Finally got all 4 of my speakers working

Scottwax · 08-21-09, 08:49

For the last 4-5 months, until my car sits in the sun for a few hours, the speakers on the passenger side wouldn't work-except for the pillar mounted tweeter. The factory Bose in the 2000-2003 Maximas have a nasty habit of cutting out like that and the problem is the HU. Even though I have the base audio system (Clarion makes it), I thought the HU was my problem as well. Put in a new Pioneer DEH5100UB and wouldn't you know it, the next morning the speakers in the passenger side wouldn't work until the car sat in the sun.

Rained this morning and my afternoon customer's truck was in the shop so I pulled up my FSM (factory service manual) on my computer and looked to see how to take the door panels off. Since it rained in the morning and the sky was hazy, the speakers on the passenger side weren't working. I pulled off the passenger front door panel and the driver's side rear to access both speakers. Interesting to find the driver's side speakers weren't stock. Anyway, I took the speaker out of the left rear and hooked it to the wiring on the right front and SOUND! I went ahead and put that speaker in the right front door so I'd at least have sound on both sides.

Went up to Best Buy (5-6 minutes from my house) and picked up a pair of Alpine SPS-600 6.5" speakers. Rear speakers are mostly for fill-in so I wasn't going to go nuts buying something really expensive. Besides, I've had Alpine speakers in the past and they are pretty decent.

I ripped out the old speakers and mounted the new ones in the factory speaker enclosure.

You can see the new speakers have much larger magnets-the old speaker is just a magnet because I tore it out of the enclosure and hacked it up a little for the new speakers to clear.

Crappy cellphone pics:

Huge improvement in sound, noticably more bass-of course, you can only get so much out of four 6.5" speakers. Also have the satisfaction of fingering it out for myself and not paying someone to tell me I need new speakers.

MotorCity · 08-21-09, 08:57

Nice!!

Sounds are essential!

bigfish528 · 08-22-09, 01:02

Nice job nothing beats doing it yourself

Pats300zx · 08-22-09, 01:42

I feel your pain on the Bose speakers Scott. I have a 90 Nissan 300zx and the Bose system is such a piece of crap. It has to be one of the biggest complaints among all years of Z owners.

Scottwax · 08-22-09, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

I feel your pain on the Bose speakers Scott. I have a 90 Nissan 300zx and the Bose system is such a piece of crap. It has to be one of the biggest complaints among all years of Z owners.

Actually, I don't have the Bose, I have the base system that is made by Clarion. However, I know how troublesome the Bose is in the Maxima so that's why I changed the HU first. Glad I did anyway because it puts out more and cleaner power than the factory one did. Also has 2 USB ports so I can plug in and control my iPod through the HU or the remote. Whole Lotta Love by Zeppelin sounds a lot better now.

FirstPlaceNRace · 08-26-09, 01:59

does anyone know what size door speakers are in a 2001 f-150 supercrew?

Flashtime · 08-26-09, 02:19

Scott,

Now you need an amplifier(s) and rewire it all. Maybe a sub box for some boom boom action.

Quote:

does anyone know what size door speakers are in a 2001 f-150 supercrew?

Car Audio: Subwoofers, Car Stereos, Amps, Receivers, CD Players

XRL · 08-31-09, 01:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by FirstPlaceNRace

does anyone know what size door speakers are in a 2001 f-150 supercrew?

6x8s

Scott, congrats on your DIY audio stuff. I was never a big fan of those Alpine speakers, I always favored the Infinity ones. But every person has a sound like like (apparently there's even people who like Pioneer and Sony speakers!)

Scottwax · 09-11-09, 06:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flashtime

Scott,

Now you need an amplifier(s) and rewire it all. Maybe a sub box for some boom boom action.

Probably going to add a small amp and 8-10" sub, depending on what will fit in the rear deck where the factory Bose sub would have been if my car had come with the Bose system. With all my detailing stuff in the trunk, I definitely don't have room for much. I figure the amp in the Pioneer HU is more than enough with an amp and sub handling the low frequencies.

XRL · 09-16-09, 08:45

If you're looking for a good amp, I'm looking to sell my Rockford Fosgate 400-4. It's very compact, and pretty powerful for such a little amp. You could use it to amp your front speakers and run a sub off the rear channels. I've done it before in customer cars, and it sounds pretty damn good.