I bought a 2004 RX-8 GT (fully loaded, only missing the silver rotors front and rear) so that means that it has the Bose stereo system. I didn't like the way the speakers sound so I decided to replace them. I bought a Rockford-Fosgate 6.75" comp system for the front and a pair of 4-way full range 6x9's for the rear. I put the 6x9's in the rear and they seem under powered. There's not much bass and they are more quiet than the original speakers in the front. Is there anything I could have missed by accident (it was a simple plug and play) or is the factory Bose amp just not powerful enough to push these speakers? Do I need to do a crossover or get an equalizer or anything like that? Thanks for your time guys/girls!!

 

I think the Boss speakers are very low ohm....5 I believe. Changing them with higher ohm speakers won't work well. You will need an amp to drive them

 

Well the speakers I put in are 4 ohms so that's not too much more than original so would it make that big of a difference?

 

Those are not going to work. BOSE amps are designed to work the BOSE speakers. Like Dan said, the rear BOSE speakers are .5 ohm speakers. In electronics, the difference between .5 and 4 ohms is huge. If you continue running them that way, you're going to fry something. You need to replace the BOSE amps with aftermarket amps.

Then you have to figure out how to connect the head-unit output to the aftermarket amps and make sure that the levels and impedance match up. Usually, the easiest way is to just upgrade the head-unit. Unfortunately, that's an expensive proposition in these cars.

 

Ohhh I thought he said 5 ohm not .5 ohm. I guess I'll take those back then. That sucks cause I hate the way the Bose Speakers sound and the front ones are busted. :/

 

http://www.bcae1.com/spkrimp.htm

Read that..it will help you understand the relationship a bit better

 

Sound dampening in the doors and trunk did wonders to the sound of the stock Bose. People have asked if I have a sub in the trunk. Night and day. Trunk floor and doors made the biggest difference.

 

Something I forgot to mention is that the front tweeters are 4 ohm. I think the impedance of the door amps is also 4 oms. So, you should be able to remove the front door amps and speakers, and replace them with aftermarket speakers without too much trouble even without replacing the head unit.

Since these are much closer to you, you should notice a significant improvement in sound.

 

Hey, guys thanks for all the help and replies and sorry to get back so late (I've been busy on my spring break and I just got sick too :/) but I decided just to take the speakers out and send them back. I don't really feel like messing with putting a new amp and head unit it just to replace some rear speakers too much work in my opinion. So, I'll just deal with the stock ones... now the trick is getting the stock speakers reconnected since I seemed to have misplaced the factory connectors and those little blades are TINY!! Anyways, thanks for the help and advice!!