Replace rear speakers on factory Non-Bose

[gc_caddy]

Thinking of replacing the rear 6x9 speakers in my factory NON-Bose (94 STS).

The OEM rating is 10 ohms, will installing standard 4 ohms speakers cause problems for the factory amp? Will there be a balance problem?

Thanks.

[JasonA]

I did this with my '84 Cutlass, and would assume the same would apply to your non-Bose Seville also. The stock Delco stereo sounded FANTASTIC with aftermarket Pioneer 4-ohm speakers. I replaced them all (fronts and rears), although I don't think you'd have problems replacing just two. I understood the factory speakers were 1-ohm, though, although every other OE speaker I've heard of was 10-ohm. Have you measured them to verify that they're 10-ohm?

[bigfoo]

Why in the world would they be 10? Just to be a pain in the butt for people replacing things? Normally you see 4 or 8 ohm speakers and that's what is readily available to buy everywhere

[Romey-Rome]

Maan...I hate those GM systems. I gutted everything out on myne. I think they do try and be a pain in the @ss. What on earth posesed them to seperate the tuner from the HU is beyond me. But yeh, I never heard of 10Ω.

[KenD]

jadcock, I gave you that misinformation regarding the 1 Ohm speaker. I was hungover that day and to me the zero and 1 blended in together. They are 10 Ohms.

I took out my factory speakers and hooked up some Inifinitys via a wiring harness but the sound was so terrible coming out of the stock Delco system that I replaced everything....new deck, new front and rear speakers and a Rockford amp.

[Prop_Washer2]

Just a note on measuring the speaker...the 10 Ohm rating is is not simple Ohms. It's the impedance. Combination of the resistance, inductive reactance, capacitive reactance, etc... so you wont get a true reading. Generally if they are 10 ohms, as you add more speakers (in parallel) the resistance decreases. If it decreases too far, say 1 Ohm or less, ZERO ohms would be a short circuit, the amp go fry. I would use 8 ohms replacements at least if 10's are hard to find.

Let's say you have 8 speakers in parallel, all with the same impedeance, then 10/8 ohms, 1.25 ohms for the circuit. If they are 4 ohm speakers, then the cirkuit impedance would be 0.5 Ohms...getting close to a short circuit. Very high current levels on the output amplifier. I would use 8 ohms at least...

[rek]

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=269-562 Cheap enough to try and they are 10 ohms. I got a set, but haven't tried them out yet. They don't look too shabby. If the connector isn't the same, I'll solder on the OEM ones from the original speakers. 10 or 8 will keep your stock system alive. Lower, especially, just one set (rear), will eventually funk the output transistors, or the remaining OEM speakers (front).

[gc_caddy]

Thanks everyone...

I'll see how the system sounds after I replace the front door speakers with Infinity Reference 5.25s.

Funny though, the front speakers are 4 Ohms! Both the 5.25 and separate tweeter are 4 Ohms, and I think they are wired in parallel, thus showing 2 Ohms to the amp. Just maybe, the factory amp is very robust and can handle replacement of the rear 10 Ohm speakers with newer 4 Ohms.

I only need the rears for "rear fill" so the OEM ones may be sufficient. We'll see.

[Cadillac-matt]

hey man i got a 1992 sts , and i got some nice infititys, tvs and deck and all in my caddy , only probelm is the stock 6'9s are still in there and i would like to put in them and take out the factorys is there an easy way to do that casue the only way it looks like is to remove the parcel shelf since the seats dont fold down is there any easy way to do it if so plz tell me lol i dont want to reck anythhing thx

[JohnnyG]

Short answer, NO! You will either fry the amp, or suffer terrible sound distortion. You need to match the speaker impedence to the amp, and the only speakers that are suitable for any amp are those with proper impedence ratings.

GM could tell you what the ratings should be, but prob. won't, ditto for Bose. There is a test method that can be used to determine speaker impedence, but it is somewhat involved. You need to mount the speaker into a small "test enclosure" and supply it with a signal, the speaker coil becomes part of a "whetstone bridge" with a meter attached across a known resistance. After a little math, the speaker impedence can be determined.

Or you can look on the side of the speaker frame and hope that it is printed there.

Suggest a little web searching on "determining speaker impedence" as a start.

Oh, btw, I've heard impedence numbers quoted for Bose speakers as low as 2.5 ohms.