I am thinking about upgrading my sound system in my 2011 malibu LTZ, so first goal is to discover what I have. I found the amp mounted behind the passenger side tail light. It looks like two way 6x9s on the rear deck. 6 1/2" in the front doors and 1" tweeters in the pilars. hear are all the Pics. The car is still apart if you want pics of anything else let me know.

Proof of LTZ model :)
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_171559.jpg

Amp and 120 coverter behind the passenger tail light.
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_172310.jpg

Sticker on back of Bose Amp (blacked out serial numbers)
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_183305.jpg

Front of Bose amp showing
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_172522.jpg

Bose 6x9 on back deck
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_175044.jpg

Front Door speaker
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_175821.jpg

Back of Door speaker
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_175937-1.jpg

Tweeter after removed from pilar.
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_180234.jpg

Back of Tweeter
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/mariobro54/IMG_20110608_180114.jpg

Wouldn't want JAHID to track down those serial numbers and track you down eh! :D:D:D

The front door speakers are actually 6 3/4 only one company makes aftermarket speakers that size and that is JVC and they are very low end. GM uses that size speaker in all models of their cars/trucks. For front doors, Impalas,Malibus,Cobalts,Trunk and Subs/Tahoe Family all the same. Aveo I'm not sure of cause I haven't done a stereo in but they may be different as they are actually a Daewoo. Anyways Schosche and Metra both make adapter rings for those models to convert it from a 6 and 3/4 to a 6 1/2. If you decide to up grade. I reccomend high end speakers like Hertz Milli components for fronts. And a good amp for all of them. You will have to basically gut your system as Bose screws everything up when doing aftermarket. If you keep the factory radio you will have to unplug the Bose amp, use a inline converter from the head of the radio and run new wires to all speakers from a new amplifier. Just replacing your speakers will not make much difference and may in fact cause a lower end sound. Those speakers and amp are tuned for each other professionally by Bose for that car's acoustics. Also if you are just installing a subwoofer and amplifier setup and keeping everything else factory with a in line converter. You will have to turn off your noise cancellation feature and possibly unplug the mic too. I notice that they mess with the aftermarket equiptment.
Hope that helps,
Tim

Dam that sucks,I was thinking about just replacing the speakers but was not sure if it would make a different....

major suckage- guess the speakers are going back to crutchfield.... :(
it pizzes me off- the bose system SUCKS. i sat in a Cruze before i bought this ltz- the pioneer system ROCKED. Bose sucks.

PS...bose sucks.

The front door speakers are actually 6 3/4 only one company makes aftermarket speakers that size and that is JVC

Actually Kicker, Kenwood, Pioneer, Rockford Fosgate, Polk, Sony, Infinity, Alpine, Boston Acoustics, JL Audio, Focal, Infinity and a bunch of other brands I've never hear of currently offer speakers that are 6-3/4".

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_52100/6-3-4-Speakers.html?tp=94#&pg=2

Plus most, if not all of those same companies offer 6-1/2" speakers that have tabs on the perimeter of the mounting flange to accomodate cars with 6-3/4" openings.

Bose system watts?

anybody actyall REPLACE their bose system speakers? How? mine got 4 wires goijgn to EACH speaker- presumably two to the tweeter and two to woofer cone...how would you put in a standard speaker at all?

I have not found anyone that has replaced the bose speakers. I have noticed after about a month, my speakers were sounding better than they did we I drove the car off the lot with 3 miles on it. I guess it might be a break in period or just in my head (not sure which).

I would think if your going to replace the Bose speakers, it would be in the best interest to replace the whole entire system as the Bose speakers are designed with the Bose amp. You are correct, Bose amp is bi amping the sound (one channel for the highs and one channel for the lows). If you did use the Bose amp, you would need a component speak set, where the tweeter and woofer are separates.

Best of luck with this and keep us up to date on if you replace your speakers as I'm sure more are interested in this (including me).

anybody actyall REPLACE their bose system speakers? How? mine got 4 wires goijgn to EACH speaker- presumably two to the tweeter and two to woofer cone...how would you put in a standard speaker at all?
Just the rears have 4-wires to each speaker. Don't believe it's feasible to replace them. The front door speakers have 2 wires to each. My 4-month old LTZ has the Bose system -- works really well for me.

Just the rears have 4-wires to each speaker. Don't believe it's feasible to replace them. The front door speakers have 2 wires to each. My 4-month old LTZ has the Bose system -- works really well for me.

