Budget Bose upgrade underway - Pioneer TS components / Kicker Key 200.4 / Kicker Hideaway HS10 sub / OWC Harness Interface

[staying_tuned]

Hey folks, I have been planning a budget oriented upgrade for a few weeks but needed to wrap up a few things. I performed a near identical upgrade on my F150 and couldn't be happier with the results. I was able to stay under $1,000 on that, my harness is about $150 more on the Z though so I believe I'll be just under $1,200.

Gear includes:

Door Speakers: 6x9 Pioneer TS-A693FH - Very solid 6x9 in a great load range for the Kicker Key amp.
Dash Midrange & Tweeters: 2.75" Pioneer TS-A709 - Robust sound from that location with these 2.75" 2-ways. Also a great match for the Kicker Key amp.
Kicker Key 200.4 DSP Amp - Drives components, DSP Auto-tune, very compact size. I love this little beast.
Kicker HS10 Powered Sub - This little powered 10" offers very clean yet impactful base. Enough to where I've got it down to 1/4" in my F150. It can hit pretty hard but most importatnly, doesn't get sloppy.
Knu Koncepts - 4G OFC Amp Install Kit w/ 4G > 8G distribution block. 8G out to kicker HS10 sub and Kicker Key Amp.
Knu Koncepts - Kno Knoise XT Deadener (120ml for the floor. I've got 50/80 here at the house)
OWC Harness - Custom created to omit rears speakers which coincidentally saved me $60.

The Kicker Key with DSP tuning is incredible and so tiny it fit behind the head unit in my truck. Like the F150 I'm going to remove the rear panel speakers entirely and focus on the front door & dash components while incorporating a powered sub. I worked with Chris at OWC Upgrades on a harness which is a variation of his "Replace Factory Amp" configuration which will omit the rear panel speakers entirely.

The end result will be:
- Zero splicing, OWC's harness plugs into the Bose amp & harness.
- Pre-amp signals via RCA to Kicker Key DSP (drives components).
- Dedicated 2 channel RCA for sub.
- Leverage existing speaker wire runs for components.

After sound deadening my trunk I went ahead and started pulling panels and eventually seats and door panels. A few things I was pretty surprised with:

- It had been posted before that the doors were sealed up nicely from the factory. These doors are indeed amazing. Even what could be considered somewhat of a blocking plate has a gasket from the factory! All holes were either covered via pliable grommet or decal and they didn't rely on that cheap rubber slathered plastic sheeting as a moisture barrier, it's just sealed up nicely from the factory. I'll likely just go with a 50ml deadening skin and closed cell foam on the doors with 90ml & 120ml on the floor.

- The central area where the factory bose amp is located is quite roomy. The bose amp has a mounting housing that takes up 5 times the space of the amp so by the time you remove the fluff, you have a nice area to work with and position additional gear. In the below photo you can see the stock amp lifted and set aside in the upper right area. Also notice the fuel pump deadener squares they have on there. They are loose and just set in place but nice that they thought about it.

- The floor has a surprising amount of rigid mass builder/deadener. I'm going to cover most of this with deadener but all those gray grid-like sheets are OEM deadener. It's the hard stuff that tends to shatter off, learned to leave this $hit alone awhile back. I'll deaden over all of it.

I'm currently waiting on the equipment. I have the deadener so I'm going to take my time and cover it well, then move onto the rest. I'll document as things progress.

Thanks a ton for all of the R&D and postings from various members along the way, it has been a tremendous help!

 

[Mugzilla]

DAMN! I felt like Yoda from my upgrades I made to my Sport's audio. You and @Exquisite_Red make me want to film myself eating crayons, and just put those vids in my thread.

 

[staying_tuned]

DAMN! I felt like Yoda from my upgrades I made to my Sport's audio. You and @Exquisite_Red make me want to film myself eating crayons, and just put those vids in my thread.

Haha, I must have visited various posts from you, Exquisite and Mac multiple times per day for nearly 1 month straight just getting my ducks in a row. Thank again for posting your findings, I already have a bamboo kabob skewer stuck through that grommet & insulation on that pass battery box so when ready I can run that amp's 4G.

My young boys and I have turned it into somewhat of a fort. With the seats out they just hang in there doodling and racing matchbox cars. They've hopped through my trunk I suspect about 200 times. In and an out like some type of field mice. I ended up putting a tender on it.

They leave entry and exit residue. You'd think they just ate 10 corndogs with all the prints hahaha.

 

[Ckynus]

From my own audio install I can tell you just killing those 2 rear rattling speakers is a giant gain. The Z cabin is small enough were I found I didnt need that fill.

 

[staying_tuned]

Opted to switch from the JL C1-690 components to the Pioneer TS-A693FH in 6x9 for the doors and the Pioneer TS-A709 2-3/4" 2-ways in the dash. A bit pricier than the JL components but the TS-A709 seems fantastic and should be warmer than the JLs. I've had nothing but great experiences with Pioneers (mid-grade or better) 6x9s. I'm still omitting the rear panel speakers entirely.

