2017 Tahoe - Under Performing Sound with Factory Head unit + Aftermarket Speakers

[aggmeister2010]

Hello All,

I have a 2017 Tahoe PPV with the 8" Radio + Navigation. No Bose, the car has 6 speakers:

• 2 Tweeters by the A Pillar
• 2 6x9s in the Front Doors
• 2 6.5" round in the Rear Doors

As we all know, the factory speakers have itty bitty magnets and paper cones. I made the following changes:

• Factory Tweeters (no change)
• Rockford Fosgate Power T1693 3-way 6x9's in the Front Doors
• Rockford Fosgate PPS4-6 6.75" Round in the Rear Doors

I'm still getting plenty of sound from the factory tweeters, but the door speakers are very muted. Less sound than the factory speakers.

This leads me to believe that either the factory "amp" is pretty low powered, and can't deliver enough power to move the much bigger magnets on these speakers...or the factory unit is 2 ohms (not sure if that's correct), whereas these speakers are 4 ohms.

I see now that the speakers I've bought are mega overkill for the power handling capabilities of the radio, and would be open to swapping them for something else. I should have also considered that I don't need coax's in the 6x9s, since that will come from the tweeters themselves.

I don't plan to blast my music insanely loud, and would like to avoid running all new wiring to the doors and another power line. I'd just like for more clarity and "presence" than the factory setup. So my questions are:

1) Am I even going down the right path here? Would a 45 watt RMS X 4 give these speakers the power they need to function at a decent level?
2) If I'm not going to do a 100W amp, should I replace these speakers with something a bit less overkill?

 

[TechSupport]

I know the Bose speakers are 2 ohm, not sure if the non Bose are also.
Do you have a multi meter, you can check the impedance of the stock speakers.
You could always do a 5 Channel amp and add a sub also.

 

[dbbd1]

I know the Bose speakers are 2 ohm, not sure if the non Bose are also.
Do you have a multi meter, you can check the impedance of the stock speakers.
You could always do a 5 Channel amp and add a sub also.

I was wondering about the impedance values also, stock vs. aftermarket ones installed. But, throwing a multimeter on your speakers is an easy way to pop them. (Depending upon your multimeter)

 

[Doubeleive]

I was wondering about the impedance values also, stock vs. aftermarket ones installed. But, throwing a multimeter on your speakers is an easy way to pop them. (Depending upon your multimeter)

checking resistance with a ohm meter isn't going to hurt the speakers in any manner

 

[Doubeleive]

if your not looking to rewire everything with a aftermarket amp, then you can probably find some bose take outs or even new replacements on ebay, they should fit exactly into the factory mounts and will sound very nice. rock auto may even have some new ones for a reasonable price.

 

[aggmeister2010]

if your not looking to rewire everything with a aftermarket amp, then you can probably find some bose take outs or even new replacements on ebay, they should fit exactly into the factory mounts and will sound very nice. rock auto may even have some new ones for a reasonable price.

Is the impedance the same between the bose speakers and non Bose speakers? The Bose system has a factory amp so it could be different.

 

[dbbd1]

checking resistance with a ohm meter isn't going to hurt the speakers in any manner

Sending 3-9 volts to a speaker cone designed for millivolts will not hurt?

 

[Doubeleive]

Is the impedance the same between the bose speakers and non Bose speakers? The Bose system has a factory amp so it could be different.

I couldn't say I haven't tested any but I have read the bose speakers are 2ohm, it kind of goes like this if the original speakers are 2ohm and you put in 4ohm the power output from the amp is basically halved, sometimes you can go the other way around and get more power but it depends on if the amplifier can handle it or not.

 

[Doubeleive]

Sending 3-9 volts to a speaker cone designed for millivolts will not hurt?

I am not scientist but I am sure that a ohm meter does not send high voltage thru anything, a very low voltage is used to calculate what is called ohm's law, I have as well as thousands of others have tested very sensitive speakers and other electronics without ever damaging them.

 

[aggmeister2010]

Everyone,

I had a friend with a multimeter test his factory rear non-bose speakers.....they're 4 ohm (well, 3.8).

So it looks like the factory amp just isn't near powerful enough to handle the bigger magnets on these aftermarket speakers.