Good aftermarket speakers

[George Owens]

good evening to all, I had a question I have a 08 tahoe lt I don’t think I have the factory amp. But I was looking to get some aftermarket speakers for both the front and the rear doors, I want them to be a by louder and with more bass then the ones installed. I can deff hear the difference when I connect my Bluetooth device to the aux. was thinking about 4 way speakers like I have in my Monte Carlo

 

[iamdub]

If you don't have the Bose system, then you have a lot more options for speakers because you can get most anything that fits and is 4 Ohm. The Bose speakers are 2 Ohm. Replacing these with 4 Ohm speakers will cut the Bose amp's output in half, which is opposite what you want.

It has been proven here plenty of times before, but adding sound deadener will do wonders for stock or aftermarket speakers. Sound deadener will quiet down the road noise the speakers are trying to overcome, resulting in perceived higher output as well as give the speakers a better environment to play in that increases their bass response. The deadener will also quiet down the cabin for those times you're driving with the radio down or off, giving it more of luxury car feel. Member DJ (@08HoeCD) was asking if he should go with JBL or Kicker speakers and ended up not replacing the speakers but adding sound deadener. Here's his thread: http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/jbl-vs-kicker.92614/

 

[08HoeCD]

It has been proven here plenty of times before, but adding sound deadener will do wonders for stock or aftermarket speakers. Sound deadener will quiet down the road noise the speakers are trying to overcome, resulting in perceived higher output as well as give the speakers a better environment to play in that increases their bass response. The deadener will also quiet down the cabin for those times you're driving with the radio down or off, giving it more of luxury car feel. Member DJ (@08HoeCD) was asking if he should go with JBL or Kicker speakers and ended up not replacing the speakers but adding sound deadener. Here's his thread: http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/jbl-vs-kicker.92614/

Yup.

I'd been thinking about replacing the speakers but decided to just experiment with adding Dynamat Xtreme to all four door panels as a first step. Doing that made a very noticeable difference----while the road noise was not reduced noticeably, the audio soundstage was very much improved, as if I'd added an aftermarket amp. Even my 15-yr-old daughter noticed that the system suddenly sounded better. I spent $50 and maybe two hours of work doing all doors, and I'd do it again.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not an audiophile or someone who prioritizes music above all things and is willing to spend lots of $$$ on sound system equipment. I'm a suburban dad who just likes to tinker with custom touches on vehicles, mostly for the fun of it, and I like stuff to perform well. My modest approach to improving my Tahoe's audio was fun, a good learning experience, and I obtained results even better than I'd hoped for.

 

[Tim Quigley]

I just redid my whole system in my 12, I did kicker speakers with a 300watt amp to the speakers and it is clear and crisp!

 

[George Owens]

Yea I don’t think I have nose or anything , I don’t want to have to put some big speakers in the trunk area I too am a dad this is mostly a family car so I will look into sound deadners this is something I haven’t thought of or done before

 

[Drok]

I put in 4 of these (Rockford Fosgate PPS4-6 Punch PRO 6.5-Inch Single Midrange 4 Ohm) and they sound great.

Being theyre 4 ohm and with the bose amp i did lose some volume but not enough to make me need an amp. I havent gotten around to the sound deadening part yet, hopefully soon.

 

[iamdub]

Yup.

I'd been thinking about replacing the speakers but decided to just experiment with adding Dynamat Xtreme to all four door panels as a first step. Doing that made a very noticeable difference----while the road noise was not reduced noticeably, the audio soundstage was very much improved, as if I'd added an aftermarket amp. Even my 15-yr-old daughter noticed that the system suddenly sounded better. I spent $50 and maybe two hours of work doing all doors, and I'd do it again.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not an audiophile or someone who prioritizes music above all things and is willing to spend lots of $$$ on sound system equipment. I'm a suburban dad who just likes to tinker with custom touches on vehicles, mostly for the fun of it, and I like stuff to perform well. My modest approach to improving my Tahoe's audio was fun, a good learning experience, and I obtained results even better than I'd hoped for.

The biggest inducers of road noise are the floorpan, firewall and A-pillars. Insulate these and you'll really make a difference. Also, when doing the doors, the whole thing needs to be done including the top where the mirror bolts to. The wind noise from the mirror and A-pillar are most noticed because they are right up at ear level. The firewall and floorboard contribute a lot because of their size and the fact that the tires are right on the other side, inside a well that lets their road noise reverberate. Insulating just the doors helps more with the speaker's resonance than insulating from outside noise.

Yea I don’t think I have nose or anything , I don’t want to have to put some big speakers in the trunk area I too am a dad this is mostly a family car so I will look into sound deadners this is something I haven’t thought of or done before

Oh, you have noise! You're just so used to it that you don't notice it, like most anyone. You may not consider it "noise", but the steady hiss from the wind and/or tires at highway speed is there. This is why OEM radios have that SCV (Speed-Compensated Volume) feature where it will automatically turn the volume up or down in relation to the vehicle's speed. Sit still in your car with the radio at a comfortable volume, then go hit the highway. I guarantee you will turn it up a little.

 

[08HoeCD]

The biggest inducers of road noise are the floorpan, firewall and A-pillars. Insulate these and you'll really make a difference. Also, when doing the doors, the whole thing needs to be done including the top where the mirror bolts to. The wind noise from the mirror and A-pillar are most noticed because they are right up at ear level. The firewall and floorboard contribute a lot because of their size and the fact that the tires are right on the other side, inside a well that lets their road noise reverberate. Insulating just the doors helps more with the speaker's resonance than insulating from outside noise.

I'm sure your points are valid and that you know what you're talking about, but I'm content with the current audio dynamics in my rig and don't care to invest the effort into deadening my floorpan and firewall. Yet.

 

[iamdub]

I'm sure your points are valid and that you know what you're talking about, but I'm content with the current audio dynamics in my rig and don't care to invest the effort into deadening my floorpan and firewall. Yet.

I didn't mean for that to sound like what you did was ineffective because it surely was not. You mentioned the road noise not being reduced noticeably so I wanted to elaborate on the subject. I'm too lazy to tear into anything more than once so I'm gonna collect all the materials and parts to complete everything behind the door panels in one shot. I have one roll of deadener, but I wanna double-layer the outer skin and single-layer the inner skin so I need to get with "my deadener supplier" next time I'm in the area. Later down the road, I'll strip the interior and double-layer the entire floor pan and firewall and get as much as I can on the pillars. I don't know if or when I'd do the roof. I'd like to dye the pillar trim and headliner a smoky grey color, so the roof would be done then.

After all that, THEN I may look into replacing the Bose stuff.

 

[08HoeCD]

Totally cool @iamdub lol

I am sure that your suggestions are valid-----I'm just not bothered enough about the noise level in my Tahoe to put forth the effort.

Let me know how all things pan out when you do the full deadening treatment!