Saab 9-3 dash speakers upgrade

[nijee]

Wulf, I have been reading that it may be a good idea now to disconnect the center speaker to get a better effect now that i have upgraded the dash speakers to the BA 35s. Any truth in that before I mess with it? Can anybody share their experience?

Julay

Good question as I have seen this referred to as well. Being an audio gumbie - would like to hear what people with more experience in this area think.

[nordwulf]

Why not give it a try and hear for yourself? Just carefully remove the speaker grille with something like a butter knife, use a screw driver to press in the 3 clips that holds the speaker, remove and unplug speaker. Can't take more than a few minutes and it won't hurt anything.

[spctm]

Done. Yesterday I removed the center speaker. It was simple. As Wulf points out they were being held by 3 clips. I had to push and pry them out. The sound stage is now far better and I can finally hear the L & R channels separately. I do not know why someone would add a mono channel in the center. 5.1 makes sense but mono. Now I am at 12 speaker set up :-)

[julay9]

OK, I will check it out this afternoon.
I popped the grill off the other day and it just seems so hard to get back there. I have the 2005 9-3 Conv. with SIM up top. I am not a big guy but I am not sure you hard it is going to be. I'll keep you guys posted.

I am going to swap out the rears with the Polk Audio DXI350's I found at Best Buy the other day for $29. Hopefully it will make some difference over the crappy ones that are in. For the price i paid i am not too worried (I know you guys say it may not make that much of a difference but having upgraded the dash L/R to BA35s I might as well round out the job). I can confirm they fit as I already took the other ones out (4 ohm btw) and placed these in (still in the Individual plastic bags unopened) to make sure the grill would fit back on with enough clearance. I wanted to make sure or i was taking them back.

[abalts90]

Hi Cafasco. I just upgraded from a 99 9-5 to an 08 9-3 convertible. I love everything about the new car EXCEPT for the sound system... If you've ever heard the 9-5's stock Harmon Kardon system in action, you'd know why I'm bothered so much by the so-so 7spk system in the 08. Crutchfield didn't outfit my vehicle so I googled and saw that this was the place to be...

As far as the door speakers go, I'm currently planning to go with Kicker CVT-652 (6.5", 2ohm) sub woofers. They are supposed to be awesome and are the only 2 ohm 6.5" woofer on the mkt. The stock 150watt amp runs the door woofers at 2ohm and the center dash speaker. The best price I found is here: Kicker 10CVT652 6-1/2" Shallow-Mount Comp VT Subwoofer CVT652

Did you end up installing the Kicker CVT-652 (6.5", 2ohm) sub woofers? If so how was the install/fitting? How do they sound?

Thanks

[nijee]

Just installed my BA35s dash speakers and had the same experience with the 2 different positions as Jaco has outlined earlier, LHS "|" and RHS "-". However, both my speaker covers fitted perfectly. Did have to rotate the LHS speaker 180 degrees from my initial attempt to ensure wires were tucked into the dash cavity and it did sit lower this way around.


Having a lot of trouble removing the centre grille cover. Any advice on this one. My car is an 09 model so dont have the SID but can get the side facing the cockpit prised up but the sides seems firmly fastened.

Hi all,

A question for those who installed BA S35s: One of the speakers (passenger side) fits perfectly due to the tweeter positon: "-" but the driver side one is like this: "|" and the grille cover is not fitting right.

Anyone got this problem or has tips on how to solve? I am afraid to try and force the tweeter enclosure to rotate and break something - it is basically 90º off in the driver's side for the speaker cover to fit well

Cheers,
J

[Sebastyiao]

Dear Frank,

Can I ask you concerning a 9-3 sport sedan convertible upgrade please? There is the premium system in my car. I changed the speakers in front door ( this car only has front doors ). I removed the speakers behind the rear-side upholsteries and I put two oval speakers behind the rear seat back where there are places to them originally. As an amateur I just connected these new oval speakers to the wires of the speakers from the rear-side upholsteries and the result is a big zero, there is almost nothing comes out from the oval speakers.

Now I read that the dashboard speakers must be changed so I will do it and let me ask your oppinion about the following things:

1. Do you advice to change the rear-side speakers also to Boston Acoustic speakers also? Does it have effect on the sound quality?
2. How can I operate the new oval speakers? Do I need a new amplifier? Do I need a Prestige amplifier or you have other idea?

Best regards:
Sebastyiao

[DrSchteeve]

First post, just got a 2006 Aero Convertible...

So I have ordered the BA35's for the dash speakers.
- ? should I leave the factory tweeters connected or disconnect

Dash center speaker
- ? should I replace with a BA4 or equivalent or simply disconnect
- ? if I disconnect do I lose anything - turn signals, etc.

Doors
- ? should I replace with 2 ohm wooferish speaker (e.g., Image Dynamics CX62)

I'll do the rears with something, although I know they don't contribute much.

Any info appreciated.

[DrSchteeve]

Since my car is an '06, do I need to put in bass blockers for the BA dash (and rear) speakers?

[tymott08]

Hey I replaced the deck and back speakers with Boston Acoustics in my 2004 9-3 (7 speakers). Car sounded great. Made me consider replacing the doors but I figured it wasnt worth the hassle. Last night I got in my car and when the stereo turned on automatically there was no bass from anywhere in the car. Still got a crisp sound from the speakers it just completely lacked bass. Since the door speakers are primarily bass, I am getting practically no sound out of them. Any ideas?