[Nargg]

I have a 24 XT4 WITH the AKG system. It's terrible too. No bass to speak of. We took it in, and the service tech just cranked the bass too full blast and called it fixed. That helped a little but it's still very very bad. Cadillac really messed up on AKG in the XT4 if you ask me.

 

[LarryO]

I agree that Cadillac messed up with all audio systems on the '24 and '25 XT4's! I replaced all door speakers and the center dash speaker with JBL's. It was night and day from the stock speakers and happy with the results. I just leased a new Optiq Sport 2 with the AKG Dolby Atmos system. Sounds really good and it has so many sound settings on the screen to tailor my liking. My daughter now drives the '25 XT4 and she likes the upgrade I did on it.

 

[chg7550]

Thank you for providing all details on this thread.

I plan to upgrade on mine as well after fix squeak noise from the seat that I currently facing.
Plan to get all from Crutchfield like all of you have done. Looking for set up with all JBL Concert Series.

Does anyone used Concert Series? and do we need some specific tools for removing door panels?

Thanks ahead!

 

[LarryO]

Thank you for providing all details on this thread.

I plan to upgrade on mine as well after fix squeak noise from the seat that I currently facing.
Plan to get all from Crutchfield like all of you have done. Looking for set up with all JBL Concert Series.

Does anyone used Concert Series? and do we need some specific tools for removing door panels?

Thanks ahead!

I upgraded my ‘25 with the JBL club series as I’ve posted this thread. Got the 3 way in the front doors and 2 way in the rear doors. Also got the 2 way for the center dash. Huge improvement over factory! Note: the center dash speaker has no available adapter harness so you will have to cut factory connector. I cut the wire as close to the connector as possible, then made a jumper from same gauge wire as factory and soldered both ends, to speaker terminals and soldered to the factory wiring and used heat shrink to protect the connection. Worked great. Took me about 4.5 careful hours for the complete install. You will need door trim clip removal tools. Start at the outer bottom of door to get your fingers under the panel and then pull out with some force and the panel will then come off freely. You will have to disconnect the door handle cable and wire harness before you can fully remove panel. Make sure you disconnect the negative side of battery beforehand, otherwise you will have a ONSTAR fault and other faults when modules are disconnected while awake or in sleep mode. If you need help, I’m happy to assist. Good luck!

 

[chg7550]

I upgraded my ‘25 with the JBL club series as I’ve posted this thread. Got the 3 way in the front doors and 2 way in the rear doors. Also got the 2 way for the center dash. Huge improvement over factory! Note: the center dash speaker has no available adapter harness so you will have to cut factory connector. I cut the wire as close to the connector as possible, then made a jumper from same gauge wire as factory and soldered both ends, to speaker terminals and soldered to the factory wiring and used heat shrink to protect the connection. Worked great. Took me about 4.5 careful hours for the complete install. You will need door trim clip removal tools. Start at the outer bottom of door to get your fingers under the panel and then pull out with some force and the panel will then come off freely. You will have to disconnect the door handle cable and wire harness before you can fully remove panel. Make sure you disconnect the negative side of battery beforehand, otherwise you will have a ONSTAR fault and other faults when modules are disconnected while awake or in sleep mode. If you need help, I’m happy to assist. Good luck!

Thank you so much on your comments!

I think I'm going to skip the center dash speaker since I'm not good at cutting those wires.
Doors can be easily replaceable so I'll keep posted!

 

[Ken4]

I did a speaker upgrade in my 2024 XT4, hoping the sound would be much better. This is the second set of speakers. The first were Pioneers which were fine and now I have Infinity Reference in the front and JBL's in the rear thinking these are the ones to up my sound. They do sound good but I was hoping for more bass. I want more bass! I had an under-the-seat powered sub with the Pioneers but the ANC didn't like the bass and would cut the bass out so I took the sub out. It would work on lower volumes but the bass would get cancelled out when I increased the volume. Crutchfield says you can't add a sub or amp with the ANC and that you have to unhook the ANC. I'm not willing to do that nor do I know how to do that. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was hoping to download an equalizer in the car from the play store but that's not one of the apps I can download. Thanks

I see that a ANC bypass harness is being sold, did Crutchfield recommend one or maybe they do not have one for your vehicle? There are other company's that sell them also and are cheaper. I had a 2021 XT4 with the standard system and I was also very disappointed. When I was looking for a 2025 XT4 I would not buy one without the upgraded system.

