Here is a little Saturday night story for those trapped at home... During a recent trip, my SO noticed that she wasn't hearing audio in all the speakers. I set the balance to front, left, right, rear, and listened to each speaker set. What did I hear? Nothing in the rear speakers (at all), the right speaker was distorted (blown for sure) and the driver's side was fine, if not drowned out by the tweeter.

Thus today I took the panels out of the rear speaker area (door sills, belt panels, top off the hump, etc) and sure enough, two stock Clarion Crap (tm) speakers that make no sound. So I soldered in two new Infinity Refs, and tested it out - glorious sound! Sounded great at the back. Now I need to order a front set and replace those, too. What the heck was the previous owner doing that they managed to fry 3 speakers? I also noticed screw marks around the bass unit (behind the driver's seat), which leads me to believe it had an aftermarket sound system at one point, but was reverted to stock.

I didn't notice any wiring in the bass unit area - is there wiring in the harness for it? Or do you need to wire it yourself?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit was 2009:07:06:09:54:52.

The bass unit behind the drivers seat is installed only if you have the BOSE sound system. It has it's own sub-woofer amplifier mounted to the left of the woofer if your facing the rear of the car. Wiring harness is provided and it plugs into the input of this amp. Also included was a harness that went from the output of the sub amplifier to the 10" woofer behind the drivers seat. I recently had to send in my sub-amp to BOSE for repairs. My Woofer was cutting on/off when hitting bumps in the road. Turned to be a bad relay on the apmlifier assy. BOSE was nice enough to fix it for free even though I was way out of warranty on my 03 Z.

Since it appears like an aftermarket system has been removed, I hope the installer didn't rip out your original wiring harness assy when the upgrade was done. It sounds like that may be the case if you do have the factory BOSE sound system. If you just have the stock radio that came with the base model, this wiring harness/amp/woofer was not included. Good luck though.

Thanks Mike. The car did not have the BOSE system, so the wiring won't be there. Sounds like a weekend project. I did replace the receiver yesterday night and the difference in sound is night and day - the Nissan base system is really pathetic. I'm surprised they don't spend a few dollars more for a quality system. Everything appears to be bottom-end Clarion.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2009:07:04:11:46:54.

MaelstrØm Wrote:
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> I'm surprised they don't spend a few
> dollars more for a quality system. Everything
> appears to be bottom-end Clarion.

I'm glad Nissan put their bucks into the 350Z's performance credentials--not the stereo.

Except here I am replacing the entire thing just so I can hear the news in the morning on the way to work. I don't mind less expensive, but functional is required.

dkmura Wrote:
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> MaelstrØm Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'm surprised they don't spend a few
> > dollars more for a quality system. Everything
> > appears to be bottom-end Clarion.
>
> I'm glad Nissan put their bucks into the 350Z's
> performance credentials--not the stereo.

Oh David.. you have such a myopic view of sports cars! :)

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2010 ZCON in Nashville
middletennesseezclub.com - nissansportmag.com
Add to the Map of Ethanol Free Gas stations!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2009:07:09:06:44:42.

Jess- I'm not at all myopic- one of my fav Z33 mods is the MB Quart speakers I added early on. Let the factory do what they do best to engineer the car and I'll pick the sound system I like listening to!

I do not have the Bose unit in my car. I was very disapointed in the factory system. I purchase a modest pair of Boston Acostics, but they did not help the bottom line. Only a slight improvement. I replace the factory head unit and the difference was night and day. I went a little overboard. It has GPS DVD Sirus Thumb Drive/ Ipod and bluetooth. It cost over a thousand the head unit but makes me happy. I agree with Dkmura

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2008 Nogaro 350z
2007 BMW 328I
1990 Volkswagen GTI

Question for you (younger?) guys with all of the in car Stereo systems upgrades. The gentleman in the above post just stated that he just invested over 1K in just his head unit alone. Why? This car is a sports car not your living room. BTW, which cost the most? The system in you car or the one in your home?

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Mspeasl
Decatur, Illinois - Forum member since 2/02

'Growing old may be mandatory, but growing up is optional'

2009 Solid Red Touring 6sp W/Sport Package '370Z' - Delivered 7 April 2009
2008 Radiant Red Toyota 'X-Runner' - Delivered 15 November 2007
2005 Satin Jade Green Chrysler 300C 'Hemi' - Delivered 1 June 2004

1957 Chevrolet Belair 2dr post - 'Gas Coupe Drag Car' owned since 1964
1947 Chevrolet Fleet Master sport coupe - 'Street Rod' owned since 1974

I spent very little on my replacement system because the road noise is loud in the 350z. You can't hear a lot of the response range unless parked.

I can see your point and well taken,but if you add up all the features that I got and paid for orginal equipment prices i got alot for my money. Mspeasl I would love to have the fleet of cars that you do. The old ones are really incredible. I work hard like 60 to 70 hours a week and I drive to work and for pleasure so it is a duel purpose car. I tried to replace just the speakers but the difference was not noticable. I would agree that the price of of the head unit was a bit excessive. My drive to work is great if the roads are clear or if I am gridlock.

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2008 Nogaro 350z
2007 BMW 328I
1990 Volkswagen GTI

Stock system is a joke..Bose/Clarion...whatever. Replace ALL speakers with quality subs, coax, etc...=D OH, and..get a Optima Batt.