'96 GP SE "8-speaker" system...

[Brodizzle83]

So I was looking at the window sticker of my Grand Prix and it said it has the upgraded 8-speaker sound system. Is that just a gimmick and I have just 5.25" in the doors and 6x9" in the rear? Or are they "components" and the tweeters/woofers are separate? Either way...I need to upgrade as they sound terrible.

 

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[jiggity76]

Very cool that you have the window sticker, wish mine still had it.  Post a pic of it, it's fun to read them.

[Imp558]

My 1996 Regal had the nicer speakers. I cannot attest to what was in the GP but the Regal had more or less a component system in the doors. "Concert Sound II" comes to mind. In the rear were just two in the rear deck.

[W30olds]

I have a 95 SE coupe and it only has 4 speakers. 5.25 in the doors and 6x9 in the rear. Hope this helps you out. I too have the original window sticker! Pretty cool

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[jman093]

On 5/2/2018 at 9:00 PM, Brodizzle83 said:

So I was looking at the window sticker of my Grand Prix and it said it has the upgraded 8-speaker sound system. Is that just a gimmick and I have just 5.25" in the doors and 6x9" in the rear? Or are they "components" and the tweeters/woofers are separate? Either way...I need to upgrade as they sound terrible.

 

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I see this is an old, dead thread that has been resurrected, but so that it has a proper answer, it is really a 6 speaker system. The door speakers have separate tweeters and woofers in the same assembly so technically it's considered an 8-speaker. The rear and dash speakers are driven by the head unit; the door speakers have their down separate amplifier under the dash. I've always thought it sounded pretty good. Much better than the factory four speaker system like my Z34 has or the Bose system in the Gen 2 GPs.

[Amanita]

Reviving a dead thread as I just had to deal with this. I also have this in my '96 and it is essentially a marketing gimmick. I just replaced my cheapo dual rear speakers with proper replacements to take advantage of the "8 speaker" system. I bought my speakers from Crutchfield and the ONLY model they sell that works with this system is the Retrosound R69-N. They are dual voice coil speakers which is how they justify calling the 4 physical speakers an 8 speaker system. You can use regular 6x9 speakers, but since each set of wires is either the treble or bass, you can tell that something is off. It's expensive but my stereo sounds much better now. I would like to add that from what I and the people at Crutchfield could tell, the front speakers are just regular 5 1/4th speakers.

Here is a link to the speakers, keep in mind they don't come as a pair so you have to specifically order 2. The Crutchfield website also says they don't fit '96 Grand Prixs, but I don't believe they are including the 8 speaker system in that search. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_068R69N/RetroSound-R-69N.html?skipvs=T

In case anybody needs help with wiring:
Left (Driver's) side:
Right voice:
Blue +   Green -
Left voice:
Brown +   Yellow -

Right side:
Right voice:
Dark Blue +   Light Blue -
Left voice:
Green +   Grey -

These speakers obviously don't come with plugs to hook them up to the stock system, so make sure you wire them up to the correct voice. I do not know how to wire an amp up to these, but I've been considering installing one. If I do, I'll post an update.

Edited October 17, 2019 by Amanita