Speaker Experience

[KevOLTZ]

I’m looking to see who has put speakers in their 07-13 Tahoe/burban. I have the Bose with amp and I was looking to do the PowerBass plug and play door speakers and PowerBass tweeters for the front. Any suggestions? I want to stay away from re wiring the whole truck for component speakers

 

[Joseph Garcia]

First, Bose speakers are a non-standard impedance, usually running around 1 to 2 Ohms (versus the standard 4 Ohm aftermarket speaker impedance). If you run 4 Ohm speakers with the existing Bose amp, the performance will be reduced due to the impedance mismatch. I believe that Crutchfield.com has a few low impedance speakers that may work well with your Bose system. You can also get replacement Bose speakers on eBay.

I am not a fan of Bose systems, so I replaced my entire Bose system with an aftermarket system, and added a real subwoofer between my second row captain's chairs, and I am very happy with it.

 

[KevOLTZ]

First, Bose speakers are a non-standard impedance, usually running around 1 to 2 Ohms (versus the standard 4 Ohm aftermarket speaker impedance). If you run 4 Ohm speakers with the existing Bose amp, the performance will be reduced due to the impedance mismatch. I believe that Crutchfield.com has a few low impedance speakers that may work well with your Bose system. You can also get replacement Bose speakers on eBay.

I am not a fan of Bose systems, so I replaced my entire Bose system with an aftermarket system, and added a real subwoofer between my second row captain's chairs, and I am very happy with it.

That’s all great info. So did you completely rewire all the door speakers? I just don’t want to get into that much of a big project BUT I did want to end up putting a sub eventually. By chance do you have any pictures of your sub install and how much of a PITA was it for you?

 

[Fubar0715]

Similar to Joe, I completely removed all factory components and switched to aftermarket HU with Sat radio, aftermarket door speakers, 5 channel Amp, and a real sub. My truck was a SSV so no back up cam either. The wiring in the doors work just fine and only needed wiring for the cam and sub which is running under the flooring.

 

[89Suburban]

First, Bose speakers are a non-standard impedance, usually running around 1 to 2 Ohms (versus the standard 4 Ohm aftermarket speaker impedance). If you run 4 Ohm speakers with the existing Bose amp, the performance will be reduced due to the impedance mismatch. I believe that Crutchfield.com has a few low impedance speakers that may work well with your Bose system. You can also get replacement Bose speakers on eBay.

I am not a fan of Bose systems, so I replaced my entire Bose system with an aftermarket system, and added a real subwoofer between my second row captain's chairs, and I am very happy with it.

Similar to Joe, I completely removed all factory components and switched to aftermarket HU with Sat radio, aftermarket door speakers, 5 channel Amp, and a real sub. My truck was a SSV so no back up cam either. The wiring in the doors work just fine and only needed wiring for the cam and sub which is running under the flooring.

Did you guys do any write ups on this?

 

[Doubeleive]

I’m looking to see who has put speakers in their 07-13 Tahoe/burban. I have the Bose with amp and I was looking to do the PowerBass plug and play door speakers and PowerBass tweeters for the front. Any suggestions? I want to stay away from re wiring the whole truck for component speakers

I would not recommend changing just the speakers, as Joseph noted the impedance is then the issue and it's most likely not going to be any kind of improvement.
The Bose system depending on which level you have is pretty hard to beat, I would go all in or just add a sub and disable ANC
the factory wiring is good for up to 200w so replacing all of the speakers is not a wiring issue at all, adding all new wiring is a LOT of extra work for no noticeable gain.
you can replace all the speakers and then for the wiring you just interface them at the factory amp output and run wires from there to your new amp.
the inifnity kappa series are a decent upgrade if you decide to go all in
if you go all in figure it's going to be $1500-3000 for just something adequate, that's not including a new head unit. plus some hours of your time.
unless you want junk, then there's always walmart....
I am not any kind of audiophile, but I learned a long time ago, if you want it to sound good you have to spend a little more money, cheap parts result in a cheap sound usually worse than what it sounded like originally.
after you get everything in then tune-it, all channels separate. tune the front, then the tune the rear, then tune the sub.
then you should be happy, if not spend more money lol

 

[Fubar0715]

Did you guys do any write ups on this?

Sadly, no! Did mine just after the purchase and a major move from Florida to NH. Was too damn cold to be out there any longer than necessary. Thankfully, I knew enough about Car Audio from my early years to quickly get through the installation and tuning of the AMP.