Upgrading Stock Speakers 1.8S

[loyman]

Just wondering if anyone has upgraded their stock sound system on the 1.8S model. I have not opened my up yet but believe they are 5.25" two way speakers.

[XterraVersa]

I have removed the stereo to see if the wiring was the same as my Xterra - nope - and will be replacing soon by splicing wires.

The speakers should be 6 1/2 speakers. Most likely el-cheapo panasonic paper speakers.

[MIdnkight-lude]

Just wondering if anyone has upgraded their stock sound system on the 1.8S model. I have not opened my up yet but believe they are 5.25" two way speakers.

if you look a couple thread down you will see Jemdawg thread about him installing a new headunit and speakers in his ride.

[Jemdawg]

The speakers in the SL were 6-1/2" 10W 2ohm Blaupunkts. I believe the S trim has Panasonic speakers, because, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Panasonic makes all of the stock (non-"premium", non-bose, non-rockford fosgate, etc.) speakers for Nissan. With that being said, the housing and the depth should all be the same as the SL trim, and therefore you can go by my rule of thumb that the negative lead is the lead facing the front of the car. Test this, of course, using a 14.4v or so battery from a drillgun. You will have to cut the wires, but if you plan on replacing the speakers, you have to anyway. If the polarity is correct, meaning that if you have the positive lead on the positive terminal of the battery and vice versa, the speaker will pop outward, if not it will pull in. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away.

P.S. You will need a spacer to mount new 6-1/2" speakers, if you prefer, you can build one yourself by conventional means, or find one similar to the housing Nissan uses at a local car audio shop.

[Ever Victorious]

Said writeup by Jemdawg should hopefully be going into a new FAQ section soon.

[motoguy128]

Sorry for the late post, but I thought I'd add my epxperience....

I highly recommend replacing the stock speakers. they are typical cheap paper cone, foam surround speakers. $120-200 for some descent speakers makes a huge difference. The bass is much cleaner (stock was boomy) and mids and highes are 10 times cleaner.

I installed 6-1/2 Infinity speakers in all 4 doors. I ordered them from Crutchfield and it came wiht a spacer ring. I also installed their foam speaker baffles. The window rubs the bakc of hte baffles when it's lowered. IT hasn't caused any problems but the window does drag a little on it and push slightly on the speaker... so be careful of speaker depth.

The installation was fairly easy. Take you time removing the door panel the first time. It's easier than it might seem at first. Seeing the huge steel tubs that gives it the 5 star side impact rating gives you a nice feeling of safety.

If your so inclines, spending a little more for component speakers in the front would probably be worth it. the low placement on hte doors, definitely hurts the overall sound quality. But then again... the "S" model is about economy. If you want 6 speakers... you could just get the SL.

[loyman]

Thanks Jemdawg and Motoguy for your info.

[Jemdawg]

ehhhhhhhhhh...The upgraded sound system wasn't much better than the standard one, the other two speakers were cheesy tweeters.

[Southernwayfarer]

I just bought a SL w/o the audio package. I want to upgrade the speakers but keep the stereo. From what I've read here I need to find 2 ohm speakers. Should I change out the four door speakers and keep the tweeters? Disconnect the tweeters? Would it be worthwhile to upgrade the tweeters? Can I add a woofer in the spot where the upgrade would be? If for example, I go with the Infinities, should I go with the 2 way or 3 way? Or a component system? Sorry for all the questions but I'm a total neophyte. Will I need adapters for the door speakers?

[Cbytes]

on the topic of replacing the speakers, how do you open the door pannel so you can replace them? Are there any screws I need to take out or do the pannels just pop off like they did when i replaced stereo deck?

[Jemdawg]

Get in touch with Geoff, he has the guide with everything you need to know about taking the door panels off.

[Cbytes]

I dont know how to get in touch with him, could you please describe how you get the window handle off, everything else was a piece of cake.

[Cbytes]

figured out the door pannels that wasnt too bad, now where would i put the hole in the firewall for my subwoofer amplifier, is there a hole thats good to use or do i need to drill one?

[XterraVersa]

you can go by my rule of thumb that the negative lead is the lead facing the front of the car. Test this, of course, using a 14.4v or so battery from a drillgun.

P.S. You will need a spacer to mount new 6-1/2" speakers, if you prefer, you can build one yourself by conventional means, or find one similar to the housing Nissan uses at a local car audio shop.

Got the Infinity Kappa 62.7's installed today. They sound great. Had to mount the crossovers inside the door. No problem, just drilled 2 holes for a zip tie to hold them in place.

The rule of thumb for speaker polarity is 1/2 correct. It only works on one side of the car, since an identical speaker is mirrored on the other side. BTW the driver's side it the side it worked on. Also the wire codes don't match the S trim. I didn't have a pen to write down the colors. sorry.

Also on the Infinity speakers, no spacers were needed & there was still ~1/2 inch clearance to the window. But make sure to zip tie the crossover wires so they don't go near the window gear.

These Kappas are ~1" shallower than the previous generations I put in the Xterra.

[XterraVersa]

Also, how do you get the window auto up to work after you unplug the switch?

[Clipsed]

Well once I get the extra money, I will be doing a fiberglass sub box for the hatch to hold my Eclipse 12" and see if I get another set of Kicker 6 1/2 shallow mount coax, and possibly see about taking off the a pillar trim to replace the tweeters. I install alarms and stereos as a side job, so we will see when I get the extra cash to do that. possibly if enough people are interested I can make copies of the FG sub box and sell them cheap, but I have to get enough people to buy them as not to make a mold for 2 or 3 people. So once I get that done I will try to get some pics posted and maybe see if anyone is interested in that.

[Jemdawg]

To make the auto up feature to work again you simply have to roll the window all the way down and then all the way back up, while keeping your finger holding it in the up position for about 15-20 seconds. After you do this it should work properly again.