2004 Tahoe audio big picture

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Tom Morgan

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My daughter has a 2004 Tahoe with a stereo that does not work. Only puts out high freqs to the front speakers and rear column tweeters. I am trying to install a new stereo and front speakers so she will have a radio. I have installed new stereos and speakers in many of the cars our family has gone through, using Crutchfield for components and instructions. This is the first time I have been disappointed in the Crutchfield Master Sheet (012 0065). When I went to install the 6.5" speakers that they said would fit in the front doors, I found that there are also tweeters in the front doors. Crutchfield did not mention this. They also didn't mention the speakers would not quite fit in the plastic frames in the car. Looking at the posts about audio for these vehicles I see a lot of mentions of amplifiers. This vehicle does not have Bose audio or OnStar. It does have the factory CD and cassette stereo. Is there an audio amplifier? If so, where is it? Will putting a new stereo with speaker level outputs work? How can it be bypassed and taken out of the circuit?
Thanks for any information you can provide.

Tom Morgan
 

Doubeleive

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on my 00 it was behind the glove box, by 04 it could have been moved though, if it was Bose it would definitely be in the center console not sure if they would put a factory amp there as well or not, the tweeters are fine to just leave connected with your new speakers they just have a small inline cap at the tweeter to filter the highs so they will still function as they did originally with your new speakers. the 6.5" should fit if not then you can always just make a small cut as needed shouldn't take much.
 

JonnyTahoe

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on my 00 it was behind the glove box, by 04 it could have been moved though, if it was Bose it would definitely be in the center console not sure if they would put a factory amp there as well or not, the tweeters are fine to just leave connected with your new speakers they just have a small inline cap at the tweeter to filter the highs so they will still function as they did originally with your new speakers. the 6.5" should fit if not then you can always just make a small cut as needed shouldn't take much.
Thanks for the info I was wondering what that was behind the glove box. That will be coming out soon along with the stereo and all the junk speakers.
 

Doubeleive

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Thanks for the info I was wondering what that was behind the glove box. That will be coming out soon along with the stereo and all the junk speakers.
it might be a "job" to take the factory amp out behind the glove box, I just bypassed it and left it there when I had my 00, the amps I added went under the rear bench seat
 

JonnyTahoe

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it might be a "job" to take the factory amp out behind the glove box, I just bypassed it and left it there when I had my 00, the amps I added went under the rear bench seat
Maybe I will just leave it. Build coming soon.
 

Jonesy92

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I have an 03 Tahoe 5.3l, and my Bose amp was installed under the center console “bucket” in the front. After looking at the mounting location, decided to un-plug the harness, and tap into the harness to run wires to the exciting speakers(which I replaced). Made everything so much easier, and faster. Used the OEM wires, which were already ran, just simply unplugged the factory door speakers, and added in my Alpine X series 6.5’s. After I installed all the door speakers, I focused on the 6 tweeters I had, (2 on the front pillars, 2 in the middle row, where seat belts usually are, and 2 on the rear pillars in the trunk. I used the DB Drive bullet tweets all the way around, but found the front door speakers were connected to the tweets. Easy work around, added in the crossovers and ran the tweets back to the original wiring schematic. Everything works great, sounds waaay better. Even added dual 12” drivers behind the 3rd row seats, that fit, even if the 3rd row is up, or down.
 
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