TedG

Although the Bose system is OK (just OK) it could use some (a lot of)improvement, especially in the high end. In other words a better set of tweeters. Bose usually has some offbeat impedance that causes one to have to play the crossover game or hook up speakers in parallel or series to get it right. Does anyone know of a company that builds high performance tweeters that one can just bolt in, and get some highs out of the system? Even my truck has tweeters in the pillars that sound better than the car.

Mardav

JL Audio makes excellent car audio products and will be coming out with some very special C6 components 1st quarter of '06.

Bertsvette

Turn your base up to max and the treble two, leave the midrange alone and it will sound great nice high's

TedG

I did exactly that, but lost too much of the mid-high freqs. I have tinnitus (constant ringing in my ears) , so I turned the mids down from there and boosted the volume to compensate. The CDs sound pretty good but XM sounds flat. Even at that there is just some stuff that doesn't come through well for me.

markcz

I wanted to improve the sound of the Bose in my C5, so I just replaced the POS paper speakers with some aftermarket speakers. I have no idea what size the speakers are in a C6, but I went with the 2-way Clarion SRC924 for the front 3.5", and the 3-way Rockford Fosgate FFC65 for the rear 6.5". It sounds MUCH better now. Just be careful not to get new speakers that are expecting more power than the radio can put out (RMS in the 20-40W range with a peak of no more than 100W). No matter what size the C6 has, you should be able to replace all of them for under $150.

djhartm

I agree that the audio system in the C6 is at the most "adequate", and was somewhat disappointed by it's lack of power and range. I have the NAV system, and in a few months, plan to junk the stock speakers and add an amp.

TedG

I popped off a door panel and looked. There is a 10 woofer almost completly covered with sound deadening, (I am surprised the thing makes noise) and a small (maybe 3.5") mid/high standard cone looking thing in there. I was putzing with something else and really wasn't paying attention to the speakers. I should have noted the size and ohms of the small speaker.

Vette_DD

Guess I thought there were supposed to be 2 10-in. woofers in each door. See below (don't remember where I got this).

"For superior audio performance, a Bose audio system with a six-disc in-dash CD/MP3 player is also available. The Bose system consists of a 3.5-inch speaker in the center of the dashboard, two 10-inch woofers in each door and two 3.5-inch speakers also in each door located directly above the woofers. In coupe models, two 5.25-inch speakers are mounted on the left and right sides of the interior behind the seats."

Would the Nav system speaker set-up be different?

Bertsvette

My cd's mp3 sound great I think the x radio sounds very lame forget it ,XM radio is way over rated when my year runs out I won't keep it

TedG

No, the system is the same, it is just poorly written. It should have read: two 10-inch woofers, one in each door and two 3.5-inch speakers, also one in each door located......
There is no place for another 10-inch woofer in each door. Also remember they have always said 7 speakers total for the Bose.

BriJac

I would be interested in anyone's experience that tackles the speaker change out for the C6 in the future (replacing the stock size), or any other mod to the sound or DVD system. Thanks

_Nomad_

If it's like the C5 Delco head unit, and I think it is, then all you need is a PAC converter then you can ditch the Blose speakers altogether and replace them with better aftermarket stuff. I will be putting in Image Dynamics CSX62 2-way components up front (may go 3-way but will decide when I get the car and see what kind of imaging it has) and CDT ES400's in the back with and single IDMAX 12" woofer or 2 IDMAX 10" woofers (again I'll wait till I get the car and study the imaging) powered by one Rockford Fosgate 1500.1 for the sub and one 400.4 for the component sets all cleaned with a Coustic XM6 active crossover and Lightning Audio 1 FARAD digital cap, and of course, the obligatory Yellow Top battery. If I like the stock head unit I will keep it but if not I'll replace it as well with an Alpine CDA-7998.
I can't wait to get my C6 so I can start planning how I am going to install all of this.

TedG

I know what a good set of tweeters can do for a system. Bass and mid come through really well for me. It is just the frequency of the tinnitus ringing that needs to be overpowered and a good tweeter can usually do it just fine.

c6gofst

I will be replacing the entire system with a Kenwood Nav/DVD system. The guys at La Jolla Audio in San Diego are some of the best anywhere and do absolutely incredible work. I have Diamond separates from my previous install with 2 amps just waiting to be used. Factory systems just don't have great warmth or "presence" to me. LJ Audio does work on very high end cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc) , as well as my wife's PT Cruiser. If you have questions, send me an email and I will be happy to give you their number. They did say they may have to hide the current head unit elsewhere in the car because so much stuff goes through the radio. The problem is that there is not much technical info available yet on the new system. They want me to drive the car for a few weeks before they have to keep it for a week. Can't wait to get it done.

Vette_DD

Since I use a pair of hearing aids to overcome my tinnitus, just wonder if I'm going to have to do something like that.

TedG

I was hoping you would experiment for me! Geeze, make me do everything! So now I'll bet you expect me to tell you if it works? OK, but it is your turn next time. That is if I can find something. Remember is an OK system, I just want it to be better.

ny10522

Bose systems are very bad, expecially in the midrange. 350Z uses Bose and the system was recalled. The Bose wave radio is a giant piece of crapola that apparently has an unlimited marketing budget. Why do so many auto manufacturers use Bose and advertise it as a "premium" system?

markcz

30 years ago Bose WAS the best, and they had a well deserved reputation for producing the best available equipment. They still have that same reputation, but unfortunately the average person has no idea that their equipment is no where near the best any more, Bose just charges so much people assume they are getting a quality product. These days you can go to Wal-Mart and put together a better sounding system for 1/4 the price of a comparable Bose system. Maybe that's one of the reasons why you can't find any hard power ratings numbers coming from Bose, they don't want any actual 'evidence' of the facts.

Michael A

You are joking about the paper cones, right? Certainly their premium sound system (even for GM) has better quality than that.

Michael

PS Calif. people, please contact Gov. Schwarzenegger to urge him to veto a classic car smog inspection bill. See link below for info on how to do this. Save Calif. classic cars!
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=906036

vetterlatethannever

Bose used to use a dedicated amp for each speaker location, don't know if they still are doing that or just a main amp located somewhere now. I know that XM uses a compressed digital audio signal (actually both companies do but Sirius is supposed to have a way around it) and that is probably the reason for the lack of highs on that source.