Maxima audio replacement

The cd player on our '96 Maxima skips and was made before blank cd's became available. I am going to replace it with a new Pioneer, and since speakers sound blown and scratchy I want to replace them as well.

Thing is, the last time I ever replaced car audio was for my old Opel which was from the 80's, this was back in Finland in the late 90's, and when I took a look at the stock speakers in our Maxima, the connections look completely different. It's like a white block that has both wires connected into the speaker together as opposed to separately.. Looks more like something I'd be more likely to find inside my PC... So, I could use some help.

I've been doing research and trying to figure out what those connectors are... But I've come up with nada so far. It's not easy being I don't speak English natively, and a lot of the terminology is completely foreign to me. Also, I've been told that replacing the rear speakers isn't going to improve the audio, just diminish it, and that I should replace just the front door speakers and leave the rear ones dead.

So with that in mind, I am thinking what if I just replace the front speakers with new ones and put the old front speakers in the back. Or is there a difference? I don't really know a lot about speakers...

I can't afford to have this stuff done for me, so I've to figure it out somehow. If anyone has any input or has done these speaker replacements on a Maxima before, I'd appreciate any advice you can give. I hope I can at least figure out what the **** these connectors are and whether they are compatible with modern aftermarket speakers and stereos.

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Hello, World!

All nissans have their speakers connected through a white molex-type connector. You will need to find the polarity of the wires since they aren't colored in standard color coding for (+) and (-).

All you gotta do is cut off the connector, and solder female quick disconnects on there. The quick disconnect should slip onto the terminals of the new speaker.

You gotta be careful when mixing old speakers with new speakers. First of all, you have to find out what the radio deck's impedance is. After market radio decks are usually 4ohms. Assuming that the new deck you buy is 4ohms, your front speaker must also be 4ohms (which is also pretty standard for after market speakers). If you choose to use your old speakers in the back, you will need find its impedance. It normally has it printed on the speaker magnet. If its 4ohms, then you're good to go. If it's 2 ohms or anything else, I would highly suggest that you either get rid of the rear speakers or buy a new set that is also 4ohms to replace them.

I'm not sure about the 96 maxima but on my 06 altima, the factory sound system ran on 2ohms, so it wasn't possible for me to mix anything. I completely ripped out the factory sound system and put in my panasonic deck with polk audio speakers and amp.

The rear speaker (if it is 2ohms) will work with the 4ohm deck but over time, will cause a lot of internal heat for the deck and will eventually shorten its life span. I'd give the deck 2 years with this kind of mismatch setup.

If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

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Spike

Thanks for your advice Spike, you're a goldmine.

I'm actually thinking about just replacing all the speakers along with the deck. I've found out that the front and back speakers are supposedly all 6.75" speakers.. If I have to match the size perfectly, it really limits my options. 6.5"s are easier to find than 6.75"s and cheaper too. Do you have any recommendation as to how closely to match the originals' size? I assume that I'll need a face plate or something if I go with 6.5s.

Also, I've seen some mention online about adapters being needed to hook up the new deck in with the wire codes matching. I take it this is pretty much necessary?

I haven't done this stuff in 10 years and back when I did, I just ran whole new wires for everything, but the 80's cars didn't have as complex wiring going on there to begin with.

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Hello, World!

6 3/4" speakers are pretty uncommon, especially for an OEM setup. Well I'll be....I just checked crutchfield and they confirmed that both front and back are 6 3/4".

I'm not sure what your brand preference or budget is but here is a setup I would typically go with. To my surprise, there is actually a nice selection of 6 3/4" speakers:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-R7w7eaT...00&I=500SPR17C


If you aren't much of an audiophile, the cheaper ones will be fine. Just get speakers of a good brand so you don't have to change them out again.


You could get 6.5" speakers and install them with adapters, but the only problem is that some speaker adapters don't fit very well. I would just get the 6.75" speakers if they are a direct fit. The front doors may need a mounting bracket but I'm not sure. You can find out everything you need if you enter your car info on crutchfield.com and then add what ever speakers you want to the shopping cart.

If you order from crutchfield, they usually give you a free wiring harness for the head unit. You will need to solder the wire harness to the deck. After that, its just a matter of plugging it into the OEM connector.

Your OEM head unit is double din so yes, you will need an adapter for the after market head unit. This adapter is also given for free if you order from crutchfield.

If you do order from them, you can use my referral number to get $20 off. Just let me know and I'll PM it to you.

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Spike

Thanks Spike. This part of what you said has me confused, though. Are you saying I need a wire harness AND an adapter? Why does the wire harness need to be soldered into the deck? Is there no adapter that simply connects the OEM connector into the new after market unit?

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Hello, World!

The wire harness and deck adapter are 2 different things. The wire harness is there so you can wire up the deck to your car without splicing wires.



The connector end plugs right into the OEM connector, and the wire end needs to be soldered to the wires coming out of the head unit.


As for the adapter, that has nothing to do with the wiring harness. The adapter is there so you can fit the deck into the dash.
It should look something like this:

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Spike

Awesome, Spike. I get it now

Are the adapters specific to the deck or how do you know which one ya need?

I think the previous had replaced the OEM radio once, unless it was common for Nissan to put in a Kenwood cassette player and a Kenwood cd player...

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Hello, World!

The adapters and aftermarket head units are made to a standard. Either single din or double din. So all you have to look for is an adapter that fits your car. The deck should slide right in. In case you were wondering, double din is the really big square decks. It basically takes up 2 single din slots, thus the name.

double din:
http://www.sz-wholesale.com/uploadFi...onitor_417.jpg

single din:
http://www.autotoys.com/pics/pylecs100new1.jpg

factory decks are usually double din and/or has their own proprietary mounting points.

If possible, try getting a picture of the deck. I'm not sure what older nissans were equipped with back then. I only know that their premium audio choice has always been bose. For my altima, the standard deck was made by panasonic and the speakers were made by clarion.

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Spike

Awesome. I'll get a pic up of the dash & deck later tonight. (I'm picking up the new deck tonight as well.)

I really appreciate all the help you've given on this Spike.

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Hello, World!

Hey no problem. People on another forum have helped me out the same way. Thats how I learned how to do most of this stuff.

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Spike