo shop just give you a harness that will hook your deck up to the factory wiring then just diagnose which of the 4 wires in the door are signal and not power or ground for the amp its really about that simple (I just like to run new wiring because of the cars age and the technology they were using back then)

If your removing the box let me know I'll run you though a sure fire procedure.

Good Luck and watch out for static noise this car is notorious for it.
 
Oh ya if your going the simple route and installing the new speakers in the bose box, just leave the amps in you can cover them with Dynomat or foam just make sure they are disconnected.
 
Thanks for all the information. Here is what I have done so far.

Last summer I replaced the factory deck with an Aiwa MP3 player deck. I bought the adaptor harness to work with the Bose speakers. I could never really get that adjusted properly. I think one of the speakers or amps in the rear is bad. I also have a bad ground noise. I'll redo that portion using your advice.

This is what I would like to do. Let me know if it seems logical.
-- Keep the Aiwa deck.
-- Replace the front door speakers with Boston FX4's, the cutout is 4", the same size as the stock hole.
-- Replace the rear with Boston FX93 or FX92's, 2 or 3 way, I'm not sure which would be better to go with.
-- Use the same wiring as I have no idea how to get new wires to where they are to go.
-- Find a better ground.

Would I want to run the Capacitor (1 Farad) to aid in the power to prevent power loss? If so where do I put this? Would I buy it from the stereo dealer or Radio Shack?

Do I need to worry about the speakers in the dash?

Sorry to be such a bother. I've never had to deal with this Bose stuff in past cars. Thanks again, I've searched all over the place for help on this topic and never found any answers!
 
I've got an '89 that someone had removed the Bose speakers, grile, & box in the front. I'd like to do as you suggested with the larger speakers. I haven't found a speaker grill to replace what was there. Any idea where I can get something to filt?

Roy
 
Roy,

I think I saw the grille covers in the Ecklers or MidWest catalogs.

Radar
 
No Problem thats why Im here :cool

Okay as for the Capacitor..You dont need it, only time you may want to run one is if your running a major amp,lighting system or some other fast and and the furious stuff. So relax thats 200 bucks saved :t

Next the Speakers, Which speaker are you having trouble with? like DF DR PF PR?? Find out which one that will tell you which amp is bad (you do know each speaker has its own amp)

Now figure that out and replace it with a stock issue.

Now simply hook up your speakers the 4" will drop in and the 6x9's will drop in as well in the rear (you have to remove a panel but its pretty self explainitory) As for the 6x9's I like my Crisp Clear High's so I'd reccomend the 3 ways

Do you system up like that get it running nicely and if you find you could use a little more front end sound (which you might because your Bose technology is gone) Simply hook up some Tweets from your deck on the dash.But figure out if the base system is fine or not.

As for the ground, theres 2 soulutions here.

1st one take your deck ground wire and remount somewhere else (keeping in mind anything past 4 feet yur asking for problems)

2nd Go to Radio Shack and buy a Static Noise Reducer and hook one or two up to the ground that way that should fix your problem depends how loud the Whine is (If its quiet it will stop, If its loud it will be quiet so add another reducer Etc..) Problem is sometimes these reducers usually sacrafice sound quality when used extremly.
 
Oh yes forgot, Because your running a stock harness on the Aftermarket deck is may not be a issue but try it anyway.

While your searching for a new ground and/or adding reducers KEEP YOUR POWER CLEAR AND FAR AWAY FROM YOUR SIGNAL WIRES!! Also Scorshe has a Static reducer that goes on the RCA's thats another problem solver there.

Now if this all fails and nothing works and your starting to hate me:L Sounds like your Alternator is going out the door so replace it (This is the LAST thing you try)

If nothing works that I have suggested I dont think nothing will:L

So give it a shot and keep us informed.
 
It sounds like it should not be too much of a task for me when I return home to work on it. I'm going to pick up the speakers and amp matting Thursday and get to work on it.

The only thing I was a little confused about was the actual wiring for the new speakers. I'm just going to use the two wires leading into the amps that were for signal, and attach them to the new speakers correct? I'm not actually going to be using the leads coming out ofthe amp am I? In your last note you mentioned finding the bad amp I currently have and, "replace it with a stock issue." I'm a little confused on what you mean by that.

Other than that I think I have a handle on everything. I'll let you know how it is working out. The noise I have is slight because even in the set up now the only time you really hear it is during quiet sections of the music. Thanks again for everything.
Erik
 
Okay you can do two things here.

One use the signal wires to the amp from your deck. This is okay however VERY hard on speakers because deck power is never very good.

