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Factory Stereo Specs and Upgrade Info

220K views 122 replies 55 participants last post by  LumberJACKED 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
This is an in progress how-to guide that aims to centralize all known specs, photos/video and general info about the stock stereo system and how to upgrade it.

The service manual identifies four stereo levels:
- Base Audio (standard on S)
- Mid Audio Without Bose (standard on SV and SL)
- Mid Audio With Bose (standard on Plat, optional on SL)
- Premium Audio With Navigation

Both the base and mid audio without Bose appear to have the same amplifier/speaker configuration, the only differences being the control interface, video screen, and USB input. This configuration uses 6 speakers that are powered by an amp integrated into the control module (sits behind the screen/interface). The wiring is very thin (24 gauge?) and all speakers are 2 ohm paper drivers.

Base/mid audio speakers and locations (front to rear):
- 2 dash-mounted mid-tweeters (2 1/8")
- 2 front door woofers (6x9?)
- 2 rear door mid-bass (6") 20w max

The mid w/ Bose and premium w/ Nav are both 13 speaker systems powered by an amp mounted under the 3rd row seat. The mid w/ Bose uses the same interface as the mid without Bose, while the navigation system uses a touchscreen interface. I believe the amp/speakers are the same in both systems.

Bose/Premium audio speakers and locations:
- 3 dash mounted mids (L, C, R)
- 2 A-pillar mounted tweeters
- 2 front door woofers
- 2 rear door mid-bass
- 2 side-mounted 3rd row mids
- 2 speaker subwoofer mounted in storage box

Please post any additional info/photos you have below and I will keep the information in this first post updated.
 
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#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Links to Posts and Other Sites

Below will be a centralized list of links to posts in other sections of this forum and to external resources relevant to 2013-14 Pathfinder factory audio systems.

Service Manual AV Section
Contains information about wiring, component locations, and troubleshooting/diagnostics.
 
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#3 ·
Base/mid audio speakers and locations (front to rear):
- 2 dash-mounted mid-tweeters (2 1/8")
- 2 front door woofers (6x9?)
The front door speakers are in fact 6x9, and do not use a non-standard screw configuration (like the rear door speakers), so any 6x9 speaker should fit into the spacer using 4 screws in what appear to be standard locations. The factory speakers weigh practically nothing and consist of a paper horn in the center of a flimsy woofer with what looks/feels like a styrofoam surround. These OEM speakers are simply labeled 2 ohm 25w.

The factory tweeters (actually 2 1/4") are better labeled than the other speakers, so I can confirm that they are 4 ohm, 20w RMS/40w Max, and have a 47uF capacitor to limit frequencies below around 750hz.

Oh, and according to the service manual wiring schematic, the 4 ohm tweeters are wired in parallel with the 2 ohm front door 6x9 speakers... so the factory amp must be stable down to 1.33 ohms. :eek:
 
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#5 ·
can i replace the front speakers with like a pioneer 3-way 6x9?
You could, but I would recommend going with an Infinity or JBL instead because you will lose a lot of volume if you put in anything over 2 ohms. For reference, I put 95 db 2 ohm kappa speakers in the rear and still lost some volume.
 
#7 ·
any specific model in particular?
To get the best improvement with the factory amp look for a 2 ohm speaker with the highest sensitivity (loudness at a defined power level).

I put 6.5" 2-way Infinity Kappa 652.9i speakers (but would recommend the 6" Kappa 62.9 instead) for the rear doors and am about to install the 6x9 3-way 693.9i in the front doors. I believe JBL P series has similar specs, and you can often find either speakers manufacturer refurbished on Harman Kardon's ebay store. I paid $71 for a pair of Kappa 693.9i speakers ($220 MSRP).

Don't expect MORE bass with aftermarket speakers, but you'll get TIGHTER bass and much clearer midrange and treble with minimal loss in overall volume. Just turn the volume up higher... I don't hear any distortion at around 75% of max.

For the rear speakers you'll need to buy an adapter or cut the paper woofer out of the factory speaker. I need to go back and test the rear speaker polarity, but + is green and - is white in both of the front doors.
 
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#8 ·
$71 for a pair of Kappa? wow. nice buy. I dont really expect more bass per se with aftermarket speakers and without a subwoofer. I just want to get at least clearer mids and highs from the door mounted speakers. I mean, the sound system on the S model is terrible. It's already 2014 and I have even better speakers on my 2003 Honda CR-V (4 x kenwood 6 1/2 2-way speakers). Heck, even the Kenwood head unit on the Cr-v is way better than this one on the S.

What's up with that Nissan?
 
#9 ·
I dont really expect more bass per se with aftermarket speakers and without a subwoofer. I just want to get at least clearer mids and highs from the door mounted speakers. I mean, the sound system on the S model is terrible.
It really doesn't make any sense how bad the stereo is unless you upgrade to the Bose, which requires at least the SL trim plus an expensive package.

