I own a 91 GXE and I would like to replace the Bose unit with a CD player. I'm not an audiofile, I just want to be able to listen to CDs in my car.

Both Best Buy and Circuit City usually have free installation deals for purchases over $100 (plus $35 or so for the harness). Does anyone have any experience with either?

Also, does anyone have any brand/model advice? I don't want to spend more than $200 on this.

thanks in advance,

John

 

Buy a regular no skip player at walmart for $20 and buy a $15 cassette adapter. $35 you get top class music with no work.

 

that would only sound as good as your cassette player, but if your not an audiophile then it would be ok. You could probably buy the Wal-Mart brand top-of-the-line CD player (with a plug-in for your mp3 player and satellite radio) and speakers for less than $200 and you would have to install it your self (not that hard though). Bestbuy and/or Curcuit City would take at least $500 for just a basic set-up. When you replace the Bose HU you have to replace all the speakers too.

 

Thanks for the input.

I've gone the portable CD/player/cassette deck route before and either the power adapter or the cassette adapter always fail.

I'm really interested in an inexpensive unit that either one of the dealers mentioned above will install for free. Do you have any brand recommendations or things to look out for when dealing with these guys?

thanks,

John

 

you won't get it installed free. The bose system requires an additional adapter which normally is considered extra labor plus the part.
you won't likely get out the door for less than $250 with best buy/ circuit ****y

 

hmmm... that's interesting regarding the adapeter. Would these guys be up front about this, meaning Circuit City or Best Buy, or are they likely to call or just charge extra.

Does anyone have experience with these guys then?

http://www.crutchfield.com

I was looking at ordering from these guys in the past.

thanks,

John

 

depends on the salesman.
your best option is to do it all yourself.
it's all easy to do pretty much.
I've done it a couple of times myself

 

what do you think of this?

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-vNAkwux...500CDE9870#Tab

It requires a $40 adapter but it looks like a good unit.

thanks,

John

 

I'm a big fan of Alpine.

I changed many systems before but have not changed my maximas yet cuz i just got the car and it needs a lot more done than a stereo.

I installed with and without the adapters. Its nice just to plug everything in easily but you can just cut and solder to save the extra money. Or you can crimp it but i rather solder.

If you can get the stereo wiring diagram its a piece of cake. But you can use a voltage meter too. Just connect the the right wires together and install the new bracket which you slide in and bend the tabs.

I ordered from crutchfield before they have good customer service and have free tech support. They are usually more expensive than bbuy or ccity unless they have a good sale. Their magazines are great for detailed specs.

 

I had alpine in my first VE and put one in my S-I-L's altima
the adapter is to allow the bose speakers to work with the aftermarket HU.
it is really a band aid type fix IMO.
I personally did new speakers

 

The reason you need the adapter is that Bose speakers are different and each have their own amp. A regular head unit won't run them right without an adapter. You either need the adapter or get new speakers also.

 

I would go up to the 9852. It has the bass engine.

Bass Engine (bass center frequency, width, and level, plus treble center frequency and level adjustments)

I agree changing out the speakers too would make a big difference. I like polk components.

 

hmmm... since the 9852 costs over $129 the shipping is free, meaning it only costs $20 more than the other model which isn't shipped free.

Is it worth it?

thanks,

John

 

u dont have to replace all the speakers..i had a bose HU and changed it and my speakers work fine

 

I second Crutchfield. I've been buying stuff from them for years and have always been satisfied.

 

Thanks for all the help. I'll probably pull the trigger on this purchase over the weekend.

 

Just get a good headunit, and 6.5in front speakers and 6x9 rear speakers. Not too expensive and it will sound great! Just run 10 new wires and your done.

~Alex

 

no need to run ANY wires at all.
to have the 6.5" front speakers you'll need adapters. you can buy them or make them yourself (I did)

 

I think so. Free shipping is always good. It was originally 179 now 150 And they ship fast.

You can compare all the 200 and lower alpines.

Only thing is it doesn't have a sub out for a sub amp. If your not into subs i wouldn't worry about it. You can use the preamp out for subs but a sub out sounds better.

The bass engine should help balance out the bass and treble where it sounds better with the stock speakers.

 

Sony explode bout 100. like it because it plays mp3 and bootlegs also has the AUX to connect ipod or tv.
pioneers front and back. 6x9 back and 5's in front i think.Some wire that was a good 200 or less.Brought my speakers on etronics .com Good enough for me.

 

As in dollars? I hope not...

