nono, I dont want to go more aftermarket than speakers upgrade.

 

Well, then maybe you want to go with the budget upgrade. If you spend more on speakers, the returns will tend to diminish unless you upgrade the amp as well. Focal makes their Integration Series specifically to be compatible with stock equipment. Their are similar options available.

 

well..
first of all I disagree with coax speakers... at all. I beleive standing in front doors they adds something to music scene and this is not correct to my mind... in cayenne scene aint that bad, and I think of using good component midrange, integration or not - this to decide - to my mind better ones will give better sound details...
next thing is subwoofer in cayenne. it is not like 911 one, one speaker there, vented closed box minimal volume, so I think about utopia be 13ws subwoofer.

 

Well don't tell Kef you can't make a high end coax, but I digress! I think a coax speaker in a car is fine and not a terrible compromise.

If you are talking about utopia be speakers, then you need to hear from gasongasoff, he has a system in his car with those drivers. I'm only going to guess that he will agree with me that buying those drivers to run through a bose amp with no eq would be a total waste of money AND a marginal sounding result. Not only will you suffer from reduced efficiency, you need to mount external crossovers, etc. If you go for gold, add amplification, eq, etc.

 

I dont talk about ALL speakers to be Utopia BE series, just subwoofer. in fact focal have just two such 5" heads - k2power and be series 13ws.
bose amp have primitive eq, in fact when you buy focal speakers you have crossovers in box, why not to use them - if needed of course?
good place for coax is central speaker maybe... rear fills...

 

Ah well, those K2's are very expensive speakers. Are you running them with the Bose amp? How are they? in the Cayenne, looks like there is only ONE 5.25" driver. Boy, not sure how much bass is coming out of that subwoofer. So, there is a 5.25" Utopia Be bass driver? You would swap it into the stock enclosure? That is going to be one insanely expensive driver swap. I just don't see how there will be much benefit from it, that you wouldn't nearly get from a very inexpensive 5.25" driver - unless you were planning on dropping another amp into the enclosure. Then I would tell you that the wiring to the stock sub amp is probably inadequate for the application and you should run completely new power wiring to the sub. In that case, you should forget about the stock enclosure and run a real sub with a real amp. Get where I'm going? Maybe others have better suggestions.

Yes, the K2's have external crossovers, but the Integration series has built in cross overs, eliminating the extra wiring and most importantly, the chance you will pick up noise interference and/or have issues finding a place to mount them.

 

Serg124, why not just try it out and let us know how it sounds.


With speaker-only swaps, it's hard to predict how they'll turn out. On the one hand, you're replacing the cheapo Bose drivers with better sounding stuff. You also have the benefit of the electronic EQ built into the Bose amp, which corrects for the cabin response somewhat. But you're also using the Bose electronic crossovers (split to sub / midbass / mid+tweeter) plus whatever passive crossovers are on your new speakers. This may create "holes" in your frequency response.


If it turns out you need more flexibility in tuning, you can always "tap in" a system integration device (like the JL Cleansweep or a JBL MS-8) followed by a multi channel amp while keeping your PCM and your upgraded speakers.

 

OK, I'm ready to take the plunge and perform the budget audio upgrade via a speaker swap. I've read through the entire thread and started to compile a list of needed parts based on what seems to be the ongoing consensus in the thread.

1. 8” Door Woofers
Focal 8” 2-way component replacements preferred over the Focal 6.5” version, but both work. The 6.5” Focal IS 165 are discontinued. Current 6.5” models are the ISS 165 or the ISN 165 (Neodymium magnets). For 8” there is only one current model, ISS 200. The IS 200 is discontinued. Reuse the tweeters on the dash.

Recommendation: 8” Focal ISS 200 or IS 200 if you can find them, cheapest price wins

2. 8” Door Woofer Mounting Adapters
Use a ¾” MDF mounting ring to get the speaker flush to the door panel and add clearance to the rear. Also helps if you are downsizing from 8” OEM to 6.5” replacements.

Recommendation: ¾” MDF either self-fabricated or purchased from Del Rey Customs ($50)

3. 4” Door Mid Range
Focal 4” coaxial replacements preferred. The current model is the ISC 100. The IC 100 is discontinued. Alternately drop down in the product line to 100 CVX. No adapters needed.

Recommendation: 4” Focal ISC 100 or IC 100 if you can find them, cheapest price wins

4. 4” Rear Mid Range Fills
Same speaker as 4” door mid range above (Focal ISC 100, IC 100 or 100 CVX)

Recommendation: 4” Focal ISC 100 or IC 100 if you can find them, cheapest price wins

5. 4” Rear Mounting Adpaters
This one is tricky as no one makes an adapter. Fabricate one yourself from ABS sheet plastic or MDF. Crutchfield sells ABS sheets with pre-marked “standard” speaker mounting holes. It’s also possible to mount these from the front, meaning you do not need to remove the difficult to access side panel. I would love to purchase an adapter similar to the one Del Rey Customs makes for the 8” door panel! Alternately modify the plastic bracket from your removed speaker, but this limits your ability to go back to stock.