 

[armocca]

Are the JBL speakers you installed 2 ohms or 4?

 

[LarryO]

Are the JBL speakers you installed 2 ohms or 4? Factory speakers measure out at 2.7 ohms.

The Club series I installed are rated at 3 ohms.

Thanks for the review! Question for you, do you notice any difference in the noise cancellation aspect of the system? I've read that replacing the speakers effects it. Thanks again!

None that I’ve noticed.

 

[LarryO]

Factory non-akg measure out at approximately 2.7 ohms.

 

[Gary Lef]

Update:
To top off my new upgrade to my 4 door speakers, I just replaced the top center dash speaker with a JBL Club 34F. With the jumper wire harness, I installed it in 20 minutes. Sound is greatly improved up front and center! Got my whole setup from Crutchfield. They are awesome!

Was the center dash speaker easy to remove and install? How did you remove the grill to get at the speaker, and did you need any extra wiring or bracket, etc.? Thanks

 

[LarryO]

Was the center dash speaker easy to remove and install? How did you remove the grill to get at the speaker, and did you need any extra wiring or bracket, etc.? Thanks

The center dash speaker was very easy to replace. I used a curved thin 1” plastic trim tool to release the speaker grille from the dash. You will have to cut the factory wire connector end off and install wire spade connectors to the two wires to the new speaker. I soldered the connection to the new speaker and used heat shrink tubing to seal the connection. Factory speaker is removed by screws and the new JBL lined up perfectly and used the factory screws to install. No adapter bracket needed.

 

[Gary Lef]

I got the new dash speaker but I have a yellow and a blue with a yellow stripe coming out of the dash. Which is the pos and neg? Thank you

 

[Radiant XT4]

I got the new dash speaker but I have a yellow and a blue with a yellow stripe coming out of the dash. Which is the pos and neg? Thank you

Just did mine last night. Blue with stripe is ground.

What a difference, look at the new Audio Control speaker vs the GM junk!

 

[Gary Lef]

Good, that’s what I did - stripe to stripe. BIG difference. Thanks

 

[LarryO]

Yes , blue/yellow is ground. Congrats on upgrading the factory junk! Enjoy!

 

[LarryO]

I got the new dash speaker but I have a yellow and a blue with a yellow stripe coming out of the dash. Which is the pos and neg? Thank you

Did you opt for Audio Control for the doors as well?

 

[Vuk]

Factory door speakers are 2Ohm and therefore nearly every aftermarket speaker will affect the volume. From what I was able to find, only PowerBass offers 2Ohm 6x9 speakers for front doors and I would recommend them (they can be wired in 8Ohm and 2Ohm configurations). Note that inner door sheet metal panels are very thin and to close the gap between the speaker adapter and the door I used a foam ring in the front door and simply Tesa 51608 in the rear. I like using Tesa 51608 in many passenger compartment applications apart from wrapping harnesses - it also helps reduce rattling of many plastic pieces around the interior when added to the mating surfaces of clips.

The rear is a bit trickier because with the adapters the JBL Club speakers are positioned almost 1.5" deeper in the door and away from the finishing panel/speaker grille. In order to close the gap between the speaker and the door panel, and minimize losses, I added a 1/2" spacer, and a 1" foam ring.

Dashboard speakers are also straightforward to replace. I used JBL Club throughout the dash.

The difference is most definitely audible. Factory speakers have quite a "mid-range response" and somehow create hull-like sound. How big is the difference in volume in the rear given that factory rear speakers are 2Ohm and JBL Club are 3Ohm? Not big, but certainly noticeable, especially if you compare left/right side before you replace both speakers.