2003 vibe radio & speaker?

Stereo, security systems, vehicle electronics, and electrical-related discussions
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photogame
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2016 7:59 am

2003 vibe radio & speaker?

Post by photogame »

hi, be patient. new to asking on a forum for help, anything would be great. so, its a 2003 vibe with a replacement radio, newer kenwood. previous owner had put small box speakers on floor behind the front seats,bypassed the amp to make these sound halfway decent. so after some investigating, and playing with wires, i have found that if i rehook up the rear door speakers, and even the front door ones, through the amp under the seat i get a tinny muffled music / sound only. i suspect that the previous owner found the amp was blown. i have no way to test.

i want door speakers, i have read some that lets me know that i will only get this muffled sound with the stock speakers. can i buy after market speakers and put in the doors? can i use the exsisting wire to hook up new speaker? have stock exsisting wire from radio head unit to amp, by pass amp there, use stock exsisting wire from amp to door to install new speaker?

any help would be great, thanks.
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MacGyver
Posts: 340
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:45 pm
Location: Ottawa (09 Base)

Re: 2003 vibe radio & speaker?

Post by MacGyver »

Welcome to Genvibe! You came to the right place.

I'm going to make some assumptions. First, the door speakers are shot. Which isn't uncommon for paper OEM speakers to rot out, especially on a 15yo car. Second, the amp is shot.

If both of those are true, you will first need to remove the amp and associated ghetto speaker boxes in the back. Next, install new door speakers in the front doors only. You will need to drill out some rivets and you will require new speaker mounting rings. Order speakers from Crutchfield and they throw in the extra parts you'll need for free. And finally, run new speaker wire from the Kenwood to the new speakers in the doors. Don't trust or reuse any of the old wire the previous owner put in. Pull it all out. Maybe you can reuse factory wiring but I wouldn't trust it.

As long as you don't like your music loud, this will be enough to get some tunes back in your Vibe.
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photogame
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2016 7:59 am

Re: 2003 vibe radio & speaker?

Post by photogame »

thanks for the reply, some questions still though. so why do you say to just put in front speakers? the rear speakers not really needed for a small car?
how hard is it to run the speaker wire to the doors, sound quality is not real important, say a 6/10 would be sufficent. you say to rip out the old amp, am i correct the power antenna runs through it, what happens with out it for reception?
thanks
pakong
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2016 6:05 am
Location: Richmond, VA
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Re: 2003 vibe radio & speaker?

Post by pakong »

Running speaker wires to the doors through the rubber grommet can be a challenge. Here is a tip https://youtu.be/wxiqu7FvFSA.
Unfortunately, they won't cut it for you https://www.lowes.com/pd/B-K-1-4-in-x-2 ... 1000116035 so you have to buy the entire 25 ft. I cut off an 18 inch piece and used that. It's described as 1/4 inch inside diameter and 3/8 inch outside diameter, polyethylene tubing. I sprayed Armor All Original Protectant on my tubing and not WD40 like in the video. I used on the doors and the firewall to get the 4 gauge wire through the grommet in the firewall. I hope this helps.
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