Bose door speaker went out. Adding a high level amp and new speakers.

[Litespeeds]

Hello fellow NSX owners. I am sure that you all are aware that sooner or later the factory Bose speaker will fail due to the excessive heat buildup which cause the amps to go out. Anyway, I have thought about this for the past couple of days and basically I heard that you can add an external high level amplifier to the stock radio and change the door speakers to pretty much anything out on the market.
Has anyone done this with their NSX? If so, what did you end up using? I heard that Eclipse makes a high level amplifier. For door speakers, I am thinking about a set of ADS co-axial 5 1/4's. I do not want to go crazy with a new head unit and cut up the dash. If I go this route, will I still be able to use the factory subwoofer? Your detailed response is much appreciate. THANKS!

 

[brickdds]

You will need a wiring harness to do this. I will be pulling mine out in about a month if you are interested.

 

[robr]

not only has anyone done this, tons of people have done this. it's also highly recommended that you rip out your stock sub (its still a piece of crap bose 4" speaker) but no, you dont have to.

basically if you look thru the recent threads you will find tons of info with pictures.

are you planning on doing this yourself or taking it to a shop? if you dont want to cut into your wiring harness at all, you'll need to order two harness kits, the scosche HA02 and HA02R (one plugs into the back of the head unit (HA02R) the other into your existing harness, then you can play with those wires to your hearts content without messing up anything).

the best place for the amp is the trunk, but its a bit tricker to install there if youre DIY. there is not much room in the car for an amp, so you'll need to be careful about your selection. a couple of us here have used the xtant a4004 in three channel mode. i mounted mine to the map pocket behind the passenger seat with industrial strength velcro (pictures are in one of the recent threads i mentioned).

as far as door speakers, any set of 6.5" seperates should be fine.

if you pull your stock sub, making a new box out of wood that fits is basically impossible. a 10" is too large to adapt the stock box, you can probably do it with an very shallow 8". if you want larger, you'll either need to move the sub or have a fiberglass enclosure made (or buy one from dali for $400). mine is behind the drivers seat because i bought a 10" sub and i suck with fiberglass. also be very selective when choosing a sub if youre going for the footwell replacement. you want something with a shallow mounting depth so as to try to not to lose leg room for the passenger.



[This message has been edited by robr (edited 26 July 2002).]

 

[Litespeeds]

Thanks robr for your detailed description. I will do a search and read what others have done.

 

[Ken YZ-F1]

Dali sells a pre-engineered kit that was specifically designed for the NSX. You can install it yourself (plug and play) and your car will not be the subject of butchery by the typical aftermarket stereo shop. Check it out. Price is very fair also.

 

[robr]

its not THAT plug and play. you still need to pull door panels (easy) and run the wiring harness through two firewalls and under the rug in the car (a fair amount of work, you need to pull off a bunch of interior panels and it helps to remove the passenger seat) and will need to get in behind the head unit (not a lot of fun either).

basically what he does is saves you some time, he had custom door mounted speakers done that drop in to replace the stock speakers (very easy to do with a jigsaw once you pull the original and trace it), and a custom fiberglass sub box (not so easy to do), and laid out the wiring harness (can get pretty confusing) and has it premade.

he chose fairly decent gear (though some of it is no longer available), and sells it at a reasonable price as compared to what a brick and morter store would sell similar gear for. i don't mind buying grey market or ebay though so going that route is much cheaper. i still really wouldn't want to DIY with his gear any more than any other gear.

 

[BostonNSX]

Then the easiest to do is to replace the stock amp with something similar? My driver side and center speaker are busted

Driver side with unbalanced ( very low volume) and center speaker completely busted.

BTW.. I listen to classical alot.. the stock stereo suck totally when it comes to classical music. A 2002 24-bit recording would sound like a hollow, mono flat ( not dynamic ) 1940's recording.. just without the "hiss" sound ( try it yourself!). And.. some funk with kicking double bass drums running or anything with a techno beat will over load the sucky sub woofer and produce a "blah - blah" like buzz.. Completely ruins my musical mood!

My God... How come Bose made such trash on cars ( I own a 300zx convertible same shXt . yes its bose again. yuck.. I changed it to MB Quartz ) and got a good reputation in Audio market????

But I dare not to send the car to aftermarket audio shop ( cuz its far more expensive than a Z)..and since this involves alot of interior panels removal.. I'm very worried of "extra sqeak noises" the panel make when it has been removed and placed back.

Gosh. some suggestions..




[This message has been edited by BostonNSX (edited 01 August 2002).]

 

[robr]

theres a ton of suggestions and info ive provided over the past two weeks. just look for the threads with titles involving head units, subwoofer (and subwofer) and amplifier, etc.

if you dont want a shop to butcher the car, the best thing you can do it remove the panels yourself, and take it to a shop with the already removed. pulling the door panels takes around 2 minutes each once you know how, perhaps even less. the hardest part is the first step, removing the faux-leather panel from inside the handle without scuffing it. removing the head unit is tougher, but only because of one step, pulling out the vents (getting to the two clips underneath) without scratching up the black coating on the dash trim. after that its just a bunch of screws... oh and disconnecting the leather boot from the shift knob was a little tricky but not nearly as hard as the vent removal.

after that, the shop cant really screw much up. you could even remove your passenger seat and the panel behind it and along the doors. oh and pull out the stock sub, thats a 2 minute job as well, but i'd mostly worry about a shop messing up the door panels.

as far as bose, they have just about the absolute WORST reputation there is for audio equipment to anyone who is even an entry level audiophile. here's a link to the Bose FAQ which should be required reading for anyone who thinks "Bose is great!!"
http://home.earthlink.net/~busenitz/bs.html

 

[BostonNSX]

Could removing of the door panel damage the amp??

And still are there anything like the oem door amp but not bose?

[This message has been edited by BostonNSX (edited 01 August 2002).]

 

[robr]

Originally posted by BostonNSX:
Could removing of the door panel damage the amp??

not possible

[/QUOTE]And still are there anything like the oem door amp but not bose?[/QUOTE]

no

 

[airedale]

Originally posted by Ken YZ-F1:
Dali sells a pre-engineered kit that was specifically designed for the NSX. You can install it yourself (plug and play) and your car will not be the subject of butchery by the typical aftermarket stereo shop. Check it out. Price is very fair also.

I'd like to hear from someone who has done this. I asked in a thread about a month ago and there were no replies.

 

[robr]

what is it youre trying to find out? the components that are listed are all excellent, i did read about one guy who did it and posted to the nsx list and was happy with the sound.

 

[Andy Buzz]

Taking a car to a shop partially disassembled is a poor choice. If you are worried that the installer does not know about the screws behind the handle trim then you have chosen the wrong shop to work on your car. My NSX techs at www.buzz-off.com know all hidden screws, wire colors, locations, and compatibility issues from experience.

If you cannot find someone that has upgraded many NSX systems, my suggestion would be to let them earn experience on someone elses car and not yours. Ultimately, with the right company, you will be happy with the upgrade.

If you can get to Tampa, I would be happy to help you with your system. If you cannot get to Tampa, I can offer you great deals on components that work well in an NSX and advice.

Feel free to call (813)882-8477.

Andy Buzz

 

[robr]

depending on what area of the country youre in, there are far more car stereo shops than there are NSXs. here in the northeast, unlike florida where you are, you are almost guaranteed not to be able to find any shop, anywhere who has done work on an NSX. its either DIY, take a chance, or minimize your chances by doing some of their work for them by removing the panels yourself.