OK to upgrade Bose speakers???

[kerlyb]

Looking to upgrade all the Bose dash and door speakers in my 2023 Tahoe HC for improved sound. Don't want to spend time n money on a full custom system or even adding sub box. Looking for cleaner highs and just a little more bass. Is Bose is still using 2 ohm speakers??? If yes, will the aftermarket 4 ohm speakers still be an improvement?

 

[Joseph Garcia]

As far as I know, Bose still uses speakers with lower impedance than most aftermarket speakers. As such, a standard aftermarket speaker will be an impedance mismatch with the Bose amp, won't draw as much power from the Bose amp, and this will most likely result in the deterioration of sound quality.

There are speakers out there that are specifically 2 Ohm impedance, and they would be a better match for the Bose amp. Go to Crutchfield.com and see what they have for 2 Ohm impedance speakers.

 

[Doubeleive]

ya, if you are not doing a full upgrade then you are pretty much wasting your money, the best easiest thing to do is a add a sub, and perhaps disable the ANC if you have that feature, that brightens it up a little.

 

[K5-Z71]

Adding another opinion to this, I recently spent $250 on Crutchfield to replace all the speakers with coaxial 3 ohm speakers and believe they sound much better on the top end. Mids are still muddled, not much if anything added to the bottom and everything still falls apart at higher volumes but doing this and adding a modified esky sub box has brought my 9 speaker Bose system to an acceptable level. Swapping all the door and corner speakers took about 2 hrs.

3 ohm speakers on a 2 ohm amp may reduce sound quality but in comparison to the already lackluster Bose amplifier / speaker combination it will still be an upgrade. This has been discussed and experimented on in many other platforms with the general consensus being its worthwhile as a minor upgrade and can still be driven by an aftermarket 4 ohm amp in the future.

Audio quality is highly subjective and objectively never vary good in a vehicle anyways so I just went for it and am happy... for now.

 

[kerlyb]

Adding another opinion to this, I recently spent $250 on Crutchfield to replace all the speakers with coaxial 3 ohm speakers and believe they sound much better on the top end. Mids are still muddled, not much if anything added to the bottom and everything still falls apart at higher volumes but doing this and adding a modified esky sub box has brought my 9 speaker Bose system to an acceptable level. Swapping all the door and corner speakers took about 2 hrs.

3 ohm speakers on a 2 ohm amp may reduce sound quality but in comparison to the already lackluster Bose amplifier / speaker combination it will still be an upgrade. This has been discussed and experimented on in many other platforms with the general consensus being its worthwhile as a minor upgrade and can still be driven by an aftermarket 4 ohm amp in the future.

Audio quality is highly subjective and objectively never vary good in a vehicle anyways so I just went for it and am happy... for now.

Which 3 ohm speakers did you install??? Did the front and rear door speakers require speaker adaptor kits??? Any plans to upgrade to dash corner speakers???

 

[K5-Z71]

Go to the Crutchfield vehicle selector and put in your truck. I don’t know if they have anything on the HC. If not you can put in the standard model to help select speakers in each position.

When ordering from Crutchfield this way they will add in the proper wiring, speaker adapters and detailed installation instructions for free! Plenty of open box discount available too.

$20 discount referral link below with the speakers I used

Save $20 on audio, video, and more!

It's easy! Create a new account and you'll get Rewards.

www.crutchfield.com

Infinity Reference REF607F​ Infinity Reference REF697MF Pioneer TS-A70​

The base Bose equalizer is a bit sharp after replacing the paper cones so I’m running the at Bass 0, Mid -3, High -2.

After changing the speakers the turn signals even sounds better with a hint of a metallic click coming through rather than the knocking sound from before.

 

[kerlyb]

Go to the Crutchfield vehicle selector and put in your truck. I don’t know if they have anything on the HC. If not you can put in the standard model to help select speakers in each position.

When ordering from Crutchfield this way they will add in the proper wiring, speaker adapters and detailed installation instructions for free! Plenty of open box discount available too.

$20 discount referral link below with the speakers I used

Save $20 on audio, video, and more!

It's easy! Create a new account and you'll get Rewards.

www.crutchfield.com

​

​ ​ Infinity Reference REF607F​ Infinity Reference REF697MF​ ​ Pioneer TS-A70​

The base Bose equalizer is a bit sharp after replacing the paper cones so I’m running the at Bass 0, Mid -3, High -2.

After changing the speakers the turn signals even sounds better with a hint of a metallic click coming through rather than the knocking sound from before.

Are you running the Pioneer corner dash speakers with or without the included crossover?

I went with Kicker KSC270 dash speakers based on reviews, specifications, and thinking Pioneer's might be too bright. Unfortunately the Kickers don't work with the included crossover....only works without them. Spoke with Crutchfield tech and thinks Bose system sees a change in resistance with the crossovers and therefore won't send power. IMO, they still sound better than the OEM Bose speakers.

Installing JBL stadium 6x9 and 6.5 door speakers this weekend.

 

[K5-Z71]

@kerlyb

With the crossovers. I tried both configurations and didn’t notice a difference in loudness but did find a huge improvement in quality and separation with the crossovers in line. I could hear the woofer being overdriven at higher listening levels.

Strange you don’t get anything with the capacitor installed in line. Should be taken in account when publishing the 4 ohm rating.

Am I right in assuming you hardwired the speakers without the crossovers to get it working? Maybe it’s a problem with the supplied harness adapters

 

[Doubeleive]

the bose system is really hard to beat and/or defeat. If you disable the ANC as I previously noted you will hear a difference, otherwise trying to "filter" the sound will result in NIll, the amp already filters each channel for sound, so you can't make it "re-create" something that is not there. what people usually do if you are retaining the factory radio is run it through a audio control like a lc7 to a seperate amp. changing the speakers alone is not going to give you better results for the most part. Idealy you want a multi channel amp and a sub amp. Part of the reason is the division of the various vehicle alerts, bluetooth, backup sensor, etc each is fed through a different channel. Even on my silverado it takes 7 channels to make everything work right

 

[K5-Z71]

Well I suppose that’s the difference between the two systems being discussed here. I have the basic 9 speaker Bose which apparently wasn’t given the infamous ANC possibly because the Z71 “off-road” package.