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Audio Mods

30K views 50 replies 20 participants last post by  Brooksbrooks 
#1 ·
Has anyone attempted to change out the factory speakers with after market ones. The 13 speaker Bose system, to me, is entry level.
I understand that there may be complications due to the cut off frequencies going to individual drivers, timing delays in the factory program and impedance issues.

Any suggestions. I plan on taking the car to a high end car audio installation place to have the system analyzed for speaker replacement recommendations.

I'll post results as I learn of them.
 
#3 ·
lol do you actually think the stock bose performance system doesn't have bass? i personally think that the low end on the bose performance audio system that comes in the q60 is really good for a stock system. i've sat in a family member's m3 with the harmon kardon speakers and a c43 amg with the burmester speakers both of those had less bass than my q60(i wasn't even the one to say it lol. the owners pointed it out first when they sat in my car).
 
#6 ·
The bass in the bose hehehe ain't bad, but it can use a lot of enhancement. I'm gonna add two amps to it. Just need a high quality audio shop to do the installation. Bose has that rubber band base, I would like to add deep bass
 
#11 ·
they are all 2ohm speakers, and the crossover is built into the factory amp

Part 1: if you disconnect ANY of the speakers, even just to take the signal to a processor like an Audio Control or JBL, the DCU will detect a lower ohm load and store an error code

Part 2: So you will need to pull the signal off the speakers and combine it with something like an Audio Control or Zapco processor, THEN send that signal to your amps. Where you have disconnected anything from the factory amp, you need to wire in a 2ohm resistor so the DCU doesn't throw a code.

Part 3: The Bose system has two alternative functions. One is microphones placed throughout the cab that monitor sound, and it uses the subwoofer to send a low, noise cancelling signal. The DCU expects a 50 watt sub...if you make that a 500 watt sub, the DCU send the same signal but it is LOUD AS ****. You have to disable this in the DCU, they call it ANC in there (active noise cancelation).

Part 4: The fake engine noise. You don't notice it until you push it through a 500 watt sub instead of the 50 watt sub. Same thing as the ANC- it becomes INSANELY LOUD low bass hum that you can't turn off even if the audio is off. You have to disable this in DCU as well, and they call it "ASC" in there (active sound control).

The DCU system that controls the ANC and ASC runs a diagnostic on the amps, speakers, InTouch (consumer name for the DCU basically), nav, XM, radio, and related parts, every time you start the car. If it detects a zero ohm load at a speaker, it will throw an error code. I don't know if that affects how it processes sound, but, its best to use the resistors to trick the DCU into "seeing" that the factory amp is still connected to the speaker, even if its not.

After learning all this, I opted to just disable ANC/ASC, wire in a 2ohm resistor and take the sub output into an Audio Control LC2. From that I run it to a Zapco DC amp, and use the DC remote and software to adjust the sound. It actually sounds really good now, but I might wire in a crossover and use the factory sub to run like 72-200hz or something like that, for more midbass.

Good luck!
 
#13 ·
holy beep beep.. WOW just to replace the factory amp and add something else.. I don't even know if I want to do all of this.


Question: would a professional installer know about all of this?


I took electronics in school a loooooooog time ago, but I don't know if I want to tackle this all by myself. What time should I bring it to your house Helterstupid?


Also, I'm gonna assume the mic that is used for the phone is all incorporated into this as well?
 
#15 ·
holy beep beep.. WOW just to replace the factory amp and add something else.. I don't even know if I want to do all of this.


Question: would a professional installer know about all of this?




Also, I'm gonna assume the mic that is used for the phone is all incorporated into this as well?
yes they would know, and charge you accordingly! Honestly just add a subwoofer and some sort of processing and see if that gets you where you want to go.

the mic for the phone is different. I've turned of ASC and ANC and everything else works fine
 
#14 · (Edited)
Ok here is what the car audio installer did to the car. The stock amp is installed in the left passenger side wall. I has been disconnected. He said the 4 - 3 inch speakers in the front door and rear seat had virtually no output as the main stage came from the 3 front drivers. Here is what also has been abandoned in place. The 3 front 3" speakers, rear 3 " speakers, and the 2 rear deck 6 x9s.

The door panels were taken off and replaced with JL Audio C5 - 653s. They are powered by a 6 channel JL Audio 6006v2 amp. Each speaker has it's own channel. The Fix 86 and Twk 88 look after all the processing, sound shaping, time delay and frequency cut offs. The JL Audio cross over is not used. The JL Audio 10w7v3 was installed by me in a 1.25 ft3 enclosure in the trunk, as per JL Audio's specs. It is powered by a JL Audio 500/1 amp. All the components have been installed under the trunk deck where the spare tire would have been if it had one. Very neat and out of the way. All I have to do is remove the sub and I have full trunk space.

