Has anyone installed 6.5" component speakers in their crew cab? I am told (at least Crutchfield says so) that I have 6.75" speakers in my '04. I am looking to upgrade the sound system and I have my eye on the Alpine SPR-176A speakers and they are 6.5". I am wondering if an adapter plate is necessary or if they will just bolt in?


Also, anyone know of a company making a sub box for behind the rear seat. I have found one for under the rear, but I like that space more than I like the space behind the rear seat. I had down-firing subs in my '98 extended cab and I always wished I had something that fired through the seat (seemed like I was losing alot of the sound).


Any input is appreciated!


Greg

Best sound quality I've heard has been out of JL Audio or Boston Acoustics. I have personal experience with the Boston's, heard the JL's in a couple of real high quality installs. My $0.02


Ty

I'm not sure why so many guides say 6.75 for these...the 6.5s are a perfect. Also most guides list the rear doors of the CC as 6.75 or 6.5, I had 5.25s in mine, I was to say the least surprised.

I'l designed a couple behind the rear seat boxes for the CC... someone here mat chime in if they got the one for two 10s built. I built the one in my truck with the amp and two 8s, I like it but it'd be pricey to duplicate. I'll put get pics of it up on my weekend things to do...

Ox

BlueOx03- That would be cool if you could post some pics of the install. I'm handy enough to build a box, but also lazy enough such that if some company has already done something cool, I'll buy that.


So, are you saying the 6.5" won't fit in the rear doors?

i put 6.5 MB quarts in a friends 01 HD (front also) . sounded much better than the stock paper. he then ended up putting in a head unit and a single 12 behind the seat. I did not like the 12, way to much and the sound bottomed out. IMO you cannot make a deep enough cabinet for behind the seat and sound as good as smaller good quality subs.

I put 6.5's in all four doors of my truck. I used Infinity Reference series. There was certainly room for the 6.75's diameter wise but the mounting depth is the real problem.


Absolutely no comparison in sound quality to stock. I also used the Kenwood WOOX sub for a little more low end bass in a very compact underseat install.


Even with using the "crappy" stock head unit my setup has enough oomph to make your ears bleed if you wanted to.

Thanks to everyone for the input. The consensus I get is to go ahead and go with 6.5" speakers and all will be well. I am also getting a consensus that it is easy enough to build a good woofer box that will rock da house...new project.


One more question...what length of RCA/Patch cables did you all use to run from the deck to the amp(s)? What is the best route, down the center, off to one side, etc???

Does anyone know if the speaker grilles on the doors come off separately from the door panel on 2004 crew cabs? The shop manuals on the '04's won't be out for a few months and I don't want to tear into it without a reference.


Thanks,

The 6.5s will work fine all he way around in the 01-02 CCs. When it comes to the 03-04 with Bose, the rears are 5.25" The plastic plate could be modified to fit 6.5s, but it's a waste of time and money IMO. The trucks without Bose may have 6.5s, I haven't seen one, so I'm not sure.

I recommend 20ft RCA cables for a crew cab. I also recommend that you run them down the side of the cab, not the middle.

The grills can be removed from the door panels after you remove the door panels from the door. The 04's are the same as the 03's in that respect.

I'm thinking of offering a prefabbed box with two 8's and an amp if there's enough people interested. Enough people willing to spend around $600 on one that is...

Feel free to drop me a line if you guys have questions, I'll be glad to help...

Ox

I've got an 04 with the Bose. The system is ok but all the sound is in front of you. When I tune the fader to rear the 5.25 sound very weak and muffled. Are these Bose speakers? Sounds like they just upgraded the fronts. Also I understand the sub is in the console. Would I benfit from cutting grills into the sides to let the sound out? Are the door speakers amplified? It doesn't sound to me like they used any kind of crossover circuitry in the design. Sorry for so many questions but I had really high hopes for this system and my old truck sound systems blows it away! Could there be something wrong with my system?

i got the bose as well, my dealer didn't have any on the lot with the bose to hear. what a disappointment. any easy upgrades to put a sub in rear of truck and rear speakers. thanks

In my humble opinion the Bose system really stinks. Personally I would rather have the stock system over the BOZE system. Yes there is a sub, but it only sounds halfway good at low volumes, and when I'm cruising 75, it doesn't play loud enough to get over the road noise.


