Hey guys,

Well i have decided that I cant stand the stock speakers any longer and im going to do a complete speaker upgrade in my car. I'm going with a complete Alpine Type * system, with the component 6.5 inch and tweeter setup in the front doors, 5.25 inch in the rear doors, and the 6x9'* in the rear lid. I was getting a quote and calling around and the price of all the speakers is usually around $350, but the installation fees were like $160 and up, so this makes me want to do the install myself. Now I know its a complete 6 speakers (8 including the two front tweeters) but I felt the install charge was a little much....


SO..i was wondering if any of you have done a complete speaker swap on your car, and how difficult was it to do. I havent really looked at my car to see how the door panels come off, or how tough any of this is going to be. Do i need to soder any of the connections? Would it be worth me trying to save the $160 by doing it myself, or is this really a chore and should let someone else who knows Audio install it? Let me know your thoughts and concerns!

Thanks guys,
Eric

i havent done any replacements yet but im very familiar with my GXP'* sound system

im just curious, are you running your stock HU or aftermarket one?
i hated how the factory sound system sounded, but believe me, once i installed a new HU, it changed 180*, the difference was amazing!! the stock speakers sound just amazing

but if you still wanna go ahead with the change, the door ones are very simple to change, all you have to do is unsnap the door panels, and from there you just unscrew them
the tweeters are the same thing, can be changed in 30 seconds
the ugly ones are the rear deck ones, i hate taking the back seat off, specialy the back portion..
once you remove the back of the back seat you just unscrew the rear 6x9
its not worth paying anyone to change them, if you can use a screw driver you can do it lol

Hey Sam,

I was planning on running the same HU, I was talking with the Audio guy and he said that it would cost a fortune to upgrade to a new HU thats a 6 channel output, most aftermarket are 4...what was the cost of your HU and which one did you get? Did you install the HU yourelf? The guy recommended to keep the stock HU because of the cost...just wondering what your experience was with this...

According to what I have read, the GXP'* came with a better speaker package than the SLE'*. Im sure we both have the same HU'* though...did you end up keeping your stock speakers, or did you replace them out? If you replaced the, which ones did you go with?

Thanks for your help Sam, im planning on doing the swap this sunday, and finally got my HID'* and putting those in Friday!

Eric

Hey Eric,
what sound system came with your SLE? Bose or Monsoon? i always thought they were the same, specially the 05s
my HU was around 700, my harness was around 150, dash fitting kit was around 15 bucks, and antenna was around 8 bucks.. i did all the install myself, and i couldnt be any happier with my sound system. i installed the JVC JW-NT1 which had built in bluetooth and navi... click on my signature picture and itll take you to my cardomain profile and you can see the pics, once i come home from work ill show you the full write up about it

i kept my stock speakers, as i mentioned before, i was shocked with how good my stock speaker sounded after the HU swap. much much better than stock, day n night difference. and after i installed a JL 10W7 sub, and life cant get any better

now dont get me wrong, replacing speakers will give you a better quality, im not disputing that, but you wil get nowhere when you have the stock HU, you're limited with no inputs or outputs.. vs the one i have it does have 4 outs and one for the sub, which is more than enough for me lol

I have done a full audio swap in ever car ive had. Its easy, not worth paying $160 for and u get the self satisfaction of doing it yourself.
Just make sure you are careful when u pop the clips on your doors. They can break if your not careful, then u will have a flapping door panal

Sam,

If your new HU is only a 4 speaker output with 1 sub output, what set of speakers arent your running right now? Or am I not seeing the whole picture here? I'm not completely sure, but I think i have the Monsoon system in my car, I will check once I leave work..

Thanks for your guys help and input!

Eric

before we keep going i still wanna know what sound system came with your car
bose or monsoon?
when you start your HU, it should say the name on the little screen, mine said Monsoon before, you will also see a stock mounted amp in the trunk behind the black plastic cover that covers the back seat

no no everything is running like factory
you will need a harness to get this whole thing going, the GMOS-09


heres how it works
your HU will have 4 outputs (front R, front L, rear R, rear L), and the harness have the matching inputs again front right and left, and rear right and left inputs
the GMOS-09 harness will connect to the HU thru the RCA inputs mentioned above, then the GMOS-09 harness again will connect to the factory harness which is already connected to the factory amp.. then the factory amp powers all the speakers front and back

again, all you need is a HU and a harness to get this whole thing going, i REALLLLYYY recommend the GMOS-09 because i tried almost everything out there, the GMOS-09 will keep everything working in your car like stock, including onstar and the hands free calling.

break down
1-HU connects to GMOS-09
2-GMOS-09 connects to factory harness
3-connect the antenna adapter
4-blast your music and have fun and enjoy

was that so hard? lol

if you dont get it, PM and i can send you my number and feel free to call me and ask whatever you want, it took me over 3 months to figure out how to install a HU on a monsoon sound system, and i tried almost every frickin harness out there lol

My car didnt say anything about Bose or Monsoon when I start it up, and there is also no markings on the radio. The owners manual doesnt say anything either, seems like i have a mystery radio. I guess if i were to guess, i would maybe say Monsoon....but i really dont know. I would expect better quality out of a Bose system from factory......this system stuff is getting me so confused! lol

Eric

hahhaa been there no worries.. i could be wrong about the whole name thing when you start it up, but i can swear i saw it before

check your trunk, and that will clear everything out
heres mine

sorry for the small pictures but my sub box was in the way and its proly heavier than me lol

pull this out from the top corner, no screws just magnets


and you will see this behind it, if you have an amp

Hey Sam,

well i just went out and was looking over my car, and man, am i disappointed...first of all, I dont even know my car...I found out i only have a 4 speaker system, and its not a Bose, or Monsoon. I must have the most basic setup available for this. I have the component 6.5 inch in the front, and the 6x9'* in the rear. I have attached pics to prove to you im not as crazy as you think i am. So i guess im going to replace the 4 speakers i have....so bummed..