I work at a car dealership and when I took it there to get the summer tires on, It took me a while to get away. Anyone who demoed it had never heard anything like it before. The sound is absolutely amazing. I demoed it in the service bay and people came to see where the music was coming from. The sound is unbelievably clean, full with pin point accuracy and goes as loud as you can stand. Bass hits 10x harder than the 2 - 10" paper woofers that were in the doors and the C5 - 653s fit perfectly behind the factory grills so you would never know it was modified. FYI the 10' paper woofers weigh less than two pounds each where the 10w7 weighs 30 pounds alone

Expensive, yes but hey you get what you pay for. I'm not going to say anything bad about "Bose" as they are in business to make money, however they cannot compete with JL Audio.

I really wish car manufactures would stop trying to put some kind of version of their premium system in a car and start offering options that truly are a work of art. Put the buyer in the drivers seat.

Hope this helps and I do not recommend a do it your selfer attempt such a feat as it took over two days for an experienced installer to install and program they system
 
#26 ·
Outstanding, thanks for posting, Music Man! If it's not too much trouble, can you save me some research time and post the bottom-line cost for parts/labor please? Audio is far down my list, but definitely on the list, so I'd prefer to not burn cycles looking up component costs at the moment. Cheers, brother!
 
#16 ·
Music Man - do I need both of those ( Fix 86 and Twk 88)? They are like 400.00 a piece. I would like to keep the front speakers for now, but I'm sure I'll change them later.



Heltherstupid - Yea, I think I might just add the sub-woofer, amp and some type of processor. I really hope they installer I select knows what the beep he/she is doing? I was listening to some jazz and 80's pop/rock today and they bose sounds nice, but with some south florida rap/bass songs the bose just could not do it justice.
 
#17 ·
The only OEM (factory) car audio system that absolutely blew me away with its performance was the one in my gen 4 2007 Mitsu Eclipse by Rockford Fosgate.

https://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/2006-2012-eclipse/

That thing was unbelievable. I wish more factory systems lived up to that standard.

Your JB1 system sounds like it's incredible.
Congrats.

I'm going to try out my old school Cerwin Vegas through a mono 1000w RF amp as a start...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#18 ·
Hello Brokeas, you do not need a Twk 88 as it is a premium option for tuning. The crossovers supplied by JL Audio would have been sufficient. All you need to add a sub/amp is a LC/2 or a Fix 82 or 86. The 86 allows for future additional speakers if that is where you want or may want to go. I was going to do the sub install and evaluate the sound, but after some though I went with the full meal deal. Seamed a shame to open up the car's interior twice.

My understanding is all you need to do after the Fix is installed is tap off either an input signal from the head unit or off an output from the amp and send that signal to the Fix. The Fix calibrates the signal and sends it out as a 4VDc signal to an amp. The amp then does it's thing. There is good literature and posts on the internet which will better explain the details. If you are savy I think anyone with electronics experience could do it, but myself I would consult an expert. For the couple of hundred bucks or so I may be worth it in the long run.

Good luck
 
#19 ·
I'm addicted to great sound and been waiting it out until lessons have been learned and I wouldnt subject my baby to any experiments. Does your professional installer have a place of business and contact info? Is the Q60 that much differnt system wise from the Q50? THanks for posting MM!
 
#20 ·
To check for a reputable after market audio installer I would ask around. Start with Google and Car Audio Stores in you area. I wont take long to find one of any caliber as they generally are well known. As for differences between a Q50 and Q60, I don't know.

One question I would first ask is is how they would install the Fix or LC/2 as this is the the brains of the system.
 
#22 ·
If u guys looking for little more of Bass with the oem setup , crutchfield have power sub woofer size from 8 inch to 12inch, comes with everything to just splice the rear speakers wires and adjust the phase and bass level and u are good, I have the Sound Ordnance type with 125 watt 8 inch sub and sounds decent to me.
 
#24 ·
Can't believe how bad these paper OEM speakers are.

thats how Bose does it. other speaker manufacturers use high tech materials for their cones, surrounds, tweeters, etc. Bose uses mediocre speakers and gets their sound through signal processing. look at the Bose 901 home speakers ... a bunch of little paper cone speakers and a seperate "EQ" box to do the sound enhancement ...
 
#25 ·
Haven't gotten around to replacing the front cabin mids and tweeters yet with my new JLs:





But because I'm building a custom sub enclosure I threw in these, nothing fancy, Boss 6x9's on the rear deck in place of the factory (Bose) paper speakers:



Can't believe how much better the new ones sound... And they're not nearly even high end. Played the same song "back to back" (Heartless by Kanye West) with both sets of speakers and the bass, relatively speaking, was practically non existent with the stock Bose rear deck speakers. Maybe it's just me, but I had forgotten how much the "low end" (and highs as well I suspect) are missing from the Bose "premium" sound system. Can't wait to get my two sets of JLs in up front and the subs in the back!

