It is ok to re-use the factory wiring if you are not concerned with a minor degradation in sound quality.

You will only need speakers, a wiring harness, a head unit and some normal tools.

For a 3rd Gen. Bose equipt system the front doors contain pods that are not a standard size. Your best bet is to take your car to a local car audio shop after you buy all the parts and pay $50 for them to install it. Be sure to ask for decent front door mounts (I.E. Weather sealed 1/2"-3/4" MDF).

The rear speaker size is 6x9.

To add tweeters you will want to purchase a crossover that will meet your needs. You will also need to add a capacitor to each speaker to keep the regulated impedance around 4ohms. Discuss this with a local car audio shop and they will advise you on what capacitors you will need, Radio Shack carries a decent stock of them.

Adding tweeters might become to much work for the outcome.

 

My headunit is a Panasonic. I am not sure on the model number. It has a detachable face and remote if that tells you anything. I am not sure on the voltage for my sub. All I know is that I have a 10" Orion XTR sub. It's pretty old...along with my Kenwood amp.

As for bridging my amp, I don't know how my brother did it. But, I know that it's simple. just one HU, a sub, and an amp. that's it. He tapped into the power antenna to let my system know when to turn on and off.

My converter was very old. I don't have the slightest clue on what kind of converter it was. If I had to guess, it was the cheapest one on the market at around 1995.

I hope this helps you in diagnosing my quiet subwoofer problem. My brother said he will check the wiring to insure that it's done correctly. Thanks for your help.

 

Yes, I competed in IASCA last year, but I competed for SQ, not SPL. I was hitting about 133dB and the max you can get points for is 135dB, so I wasn't worried about making it any louder.. But yes, I did work on porting the rear deck for more SPL- but once I figured out I mounted my subs 1" too close together inside the box to fit ports between them, I gave up cause at that time I didn't have the patience to build another box! (I've even still got the angled 4" PVC ports sitting in my attic next to my extra carpet ad wiring!)

But if the subs you're using are designed for a ported box (I was using JL 10W6s, and built the box originally large enough for a ported enclosure-3.0 cu ft, then stuck fillers in it to size the box down to 2.0 cu ft).. you shouldn't have a problem porting it through the rear deck for some more SPL.

Another problem to watch for are the torsion rods that act as springs to hold the trunk lid up. they're in the way of my box, but I'm working on using some other type of springs so the rear deck will be open (wait for pics of the next install to see why. )

 

how much for the 10w6's?

 

Oh, I read the entire thread. I just simply pointed out a few inconsistencies in your statements. you proclaim yourself an expert, then state wrong information.. DOH!

I agree, the Quart speakers are good for the money, but when you're on a budget it's 25% speaker, 50% install, and 25% knowing how to talk to the sound quality judge. (i.e. the cold beer sitting in the cupholder doesn't hurt when it's 110deg in the judging lanes!) BTW.. I've gone against guys with $2500 3-way Quart front stages and KILLED them in qound quality with my $450 2-way Focals. Proof? Check out the 2000 IASCA Finals Novice 301-600 scores... oh wait... the guys running Quart aren't even listed cause none of them were in the top 10! DOH! )

My whole point was to just let you know it's not a good idea to walk in the door and crown yourself THE expert when it's not fully due. you may be AN expert, but you're not THE expert. I'm not trying to claim that crown either, but it's definitely not right to walk in the door and assume you're the one.
Let that be proven in the judging lanes. See you at IASCA Finals next year when my new system is done.

 

matt - wasnt talking about porting the sub-enclosure.... i was talking about porting the rear deck... you know, behind the back-seats, the deck w/ the 2 grilles on it for your back speakers... anyways... yea, my box was too big for my trunk so the installers cut some nice little slits in the box, so when the trunk closes, they slide right through.

 

in that case, yeah I did that too.. I cut about a 5 x 10" hole in the middle, just in front of the brake light, so when I ported the box, I'd have some place for the ports to stick up through the deck.

the only problem with this is that you've got to watch what you're cutting. there's lots of wires on the rear deck, and it's also a large part of the car's structural stiffness. you cut too much of it away and your car will twist and lean like a minivan in corners!.

What I'd recommend doing is cutting it out, then welding /bolting some steel or aluminum braces in it's place. you'll open up the airflow a lot, but still have the stiffness.

 

what i was thinking about doing was cutting through the metal and the carpeted deck for like (2) 4" circular holes, then just cover em up with some grilles... you think that would be enough to raise my SPL?