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Old 02-17-2018, 06:36 PM   #1
Doug427
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 163
Gathering info on upgrading the Bose system - some questions

My '02 Boxster S was originally equipped with the Bose system. The stock radio is long gone. I bought the car with an already installed old double DIN Eclipse nav equipped touch screen radio. It has no Bluetooth, the nav updates have been unavailable since 2010, so it's basically useless. I am going to re-do the whole system. I have a 4x75 JLAudio amp for the 4 main speakers, and a 1x500 JLAudio amp for a subwoofer.

I have so many questions on these Bose speakers I am not sure where to start. I've searched a lot but not really found real definitive info. I'm sure it's out there but I haven't tripped across it yet. Lots of what is out there is conjecture and somewhat fractured. I guess I'll just start here by asking and it will at least give me something to go by. Hopefully a couple of you guys have done this and have real world info that you can share. I'd certainly appreciate it. .

Bose front dash speakers - In the original setup it seems these were set up as full range speakers. Is there a crossover up by the speaker? If not how is the crossover handled and where is the crossover circuit located? Are they even worth saving or should I just replace them? What is the ohm rating of the Bose speaker in the dash? What do guys normally replace these with? It seems there are two speakers up there. What sizes are they? I guess a low/mid range and a tweeter? My amps can handle down to two ohms, I'm concerned about the ohms because I know that Bose does some really goofy stuff. Nothing wold surprise me. Are these paper cone?

Bose door speakers - I see these have some sort of mounting baffle/box they are mounted in. From what I have seen there is one speaker in each box, and it was set up as a woofer originally. Is that the case? What size speaker is in there? Is it just a woofer or a full range speaker? What are the guys who are replacing these speakers using? What ohm rating is this speaker? Are they paper cone?

Bose rear shelf speaker box. This is the one I have found the most info on. What a strange setup this is. Apparently it holds a pair of down firing woofers that fire into nowhere, just into a shelf, with a central port which I presume is where most of the bass comes from? Then there is a separate set of front firing small speakers. Are these tweeters or small mid range speakers? I believe I read that the total ohm load of the box as wired is absurdly low as to be unusable. What size are the woofers? Can you actually hear them being fired as they are directly into the shelf the box sits on? What size are the small speakers? What are guys typically doing back there?

Are any of these speakers worth using? The system isn't hooked up now so I can't even hear what they sound like. Anyone who has either reused these with a standard head unit and amps (non-factory, non-Bose on both), or has replaced the speakers with something else, I would be very eager to hear about. Any and all info is gratefully appreciated. Thanks you.
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