I plan to remove the whole dang system and put in a video screen that has the GPS system and component speakers. Then I just need to decide where to put the subwoofer. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Embarrased.gif

Newguy-I just put a bunch of speakers and a DVD nav system up for sale in the classifieds, you may want to check it out.

Ox

New question on this ... A local audio dealer told me the stock Bose speakers in the '03 and '04 are 2 ohm and that a 4 ohm speaker is not going to be able to match the stock volume levels due to the higher impedance.


Anyone have any info on this?

Are you going to replace the factory radio too? If you do, run new speaker wire. It makes changing everything back to stock easier when you sell the truck.


I used all Diamond Audio Speakers, 6.5" separatess in both doors, extra set of tweeters in the front pillars and a pair of 4.5" separates in the center console. Used 4 Bulter Audio Tube Driver Amps and two Alto 12" Subs under the rear seat and all Kenwwod electronics. Truck Sounds Great.

Does the Bose amp only power the sub? Are the doors and rear straight off the head end? Anybody know the head end output watts?I'm wondering if just changing the rear speakers will help.

In the 2003 system the Bose amp powers all the speakers. The head unit sends audio for both front and both rear channels to the amp, which derives the subwoofer signal on its own. The two rear channels are routed through the Rear Seat Audio controller so it can pick them off for the headphone jacks.

I know this is a little off topic but could some one explain how the door panels come off? I have a crew cab 2001 HD on the rear door I only see 1 screw in the bottom corner of the rear door panel and I see 1 screw in the middle of the front door panel(near the arm rest), after removing them do you PRY the panel off? Sure wish they would have maid it where you could get to the speakers through the speaker grills.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

DON"T PRY THE PANELS OFF!!!


Remove both screws you identified (one on the bottom and one in the middle). Pry the inside door handle bezel out using a flat blade. Pry the door lock (inside) cover off. Lift the door panel uptowards the top of truck, keeping it parallel with the door. Don't pry out or anything, it will just lift up. Basically that's it. There are clips the slide down into the door panel, they are just plastic hooks so if you pry them out, you will bust all kinds of stuff.


Hope this helps.

DON"T PRY THE PANELS OFF!!!


Remove both screws you identified (one on the bottom and one in the middle). Pry the inside door handle bezel out using a flat blade. Pry the door lock (inside) cover off. Lift the door panel uptowards the top of truck, keeping it parallel with the door. Don't pry out or anything, it will just lift up. Basically that's it. There are clips the slide down into the door panel, they are just plastic hooks so if you pry them out, you will bust all kinds of stuff.


Hope this helps.








Excellent post. In addition, once you have initially freed the panel (so that it is no longer anchored to the door), carefully reach behind it and remove the lightbulb/wire from the lower, rear portion of the door panel. You should then be able to tilt it out some more and reach up behind the panel and unplug the wires from the mirror/window/door lock buttons. While this assembly can be removed unplugging the wires is easier. One of the plugs has a lever that when rotated will assist in removing it. Be careful or this lever will break (it is very fragile).


Be careful -- it is far too easy to damage the panel and/or its fasteners (which will cause squeaks and rattles). While fast to assemble, this fastening system has to be the worst design I have ever seen!

Thank You SOOOO Much for the GERAT advice. I did just as you said and all went well. Thank You again.


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

Check out http://www.proboxrocks.com/chevy/crew.shtml. I put one of these in my CrewCab. Fit was great. You will have to watch mounting depth as some speakers are deeper than others. I used a Cerwin Vega and had to shim it about 1/4 inch, but overall, I am very pleased.

I have 6" speakers all the way around in my CC, diamond audio separates in the front doors, and boston 2-ways in the rear. 2-10" Rockford Fosgate subs in box behind the rear seats. Custom made box, with NO room for anything else back there. When the bass hits, the cones come within probably 1/4" from the back of the seats, and it sounds great. I didn't have the Bose system with the pillar tweeters, but the tweeters in the doors give the perfect sound for me.


Door speakers had to be shimmed, mounted them on top of the plastic mounts instead of inside them. It doesn't make for a real clean install this way, but the door speaker grill covers it just fine. It took me once or twice to figure out every time I lowered the rear passenger door window, the glass caught the wires and pulled them out of the speaker!