Since I was one the foolish people not to get the Bose stereo with my car, I am now thinking of upgrading my system. For the time being I think I want to keep the 120 watt system that comes with the C&C package and just add a sub. Can I do that? If so what would you guys recommend I add??

Thanks in advance.

 

I don’t know my stereo stuff well enough to tell you how, but….

Had I not gotten my Bose pretty much free with a trade-in, I’d feel foolish paying $899 for it. The sub rattles the whole back deck like crazy, and after having a SE w/ the regular premium system, I think the "bose" system upgrade is basically a $900 subwoofer with an 80-watt amp attached. Invest that $900 in aftermarket and you’ll absolutely BLOW AWAY the Bose.

So don’t feel foolish. Just go shopping.

J

 

I believe that you would have to replace the stock (clarion?) head unit... I've been playing with the idea of modifying my sound system, but more towards the angle of installing an mp3 cd player... (either headunit, or standalone)... My research leads me to believe that there isn't much you could do to really upgrade the stock system.. (it seems that you would have to purchase not only a new head-unit, but also the sub, speakers, and an amp....) --> well, maybe all but the speakers... correct me if I am wrong...

My whole take on the matter, is that the $900 or so for Bose isn't a complete waste if you want that "stock" feeling, and a decent sound system with no extra effort...

As for me, the cheaper non-bose system does just as good a job of muffling all the squeaks and rattles my maxima is beginning to make, and I'll just wait until I get bored with the car before upgrading everything at the same time...


-Tom

 

Sometimes I wish that the Bose system did not come as part of a package. I've had much better systems in my last cars (not to knock the Bose or anything). Now I sorta want to preserve the stock look and feel. So I'm in limbo too. Crutchfield is a good place to talk to for info on what u need for the car and their support is great, but pricing could be much better. You should be able to add a sub rather painlessly if you don't have the Bose. I've done it myself b4.

 

I have a 2001 SE with the C&C PKG and no bose. I too, was very dissapointed by the bass and the overall sound quality. To add a sub (which is what I did) you don't need to get a new head unit. Actually, I love the look of the stock head unit in the dash.

What I did was ran speaker wires from the speakers in the rear doors into the trunk, and simply hooked them up to an amp with line-level inputs. (Tell me if you would like to know the details of how I did it.)

I have 2 12" MTX 6000's in a sealed box which blends in beautifully with the trunk.

When I first put it in, the rear deck rattled like there was no tomorrow. I did Four things to fix the rattling. (which is nearly non-existant now)
1) Went to home depot and bought a large dowel rod. I cut it into 6 or seven peices and wedged them tightly in between the top of the sub box and the bottom of the rear deck (the bottom of it is metal) you could probably paint them black to blend in with the trunk if you wanted.
2) I lifted the cardboard deck up from the inside of the car, and put foam padding under it.
3)I got a piece of grey foam weatherstripping that was a hollow cylinder. I cut in in half down the middle and tucked a properly sized piece in between the rear deck and the rear glass, way in the back. You cant even tell, and it works great.
4) after that the only thing rattling a little was the trunk. I got a long screwdriver and stuffed the entire trunklid with towels. (the trunklid is really heavy now, )

The only other thing rattling every now and then is the SPOILER! I don't know why... but it does. It sounds SO MUCH better now, like a night and day difference. The only song the seems to rattle is Nelly EI for some reason. Must be the Bass frequency.

My next move is to upgrade the speakers in the doors. I want to have warm, smooth sound, but i don't want to spend a fortune. I guess any 6.5/6.75 3 way speaker is a HELL of alot better than stock.

 

Cool, got any pics? I wouldn't go with 3-ways personally. I'm a big fan of components they'll out-perform most 3-ways easily. Good luck!!

 

I'll try and get some pics up for u guys, About the components VS 3-ways... Im sure components would out-preform 3-ways, but I want a drop in. Besides, i was comparing 3-ways to 2-ways, and theoretically 3-ways should sound better right (i know some 2-ways sound better than some 3-ways) But if i want great sound while saving my $$ what should I do? That's why i was thinking 3-way.

 

I like my stock Premium system. Then again I grew up on 8 tracks and cassettes.

 

bummer, my Bose on GLE is out of this...200 watts..
friends love it...

 

3 ways might not sound better. Do you wanna know a secret that I have found for picking out the best set of speakers?


Go and listen to them first! Mail order is cool, but find someway to listen to them first. No matter what people have said about them, don't buy them until you have heard them somewhere. Some low price speakers sound like crap, but then again some sound pretty good. The same can be said about some high priced speakers.

If you want sound quality i.e. soundstage, ambiance, and clarity most of the time the componets are the route to go. They allow you to position them to get the right stage hieght, and reduce dead spots.

If you want loud and SPL stereos, then most of the time you mids and highs are of less importance you can get coaxial speakers (2 ways {woofer/mid and tweeter} or 3 way {woofer, mid and tweeter) Some coaxials now allow you to pivot the tweet for a better soundstage, but without kickpanels or other fancy install techniques you can't achieve sonic nirvana.

So in a nutshell, what have we learned here?

Listen to the speakers so you can make an informed decision on what suite YOU better. Remember you are the one who has to listen to it everyday. Not your best friends or any of us here on the forum!