I think the SV is a great value, so I don't mind having to upgrade the sound system, but I can't believe how much worse it is than my last 6 cars (Hyundai, Mercury, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Honda, and Toyota)... and every one of the hundreds of rental cars I've driven in the past few years. I haven't modified a car stereo since my very first car when I was 16... and that one was a Nissan too!

At very least they could offer a non-branded 9 speaker system, just slightly upgrading the speaker quality, throwing in two speakers in the 3rd row and a sub. I would pay at least $500 for that option if they made it available.

When you consider that the stereo in an SL is no different than the crappy one in the S, it's no wonder that audio system scores suffered in the Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey!
 
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#12 ·
Question for any audio experts here: Nissan has the front speakers (4 ohm and 2 ohm) wired in parallel. Does that mean you could add a pair of 4 ohm speakers to the rear channels without overloading the amp?

If so, my recommendation for a simple 9 speaker upgrade would be to add a pair of 4 ohm 3.5" speakers to the 3rd row, and a kicker hideaway amp under the 3rd row seat. You can access the speaker wires to tap into them under the B pillars, and Walmart sells a snap-on wire tap connector that makes the wiring easy and tool-free.

Having spent around $700 and countless hours to replace all of the speakers, much of the wiring, and add a sub and 4-channel amp, I would say that the best bang for your buck would be adding the sub first and adding 3rd row speakers second. If you don't add speakers, you can still tap the rear speaker wiring in the B pillars to add a speaker-level input sub under the 3rd row seat.

I can't say enough how much fuller and richer the sound is with a sub, and the fact that it fits under the seat and takes up absolutely none of your cargo space makes it that much more amazing.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thank you for your help with my 2014 Pathfinder S. In the end I did upgrade my stereo. I simply replaced all four of the door speakers and added a Bazooka self-powered sub-woofer into the trunk storage compartment and wow, what a nice sounding stereo. Here are the parts I ordered and installed from Sonic Electronix:
- JBL GTO638 for the rear doors.
- Bazooka Bazooka BTA6250D Sub-woofer
- JBL GTO928 1 for the front doors.

Nissan should be ashamed and embarrassed with the dual-cone CRAPPY speakers they use. For $100 more they could have installed a decent set of 2 ohm 2-way speakers in the four doors. Even without the sub-woofer, this simple replacement would have made a world of difference! The sub is the final piece. I will put my stereo up to the Bose system any day, especially for the money ($350 of parts!, what a bargain).

Love the car now.

Next thing... add fog lights to my S... just bought a pair with the Halo feature for $99...
Be well all!
John
 
#15 ·
For advise with audio options and attempting not to upset our Bose fans, anyone with a little audio experience can tell most Bose systems are overpriced, low quality systems, with an expensive name tag. But for advise, the base system can be easily upgrade with just speakers and a simple small amplified sub. If you have a Bose system, the system typically has to be gutted to upgrade the Bose.

I have an SL and plan on upgrade with speakers and an amplified Bazooka like our fellow member above. To upgrade my wife's 350z Roadster Bose system, I had to gut it. About $2,400 later the Kenwood Headunit with GPS, component speakers, 5 channel Alpine amp, and a 8" amped Bazooka where the factory Bose was, I know have a great system. The factory Bose and Nav were awfull. My factory base system in my company Escape Hybrid sounded better. The original bose speaker material was cheap paper cones on all 6 speakers, the Bose sub was 1/3 weight of a typical sub, and the bose amps were the size of an old VHS tape.
 
#16 ·
I have an SL and plan on upgrade with speakers and an amplified Bazooka like our fellow member above.
Does Bazooka have a unit that fits under the 3rd row seat? That's got to be one of the biggest downsides to the Bose system, the fact that the sub takes up a third of the storage compartment. I love that the sub I installed sounds great and doesn't take up any cargo space.

I looked at Bazooka, but couldn't find any models that were under 3" tall to fit under the 3rd row seat. And I couldn't see anywhere else to install a sub that wouldn't interfere with raising/lowering the 3rd row or accessing the storage bin.

So what Bazooka are you going with, and where do you install it?
 
#19 ·
I don't need the space, but that compartment works great for holding groceries without them rolling all over the cargo area.

Check out the 8" Kicker for $250. I am blown away by how rich and tight the bass is in the 25-60hz range. Plus there is no wiring visible and the speaker only take up space that is otherwise wasted.
 
#30 · (Edited by Moderator)
Adequate at best.


You probably aren't going to find anything that can replace the front door 6x9s without adding an amp. Those things feel like they are made of tin foil, paper, and Styrofoam. They probably weigh a couple of ounces compared to several pounds for any real 6x9. While the bass is loose and inaccurate, you would really miss it with aftermarket speakers.

