Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum. I have a 2000 SSEi, i'll be posting pics of her soon, and my dad has a 2000 SE. His has the 4 speaker system and mine has the 6 speakers. The guy before me replaced the rear speakers with Polk speakers, if I remember correctly. Me and my dad agree that his system sounds way better. I'm assuming both cars have different stock speakers in the rear. What speakers are stock in the SE and where could I find a set? I'd like to replace the aftermarket speakers with whatever he has in his car unless someone has a suggestion of something else aftermarket that would give me better sound. Thanks:)

Hey there, welcome to the forum. Unfortunately the systems in the SE and SSEI are not compatible with each other.

Did he replace the rear deck speakers or the rear doors?

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2000 ssei gone but not forgotten

Current fleet:
2009 G8 v6, 2009 Avalanche LTZ, 2013 Volt

As far as I know just the rear deck. My dad's speakers have a much better bass than mine do, huge difference. Would you know of any speakers compatible with mine that would give a similar effect?

The SSEi has an external amplifier whereas the SE and SLE uses an amp that is part of the head unit. Changing speakers may do nothing at all, the difference in sound is more likely due to the characteristics of the Bose amp you have. I'm not positive, but I believe the rear deck speakers are the same in all three trim levels. As for the SSEi, you have eight speakers. Two in each front door (bottom of the door panel and in the triangular shaped trim that covers the base of the outside mirrors), a speaker in each rear door panel and two rear deck speakers.

The other trims levels will have either four speakers or six (if you have RPO code UW6). Neither the SE or SLE have speakers in the rear door panels.

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Bose Luxury Sound System w/Touch Screen Navigation, Addition of Factory XM, 2005 MY Antenna, OnStar Upgrade (3G),
RainSense Wipers, Backup Camera, '00 Style Door Panel Courtesy Lights, Heated Washer Solvent, 2X Remote Trunk Release,
Turn Signal Mirrors, Center Console Courtesy Lamp, Rear Outboard Heated Seats, PVD Chrome 18" Factory Rims, Upgraded
Carbon Fibre Appearance Interior Trim, Highly Modified Main Body Harness, Instrument Panel, Door, Door Panel & Headliner
Wiring Harnesses, Custom Fuse Box & Tire and Loading Information Decals, Additional Acoustic Insulation

Just a little clarification about the speakers, the bose amp is a 5 channel amp, front L and R rear L and R and subwoofer. The amp is designed to have a 2 ohm load on each channel, most standard speakers are 4 ohm. If you replace a 2 ohm speaker with a 4 ohm it will be quieter because the amp is not making the same power.

In the case of the rear speakers they are actually two one ohm speakers wired as a single 2 ohm load, replacing them with regular 4 ohm speakers like the previous owner did changes it to two 4 ohm speakers wired as a single 8 ohm load. Essentially that cuts your volume down to 1/4 of the original power. Which would explain the lack of bass.

The simplest solution would be to get the stock rear speakers from another 00-01 ssei, Andrew (harofreak00) will probably have a set for a reasonable price. No aftermarket speakers are made one ohm, infinity makes 2 ohm speakers which can replace the doors but they cannot replace the rear deck. Take a look at this thread
audio-and-aftermarket-electronics/topic25783.html?hilit= Bose

For more information about the Bose system. Let me know if you have anymore questions

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2000 ssei gone but not forgotten

Current fleet:
2009 G8 v6, 2009 Avalanche LTZ, 2013 Volt

Thanks! Will definitely take a look at that

ive noticed that if you leave the stock stuff together it sounds good, but if you change anything on it like head unit or speakers it makes it sound like crud unless you remove everything in one go

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2003 pontiac bonneville Sle with kenwood sound system. Upgraded tweeters, door speakers, deck speakers, kenwood sub and amp. Rage r20 18inch rims. Front and rear KYB shocks and struts. GXP Strut tower brace.. She's a work in progress still

The Bose amp actually does a pretty good job of providing clarity and filtering the frequencies to the appropriate speakers, the weakest link in that setup is the head unit. It has a terrible equalizer with very little adjustments, a decent pioneer unit with actual real sound adjustments makes for a pretty dramatic improvement in sound. Just don't expect earth shattering bass from a couple of 6x9s

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2000 ssei gone but not forgotten

