Project 'BOSE BE GONE!' audio upgrade completed

[DBZinTN]

Thanks OP, just bookmarked this thread for study. I have a 300w powered spare tire sub going in this weekend, will make do with the bass it offers; but definitely interested in getting all Bose speakers swapped out. Such a flat sounding system, it's the worst. My '25 Nissan Versa has tighter/ better sound than the Z's Bose system

 

[latestarter]

Keep in mind, much, if not most of the crap sound originates from the amp and the way they’ve tuned it. Changing speakers will only expose this more, and the only real way to fundamentally change things for the better is to bypass the amp with something better. You then get the bonus of losing the silly sound effects etc.

 

[DBZinTN]

Keep in mind, much, if not most of the crap sound originates from the amp and the way they’ve tuned it. Changing speakers will only expose this more, and the only real way to fundamentally change things for the better is to bypass the amp with something better. You then get the bonus of losing the silly sound effects etc.

Thanks for the info. Would this be the case if I had ANC/ASE disabled? I know it's best to do a full system swap, but was hoping to swap speakers only. I'd even settle for just door and dash speaker replacement as there are no highs and muddy mids.

 

[latestarter]

I started in a similar path, taking high outs to new amps and speakers. Still sounded terrible. Went whole bypass/removal of amp and used the signal from the head direct into new amps.

I had my dealer turn off the ANC and fake engine Noise As part of step one…sp very similar path as you’re thinking about.

I guess you will get some improvement with speakers alone but it will not go very far in resolving what is an awful system with hard coded eq , that the speakers will not be able to resolve.

I wonder if it would make more sense to replace amp first and speakers later if budget is the issue. I don’t know if anyone has done this.

 

[siddious33]

I started in a similar path, taking high outs to new amps and speakers. Still sounded terrible. Went whole bypass/removal of amp and used the signal from the head direct into new amps.

I had my dealer turn off the ANC and fake engine Noise As part of step one…sp very similar path as you’re thinking about.

I guess you will get some improvement with speakers alone but it will not go very far in resolving what is an awful system with hard coded eq , that the speakers will not be able to resolve.

I wonder if it would make more sense to replace amp first and speakers later if budget is the issue. I don’t know if anyone has done this.

I have started down this similar path as well. I had ANC/ASE turned off at the dealer and it does make a difference. I have tried many different EQ settings and I've decided to just bite the bullet and stop trying fixes to a weak system and instead I will bypass it. Just getting together my ideas now but my plan would be to tap the system in the trunk by the Bose Amp with something like an OWC harness and then run that into a 4 channel amp/DSP combo with component speakers in the front and two drop ins for the side panels. Then a mono-block amp to a passive spare tire sub, with full sound deadening everywhere I can get it.

The standard Bose system in the Performance is either so weak, you can't hear it or so distorted if you turn it up that you can't bear to listen to it, and either way there is NO bottom end at all. It's very disappointing, and I don't hate Bose mind you. We have a Mazda CX-90 with a Bose system in it and that system is a solid A tier factory system. It sounds really good.

Anyway, I'm following along here for sure and might steal some production ideas, or at least ask about good speakers/amps/components. Been ages since I've done this so I'll also just likely have a shop do it.

 

[latestarter]

Keep us posted. Happy to help with photos or commentary etc.

 

[siddious33]

OK, I have questions. Hoping you can answer in this thread:

1. What gauge is the factory speaker wire already in place in the Bose system? AI says 18 gauge? I'm trying to make my upgrade as easy as possible and re-using the existing wiring would be great, but I don't want to run a crazily overpowered amp through 18 gauge. Will limit my amp to 75 or maybe 100 RMS if that's the case.

2. One of the shop managers here in Charlotte is telling me I cannot run the fronts as passive two-way component speakers with a dsp/amp combo. He is saying that to run a DSP the system has to be active only. I really don't think that's correct. Can you confirm? I was planning on using a four channel amp/dsp and running the fronts as a left and right passive channel so I don't have to run more speaker wire to the doors. Also just to keep things simpler and easily reverted to stock.

