I have a nice aftermarket deck currently hooked up through the Schose adapter to the stock speakers. I am looking to upgrade my speakers and want to get rid of all this Bose stuff.

I already have all the Wave tube junk removed from the rear. What a waste of weight and space! I saved 30lbs and almost doubled my trunk space just by getting rid of this crap.

I now have 2 front speakers and the center channel speaker.

What all do I need to remove in order to run 2 aftermarket speakers wired directly to my aftermarket CD/MP3 player? Basically I want to hook this up and avoid ALL the Bose junk.

-scott

 

cant you just remove your factory speakers and use the existing wires and just plug them into the aftermarket spekaers for the time being?

 

I have done this. First, you have to decide if you want to use the Bose door speaker boxes. I did, as they give good water protection and mounting limit hints. You could find the non-Bose boxes at a wreaker/partout place. They are a little more roomy. I had to cut the fronts off the Bose boxes, as well as cut circular holes in the back for the speaker magnet to gain an extra 3/8s of an inch. I glued a plywood speaker mouting board to them. I then enlarged the vents/ducts into the door interiour, stuffed the boxes with long fibre wool, and mounted the speakers. I used JL Audio 6" round 2 way separated speakers (about the largest that will fit - and they are tight). I mounted the crossovers in the kick panels and the tweeters on the "A" pillers. I wanted more than that, so I ordered the two rear speaker grills from the Mazda dealer. Pulled the rear interiour 1/4 panels. The pocket backs can be removed - I just used a slot blade screwdriver to break the plastic welds - it was easy to do without damaging the panels. The speaker grills just press into the openings. I then fabed two plywood speaker mounting boards for JL Audio 5X7 two way speakers, and holding them in place, figured out the mounting metal bracketry that I had to bend up. Once mounted, more long fibre wool in behind, then foam to seal against the plastic 1/4 panels. I didn't use the centre speaker - I have a gauge pod there. You will want to ensure the door panels are fixed up - stiffening or sound control if possible - I used silicone rubber to strengthen the plastic bits that mount to them.

Absolutely agree about the stupid Bose "Wave tube" in the hatch area. What a waste of space! I bought some dark gray (almost black) carpet, and laid it on top of the Bose rear carpet, cut to fit around all edges. I poped out the plastic rims where the wave tube exits the "parcel tray", and steatched thin black cloth over them and put them back in. They look like speaker grills now.

Except for the tweeters on the "A" pillers and the front panel of the head unit (Alpine) I have a stock looking setup that sounds pretty good! I do have to adjust the tone controls - the tweeters on the "A" pillers make for a "bright" setup! Base is good with the four speakers operating. Not a "thumper car", but I don't want that! Just a nice flat response - and enough power to rattle loose any panels that aren't fastened down well enough.

Tweeter is hidden by steering wheel in the image. It's round and small.

 

I am doing the same thing this weekend. 5x7's fit good in the pouch holes for rear speakers. can you post pics of what your rear speakers look like now

 

I could take pics. but all you see are the stock speaker grills. Still want pics?

 

I have a question...does the Bose system actually do anything. I can't tell 1 bit of difference over what a stock stereo would sound like. My dad's Volvo has Bose and i'm blown away by the sound that comes out the speakers. Any help???

If it really is worthless...then i'm taking them out too!!

 

Personally, I think the Bose system is a total POS.

The wave system takes up almost 1/4 the trunk space, looks stupid, and its still not a very impressive system. The front speakers are pretty weak, and the rear speakers never impressed me.

I havent upgraded my system yet, but I do have all the rear bose stuff out. It saves 20+ lbs and frees up a lot of space in the back (still tiny)

 

yes i guess

maybe you can help me answer some questions

I have a bose car. right now i have no stereo in it. i have a clarion headunit, 5x7's to add for the rear channel, a 10' in a box in the trunk, a 1000x4 for the interiors, a 500x1 for the sub.

Does that seem alright?
Do you think cutting the stock panels and fitting 5x7's is the right thing to do?
After removing the bose crap I am going to need a new trunk mat. do you know the part nmber and/or where i can get one?

 

You don't need to cut the panels to fit the speakers. Take out the interior rear 1/4 panels (the plastic). Behind the "pockets" you will see a piece of plastic has been added - rods coming out of the panel have been melted to hold it on. Just use a large flat blade screwdriver to pop that extra piece of plastic off. Then you can order the stock rear speaker grills - they just pop in. You can also order the rear mat - Malloy Mazda is supposed to be the best place - make sure he understands it's the mat/carpet for the "base" model (non-Bose). Ditto for the speaker grills. I just purchased a large gray carpet and cut it to fit for the rear - I put it over the Bose carpet as I wanted the extra damping for the exhaust noise. The speakers should be mounted to the body - make your own brackets. You mount the speakers on a piece of plywood or MDF and mount that to the body. Use foam rubber on the plastic to seal the speaker to the plastic when you re-install the interior 1/4 panel. You can stuff the seal in after the panel is installed and then pop in the grill. The speaker grills look just like the front ones - maybe a little larger. You will also have to replace the front door speakers - they are approximately 1 ohm impedance and have an amplifier built in (low power compared to what you have). They are 4" or so. I recommend using the plastic speaker boxes you will find them mounted in to install your new speakers - with a lot of work I managed to fit 6 1/4" round JL Audio drivers in there (as I posted above).

I think you have way more power than you will need, but if you want a "boom box" car, you will have it!

I will not have a chance to take pictures for a few weeks, but will do that when I get the chance. I have to take my drivers door panel off again to re-attach the arm rest which is now creaking again, so I can take some pictures of the modified door speaker box with JL speaker installed. This time I'm going to "go all out" and glue that stupid door panel so much I will not be able to break it again! I guess with my "heavy arm", slaming the door closed, and driving on rough roads, the door panel needs reinforcement.

 

does this setupid require new wiring..what do you do with the bose central amp and the exisiting wires? use them for the new speakers?

 

I happen to like the bose system it was good, im acutally removing the wave system as we speak, right now i have the stock center speaker, a pair of 6.5in alpine type r componets in the from and 2 type r 10's in the hatch in a removable box ofcourse..

I still haven't decided on rear speakers yet..still thinking about it