That said, the rear speakers distort a lot worse than the front speakers at moderate to high volumes, so I found the quality to sound much better after replacing the rear speakers. However if you replace just the rears, you will have to fade to the rear and increase volume to compensate for the reduced output.

I found that fade set to R3, bass set on +3 and volume at 80% sounded similar to bass on +2 and volume at 50% with fade balanced after changing just the rears. I'm guessing that this would translate to max bass and max volume if you swapped out all of the door speakers, and at that point you probably get pretty bad distortion from the amp.

Of course there are in-line amps that could be installed behind the dash to keep things simple, but you probably still have to draw power from the battery. And as others have said, the first thing you want to do is add/swap the sub with a small self-amplified unit.
 
#22 ·
Even the Bose amp doesn't power the speakers well enough if you want any bass with the music. In another thread in electronics I talk about a Kicker subwoofer replacement for the tragically dumb Bose sub. Even with the base stereo model, I would start by adding a Kicker sub. With it, you can turn your overall system bass down, so that you're not sucking the amp dry trying to get bass from the stock system. Turn up the sub's volume to compensate.

Just a thought...
 
#25 ·
Chicken feed on these cars. Pop the plastic inner covers out of the door handle and door pull pockets. Remove the 3 10mm bolts. Grab the edge of the door panel where you can get your fingers under, like on the leading edge by the hinges. Just pull, and the push-pins pop out. They don't break off. The door sheet metal stamping and plastic panel pin placement are remarkably accurately, when they go back on, align one pin and all the others fit. Just thump the edges of the panel with your fist, and it's back on.

In the olden days, the pins would pull out of the fiberboard panels, or wouldn re-align so they would bend over, etc. This new stuff is pretty cool.
 
#26 ·
Chicken feed on these cars. Pop the plastic inner covers out of the door handle and door pull pockets. Remove the 3 10mm bolts. Grab the edge of the door panel where you can get your fingers under, like on the leading edge by the hinges. Just pull, and the push-pins pop out. They don't break off. The door sheet metal stamping and plastic panel pin placement are remarkably accurately, when they go back on, align one pin and all the others fit. Just thump the edges of the panel with your fist, and it's back on.

In the olden days, the pins would pull out of the fiberboard panels, or wouldn re-align so they would bend over, etc. This new stuff is pretty cool.
It's been about 12 years since I put in speakers in my 87 F150 and that was super easy. I wasn't sure how hard it would be to take off the door panel. Anyone think it would be a good idea to add extra sound deadening material?
 
#28 ·
Audio mods for PF 14 SV

Has anyone successfully bypassed parking brake and speed sensors to made aux work while vehicle is in motion? Any help folks !!!

I got an MHL converter and a micro USB converter to mirror my mobile phone on the front screen. I have everything working audio and video from my cell phone. I am stuck with the bypass problem. ***And I can advice anyone wanting to wireless mirror their cell phones as well. ***
I did successfully upgrade to Kicker amps and Infinity speakers though.
 
#93 ·
Audio mods for PF 14 SV

Has anyone successfully bypassed parking brake and speed sensors to made aux work while vehicle is in motion? Any help folks !!!

I got an MHL converter and a micro USB converter to mirror my mobile phone on the front screen. I have everything working audio and video from my cell phone. I am stuck with the bypass problem. *And I can advice anyone wanting to wireless mirror their cell phones as well. *
I did successfully upgrade to Kicker amps and Infinity speakers though.
Hi, I have the 2016 PF SV without Navigation, can you post a link to the stuff you used? Thanks
 
#34 ·
I want to install a kicker amp and sub to my 2014 pathfinder sv I have everything I need and it looks pretty simple to install I just want to know how to wire my LOC (line output converter) I don't know what wires to splice from the factory radio nor what I do with the remaining wires.
 
#36 · (Edited by Moderator)
Anyone installed an amp into their pathfinder? If so, where?

I've installed a rainbow audio amp under my front driver seat in the 2014 ST-L (AU, the midrange model) and it is getting too hot to touch due to the bad airflow under the seat.

Therefore I'm looking for a better location to put this amp and just wanted some suggestions where the best spot might be.

Thanks!
 
#37 ·
This thread is really helpful - thank you. I just took delivery of a 2014 SV, and while I love the car, I would definitely like to upgrade the speakers.

Quick questions.

It sounds like Dcline install 4ohm Kappas, which yielded less output. I'd rather not install an amp (for now), so is there any reason NOT to go with 2ohm JBLs? I'm assuming that will fix the volume/loudness issue.

I would also love to have everything I need before I start taking off the door panels. For the rear speakers, does anyone know what adapters are needed? Sounds like the screw configuration is non-standard?
 
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