Speaker Replacements

[cham]

I want to replace the factory speakers in my 2002 Pathfinder LE that has a bose system without navigation. On crutchfield, the Polk db651s both fit the front and rear doors with brackets according to its online car fitting system. Ive heard that its not as simple as putting in new aftermarket speakers and connecting the factory wiring for the Pathfinder's bose system but Ive also heard using wiring harness's solves that problem. On crutchfield though it says that only the rear doors can use this wiring adapter harness and not the front door speakers because the connection is different for some reason. Is this true about the harness's solving the replacing speakers with aftermarket problem? If so, where can I find some that will fit the front door speakers because as of this moment crutchfield only has speaker wire harness's that fit the rear door speakers of the pathfinder. All I'm really trying to do here is replace the existing factory bose speakers with aftermarket without having to run my own speaker wire from the amp to the new aftermarket speakers. Thanks!

[Remus92]

Open it up and take a picture of the connections to the speaker.

 

A lot of us have the non Bose system but have replaced speakers with adapters.

 

And if nothing else it is very simple to solder the wires onto a new speaker. The best part about the adapters is that you don't have to chop up original wiring.

 

I have a 96 without Bose so it will have some differences in the process but I was able to change all 4 speakers and headunit (including wiring it up) while using adapters in about 2 hours. Just replacing speakers should be fairly simple even if you can't use adapters.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Remus92

[Kingman]

The Bose stereos have cross overs in the doors to split the signal between the mid woofer and tweeters, attached to a really nice adapter already.

[cham]

So should I buy new crossovers for each front aftermarket speaker and it will work and just splice the wires. Is the crossover what causes people to say on forums its not as easy as putting in an aftermarket speaker and your done?

[Kingman]

Well a few things really. The factory amp is 2ohm, almost all aftermarkets are 4ohm. Not a big deal but it'll sometimes take more volume knob to reach the same level depending on the sensitivity of the speaker you put in. The factory amp doesn't put out much power, they negate this by running 2ohm. If you leave the factory cross over and tweeters, you can run whatever speaker you want but it'll likely sound off is coaxals are all one unit and are looking for a full spectrum signal. Running a component set and replacing the factory crossover and tweeter is the way to go. Just make sure you find a set with a tweeter small enough to fit the A-pillar.

[cham]

Thanks for your quick responses btw. When you say negate this my running 2ohm, do you mean 2 ohm wire throughout the car? Also what crossover would you recommend that would keep the speakers from sounding off? Finally, since there are wire adapter harnesses on crutchfield for the back door speakers like I stated in my original post, could I use that for each back door combined with a pair of coaxial speakers or would that sound off too? I know a lot of questions but this really helps.

 

Will this speaker set work? - http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DXI6501/Polk-Audio-DXi6501.html?tp=106&l=C&

Edited September 20, 2015 by cham

[Kingman]

No, wire size is irrelevant for the most part. The resistance of the speakers to the flow of energy is what I'm talking about. 2ohm speakers (factory) will produce a louder sound than 4ohm speakers at the same power level, basically double. That's why factory stereos can still get decently loud without a lot of power.

 

If you buy a set of component speakers they will have a cross over already.

 

Also if you don't want to use the factory tweeters at all and run coaxals up front you can simply delete the crossover and hook the speakers up to the input that would be going to the crossover from the amplifier. It's labeled, you'll see what I mean.

 

Yes, those speakers will work. They have a fairly high sensitivity level so they should make the most use of the power from the amp even though they're 4ohm.

[cham]

.

Edited September 21, 2015 by cham

[cham]

Thanks a bunch. In conclusion though, would you recommend me do what you were talking about with deleting the crossover and tweeters and just use coaxials or should I go through the whole process of installing a component speaker system like the one I showed you because Ive never had any experience with connecting and splicing wires like I will have to if I go this route. I especially wont know what to do to connect the crossover to the speaker or is it actually pretty simple? Would I have to buy wiring too for the installation? Lastly, since using coaxials would cut down on sound quality and volume, what should I use for my back door drivers because they dont sell component speakers by themselves?

Edited September 21, 2015 by cham

[Kingman]

The hardest part if you were to go with a component set is fitting the tweeter in the factory spot. However since the front is already component, the wiring is already there. The cross over is already labeled. Input from the amp, woofer, and tweeter. As far as wiring goes, it's as simple as removing the factory stuff and installing the aftermarket in its place.

 

Better around quality is always achieved with components.

[cham]

You've helped tremendously. Thanks for your time but one final question I promise haha. Since the factory back door speakers are assumably coaxial speakers because the factory speakers dont use crossovers and there are no tweeters in the back seats, I should be able to put in aftermarket coaxials with no decline in sound quality right, or volume? Is there specifications of coaxials that tell you if the volume will tremendously drop or quality?

Edited September 21, 2015 by cham

[Kingman]

No problem. Any regular 6.5" speaker will be fine in the rear but the 2ohm problem is still there unless you replace the amp.

[cham]

What is the trouble of replacing the amp. Is that a difficult process? and can you only get certain kinds for certain cars?

[Kingman]

That will require wiring in power and ground cables and, depending on how much you want to spend, a new head unit with proper RCAs. If you get an amp with high level input, you can keep your factory head unit and use the existing wiring for the signal but you'll still need power and ground cables. The former is way better for sound quality. Clean signal, higher fidelity head unit, tunability, etc.

[cham]

Ok thanks but I heard you dont want to underpower your speakers so a 2 ohm amp powering the 4 ohm speakers I spoke of earlier would be bad in the long run? Or underpower meaning watts not ohms, im confused.

[Kingman]

Let's just say they won't sound as good as they're capable of but most people don't notice much.

[cham]

Hey I'm back haha, if I were to replace the amp, I would need a 4 channel amp to power the rear door coaxials and front door component system right because its 4 speakers plus the tweeters in the front?

[Kingman]

Yessir