want to upgrade speakers
 

i need some suggestions for replacing all of my stock crappy bose speakers with an better after market speakers and also adding a sub. what r some good ones? i dont want to spend too much tho. looking to spend no more than $500? maybe $1000. Thanks!

Alpine is a good brand. They both have speakers and amps. I never had this brand before, but with some research, they are top quality and they have better sound quality.

ok thanks! ill look in to that.

With that budget, you're not going to be able to replace all the speakers and power them with an aftermarket amp. I recommend following Jedi54's route. Replace the rear 6x9's outright, replace the front factory Bose tweeters, then add a sub and amp. The front 9" woofers in the doors and center speaker stays.

Decide how much bass you want and what type of subwoofer enclosure you'd like. Two 12"s? One 10"? A 10" self-amplified Bazooka tube? A single 10" or 12" is plenty in my opinion. Maybe this box with one sub hole cut on either the left or right side, then you can mount the amp on the open side? Or if you're feeling really crazy... With a $500 total budget, the Bazooka tube might be your best option. You're looking at least ~$350 to add a standalone 10". Box, sub, amp. A 10" self-amplified tube runs about $200. (It's OBO, so you could probably get it for $175)

As for brand, tons of great options out there. Post up your thoughts and we'll try to help you more.

sounds great. any suggestions on tweeters? i like good sound quality with good bass so if u have any suggestions let me know.

what about the door speakers? do they cost a lot of replace them with pretty good ones? what size are the speakers? i thinking about spending $500-1000 so let me know. thanks!

here are the ones im thinking let me know

I was thinking about these for the rear speakers http://www.amazon.com/JBL-P963-3-way...ata/B001GMZKOW

and this sub http://www.crutchfield.com/p_204BTA1...FBrand|Bazooka

I just told you the front speakers were 9". They are 1/2ohm and therefore cannot be replaced with aftermarket speakers without using a separate aftermarket amplifier. Some of us make mounting rings to install a 6 1/2" component system in their place, but you're talking over $1k for everything.

JBL has always made quality equipment. I have enjoyed their speakers and amps for car, home and commercial use.

Crutchfield is a great company. Just over priced. Here's that sub much cheaper.

Speakers too.

You're essentially following this thread. Obviously no need for the 4080 boxes, two 10"s, capacitor and 1200W amp. But you're keeping the factory headunit, swapping in aftermarket tweeters and rear speakers, then just adding in a sub. The rear tweeters are up to you. I'd personally avoid them for ideal sound staging.

6x8 Rear Dash $54.99
http://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosga...6851544&sr=1-3

6x8 Front Doors $47.98
http://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosga...851698&sr=1-13

Metra Double Din - On Sale for $127.20
http://www.amazon.com/Metra-95-7510H...6851843&sr=1-3

Head Unit - This one is has NAV but does not play DVD's and no remote - $369.95
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pione...fAudioQ5fVideo

Head Unit - This one plays dvd's no nav but includes a remote - $360.47
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-AVH-P3...6852601&sr=1-3

^^^ That is where you should start................. Then

Subwoofer Box - $110 shipped
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mazda-RX8-Vehicl...item5881bb442d

Sub/Subs - Your choice
Amp/Amps - Your choice

Bose system LBC.

great thanks! i think i will go ahead and get those ones.

Those front speakers will not fit and cannot be powered by the Bose amplifier.

If you want to replace everything...

Metra Kit = 127
Headunit ~ 370
front component set ~200
rear 6x9's ~ 75
5-channel amp = 300
sub box = 110
sub(s) ~ 90-250
4g wiring kit= 50
4-channel RCAs = 25

As you can see, that's well over $1k. And that's without labor. If you're willing to spend the 1300-1500, then let us know.

I am no audio guru, but I have done my fair share of research, I thought the general rule of thumb was to screw the rear deck speakers and only worry about getting quality front speakers and tweeters, running them off of a 2 channel amp and calling it a day (strictly speaking speakers, not subs).

It's been debatable. It's in an effort to establish a solid front stage of audio. From my experiences, every person is different. Some people believe as you have stated. Other like a small amount of rear fill, often simply powered off the headunit. Still others argue against your statement and use 4-5-6 way speakers in the rear powered off 100+WRMS.

One thing that no one can argue is that it's the higher frequencies that we're discussing here. High frequencies are far more directional. So having these frequencies positioned behind the listener tends to make it seem like more audio is coming from the rear. That's why I mentioned I'd skip the tweeters in the rear that Jedi added. In fact, I'd really recommend a pair of strictly midrange speakers. But after years of installing and recommending gear, I've learned everyone is different. To each their own.

I hear ya, thanks for the response. I too dabbled in the idea of changing my audio but then after I started factoring in an amp, then wiring, then deciding on fronts vs rear vs all around, the cost was just getting too much and I wanted to focus on a few other things (wheels) first.

One can save money by buying the sub stuff used. Least important are the rear tweeters. Most important are the front mid/tweeters; remember these are mid-range down to ~1800 Hz, a normal tweeter won't work. Image Dynamics X-28 is one that will. Best priceworthy single upgrade is dampening the inside of the front door panels: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/cheapest-audio-upgrade-ever-%3D-%2450-215671/

My parts list is in my Vbgarage, click in my sig.

Correction: I meant 6x9 in the rear dash.

Crutchfield says that the front doors will house those RF Prime 6x8's.

I do not know if you have the bose system in your car or not, if you do I would suggest bypassing the OEM (bose) amplifiers when replacing the head unit regardless if you change anything else or not.

I just ordered the AVHp4200DVD, Metra Axess for the wheel controls, Metra Double din kit and was going to leave it at that cause i already got a JL audio 10w3v3 in a custom box.

But after reading this i noticed how bad the bose rears sound (always thought it was just me) so i did some digging online and found that the Infinity 6929I 330W (Peak) 6 x 9 -Inch Two-Way Speakers were the shit so im getting them and putting them in the back :)

Thanks for the info firebirdude!

EDIT
Think i should have purchased a 3 way :/ guess these are going back.
EDIT 2
Forget it im going to just install these not worth the trouble lol

Sorry the fronts in the Bose equipped cars are apparently 8" you will need an adapter.

My car did not include the bose system, I was unware they were different.

It does appear like if you can source the plates from a non-bose equipped car it would make converting to a 6x8, 6.5, 5x7, or even a 5.25" speaker much easier.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/speaker-sizes-harnesses-kits-etc-audio-install-reference-74664/

Installed my speakers in the back -- damn didn't think it would be so time consuming -- Gotta remove the back chairs and stuff.

Anyway they sound AWESOME! Tweeters back there are easy to replace too!

i'm working on doing the same thing right now, does anyone know the speaker depth of the front doors of cars with the bose system?

Remove the cover and you'll find out...lol

Ehhh not sure. But I have some very beefy 6 3/4" in there. No depth issues.

I was having an issue with the speaker in the door cutting in and out and realized it was the amp in the door going bad. Next time I go in there I'm ripping all that old Bose crap out I just wanted to get the approximate depths so i could find and appropriate 8" woofer and begin building the crossover network accordingly for the component set I'm putting together.

@firebirdude if you don't mind me asking what kind of 6.75" speakers do you have, just so i have a reference point of how much space i have to work with,

Details in the sig. Just looked them up. They have a 3" mounting depth. That's nothing compared to any 8" subwoofer.