I'm thinking of something mid-tier as I don't want to spend crazy money on it, but looking at something like:

Mid-tier 2 way component speakers for the front
Either something that same level as a 4 inch coaxial for the sides, or just turning the sides off and leaving them out of the mix
Passive spare tire subwoofer like a Cerwin Vega running off a mid-level monoblock for the sub
4 channel amp/dsp combo running 75-100 RMS
OWC wiring loom to bypass the Bose amp completely and tuck everything under the cargo floor
Full sound deadening applied to the trunk and doors while they're open

What else am I not thinking of here. I am analyzing your original build again now...

 

[latestarter]

Mr Mac is the guru as he did his own work. But a few things I’ve learnt which may assist.

I'm running some serious power throughout, and the install team were satisfied that the factory looms were heavy duty enough.

I'm not sure what you or the shop mean re point 2. Taking a L/R from the head unit is all that you need. That will then go to your DSP to process and manage crossovers etc. I think what you’re saying is correct, just use your 4 channel amp to run the door/front dash…the latter btw, are not tweeters in factory. They are some weird small speaker…a tweeter in there is the way to go.

Behind the seats…well, could you stretch to a 6 ch dsp? I really like having mine in the mix.

then, run your sub out from dsp to your sub.

Without being an expert, you’ve seemingly got it covered. Definately do not use the high level inputs, get totally rid of the shitty Bose amp, use the wiring in the car, figure out how you want to use tweeters in the front, and you’ll be good to go.

Your installer might query the low level output from the head…it’s marginal but if your DSP and amp are grunty enough it won’t be an issue.

good luck.

 

[siddious33]

Mr Mac is the guru as he did his own work. But a few things I’ve learnt which may assist.

I'm running some serious power throughout, and the install team were satisfied that the factory looms were heavy duty enough.

I'm not sure what you or the shop mean re point 2. Taking a L/R from the head unit is all that you need. That will then go to your DSP to process and manage crossovers etc. I think what you’re saying is correct, just use your 4 channel amp to run the door/front dash…the latter btw, are not tweeters in factory. They are some weird small speaker…a tweeter in there is the way to go.

Behind the seats…well, could you stretch to a 6 ch dsp? I really like having mine in the mix.

then, run your sub out from dsp to your sub.

Without being an expert, you’ve seemingly got it covered. Definately do not use the high level inputs, get totally rid of the shitty Bose amp, use the wiring in the car, figure out how you want to use tweeters in the front, and you’ll be good to go.

Your installer might query the low level output from the head…it’s marginal but if your DSP and amp are grunty enough it won’t be an issue.

good luck.

Yeah I cannot for the life of me figure out what he's talking about with not being able to use a DSP/Amp combo in a passive setup. I understand that I won't be able to time align or equalize individual drivers, but the DSP will just treat the left and right as two speakers and I can still equalize between the two.

Good to know on the factory looms not being an issue. If that's the case, I might up the power some. I just didn't want to stress anything, but I also really didn't want to run any new wiring. Mainly because I didn't want to deal with the hassle myself or the cost of doing it with a shop. I'd be perfectly happy to run components off crossovers in the front. That would also mean I don't really need a 6 channel amp. The four would work, right? I could have channel 1 running the front component, channel two the right component set and channels 3-4 running one each to the rear fill speakers. Then a monoblock to run a subwoofer. Best I can figure that would work just fine for what I'm trying to do.

Only semi-limiting factor is the way the factory wiring runs up front for the Bose amp. Looks like one twisted pair line for the left and one for the right. That splits somewhere in the kick panels and then a feed runs to the door woofer and another to the dash speaker. I would just need to physically place the crossovers in the kick panel if that's the case and make sure the low pass output is going to the door and the tweeter output is going to the dash.

I was going to get the OWC harness to tap the system in the cargo area so it should be super easy to plug that in and then run that into the amp, and then run the amp back into the speaker outputs on the other side, completely bypassing the Bose amp.

I don't feel like what I'm trying to do is really overly complicated unless I'm missing something, but the shop manager today seemed to really get off on telling me I didn't know what I was talking about. lol.