I had no impedance problems whatsoever (4 ohm speakers) and also didn't have to add any capacitors back with the new speakers. I guess this must only be an issue with the non Bose stock system? I had saw a reference to this and had purchased a couple of packs of 4.7 micro Farad caps,



but didn't need them as I didn't see any caps on the factory speakers? The Bose wiring uses RED for positive (and blue or brown for negative), so at least it's not too crazy. "T" tapped and soldered in gold plated connectors in and kept the factory connection harness plugs intact.



The other thing I'm doing is adding anti vibration "gasket" tape around the speaker mounts as well as the snap fasteners on the interior panels. Completely eliminated "buzzing" vibration rattles and noises. I've also got plenty of Dynamet sound dampening material as well with acoustical sealing tape.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#30 ·
Haven't gotten around to replacing the front cabin mids and tweeters yet with my new JLs:





But because I'm building a custom sub enclosure I threw in these, nothing fancy, Boss 6x9's on the rear deck in place of the factory (Bose) paper speakers:



Can't believe how much better the new ones sound... And they're not nearly even high end. Played the same song "back to back" (Heartless by Kanye West) with both sets of speakers and the bass, relatively speaking, was practically non existent with the stock Bose rear deck speakers. Maybe it's just me, but I had forgotten how much the "low end" (and highs as well I suspect) are missing from the Bose "premium" sound system. Can't wait to get my two sets of JLs in up front and the subs in the back!

I had no impedance problems whatsoever (4 ohm speakers) and also didn't have to add any capacitors back with the new speakers. I guess this must only be an issue with the non Bose stock system? I had saw a reference to this and had purchased a couple of packs of 4.7 micro Farad caps,



but didn't need them as I didn't see any caps on the factory speakers? The Bose wiring uses RED for positive (and blue or brown for negative), so at least it's not too crazy. "T" tapped and soldered in gold plated connectors in and kept the factory connection harness plugs intact.



The other thing I'm doing is adding anti vibration "gasket" tape around the speaker mounts as well as the snap fasteners on the interior panels. Completely eliminated "buzzing" vibration rattles and noises. I've also got plenty of Dynamet sound dampening material as well with acoustical sealing tape.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I know i'm late but people can save " alot " money and use high temp mastic or visiolastic from mcmasters-carr website. Who needs to pay for silkscreened name ? lol. Brown bread is nice also .
 
#27 ·
Sorry for the delay in this post. All values are in Canadian Dollars.
Fix 82 (used digital output so the 88 wasn't needed) -$400
Twk 88 - $550
Bought the 10w&v3 sub and thew Slash 500/1 new in the box off of the internet - $500.
I built the sub box to fit the truck - $200
JL 653 speakers - $1000
JL 600/6 amp - $550
2 Stinger 4 gauge amp kits - $100 each
Install - $2200

As you can see the total comes around $5700 cdn
 
#34 ·
I'm interestest too in how to change them too . I'm lazy as **** nowadays and in no hurry . I just learned the tweets are 1" . woot . I'm going to try to put my extra titanium rubber surround QTC 25 tweets in . They are super smooth and roll off nice ! Thats should smooth the tweets out ! Although I need to figure out how or where to install the tweeter gaurds since I have no idea what slope thier crossed over at OEM . I wouldn't want to ruin tweets I spent almost 400 bucks on back in the day " 2000 " . Sucks though having all the tweet freqs on the pillars since thier in your face and symbalancy which capture attention . I normally run kicks and ghost the pillar set at 11k up in a ghost mode I call it . Cant even tell thier there which is what you want in s.q. competition . . Gets rid of the rainbow effect and brings up the stage to the dash . I wonder when using the extra processor modes in the car if its switches the polarity on the right woofer to center the stage . Thats a trick competitors use to center the stage and make it more focused . Ok , i better stop now . lol.
 
#35 ·
the reason I’m thinking about it is because there’s a lot of wind noise. One day I just push the tweeter in with my hand. And it was about 90% better just from that. So I’m thinking if there’s a way bring the door trim, weather stripping, and the tweeter tighter. I don’t want to open up the door to find that there’s no way to adjust it. Let me know!
 
#37 ·
I’ve seen it, I think I see two clips holding it together but the q50 has a window frame and the q60 doesn’t. That’s the confusing part. There has to be something holding it all together. If it’s just clips that hold it together then theirs no way squeezing it together. Plus less air sound means better sound quality if the air leak is right behind the tweeter.
 
#38 ·
I hear you ! I've had two other infinitis that leaked air that you can hear through the front door moldings both sides . I had to add stripping to the one i kept long term . I could see where the air gets sucked in by the white'ish residue the air left . Luckily I dont hear it in this car . I used to drive around with a modified stethascope to find noises to fix . lol.


. lol.
 
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