 

Not for the wires.If i could recall. .radio 110 about a year ago.,6x9 bout 40 and 5 inch for doors 25 about 3 years ago.. something like that.wire was bout 5 or 10 for bout 50ft. nuttin fancy.

 

My mistake

 

as far as crutchfield, they stand behind their products and suppport. so A+ for them. As far as changing out your speakers....Only if you think it needs to sound better, because depending on the deterioration of the existing speakers, they may be in good shape. I know my front door bose speakers are still in mine becase they sound excellent....but i switched the back speakers out with infiniti kappa series' due to speaker damage.


My lovely cd player is a Sony MEX-R5. AM/FM, CD, MP3, ATRAC3, DVD with video outs and a 2.4 ghz wireless out, dynamic soundstage organizer for sound levels....front, rear, and subwoofer preamp outs, etc. etc.

but then again, i'm an audiophile.

http://www.cardomain.com/item/SONMEXR5

 

This would be my recommendation, too. I think you could pull it off for around $200 (maybe a little more) initially. I would just install a HU and some decent front speakers, just wire the rears and buy some 6x9s later.

I am also a fan of Alpine HUs. Lots of them with no problems. I would try to get something that meets your future needs. If you don't ever want subwoofers, than you probably won't need to pay extra for sub preouts, if you have an ipod, you might want to find one that is ready or has an inexpensive adapter, etc.

With your tight budget, I would hit up ebay or check the for sale section on speakers. Something like this: Diamond coaxials would probably work very nicely. I have some Diamond Audio M3 coaxials and they sound great for non-components. I got mine from an .org member through the classifieds here. A lot of companies make good souding coaxials.

Much of the sound you get in the driver area comes from the front speakers, anyway. Often times I disable my rear fill and just run my fronts and sub and it still sounds very good in the driver seat.

Later, you can find some 6x9s when you get the money. I bought a set like these Infiniti on ebay for rear fill in my car, only I paid $20 shipped for mine.

You can install them yourself using the existing wiring and bypass the Bose amps. The rear ones are super easy. The front ones you can actually cut the Bose speaker pod and stuff a 6.5 in there. MrGone has a pic of his somewhere. I think he just used a dremel. You will have to do some searching on the wiring bypass, but I know several people have done it and there is probably something in the stickies. I have my front speakers running off an amp, so the speaker wire runs from the trunk to the doors. The rears I have just used the bypass and the stock 6x9 mounts.

 

Thanks again for the replies. I think I'm going to get the better Alpine unit from Crutchfield and see how that works out. If I detect some problems with the speakers I'll probably be piping up here again.

John

 

You basically have two choices.

1) Buy a Bose adapter and pray that the amps and speakers hold up (they won't)

2) Buy speakers and ditch the Bose.

With Bose, it's pretty much you use ALL Bose or you use NO Bose. When you intermingle, things go bad quickly. The adapter will run you probably close to what a used set of decent 6.5s will cost.

 

My bose went out 2 months after using them.

 

[QUOTE=dmc888]I'm a big fan of Alpine.[QUOTE]


ALL THE WAY....one of the best.....

 

"they won't" is only your opinion. as i mentioned before, my front bose speakers AND amps are holding up just fine with a powerful head unit. they sound much stronger and clearer than my infiniti 6x9's in the rear. not bad for being 15 years old and 'intermingled'

and as i said, my rear bose deteriorated due to badly placed cargo by the previous owner, not age and 'intermingling'

EDIT: they've been going strong with that HU for 1.5 years now, the bose.

 

my 4x6's in the front sound way better then my bose speakers. From what Ive seen 6x9's are more for mid/bass then highs. 6.5's seem like a nice mix of all three and I'm getting some for the front since I don't have or want a sub.

Though my 6x9's are 4 way and sound GREAT. I'm only getting the 6.5's because they are $30 and the 4x6's will work good in the 240.

~Alex

 

Are you running an adapter, bypassing the amps or running incorrect line levels to your Bose amps?

OK, yeah it is my opinion, but if you were to take a poll of how many people have had success with Bose intermingling, the percent would be a very low number.

You are the rare exception and I would venture to guess that within a few years yours will not be fully functioning.

Assuming someone has (or plans to buy) a HU, to buy a set of decent coaxial speakers isn't that much money for a lot better quality sound.

 

incorrect line levels, as far as i know, and yes, in a few years, i'm sure they won't be functioning. but yeah, for a 15 year old set of speakers, they should be totally gone by now, as i'm sure most cars are.

when i installed the stereo, i knew nothing of an adapter, and i still know next to nothing about it....what is it's purpose?

my previous maxima had all four amps working with the bose speakers using an aftermarket stereo and they lasted longer than the car. also, the one before that, i used the bose amps for new speakers, was kind of convienient i thought.

don't take my aggravation personally, i was just venting in the wrong direction. i'm over it now, and all ears about the adapters.

