Minor upgrade to the Bose system

Bish · May 26, 2018

2017 2500HD Denali with Bose. Had the Kicker under seat sub installed when I bought it. After a year I felt the sound was lacking and wanted to do something. Last GM I had with Bose I did a full Cleansweep after amp install with new amps and speakers. I was not looking for that. I wanted a little better sound without breaking the bank.

Shot Crutchfield an email to see what they had to say. I told them I wanted high sensitivity speakers with impedance as close to the oem speaker as possible. They suggested the following.

Infinity Reference REF-9632ix 6x9 Coax in front doors

Infinity Reference REF-6532ix 6.6 coax in the back doors

Memphis Audio PRX27 2.75" coax in the dash

Found some confusion on the impedence of the speakers. One place it says they are 4ohm another they say they are 3ohm. They measured at about 2.5 so they were really close to the Bose speakers. I did the install with the addition of some dynamat. Not a complete coating of the doors, maybe 60%-70% coverage on the shell and the interior.

So what's the verdict? I'd say 20%+ improvement in sound quality. The bass is much tighter out of the front doors and less muddy. Cleaner punch with less distortion. Now it's no audiophile system by any stretch. Wasn't looking for that. Had to completely reset the tone controls but so far I am pretty happy with the upgrade for a few hundred bucks. We'll see how it wears on me.

paauto · May 26, 2018

Did you do it yourself or outsource?

Bish · May 26, 2018

Did it myself. Took me about 90 minutes per door. Pretty easy job IMO.

paauto · May 26, 2018

Did you re-cable or use the factory cables?

Bish · May 27, 2018

Factory cables. Got the extensions from crutchfield to go from speaker to factory connection.

BTW how much did the Morimoto headlight upgrade improve the oem HID's? Been considering doing those along with the fogs.

paauto · May 27, 2018

Thanks. Morimoto upgrade is noticeable, but not overwhelming.

SierraHD17 · May 27, 2018

I found the headlights to be a big jump on my 17... the stock ones were terrible. I drive in perfect darkness more or less exclusively so you get a good idea of the difference.

paauto · May 28, 2018

17 hours ago, SierraHD17 said:

I found the headlights to be a big jump on my 17... the stock ones were terrible. I drive in perfect darkness more or less exclusively so you get a good idea of the difference.

Definitely they are an improvement over the factory.

paauto · May 28, 2018

On 5/25/2018 at 9:11 PM, Bish said:

2017 2500HD Denali with Bose. Had the Kicker under seat sub installed when I bought it. After a year I felt the sound was lacking and wanted to do something. Last GM I had with Bose I did a full Cleansweep after amp install with new amps and speakers. I was not looking for that. I wanted a little better sound without breaking the bank.

Shot Crutchfield an email to see what they had to say. I told them I wanted high sensitivity speakers with impedance as close to the oem speaker as possible. They suggested the following.

Infinity Reference REF-9632ix 6x9 Coax in front doors

Infinity Reference REF-6532ix 6.6 coax in the back doors

Memphis Audio PRX27 2.75" coax in the dash

Found some confusion on the impedence of the speakers. One place it says they are 4ohm another they say they are 3ohm. They measured at about 2.5 so they were really close to the Bose speakers. I did the install with the addition of some dynamat. Not a complete coating of the doors, maybe 60%-70% coverage on the shell and the interior.

So what's the verdict? I'd say 20%+ improvement in sound quality. The bass is much tighter out of the front doors and less muddy. Cleaner punch with less distortion. Now it's no audiophile system by any stretch. Wasn't looking for that. Had to completely reset the tone controls but so far I am pretty happy with the upgrade for a few hundred bucks. We'll see how it wears on me.

Does the Denali have a factory sub in it? In any case I assume the Kicker improved things?

Bish · May 28, 2018

Yes. It has an 8" sub in the console. In my last few Bose vehicles I have found the sub to be lacking. So much so that Bose actually reduces the bass as you turn the volume up so as not to blow their cheap sub. The Kicker made a big improvement to low frequency bass.

SierraHD17 · May 28, 2018

Well I just grabbed the kicker sub myself so I will keep this in mind and maybe swap the speakers as well!

Bish · May 28, 2018

Only thing about the kicker I don't like is no volume control for the sub. I'm trying to figure out how to wire in a gain control for the Kicker. Sometimes depending on the source it is overpowering and other times great. Would rather have a quick knob to dial than go into tone controls.

SierraHD17 · May 29, 2018

Would be nice... I would be happy with some bass that isn't my front door speakers. The sub in the console is totally useless.

paauto · May 31, 2018

On 5/28/2018 at 11:53 AM, Bish said:

Yes. It has an 8" sub in the console. In my last few Bose vehicles I have found the sub to be lacking. So much so that Bose actually reduces the bass as you turn the volume up so as not to blow their cheap sub. The Kicker made a big improvement to low frequency bass.

I ordered the same speaker set up you have and the Dynamat (debating whether to get the Kicker sub b/c i need the room under the rear seat).

Did the dash speakers drop into the factory cut outs or did you need to modify things?

Bish · June 1, 2018

Speakers fit in the dash. Screws were a little tight so start them both a bit before tightening down. No connectors available so had to splice into the speaker wires. I wanted to leave the original connectors in case I ever go back for sale.

Regarding the rear seat space, I have the GM underseat storage. I trimmed the storage so it meets with the sub pretty cleanly and I still have almost 2/3 of the storage space. I can try to take a pic if you are interested.