Note that the front speakers have the woofers in the doors and tweeter in the pillar. So my best guess is that only mids and lows go to the woofer and only the highs go to the tweeter in the pillars.

Actually Kicker, Kenwood, Pioneer, Rockford Fosgate, Polk, Sony, Infinity, Alpine, Boston Acoustics, JL Audio, Focal, Infinity and a bunch of other brands I've never hear of currently offer speakers that are 6-3/4".

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_52100/6-3-4-Speakers.html?tp=94#&pg=2

Plus most, if not all of those same companies offer 6-1/2" speakers that have tabs on the perimeter of the mounting flange to accomodate cars with 6-3/4" openings.

I had a 2008 Nissan Titan before the Malibu. $3.50 gal gas made up my mind on the trade. I put speakers in the doors and they didn't quite fit. I made my own adapters out of MDF, they never came lose, worked great. If i decide to replace the speakers in the Malibu and the ones i want don't line up i'll make my own adapters again. if it Comes to that I'll be sure to post pics of the whole process.

Interesting thread. I had thought of replacing my speakers. I don't have the Bose system. The more I listen to it though, I get adequate sound. The head unit, to me, I can't see messing with it unless you're really into that stuff. I think it works great. Maybe some would like more power, I can understand that but otherwise, for a stock unit, it's good enough. Stock speakers though don't have the best reputation over the long haul. Just not the better quality materials. So, if I do decide at some point to upgrade the speakers, any that have 'been there, done that', any recommendations? I'd like to keep it to maybe 400 bucks tops, cheap I know, but it is what it is. Is there a real audible sound difference upgrading the tweeters? When choosing rear deck and door speakers, what criteria do you use to make a choice? Frequency response is usually quoted, but how useful is it in picking a winner? Any cone materials to stay away from? In the rear deck, is it better sound quality from a 6 by 9 or a round speaker? I realize there's probably some customizing to do to fit a round where an oval came from but what's the concensus? i thought I remembered from years ago, that bass response could be improved by enclosing the speaker, like in the rear deck, the door, there isn't a whole lot of room, but the rear deck, enclose it or waste of time? BTW, what WAS the idea behind blocking out some of the numbers in the pictures? If it isn't hot, are they coded somehow? Just curious.

BTW, what WAS the idea behind blocking out some of the numbers in the pictures? If it isn't hot, are they coded somehow? Just curious.

No these are not "HOT", I just thought it was worth the very small amount of time it took to block them out. Not really sure why I thought of it but it does prevent any dealer proving I took them out if they ever fail under warranty or some other issue i can't think of.

Not really sure why I thought of it but it does prevent any dealer proving I took them out if they ever fail under warranty or some other issue i can't think of.



It's not that easy to decline a warranty claim. I put plenty of stuff on each week that there's absolutely no way the part failed with out a little help. I just thought it was funny, that's all.

so your saying since the fronts only have two wires- they SHOULD be replaceable?
I was thinking of pulling the panels anyway to spray \undercoat/maybe put some dynamat in. so it would be a good time to put new speakers in.
I looked at my rear "bose" speakers...as expected- they visually look like cheap, standard speakers with bose name on them. Like everything else bose- i fully expect they are crap.

Interesting thread. I had thought of replacing my speakers. I don't have the Bose system. The more I listen to it though, I get adequate sound. The head unit, to me, I can't see messing with it unless you're really into that stuff. I think it works great. Maybe some would like more power, I can understand that but otherwise, for a stock unit, it's good enough. Stock speakers though don't have the best reputation over the long haul. Just not the better quality materials. So, if I do decide at some point to upgrade the speakers, any that have 'been there, done that', any recommendations? I'd like to keep it to maybe 400 bucks tops, cheap I know, but it is what it is. Is there a real audible sound difference upgrading the tweeters? When choosing rear deck and door speakers, what criteria do you use to make a choice? Frequency response is usually quoted, but how useful is it in picking a winner? Any cone materials to stay away from? In the rear deck, is it better sound quality from a 6 by 9 or a round speaker? I realize there's probably some customizing to do to fit a round where an oval came from but what's the concensus? i thought I remembered from years ago, that bass response could be improved by enclosing the speaker, like in the rear deck, the door, there isn't a whole lot of room, but the rear deck, enclose it or waste of time? BTW, what WAS the idea behind blocking out some of the numbers in the pictures? If it isn't hot, are they coded somehow? Just curious.

