The Nissan Path

I just picked up a very clean 2010 Pathfinder, and I'm really liking the truck so far. The Bose stereo is a little "blah" though. Vocals are too prominent, not much guitar and bass guitar. On my wife's previous Mazda CX-9 with Bose, we got a good improvement by simply swapping out the stock dash speakers with some Boston Acoustics, that pretty much just dropped in. I really don't want to mess with the HU in the Pathfinder, and I'm hoping there's a quick solution to improve the sound. I'm looking at some JBL GX692 6x9s for the front doors - they're 2.3ohm, but 94db sensitivity, so I'm hoping I can get away with the increased impedance due to the high sensitivity.

Has anyone had luck with a simple speaker swap in the Bose system? I understand that the stock speakers are 1ohm, so it's a difficult ask.

I hope a real stereo guy will chime in. I remember on a previous Nissan product having had issues with the Bose speakers and they couldn't "just" be swapped w/o getting other components renewed.

This was along time ago though and i hope somoene more versed than I will answer you.

Cheers - it's a recurring issue with factory premium stereos, and with Bose in particular. They are not easy to customize, due to odd speaker sizes, usually very low impedance, HU integration with other functions, etc. Bose releases zero info on the specs of their hardware, so I have no idea how much power the amp is putting out into the 1 ohm load it's seeing with the stock speakers, let alone what it would push into a higher 2.3 ohm load. The speakers I was looking at have a lowish impedance (2.3 ohms), and are exceptionally efficient (94 dbs), so they might be worth a shot. The Crutchfield rep I chatted with said they would be my best bet, but I don't know if I want to take a $60 gamble (on sale from $119), plus the hassle of taking the doors apart, inevitably breaking at least one fastener, etc! To add to the conundrum, I think the drivers side front speaker is blown - a distinct flatulant sound with the bass turned up at higher volumes. Decisions.....

The subwoofer speakers are 1-ohm but the door speakers are 2-ohm. I would think your speakers would work in the doors just fine at 2.3-ohm.

smj999smj wrote:The subwoofer speakers are 1-ohm but the door speakers are 2-ohm. I would think your speakers would work in the doors just fine at 2.3-ohm.

Excellent! Thanks - I think I'll give them a shot

jontyrees wrote:

smj999smj wrote:The subwoofer speakers are 1-ohm but the door speakers are 2-ohm. I would think your speakers would work in the doors just fine at 2.3-ohm.

Excellent! Thanks - I think I'll give them a shot

Ordered. I'll report back once they're installed. Fingers crossed this works out - they're two way coaxial 6x9s, so I'll have an extra tweeter. I wonder if the Bose amp sends a full range signal to the door speakers. If they're band passed to cut out highs and lows, the extra tweeter won't matter. Thanks for the info!

Update - I got the JBL 2.3 ohm 6x9s and installed one, on the drivers side. That was so I can flip back and fore from one side to the other to compare the JBL with the stock Bose woofer. So far it seems like there is less bass, but better clarity and more sounds from the jbl. It's not quite as loud. I'll check it again in a side by side compare to see if it has broken in at all. I think it's a valid swap, I'll be able to turn up the volume to compensate for the lower volume of the jbl's, and they'll sound better than the bose did. It's an easy swap, they drop right in with the crutchfield adaptors, and they were cheap at $60 on sale. Definitely not a instant massive improvement, but it sounds good, and I'll drop the other one in today.

So after a couple of weeks with both front speakers replaced, I have to call this swap a success. While it's not a life changing improvement, it is definitely a much more complete sound - no longer lacking crucial guitar and drum sounds. The "hollow" effect is gone. I guess I have it turned up a bit louder now to compensate for the lower volume level of the JBLs, but it still gets way louder than I ever want to listen to it - halfway up the volume scale is loud, 75% is very loud. Sounds great now - no more complaints from my wife, the critical test!

Totally easy drop in (10 mins per side?), probably worth the $120 full price, but definitely a steal for the $60 I paid.

Thanks for the update.. this is good info!

jontyrees wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:30 am

So after a couple of weeks with both front speakers replaced, I have to call this swap a success. While it's not a life changing improvement, it is definitely a much more complete sound - no longer lacking crucial guitar and drum sounds. The "hollow" effect is gone. I guess I have it turned up a bit louder now to compensate for the lower volume level of the JBLs, but it still gets way louder than I ever want to listen to it - halfway up the volume scale is loud, 75% is very loud. Sounds great now

Old now but thanks for posting this thread. I also felt something missing up front so I put in JBL GX962 in the doors with metra adapters. Everything else is the original Bose factory speakers and I’m content. The factory front door Bose had nothing in the mid and had quite a bit of bass. The JBLs have less bass but helped the midrange up front a bunch. The tweeters do play some so the dash speakers aren’t as dominant as they annoyingly used to be. It feels like the midrange gap is filled and the sound is full up front. I'm happy with them and the overall sound now.

Discontinued, but I found the jbls locally on clearance and got the metra adapters from crutchfield.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-BBtyCLa80 ... GX962.html