Recommendation: Crutchfield ABS sheet plastic or similar, fabricate your own, install from the top side without removing the side panel trim, perhaps modify the OEM bracket.

6. 1.5” Dash Tweeters
Reuse the 1.5” tweeters from the 2-piece component door woofers in #1. Install is much easier if you remove the tweeter’s cover, splitting it in two pieces. It should fit without too much hassle from above.

Recommendation: Reuse 1.5” tweeters from the 8” door replacements

7. 3” Dash Center Channel
No comparable 3” replacement has been found. Leaving the 3” OEM Bose center speaker is NOT recommended as it will overwhelm the other speakers. Instead completely disconnect the center channel. For a non-5.1 source you lose nothing. Most audio sources people play in their car is of the non-5.1 channel variety so this should not be a problem. But if you do listen to 5.1 source material or insist on keeping the center channel, then replace the center channel with a Focal 1.5” tweeter. Look to eBay for a single tweeter, or buy a pair of the Focal Tweeter TIS 1.5 or the discontinued TI 1.5 and sell the other one on eBay.

Recommendation: Disconnect the center channel speaker altogether, or replace with a single 1.5” tweeter matching the other dash tweeters

8. 5.25” Bose Subwoofer
You are limited by the enclosure so the best you can do is stay with 5.25” replacements. There are other options such as a custom subwoofer box, or some off-the-shelf powered subwoofers but this strays from the budget upgrade philosophy. You could stay with the Bose subwoofer speakers and add some poly fill inside the cabinet. I tried this path and was completely unimpressed. So in the spirit of “Budget Audio Speaker Upgrade”, replace the speakers with 5.25” Dayton Audio DC130B-4 (non-shielded magnet). Better frequency range down to 40Hz. Do not buy the DC130BS-4 (shielded magnet) as the frequency range and power specs are less. No poly fill if you go this route.

Recommendation: Pair of Dayton Audio DC130B-4 (non-shielded magnet, $50). Alternately stick with the Bose setup and add some poly fill to the enclosure (not in the ports though!).


OK experts, please comment. Did I miss anything here? If you were to do it all over again, is this the list you would follow?

.

 

Right on the money. Excellent up to date summary. Time to drop them in and rock and roll!

 

Speakers on order. The best prices were on the discontinued Focal models IS 200, IC 100 & TI 1.5. Total cost for the full setup, speakers only, including single center channel and sub woofer pair is $461.

This fits right in with what I want out of a sound upgrade to the crappy OEM Bose system. I mostly drive with the radio off to hear the beautiful sounding engine. But when stuck in traffic the music goes on. Why spend $2K or more to improve upon the muddy sounding system if the music rarely plays? Looking forward to the install in the coming weeks.

.

 

well, maybe, but not now. need to finish body tuning first. but thanks for opinion.

 

Great write up!
I'm looking to do the same thing since my Bose system is incredibly awful. :<

 

Hey Guys, I haven't read through all of the 43 pages of posts, but one of my bigger door woofers blew and was making a horrible sound. I'm not very handy so I took my car into a local audio place and they threw some Hertz(i think was the brand) speakers in the door. I picked it up today and am quite disappointed in how they sound. There is no bass compared to the stock Bose setup? Is this because the factory amp can't drive the new woofer or is it because of whatever bass enhancers the stock system has. Can someone help me understand? Also, any recommendations on what to do from here, I guess I should've just got an OEM Bose speaker? Anyone know the cost of what those run?

 

Did they replace all four speakers in the both doors (4" & 8" left & right), or just the single failed 8" one? What about the 4" rear speakers? 1.5" dash tweeters? 3" dash center channel? Dual 5.25" subwoofers?

Assuming they only replaced the single failed 8" woofer, or only door speakers on one or both sides, you ended up with a mismatched system. No wonder it sounds worse.

The cheapest solution is to go back to stock and replace just the failed 8" door woofer with an OEM part. For the 8" Bose door speaker the part number is 997.645.555.00 which can be found new for about $140, perhaps half of that or so used. Post a WTB ad here in the marketplace or check out eBay.

The next step up is to replace all the speakers with something better than Bose. This thread uses Focal speakers. All in it's just under $500 in parts. Or you can stick with what you have now and continue to convert the remaining speakers to match the newly installed ones, sticking to the same series within that brand.

I'd take it back to the same shop and have them correct it. You will likely need to pay for parts, but could argue the labor to undo what they did already should be free.

Good luck!

 

Good advice from semicycler. I presume they at least replaced BOTH 8" speakers. One of my main comments in doing the change is to focus on maintaining consistent sound. So, if you've replaced only part of the system you'll have a problem. What I suspect is happening is that the new speakers are less efficient and they are now drowned out by the lousy Bose speakers. That's why it seems like you don't have any bass. The new speakers could be good or bad, it doesn't matter. Hope you get the right solution!