Adventures in Car Audio (The Beginning)

I've had my truck since 2007 and through our short time together we have been a happy couple. The only real problem has been in the realm of my music listening enjoyment. You see when I saw the truck online, I was ecstatic when I saw the prominent posting that read "BOSE sound system".  I thought to myself, "Wow I won't need to touch these speakers." Of course I would swap out the head unit for my Pioneer navi unit but that would be it.

Well after a few months with the Pioneer unit in the ride, I stumbled upon my first BOSE lesson


BOSE speakers are incredibly flat and muddy. 

Even the tweeters were muddy. How is a tweeter muddy. This was not what I  want in my ride when I'm cruising the streets. I like my bass to hit hard (well as hard as it can without an actual sub-woofer) and my highs to be sharp like a syringe. So my first step would be to get some new component speakers.

After an exhaustive search for the right speakers I found these babies Alpine SPS-600C 6-1/2" Component 2-Way Speaker System (Pair). I figured that I would let the Best Buy installers install them since I didn't really want to spend the time do it my self. I now see that I should have done the install myself. You can read about my adventure with the Best Buy installation here.

After I finally get the components in and working properly. I waited a few months and then bought the speakers for the rear of the truck. Knowing that I really didn't need to have the same level of imaging that I needed in the front. I looked for a pair of speakers that balanced quality and budget and landed on these Pioneer TS-G1643R 6.5-Inch 2-Way Speakers .

I knew that I would be installing these myself (if you want something done right you do it yourself right) so I ordered some tools from Crutchfield to make the install easier and also so that I could get their lovely installation guides tailored for your ride. With tools and knowledge in hand I set to work on finally ridden myself of the mud that is a BOSE speaker.

After a few hours, some cussing and improvised installation techniques I had what I thought would be the system I could live with.  Well this is where I learned my second and third lesson and they are.


Installing 4 ohm speakers with the BOSE amps will eventually blow your speakers. They will go quicker at higher volume levels. 

BOSE amps are rated for 50 watts at 2 ohms

This is pretty good, but none of the speakers in my truck were 2 ohm speakers and I didn't want to look for 2 ohm speakers because not only are they hard to come by, they are pricier than 4 ohm speakers.  So faced with this dilemma, I was down to my only option that I really didn't want to do and that was to rewire the truck. Given the time and bloody hands of wiring my Camry, I didn't want to go that route so it was back to the Internet to find a more viable solution.

Lo and behold I found an answer. I could bypass the amp and have the power coming straight from the head unit. More Internet surfing and I found a wire diagram for the truck. So I get to work on bypassing the amps. I even went as far as removing the two front amps. I had no use for them now.

So I bypassed the amps but the damage had already been done and not only had the damaged been done, but the music was so low that I had to crank the volume up to the max to even enjoy the music. This was a no go for me so my next decision was to install an amp. I get the amp installed and now I'm in the process of getting new speakers that match not only the ohm but also the rated watts because as any one who has installed car audio knows.

Running your speakers with power they are not capable of handling will cause them to blow. 

Exactly what I was doing running my speakers with the BOSE amps. Lessons learned and now I'm in a position to finally fix my audio woos.

But it is not been without it's share of headaches. You see i bought these KICKER KS6.2 - Car speaker - 75 Watt - 2-way - component this week which I thought were 6.5" but are really 6". I also have to figure out a way to install the tweeters while keeping the ride as stock as possible.


So that is the beginning of my audio adventure. Stay tuned as I chronicle my install process. I might even get some video for you lol. More to come.