[KingLT1]

Disclaimer: This is for the 1SS Non Bose with amplifier.


I started to tackle my little project Sunday on adding 6x9's to the rear deck lid. Imo the stock non Bose system really lacks because the sail panel speakers are set much lower then the fronts and it does not sound balanced at all. You can fade the sound towards the rear to balance it, but the sail panel speakers just do not cut it.

The project is not super difficult, but it is time consuming. You have to remove the rear seats and all the plastic panels from the sides back to get the deck lid panel out. Actually it is much easier to just remove all the seats, which is what I did.

Next thing to note. Not all 6x9 will fit in the rear deck without hitting the back window trying to slide them in place. I bought Infinity Kappa 613 6x9 which are 3 ways. The tweets stick up too far. So I ended up using a set of 2 way Delphi premium grade 6x9 that are 100 watt rms with a nice quality rubber surround and they just barely fit. So I would stick with a 2 way...YMMV.

I used a piece of 10x12" 1/8" margurad lexan that I scuffed up and painted black on the back side to mount the amplifier. I was able to reuse the factory posts and hardware to secure along with nylon spacers for space between trunk floor and amplifier mount. Also used nylon spacers between amp and mount.

Supplies needed for the install.

-Sub thump adapter harness https://www.amazon.com/2016-2017-Cam.../dp/B01MU2IAGW

-Amplifier of choice. Preferably one that has speaker level input capability with auto sensing... I used a Rockford Punch 300x2

-10x12" piece of lexan to mount amplifier

-Nylon spacers 1/2" length...total of 6. 2 for the threaded posts in the trunk and 4 for spacing between the amp and mount.

-Amp install kit. 8 gauge is fine being it's a short run to the battery

-Speaker level to RCA cable. I used Kickers

-Metra 82-3017 speakers adapter plates

-4 5/16 shoulder bolts with lock washers to secure the adapters to deck lid

-Foam gasket tape to seal speaker to adapter

-Dynamat or foam pad to create a rattle free seal between adapter and deck-lid


I am going to use NOICO sound reduction material( Similar to dynamat just cheaper) on the deck lid and sail panel areas before putting it back together.

I fired it up and played a few songs and it sounded great. Huge improvement and I imagine it will be even better with trunk sealed up. Very happy so far and its worth the effort imo. I am probably going to remove the sail panel speakers to offset the weight difference of adding the new speakers and amp since they are virtually worthless.

Not sure yet If I will be replacing the front speakers. If I do, then I will probably grab the 3ohm Infinity reference. The sail panel 5.25" speakers say 4ohm on the back, but not sure on the fronts. The fronts actually sound much tighter and cleaner being able to pull a bunch of bass from them now there is another pair of 6x9 splitting the load.

[KingLT1]

Update: I have been playing around with this setup and have learned a couple things.

1) If you use the front channel for a signal to feed an external amp then you will get amplified chimes, signals, and tones...the rear channel does not get these amplified signals.

2) The front signal is pretty hot, meaning you can not get the amp gain low enough without it being out of balance with the front speakers. All the sound is biased to the rear, which is the opposite of what the Non Bose system is stock( biased to the front).

All that being said I decided to try using the rear speaker channels for signal to feed the amp to drive the rear 6x9's....and I am gald I did. It is sooo much better. Now it sounds balanced front to back and I do not get the overly amplified door chimes, signals, and mylink beeps. Also I have read it being mentioned that the rear channel is not full range and that is simply false. I am getting frequencies down to 40hz just like the front channels. Last thing, I had to reverse polarity on the added 6x9's to get them in phase with the factory setup.

Now the system sounds Amazing!!! Clean, tight, puncy bass, and it goes louder then your ears will tolerate. I can not believe how much of a upgrade this is. It really cleans up the sound of the stock speakers.

Also, I ended up snipping the blue/black and green/black wires that are located in the black plug connector on the factory amp. These are the ANC mic wires...I noticed I was getting some random noise that sounded like the exhaust coming through the speakers at certain rpm. This fixed that and the all the system tones work as intended.

I will update this thread as I find out more info on the stock system. Hopefully this will help a few trying to do the same thing and wont have to read 50 different threads to find the info they need.

[KingLT1]

Just got done running some tests. With the stock system I was able to hit a peak of 105db with a C-weighted spl meter. With the added 6x9 the system will now hit 117db @ 50hz. I did not try to push it any harder...I would say significant upgrade.

[BigGrip]

Thank you for your post. I have the non-bose system and I was looking into upgrading the factory speakers. I've been reluctant to do so because of all the posts I've been reading about aftermarket amps causing the door chime and turn signal noise to amplify. I will run your method by my installers and see if they can do what you've done.

[KingLT1]

No prob...glad I could help.

[miketan]

Can anyone confirm if this will also workout with a 1LE? (no amp compared to 1SS). If not I guess ill be the guinea pig when I find some time to give this a try. Thank you for the great write up.

[TxJacket]

Originally Posted by miketan

Can anyone confirm if this will also workout with a 1LE? (no amp compared to 1SS). If not I guess ill be the guinea pig when I find some time to give this a try. Thank you for the great write up.

So the 1LE doesn't have the amp to tap for signal like in his pictures?

[KingLT1]

the 1le is based off a 1SS so it should have a non bose amp.

[Th3Beast]

Originally Posted by KingLT1

the 1le is based off a 1SS so it should have a non bose amp.

Nah, this has already been confirmed. The SS 1LE has the MRC suspension controller in the place where the factory amp is supposed to be. As far as I know, there is no external amp in the SS 1LE's and you would have to tap the output of the "headunit" to get signal.

[7stringtheory]

The 1LE does not have any amp,i still think just replacing the door speakers and tweeters and adding an amp and a dsp is better than keeping the garbage stock speakers and adding a rear speaker set (extra weight). In a cabin this small you dont really gain a whole lot of sound imaging by adding rear deck speakers. When i get my 1LE back from my vinyl installer i will post a build thread of the install. By doing things my way you actually can actually feed mid bass to the doors which in my opinion does a lot more for surround imaging (if you have subs in the trunk) than sending it all to the rear.

[leadfoot93]

Good to know. So I guess you can't mount the speakers from under? This was something that concerned me getting 3 way speakers in from the top.

[KingLT1]

if you made custom brackets it could probably be done.

[Mike Williams]

So I am trying to replace all my speakers and add a amp and sub. My car was ordered without any amp at all. I was planning on pulling power from front speaker lines to my LC7I then running that to amp. From amp I will route all new speaker wires. My issue is (OTHER THAN HOW DAMN SMALL THE BACK OF THIS CAR IS) I cannot figure out how to install the rear 6x9 speakers and still wanted to know if you still think power should be pulled from rear channel. Not sure it would make a difference since I have no amp at all yet.

Any help and photos would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[KingLT1]

Hi Mike,

The amp is nothing more than a component that amplifies signal. It does nothing other then that. The signal source should be the same regardless if the system has a factory amp or not. Front channel has all tones and chimes directed through them, the rear does not. So if you use the front channels for signal the amplifier is going to send amplified chimes and tones through your rear speakers.

I posted exactly how to install 6x9 speakers in the rear deck in my post. All I would be doing is repeating what I posted in my thread. Remove the rear seats, sail panels, rear pillar panels, and rear deck panel. You need the Metra 6x9 adapters, a lower profile 6x9 , and they drop right in from the top.

Hope this helps.