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4K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Bill$torey94Deville 
#1 ·
I am looking at speakers to replace the bose door speakers in my 1989 Deville. I was looking a this web site ( http://younggotti.no-ip.org/Cadillac60Special/sound.html ) and he installed 6.5" speakers. Now from reading on this site it seems the real limiting factor is depth. Any idea on how deep I can go? Will 6.5" speakers work or am I better off sticking with the smaller 5 1/4"... my last idea was a set of these : http://www.crutchfield.com/S-K57capYlijt/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=51400&I=107MMC460

only 1 1/2" deep... should fit in the oblong hole without to much work... so any ideas on what I should do....

thanks in advance...
 
#2 ·
Keep in mind the Bose speakers have their own amp at each speaker, so if you replace speakers, you'll have to replace the HU as it does not have an internal amp.

I am sure 6.5" speakers COULD work, but depth is an issue... I have a 5 1/4" Infinity Reference component system in the front of my car, and I had to cut away at the plastic speaker box so the driver frame would clear it, then since the speaker is bigger then the factory, the edge of the door panel presses against the surrond, so I trimmed the cardboard backing of the panel to give it a tad bit more room, and now the carpet rests against the surrond, not cardboard. It still isn't ideal tho....
 
#3 ·
Night Wolf said:
Keep in mind the Bose speakers have their own amp at each speaker, so if you replace speakers, you'll have to replace the HU as it does not have an internal amp.
No you don't. You can hook any speaker up to the bose amp. You cannot hook up a bose speaker to an aftermarket amp because the ohm's are too low and you will blow the amp.
 
#5 ·
Well, I suppose if you are going to run the aftermarket speakers off the amp there it *could* work...

but then size is really an issue... and I would want the crappy speaker amp powering any decent brand of quality speakers....

I dunno, I guess if you want to rig it up, it'll work, but if you want to do it right, then it will be more involved... oh yeah, if you plan on using anything but the Bose HU it came with, then you can't use those speaker amps either.
 
#6 ·
Yes, that is true. If you want a whole new system, you are going to need a new headunit and an amp. If you just want a simple fix, you can hook up any speaker you want to the bose amp. I think there is a way to make the amps work with an aftermarket deck, but I am not sure if they make it for caddy. My friend has an Infinity with the Bose and he has a kennwood deck installed.
 
#7 ·
but the question is why? it isn't like those things are anything of real quality anyway.... Bose is junk, although their factory car systems are not too bad... but get into home audio and its all about marketing... pure junk.

Even a middle line amp form a normal brand like Kenwood or Pioneer or something, a 4 channel amp would be better then those Bose amps... I have an Alpine MRV-F540, 80watts x 4 RMS.... kickass amp that would kill the Bose amps.... thats just to power the in-cabin speakers.

So what I am saying is, yeah, it could be done, but if spending the time and money to upgrade..... why take shortcuts?
 
#8 ·
I am looking to replace the whole system... three of the four bose speakers are not working. planning on putting some kicker 6x9's in the rear deck... just need to know what I can put in the door...

I am planning on leaving all the bose systems wiring in place and running new wire in case someone latter one wanted to put everything back to stock... It is a very clean low miles car (24k) so someone may someday want it original...

I just put some pictures up on my web site : 1989 Cadillac Coupe Deville

thanks
 
#9 ·
What a surprise... the Bose speakers don't work.... must be those wonderful speaker amps they have :)

You need 6x9's in the back and 5 1/4" component in the front, the tweeters will go in the dash... or if you want it more simple, just regular 5 1.4" in the door, then replace the head unit and run all your wires.

thats what I did... nothing on my sound system is stock, I rewired the whole car etc.... very happy with the results.
 
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