A few points from years doing car audio as a hobby (yes, I made money back in the late 60's early 70's doing car audio, and even stereo upgrades for cars with mono radios - and FM upgrades too! But I digress ... )

Factory speakers are usually treated to help withstand sun bleaching and the heat of the inside of a car as a higher priority than sound quality. You can improve the sound, but the best sounding speakers will tend to fail sooner (now, before anyone gets upset, we're talking about "Within 10 years" as opposed to "Within 25 years" type earlier ... the CHEAP crap ones that sound good new will fail within months sometimes, though. Ya Get What Ya Pays For.)

Round or 6x9. Round provides better imaging, but a 6x9 gives a wider speaker for better bass than a 6" round, all things being the same. OTOH, my take is "But this car is going down the road .. what's the diff?" (at which point some of the young'uns are probably pointing and laughing at the old geezer with the "crap sound system"). As an example - people are test driving the experimental all-electric Rolls Royce. On this car, some people are noticing that a) they can hear the tire treads and the wind noise - it's not any louder than the standard RR, but since there's no V12 to mask the sound ... and b) when sitting still, they can pick out some minor nuances that the RR's audio system is not quite perfect on - again, same exact audio, almost an identical interior to the V12 juiced ones, but since there's no engine idle ... OTOH, our Malibus? Between the I4 and the V6 muttering in front, the whistle of the wind over the car body, and the sound of the tires (do consider that some folks can pay as much for a set of tires as we pay for the whole darn car, new!) ... I don't think you'll notice the lack of imaging the 6x9 will have. I'd opt for 6x9s unless I was putting a subwoofer in the trunk.

I'd also figure that they would need replacing every 5 to 10 years to maintain full quality if they're back where the sun can shine on them - and if they're in the rear deck, the sun WILL be shining on them (anything that blocks the sun good enough will also block the audio.)

That's my take.

If at all possible, get to listen to speakers in another Malibu, since the total enclosure (which includes the car!) will affect the total sound quality, imaging, and tonal distortions.

RwP

Factory speakers are usually treated to help withstand sun bleaching and the heat of the inside of a car as a higher priority than sound quality. You can improve the sound, but the best sounding speakers will tend to fail sooner

Interesting, I would have thought there was a big improvement over factory speakers to be had, but if the durability isn't there in the long run it's kind of a wash. I understand what you said about the 6 by 9 vs. the 6 " round. Makes sense. Thanks for the input!

Just the rears have 4-wires to each speaker. Don't believe it's feasible to replace them.

The 6x9s in the rear deck have the tweeter in them, but powered separately. That's the extra set of wires. To swap them out you just need a set of 6x9s the are "bi ampable" Soundstream SST6.9 are a good set. I have a pair of those and a pair or soundstream 6.5s for the front doors that I'll be putting into the car in the next couple of weeks. At first I'll run them off the Bose amp just for the heck of it. After that I'll be powering them off an aftermarket 4 channel amplifier.

Just the rears have 4-wires to each speaker. Don't believe it's feasible to replace them. The

I used to have a 2001 Lexus IS300 with similar rear speakers. I just replaced them with a regualar two-way 6x9 and rewire the speaker. Basically seperating the wiring from the tweeter and woofer and wired it to the car accordingly. It was pretty easy and sounded fine.

Well considering some paid $500+ as an option (or standard on our LTZs) for this Bose, I'm curious what some of you audiophiles think of the system. I bought this car to replace my DD which is a '95 T-Bird. Back in 2001, I had all speakers replaced to Infinity plus added two amps and a 10 inch sub along with XM.....amazing sound. The Bose is good, but not comparable IMO. Kinda hard to drive the T-Bird still (about to sell it) and hear the difference.:(

The Bose setup can be worked around if you want to do aftermarket but it is expensive. I have a 2lt model which didn't have a bose system but still had the amplifier setup anyway for the Onstar system. The installer I worked with bypassed the Bose Amp to have everything go to the new Alpine 5-channel amp I have. To maintain the onstar functionality however I did have to have a new speaker installed under the dash console which was then wired to the bose amp. I was shocked when they told me I had an amplifier as I didn't get the premium Bose sound system when I got the car. Nothing with the Gen7 malibu is easy at all. My next car I will definitely make sure I do research on how easy it is to upgrade and what aftermarket parts are available for it and etc.

good info on the splitting the sound on the rears.
still looking at the fronts- sounds like those actually only have one set of wires to them-but probably choked orr limited on the sound that goes to them as there are tweeters in the posts.

I still thinking of getting som decent Pioneers or sometheing to replace the fronts- is there a way to connect these without cutting the wire? not finding much on the correct plug to use...