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Almost 15 years after my original Bose Upgrade it was time for Version 2.0!
This all began a few months ago when I was out for a drive in the RX-8 and I could tell the stereo didn't sound quite right, the bass sounded pretty bad to be honest. Got home, popped the trunk, pulled off the speaker covers on my sub boxes and to my horror, both JL Audio subs are blown. RIP little guys, it was a good run.
So, the easy fix would have been to either re-foam these subs or buy drop in replacements, plug them in and call it a day.
But where would the fun in that be? So, after thinking it over for a bit I started planning out what I always wanted to do: fully eliminate the Bose stereo in this vehicle and do a complete upgrade
First up would be a new double din head unit I could build this system around. My requirements were no physical button, no CD player, full touch screen and the ability to run Android Auto.
After that I reached out to our resident A/V expert Firebirddude who recommended me some quality subwoofers to replace the JLs with.
I already had Infinity Speakers in the car that I was happy with but those speakers were now almost 15 years old so I decided to refresh all of those as well. Lastly, just needed to buy 2 new amps to power all these speakers and we'd be good to go.
Kicker 46CXA360.4t to power all the Infinity Speakers
Kicker 46CXA1200.1T - Subwoofer Amp
Metra Kit
Maestro RR2 - for steering wheel controls and to tap into OBD
Bose speaker adapters
What would a stereo install be without all the necessary peripherals.
Car is all loaded up and off to my buddy @gregs shop to begin the install
One last shot of the current setup before we start tearing everything out.
Step 1: Remove all the current hardware
Now that everything is out, time to start installing some of this new gear
These bose speaker adapters were worth every penny! Made it super easy to take out the 8" mid that Bose has and throw in a 6.5" speaker
comparison of old JL Audio Sub vs new Kicker CompQ
Bose Door amps that had to be removed to make room for new crossovers. Once the amps were out, then took a dremel to the area to remove the old mounting points so I had more room for the crossovers.
Fast Rings for door speakers and new Head Unit ready for install
sorting out components to be installed next.
Front Door speakers:
REpurposing Rear Bose Amp rack to hold rear crossovers
Rear Components: I could have easily mounted these under the deck lid but I wanted to give it a little flare so this is what I came up with
At this point it's been almost 13 hours that we've been working on the car, it's well past 11 pm so we decided to call it a night, put the cars back in the bay and and take a fresh start in the morning.
Day 2's main objective is to button up the little work we had left in the cab and to then turn our attention to building a new amp rack for the dual amps and installing the subwoofers
Time to start organizing all these damn cables.... (this is where my OCD begins to kick in)
Planning stages for Amp rack
test fitting rack in the OEM Mazda cargo tray that I had cut up to make room
more cables....
tucking wires behind, underneath and around the cargo tray:
Finished product. I'm really proud of how this came out and can say all the time spent on it was well worth it.
amps all wired up and of course had to add the Vader logo.
Stealth mode engaged.
Here are the on screen gauges the Pioneer is capable of displaying courtesy of the iDatalink Maestro RR2. These can be configured to show other sensors, these just happened to be what I settled on
Wanted to reserve a separate post to thank All of those who helped out on this install. I honestly couldn't have done it without all of you.
@gregs - The guru of all things RX related, thanks for letting us use your shop and for all the work you put in
Yury - for the countless hours you put in on this install. You were a beast when it came to running those damn 0 gauge wires and I can't wait for you to see the finished product
@firebirdude Thank you for all the input and advice on components and install advice
@Rotary13B1 you came by to just observe the install but jumped in and helped out with those infinity speakers, thanks man
@konig@Jazzmeson Tony: Thanks for swinging by the shop the day of the install, was fun having you guys there.
Last but definitely not least, my brother: Thank you for being the mastermind behind those amp installs, helping build that amp rack and for the countless hours you put into this build. You rock
Also, a shoutout to a few places I purchased from. Crutchfield: I always remembered them from when I was younger as a place that had great inventory and tech articles but too expensive. That's completely changed and honestly I bought everything minus the HU and subs (sourced locally) from them and the prices were excellent.
