Adding highs to factory Bose stereo

[mikec]

To me the factory stereo sound pretty good except it is weak in the high end. I was thinking of adding small round super tweeters. I would mount them on the triangular piece of plastic at the front of the side windows next to the side defroster vent. Since the amps are with the speakers, I would have to take the door panels off to get at the speaker leads from the amp.

I have read the instructions on door panel removal, but i'm wondering whether I want to disturb them from factory just to add the tweeters. I don't want to ruin the factory water seal, or cause rattles. Should I think twice, or go for it if you don't think it's that bad taking the panels off. Any special tools needed so that I don't break plastic clips etc. Has anyone done this to their car to enhance the high end?

As always.. Thanks

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keep the shiny side up
MikeC 01 #46

 

[Ojas]

From what I remember, A phillips screwdriver should be the only tool you need (to remove the screws holding the panel). The thing I would be careful of is pulling back the weatherstrip that covers some of the screws. There are a several orange clips that hold the weatherstrip to the door. You don't want to tear the holes that the orange clips fit in.

I was able to remove the weatherstrip from the clips (clips remained attached to the door), by pulling the weatherstrip side-to-side (parallel to the direction the strip is running) and slightly away from the door (rather than pull straight out from the door). It's hard to explain, but after do the first one, it's easy.

With the panel off, you should have no problem accessing the speaker. Also, you should not have to mess with the plastic moisture sheet, since the speaker is on the inside of it.

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ojaspatel.com/nsx

 

[Larry Bastanza]

MikeC,

The thing I would be MOST concerned about is the finish of the plastic parts on the doors (where the up/down switch is located). You will need to remove the door latch/handle (8 screws under the leather piece you remove)and disconnect the cable that runs back through the door to the door lock.

It's actually very easy, but the finish on the plastic (as well as the dash is EXTREMELY fragile). I recommend strongly that you take a few pieces of wide masking tape and cover these panels FIRST, then dis-assemble.

Remember that the chrome strip at the top of the door panel DOES NOT come off with the panel, it stays with the door.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[Darkcyd]

I did exactly what you are describing above. When I purchased my Sony Xplod components, they came with round tweeters. I had them installed in that triangular piece that you are talking about. They work great and look very cool. I had them professionally installed and didn't do it myself so I couldn't tell you how it was done but the end result was very satisfactory if you intend to go down that route.

 

[robr]

taking the door panels off is fairly simple, however thats not really the issue i see here. you really shouldnt just go and throw a speaker in parallel with an amp and another speaker that arent designed for it.

first of all, tweeters are designed only to handle certain frequencies, there is no way for you to insert these tweeters into the system to only receive high freqiencies without also introducing a passive crossover into the door. these aren't really too hard to build though if you do some research, but really this sort of reeks of taking a beat up rusted out yugo and sticking on some nice rims. you've just spent lots of money and the end result is it's still a piece of $h1t (this is my personal opinion of the stock NSX sound system... the head unit and cd changer is fine, but everything else is crap. you obviously hold a different opinion but it doesn't change the technical issues).

also there is another issue of the impedience of the stock speaker which i understand is around 1 ohm. as the impedence of the load on an amp changes, the amp power delivery characteristics change as well (and sometimes it will even self destruct the amp if the impedence dips too low, but in this case we're looking at the opposite scenario where the impedance is increasing). i'm not really certain what's going to happen if you put a 4 ohm tweet in line with a 1 ohm driver. you'd probably have to find a tweeter sensitive enough to be driven to approximately the same volume levels as the door speaker with less power.

what you're proposing is pretty ugly, honestly id consider ripping out all the stock speakers, sub included, and the amps, and replace everything with one set of component speakers, one small sub, and one amp with a built in crossover. if you do it yourself, shop carefully and are willing to cut some installation corners, you can probably do it for around $500 and it will sound 100x better than the current stock system. That's about what it cost me shopping on ebay for an Xtant A4004 amp, a set of MB Quart components with musicomp crossovers, and an Illusion Audio ND10. Actually I think it was a bit more with shipping and wood and screws and wire and such.

while you're in the doors, if you have an older NSX with the original window regulators, replace the window regulator clip thingies with the window fixit thingies from dali.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by robr:
while you're in the doors, if you have an older NSX with the original window regulators, replace the window regulator clip thingies with the window fixit thingies from dali.

Good advice - but assuming the car came from the factory in Spa Yellow, it's a '97 or later, and the thingies are not a concern. But it's a good chance to lube the window tracks and mechanism too.

 

[mikec]

Originally posted by robr:
you really shouldnt just go and throw a speaker in parallel with an amp and another speaker that arent designed for it.

.

Thats ture. However, these add-on super tweeters are designed to be placed in parallel with an existing speaker. They contain a capacitive cross-over and do not affect the impedence of the origional speaker at frequencies below 7 KHz. I've used them in several other cars with good results. If I deceide to take the door panels off, I'll let you know how it turns out.




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keep the shiny side up
MikeC 01 #46