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.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Did you guys do any write ups on this?

I do not have a write-up, either. I had the work done at an audio shop, as my days of that kind of work on my own vehicle is limited these days. As the folks above have stated, you do not have to change any speaker wires.

@Doubeleive has given you an excellent write-up above to get you going. Thank you, @Doubeleive

I recommend that you call Crutchfield and discuss your desires with their Techs. They have a wide variety of audio equipment for all budgets, and their prices are competitive with most sellers. They will also give you a detailed roadmap for the installation, and they will be available to answer any questions along the way during your installation work. (I am not affiliated with Crutchfield, just a long-time satisfied customer).

 

[justchecking]

I do not have a write-up, either. I had the work done at an audio shop, as my days of that kind of work on my own vehicle is limited these days. As the folks above have stated, you do not have to change any speaker wires.

@Doubeleive has given you an excellent write-up above to get you going. Thank you, @Doubeleive

I recommend that you call Crutchfield and discuss your desires with their Techs. They have a wide variety of audio equipment for all budgets, and their prices are competitive with most sellers. They will also give you a detailed roadmap for the installation, and they will be available to answer any questions along the way during your installation work. (I am not affiliated with Crutchfield, just a long-time satisfied customer).

Lot of good experience and opinions here. My experience was I went with Crutchfield recommendations in my 2011 and replaced the center speaker, front tweeters, and front door speakers with their recommendation. I also installed a Kicker HS10 on top of a plastic tool box in the rear.

My OEM center front speaker and front door speaker cones were definitely dried out and "fuzzy" in my 2011 (replaced in 2022). The sound after the speaker upgrade was MUCH crisper. The subwoofer in the rear filled it out. I had also replaced the OEM radio with a Jensen CAR910W for the wireless carplay. Overall the sound was excellent. I initially did not replace the tweeters but after the improvement with the other speakers I replaced those and the highs were much brighter. I suppose over time they had become dull.

Now in my 2019 the overall sound is "great" but I was listening to Nillson's Jump Into The Fire https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...249834D1AF05D2B753AB249834D1AF05D2B&FORM=VIRE recently and the bass sounded like it was in another room during the recording. So I temporarily installed my HS10 in the rear to bring it up but it has been disappointing. I am still experimenting. I don't have it mounted to the old plastic tool box which I may do. I do need to get my phase tester out and test the OEM speakers for phasing. After listening to our previous 2013 Pathfinder for many years with it's lackluster sound system I tested the phasing and found that two of the 7 (or 9) factory speakers were out of phase from the factory...

Good luck! Let us know how it goes! Changing the speakers and head unit is not hard!

 

[KevOLTZ]

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

Well put. Buy cheap big twice. I’m more of a novice when it comes to wiring door speakers. Wiring a sub by itself no problem I’ve just never worked door speakers