2008 SE speakers

[CristianMTK]

I bought a 2008 Pathfinder SE in January of this year with about 48,960 miles and I love this car to death. It has got to be the best car that I have ever owned. The only thing that I don’t like is the sound system. If I increase the bass, a speaker in the left rear sounds really distorted. Does the SE version come with a sub? If so where would it be located? I don’t have the Bose package, just the regular. If I upgrade the speakers to Alpine or Pioneer will my music sound better than the factory speakers? Or would I be required to upgrade the amp as well? I would greatly appreciate any other advice.

[skinny2]

Only the BOSE system comes with the sub and that was an option on the SE. It has 8 speakers plus the sub. I've had great service from mine and even with a lot of use, still sounds decent. It's nothing special but good enough in most cases. Although the volume level when using XM is drastically too low for windows-down driving. I can imagine the non-Bose would be severely lacking.

I would try replacing the speakers first and see what you think. You can always add a little power later if you need more. Unless you're going for some sort of killer sound system, I've had decent luck in the past just swapping speakers. If you wanted to add speakers, it shouldn't be too hard to use the locations that are used for the BOSE, but that would require running wires and an amp.

[Kestral]

If I recall the stock speakers are only 2 ohms so if you change the speakers you would need to change the head unit also as most aftermarket speakers are 4 ohms so it could damage your new radio. I worked at a car audio shop several years ago and I have seen this happen it will cook the radio with two low of an impedance. Best bet change all speakers and in dash unit maybe add a sub woofer and a separate amp. This will be my aproch as well prob going to do it in spring.

[ShipFixer]

If it's "distorted" as in the sound gets really muddy and it doesn't sound like the speaker is clipping (unable to keep up with the input signal) then damping the outer panel can help:

http://store.secondskinaudio.com/

Products like Second Skin's Damplifier will deaden the metal behind the speaker, reducing its reaction to the sound wave from the back of the speaker and the creation of a secondary distorting sound wave. If you like a lot of bass in particular it makes more of a difference. If you seal the door (damp inner and outer panels and close the inner panel off) you get closer to a wooden enclosure and away from a metal, vibration prone box.

I run a Pioneer head unit with stock speakers. I've fully damped and insulated all of the doors and most of the interior with the exception of the roof (someday I'll get around to it). It makes a big difference in audio clarity and I don't really feel the need to replace my speakers or add an amp as the apparent volume is boosted quite a bit. Really not sure I'd do aftermarket high power speakers without damping anyway...

[skinny2]

If I recall the stock speakers are only 2 ohms

2ohm is usually stock subwoofers. The regular door/dash speakers are usually 4 so you can just swap speakers as as start. OEM head units usually aren't very powerful but it's rare that speakers alone won't be an improvement of some sort. Whether it's enough or not is up to OP.

[smj999smj]

If it's non-Bose, should be 4-ohm speakers. I would pick up a set of new ones from Crutchfield.com. The Bose system uses two, 1-ohm speakers in the subwoofer.