Adding after-market speakers to stock deck

[cnw20]

I have a 2003 Sierra EC SLT and am thinking of upgrading the speakers to Alpines, JLs or MBQs without changing the head unit - will it be worth it or must I replace the deck and add an amp to get decent sound? Thanks.

[mmmikkke]

I have a 2003 Sierra EC SLT and am thinking of upgrading the speakers to Alpines, JLs or MBQs without changing the head unit - will it be worth it or must I replace the deck and add an amp to get decent sound?  Thanks.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

The most bang for your buck would be to install an Infinity Basslink in the back seat. The basslink can be purchased on ebay for less than $200, then add another 20 or 30 bucks for wiring.

 

But if you go ahead and change the factory speakers, consider this:

 

a) In the front doors, the factory tweeters are not where the woofers are. Most speaker replacements ignore this, moving the tweeter to be coaxial with the woofer. But this will eliminate your direct line-of-sight sound path to the tweeters, so you'll lose imaging. Better to go with components--or coaxial speakers which you can disassemble--so you can put the new tweeter right where the old GM tweeter was.

 

b) As delivered, my front door woofers were 4 ohm, but my back door full-range speakers were 8 ohm. So much for GM caring how things sounded.

 

If you eventually change out the head unit, you'll hear an immediate improvement in the clarity of the sound, regardless of whether you change out the speakers.

[cnw20]

Thanks for all the excellent info!

[camaudio]

nothings wrong with 8 ohm speakers.

 

You just wont find many replacments to fit it that are 8 ohm

i would just replace the front, the improvment should satisfy you

[mmmikkke]

nothings wrong with 8 ohm speakers.

 

You just wont find many replacments to fit it that are 8 ohm

i would just replace the front, the improvment should satisfy you

 

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Even the most two-bit sweatshop of amplifier designers in some hell hole in sri-lanka wouldn't be cought dead designing the rear channels to operate at 8 ohms while the front channels operate at 4 ohms.

 

Ergo, go ahead and put 4 ohm speakers in back, the GM radio will thank you for correcting the situation.

[camaudio]

if the amp is designed for 8 ohm and you put in a 4 ohm load, you chance overheating the amplifier becuase of the higher current draw

[mmmikkke]

if the amp is designed for 8 ohm and you put in a 4 ohm load, you chance overheating the amplifier becuase of the higher current draw

 

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The sky is falling. The sky is falling.

[Wingnut]

85 dB 8-hour period

85 - 90 dB 2-hour period

90 - 100 dB 1 to 2-hour period

100 - 110 between 2 and 15 minutes

110 - 120 less than 30 seconds

130 dB ANY EXPOSURE WILL RESULT IN PERMANENT HEARING LOSS

 

 

Oh shiat.

[ENIGMA206]

I just went throught the same thing with my '05 Sierra. I bought a Pioneer head unit, Infinity 6-1/2" for the doors, 4"x6" for the rears and the Infinity Basslink. I installed everything except the Basslink because I was in the midst of a Lemon Law dispute with GM. The Basslink would involve the most labor to install and I wanted to wait for the Lemon Law outcome before wasting the time. Basically, a long story short, I won the dispute and had to remove the equipment. I removed the head unit first and drove around a week with the Infinity speakers and the stock head unit. IMO, the speakers are the key to the sound. The stock unit wouldn't push the speakers as loud, but the quality of sound was leaps and bounds above the stock speakers.

 

The new truck GM is sending has the Bose Premium system. I will be content with the Bose without upgrading...I think. I purchased everything except the Basslink from Crutchfield. They were kind enough to allow me to return the equipment for a refund. I now have a brand new Basslink to get rid of if anyone wants one. Basslinks work very well in space the size of a truck cab.

[cnw20]

Thanks - I'll be getting new Alpine speakers all around to go with the stock deck.

[djbrkb]

FYI: i installed mb quart three way components (6.5"woof, 4"mid, 1" tweet) in the front doors of my 01 yukon. (i put the mid in place of the factory tweet in the door, and put the mb tweet in the "a" pillar like 02 models) in addition, i also replaced the rear door speakers with 6.5" mb quart co-axials and the "d" pillar 3"ers with mb quart 3.5" co-axials. HUGE IMPROVEMENT!!! some said it would be a waste without upping the power - i figured i would up the power if the speaker mods didn't do much - i'm stopping here - like i said - huge improvement. go for it.

[cnw20]

Installed the 4 Infinitys to the stock head unit and boy what a difference! Can still use more bass though. How hard is it to install the BassLink to the stock deck? Thanks again.