 

+1 for Alpine!

 

The install of a new head unit is SOO simple. Anyone should be able to do it. If you can put together a lamp and plug it in, you have the skills--Don't overpay circuit city to do it for you.

When you select the bose system on Crutchfield, they will suggest a converter. You should buy it if you want to keep your head unit (stereo) working for a long time. It will work without it, the Bose HU feeds a signal to the individual amps at each speaker. The aftermarket HU will do the same thing, however the resistance to the amps is a lot less than a typical speaker load (4ohms). You would probably be safe with a brand name deck for a short period with no converter. I had an alpine with no driver for 6months before it got stolen. But I don't recommend that you do it.

With no converter you will lose almost all volume dynamics. My alpine got LOUD at less then 1/3 HU volume. I iwsh I knew then what I know now...


For the fun part...if you chose aftermarket speakers, you will have to remove the door panels, take out the speaker pods and either make baffles, or you could get the 4x6 baffles from the active speaker cars. I recommend your won baffles, Jeff92SE is supposed to have baffles, but I made my own.

Then you will have to cut into the wiring for the bose system, and get the 2 wires that ARE NOT red and black. There are 4 wires, red/black power the amp, the other 2 are signal. So you connect the signal wires to your speakers, and **** away.

As far as brands, Alpine, Kenwood & Pioneer generally get recommended. I've had sucess with a JVC deck, and I would probably get another one since they seem like a good value.

 

The right rear speaker in my maxima is rattling. I was thinking about replacing the interior speakers with something just decent. Not looking for anything too special. Would this be a a good upgrade for the front: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-rcrnZGa...400&I=107DB400
And this for the rear: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-rcrnZGa...400&I=107DB525
I am getting a Aiwa headunit from a friend tomorrow. I was also thinking of getting two of these for bass: http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=14480
All comments welcome.

 

do you have the BOSE system?

 

You'll need an antenna adapter ($13 at Crutchfield) and a wiring harness. They have this one at Crutchfield
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-kPVLvLr...51&I=142C4NN02
which lets you in install an aftermarket headunit like normal, it uses the high level speaker outputs but I've never used it before. I would imagine you could just buy a regular Nissan harness ($10) and then maybe even use the low level outputs on the aftermarket deck (buy a set of RCA cables, cut them in half, and then connect the wires that way) and it would probably work -but I've never done it.
Here's a link to the regular harness:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-kPVLvLr...00&I=120701763

Most of the time the Bose speakers or amps are blown, so people wind up replacing the headunit and the speakers which eliminates all the problems.

For brands, just find one with a menu system you like. If you are going the DIY route you can normally find higher end deck from previous model years for quite a bit cheaper. To name brands I prefer Eclipse and Alpine/Pioneer/Kenwood/etc are also good. (Although I've never been a fan of Kenwoods menus )
I tried to find the pic but couldn't. Yeah, I just used a Dremel (and I think maybe a die grinder for some sanding, but you only really need a Dremel) and enlarged the hole big enough to fit 6.5's. IIRC there is also a tube for a port in the housing I notched (might as well just cut it off but ) it just depends how deep your speakers are.
I forget the rear speaker size for a non-bose rear, I think it's 6.5" but am no where near certain.

I would try to run 6.5" up front if you possibly can, and if you don't have Bose maybe try to find a set of mounts from a Bose car, the 6x9's can move a decent amount of air.

 

I'd like to leave the air moving to the subs, if I get stronger speakers then the inside will have to much bass. Will these be enough for decent sound?

 

would you ever consider purchasing a used head unit if it were in good condition and looked good? I'm thinking of getting rid of my current unit for something more advanced, but it works perfectly and looks brand new still. Let me know if you're interested. The unit has the best user interface I have ever experienced...very easy to use, and you can change around functions without even taking your eyes off the road. It has a compe***ive EQ, good bass management, and many custom features like color changing, movie modes, and custom names for radio stations and CDs.

On a side note....NEVER go with Best Buy or Circuit city. God forbid you have a problem, it will be extremely difficult to do something about it, or they'll take your radio out and you'll have nothing while they ship it to the company for them to fix it. That or they'll find some reason why your problem isn't covered in the service plan you paid so much for. Take it from a past employee, it's terrible!! Crutchfield is really nice, but they tend to be overpriced. Many times you can find the same products from another online retailer for MUCH cheaper...