Current fleet:
2009 G8 v6, 2009 Avalanche LTZ, 2013 Volt

Swampthing, I agree completely with your advice and your information about the stock Bose system, but with absolutely no offense intended, this quoted statement isn't completely accurate, to be strictly pedantic. It would be true if the speaker were exactly the same in both cases, and you could manage to double [exactly, at all frequencies] only the electrical impedance of the speaker. But whether any given amplifier + speaker pairing is quieter or louder than another depends greatly on the efficiency of the speaker, which can vary widely between two different speakers of any impedance. It is correct that doubling the impedance will draw half the current from the amplifier when driven at the same voltage, which equates to drawing half the power, but halving the power to a given speaker only produces a 3dB perceived volume drop, which is relatively small. It takes a 10dB drop or gain, for example, to perceive a halving or doubling of perceived volume, respectively. The efficiency of different speakers can easily vary more than 3dB, and if that weren't enough, the impedance rating of a given speaker can be misleading, as impedance varies with frequency. The impedance rating of a speaker is generally an average, but the actual impedance at frequencies where your ear is more sensitive may be quite different. That makes generalizations about a speaker's impedance rating making it quieter or louder something of a crapshoot. It would be true if everything else remained equal (and often *is* true, with actual components), but aftermarket and OEM speakers are rarely anything close to equal, and among aftermarket components, Polks are often very good, and can have very high efficiency.

Other than the statement that a speaker with a higher impedance rating (alone) is (always) quieter, I agree completely with Swampthing's advice. The OEM Bose speakers have such low impedance and are EQ matched to the amplifier, it will be difficult to swap only aftermarket speakers and get an improvement. Since a previous owner already replaced the OEM speakers with Polks, and it's not sounding as good as Blm97's Dad's SE, by all means go back to the OEM speakers and restore the system to its OEM performance, which is pretty good to begin with. Generally speaking, good ways to improve the Bose OEM system include adding a powered sub, which typically requires tapping a speaker-level source, or replacing everything with aftermarket: Head unit, amp, wires, and speakers.

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PontiacDad at WCBF `08: "By any chance, was his name. . .Radomir?"

R.I.P. 10/31/15: 1997 SE: "Silver Shadow"
`05 Mercedes S500

No offense taken. I know speaker efficiency (sensitivity?) Can make up for a higher impedance in some cases I just try to give a simple, concise, answer to the OP's question. I know what I said was an over simplification but to truly explain it takes a couple of long paragraphs and a degree to understand. The jist that I was trying to get across was that no aftermarket speakers can be ran on the rear deck assuming that is the only change, the difference in impedance is just too great, I even tried it with my infinity kappa speakers which had a good efficiency rating and they still lost major volume verses stock.

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2000 ssei gone but not forgotten

Current fleet:
2009 G8 v6, 2009 Avalanche LTZ, 2013 Volt

Yep, with the OEM Bose system, if you want to enjoy aftermarket quality, you really have to do everything. The stock Bose system is good enough to warrant just keeping it stock in most cases. I have the stock Bose in my 2005 Mercedes, and it sounds really good, but the OEM system is tied together with fiber optics and lacks any method of plugging in any external source. To add external source and bluetooth compatibility I need to get a Mobridge M2 Pro unit for $700. It's *INSANE*.

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PontiacDad at WCBF `08: "By any chance, was his name. . .Radomir?"

R.I.P. 10/31/15: 1997 SE: "Silver Shadow"
`05 Mercedes S500

Get the stock speakers from a salvage yard and put them back in. http://www.rockauto.com has them listed for $52 each for new ones.

Going rate around me for used is $15 each. try www.car-part.com

. . . or as swampthing mentioned, just get them from Andrew [harofreak00]. He will no doubt have several sets from the cars he's parted out.

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PontiacDad at WCBF `08: "By any chance, was his name. . .Radomir?"

R.I.P. 10/31/15: 1997 SE: "Silver Shadow"
`05 Mercedes S500

^Yup! Try Bonnevilles Unlimited. Best Bonneville parts guy around.

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

Hmmm, well then I think I need to return the SSEi head unit I grabbed to replace the missing stereo in my SLE. No amp in the trunk and I really don't feel like ripping out all the wiring out of the SSEi just to upgrade a stereo ( and heated leather memory seats....) Now I'm starting to wish I had found an SSEi.

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A temporary fix does not exist. It becomes a solution until it needs to be fixed again.

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOYkkevV0gKTHc_8Cstuy8yS1Qyx6SiIKeTzuHy

Eh, nevermind...it's being returned anyway since the previous owner hacked the dash mount for the dock. At least he left the antennae extension and the wiring harness adapter behind. Looks like I'll be adding a sound system to my list of things to buy ( more $$ )

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A temporary fix does not exist. It becomes a solution until it needs to be fixed again.

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOYkkevV0gKTHc_8Cstuy8yS1Qyx6SiIKeTzuHy