Two Leave the amps alone! Use the pos and neg OUT of the amps why not use the amps that powers the bose to power your Bostons?

And what I meant was by Stock issue was, if you have a bad Amp somewhere find out which on it is and replace it with a new amp that should cure your power problems

But if you go with the deck powering everything option dont worry about replacing the amp. However I'll warn against it one more time, I listen to music Very loud and Decks blow my speakers faster than I can install them hence why I run the BIG sony amp.
 
I'll try the method of using the amps to power the speakers. I can always change if it does not work well. Which brings up one more question! When will they end right! I just don't want to mess it up!

Behind my deck I have the wiring harness but also a device that I was given when changing from the factory deck last summer. I can't think of what it's called off the top of my head but it allows me to adjust the signal level for each speaker. It's a small black box about 3" X 1". They told me I needed it because it was a bose speaker system. Will I still need this or should I take it out?
 
Im not quite sure what that is, what Im thinking is a RCA or signal splitter. Id leave it in for now get your install done and if you have problems try taking it out.

BTW bud ask as many as you want I find this stuff (helping folks) fun.
 
I'm on it, I'll give you the low down when there's sound coming out! Hopefully I don't have to wait too long for a new amp to replace the bad one. I'm thinking Ecklers should be able to get it to me fast! Thanks again.
 
No Prblem Bro keep me posted on exactlly what the systems doing and I'll try to guide you through it to the best of my back yard ability. :beer
 
Everythings done! Sounds OK, and there is no ground noise!

Here's what I ended up having to do:
-- I couldn't use the Bose amps because they would not fit in the back by the 6X('s. I was also worried they would hurt the new speakers. I'm not sure but I don't think the Bose speakers were 4 ohm like the replacement ones.

-- Mounting the speakers was pretty difficult. In the back the there is a cutout for the 6X9 but depth was tough. I actually mounted all the speakers with nylon tie straps. They are strong and easy to work with. All the speakers are in solid and sound fine.

-- I used the factory ground and it is fine this time.

I am a little weak for sound in the front. Anything you think I can do? I may just have to live with it but that would be fine. Thanks again for all of your help! cheers! Now on to my next mission, new rims!
 
How did you wire the front door speakers?

Did you end up going with the 4"? If so thats why Like I said before you've kinda lost the small Bose techology therefore a regular 4" isnt going to pump out to much sound. But again like I said if your lacking because of the 4" try some itty bitty tweets on the door or some bigger ones in the dash.

And since you could not use the rear amps what are powering your 6x9's? (Ifs its the deck could you let me know the Exact make/model/amp size (35x4,50x4.etc..)

And ya I think the Bose run 8 ohm however your still running 12 volt setup and using the 8 ohm channel on a 4 ohm speaker wont hurt it (IMO). But you may lose some Bass or bottom end sound.

Heres why in PA systems your given the option to use 4/8/16 ohms (for different sound applications. EG HUGE bass is usually conducted through under 4 ohms and lower frequencys.
 
For the front speakers I wired them using two of the four wires that were already there. I also mounted them into the "Bose" box that was there. I did not take it out. Before I wired it like I did I tried using the amp. It was a bit louder but there was quite a bit of "noise" on the circuit. You actually only had to have the + lead hooked up to the speaker and it would play! I would imagine that was because the amp circuit is gounded on its own? I did end up going with the 4". They fit in very nice. The 5" would have been tough to mount. You mentioned some small tweets on the door ... where? I think the dash would be hard to get at. Don't you need to take the windshield out to get to the speakers? I'm not sure that's just what I heard.

To power the rears I'm using an Aiwa deck. The CDC-MP3. It's 45W X 4. It seems to sound pretty good. No distortion as you turn it up so I think the power is pretty clean.

That's where I'm at! Hey did I notice you were looking to get new rims for yours?
 
Ya Im shopping for rims, I don't mind mine but I like the ZR-1 or some other 5 star shape.

Thats strange about the front door speaker, but oh well they work.

And I installed my tweeter on the same axis as the pad where the window wiper control is, but no higher than the horizontal before the door seal.

The hole was exactly 2" I used a hole saw or arbour saw.

And make sure your careful with the amount of loud you use, your 6x9s are designed to handle alot more power than 45 watts so if you constantly bombard them with ear pieceing tunes the coil will tell you the "straw they're sucking through" are to small and youve blown your speakers.

Its ok to do it like this but dont try to adjust your volume to IASCA standards :eek

And Im not qutie sure if the windshield comes out at all, I thought that you could remove the dashpad W/O pulling the glass. I could be wrong.
 

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