I took a few shots of the Bose factory speakers in case anyone in the future could use them. The order below (top down) would be dash, doors then rear panels.

 

[Mugzilla]

Nissan AND Bose should feel bad and shamed for putting such $#!+ components in. Those rear speakers look like the crap ones from the sport with "BOSE" stenciled on.

 

[Mugzilla]

Hey folks, I have been planning a budget oriented upgrade for a few weeks but needed to wrap up a few things. I performed a near identical upgrade on my F150 and couldn't be happier with the results. I was able to stay under $1,000 on that, my harness is about $150 more on the Z though so I believe I'll be just under $1,200.

Gear includes:

Door Speakers: 6x9 Pioneer TS-A693FH - Very solid 6x9 in a great load range for the Kicker Key amp.
Dash Midrange & Tweeters: 2.75" Pioneer TS-A709 - Robust sound from that location with these 2.75" 2-ways. Also a great match for the Kicker Key amp.
Kicker Key 200.4 DSP Amp - Drives components, DSP Auto-tune, very compact size. I love this little beast.
Kicker HS10 Powered Sub - This little powered 10" offers very clean yet impactful base. Enough to where I've got it down to 1/4" in my F150. It can hit pretty hard but most importatnly, doesn't get sloppy.
Knu Koncepts - 4G OFC Amp Install Kit w/ 4G > 8G distribution block. 8G out to kicker HS10 sub and Kicker Key Amp.
Knu Koncepts - Kno Knoise XT Deadener (120ml for the floor. I've got 50/80 here at the house)
OWC Harness - Custom created to omit rears speakers which coincidentally saved me $60.

The Kicker Key with DSP tuning is incredible and so tiny it fit behind the head unit in my truck. Like the F150 I'm going to remove the rear panel speakers entirely and focus on the front door & dash components while incorporating a powered sub. I worked with Chris at OWC Upgrades on a harness which is a variation of his "Replace Factory Amp" configuration which will omit the rear panel speakers entirely.

The end result will be:
- Zero splicing, OWC's harness plugs into the Bose amp & harness.
- Pre-amp signals via RCA to Kicker Key DSP (drives components).
- Dedicated 2 channel RCA for sub.
- Leverage existing speaker wire runs for components.

After sound deadening my trunk I went ahead and started pulling panels and eventually seats and door panels. A few things I was pretty surprised with:

- It had been posted before that the doors were sealed up nicely from the factory. These doors are indeed amazing. Even what could be considered somewhat of a blocking plate has a gasket from the factory! All holes were either covered via pliable grommet or decal and they didn't rely on that cheap rubber slathered plastic sheeting as a moisture barrier, it's just sealed up nicely from the factory. I'll likely just go with a 50ml deadening skin and closed cell foam on the doors with 90ml & 120ml on the floor.

- The central area where the factory bose amp is located is quite roomy. The bose amp has a mounting housing that takes up 5 times the space of the amp so by the time you remove the fluff, you have a nice area to work with and position additional gear. In the below photo you can see the stock amp lifted and set aside in the upper right area. Also notice the fuel pump deadener squares they have on there. They are loose and just set in place but nice that they thought about it.

- The floor has a surprising amount of rigid mass builder/deadener. I'm going to cover most of this with deadener but all those gray grid-like sheets are OEM deadener. It's the hard stuff that tends to shatter off, learned to leave this $hit alone awhile back. I'll deaden over all of it.

I'm currently waiting on the equipment. I have the deadener so I'm going to take my time and cover it well, then move onto the rest. I'll document as things progress.

Thanks a ton for all of the R&D and postings from various members along the way, it has been a tremendous help!

Want to remove sticky deadener the fun way?

Dry ice!

 

[Mugzilla]

@staying_tuned How are the Bose 6x9 speakers mounted? Specifically, are there spacers that move them closer to the door grille?

Just wondering, as I'm curious if 2 ohm 6x9s are a more viable solution for us Sport owners than trying to find 6.5" 2 ohm speakers.

 

[staying_tuned]

@staying_tuned How are the Bose 6x9 speakers mounted? Specifically, are there spacers that move them closer to the door grille?

Just wondering, as I'm curious if 2 ohm 6x9s are a more viable solution for us Sport owners than trying to find 6.5" 2 ohm speakers.

They have angled spacers but the door panel itself has a 6x9" cutout. The factory spacers provide a bit of space, perhaps 1" on one side and 1.5" or 1.75" on the other, the factory spacers provide a nice angle. It's one concern I have on the metras that are coming, they don't appear to be angled and I don't think I'll be able to reuse the factory ones.

It looks like the only difference between sport and perf doors on the speaker is the adapter plate. Since new rings are required for my 6x9 upgrade anyhow, I bet you could run 6x9 no problem by just removing the 6.5” plastic blocking plate. Here is mine the