KnuKonceptz - Where I purchased all of my speaker wire, power cables, distribution blocks, fuses, etc. Awesome products, fast shipping, and great prices. Their amplifier wiring kit gives you everything you need in one place.
Five Star Car Stereo: These guys have an awesome youtube channel that I would highly recommend. I took a lot of inspiration on my install from watching how they did things and they have a portion of their website for buying odds and ends you'll need for installs that made things easy. https://www.dandftooldrawer.com/
The final outcome was worth the amount of hours and planning involved. Great Job!
I blame you for all this you know.
could have just thrown in 2 subs and called it a day but glad you talked me into doing the full upgrade.
Originally Posted by Rotary13B1
I feel like I was theRE for all of it. Haha looks great, and I know we old dudes like to boom still.
thanks man. Ready to do the stereo in Greg's new truck?
Originally Posted by Brettus
Daym ...that looks intense !
Glad it all worked out great ! Now ... how am I gunna get a test listen ?
come back to SS and you can listen to it all you want
Originally Posted by NgoRX8
Looks amazingly clean and I'm sure it sounds even better! Well done!
when are we doing the same for your car? You already have the same headunit so we might as well finish it off.
Originally Posted by northzone
Looks awesome and I'm sure it must sound awesome also. If I ever get down that way I'll need a sound test (and some black market bacon)
thanks NZ, I'm pretty impressed with the sound and I'm still in the process of tuning everything and getting the audio dialed in to exactly how I want. It's definitely an upgrade to what I had before and an even bigger upgrade to the stock Bose system.
How's the bass sound using those locations? I've got a big ol box taking up basically the whole trunk, which I don't love, but it was recommended to me for sound quality.
Holy crap. I'm just doing the rear 6*9s right now, only replaced the right woofer, still had the stock tweeter attached and thought I'd compare old to new.
Yes the rear OEM Bose speakers are crap, I use JBL with an additional amp sound quality is night and day, also add two 12" subs and pointer gm-d9701.
3d print this **** with resin doming for sub booster.
This reminds me, I finished installing the Maestro RR2 and was playing with the digital gauges.
I'll have to post some new pics this weekend of what that looks like
One of the reasons I went with the Maestro RR2 over just the standard SWC offered by Metra was the ability to tap into the OBD for real time data.
Here are the gauges I configured on the Pioneer headunit that display when I long press the mode button on the steering wheel.
Here's a shot with the on screen gauges + my digital gauges
That gauges screen looks super, I wasn't planning on upgrading the stereo in the 8 but if that screen can be set up for Boost it might fit right in with future plans.
Oh, not to steal your thread but the passenger door speaker (OE Bose) on my 6 has crapped out any suggestions for replacements? not planning a full upgrade but will replace both doors.
NZ: I can look at the settings on that head unit to see if there's a way to pull Boost data for it.
As for the 6: did both front speakers go out? Wonder if it's the bose amp or the speakers.
How's the bass sound using those locations? I've got a big ol box taking up basically the whole trunk, which I don't love, but it was recommended to me for sound quality.
@0-TO-100_Real_Quick sorry, realized I accidentally overlooked your post.
The bass sounds really good with these boxes as they have enough room to move a bit of air and aren't undersized like many small boxes.
Unfortunately the company who made them (4080 boxes) ceased production quite some time ago so they have become difficult to find. Most guys just end up with a large box in the middle of the trunk as you mentioned which probably sounds good but takes up a lot of real estate.
If you can find a set I recommend them.
There is a rattle from the passenger door that to me sounds like a failed speaker. What is the best way to test them? I don't crank it up too loud (usually) but these have over 3000 hours on them based on current mileage. (highway speed calculation, add extra hours for city driving) Crap, that basic math really points out much I sit in that car, if only I could get paid for it instead of paying for it. I'll say that the seats are holding up well
08-01-2021, 11:30 PM
