[Macca]

On Friday the 7th picked up new Aero in steel grey. Am very impressed, engine sweet, chassis handles with dignity and brakes are excellent. My Aero only comes with the 4 speaker system. I have been reading the forum for a while and have read many threads on the stereo. I'm not one for loud but prefer quality so thought that it would be acceptable and all the complainers were just trying to listen to heavy metal. But............. No the stereo is awful, I had a 900 Turbo and the factory fitted stereo had very good sound quality. How can Saab seriously accept sound that poor? Not much I can do but now Monday and i've already placed and order for a pair of Infinty 3002CF's. Not sure how much the sound will change but it can't make it worse.

Can I just rears without adding external amp?

I would like to say again that bar the stereo the car is top!!!!!

 

[Dave N]

Congrats on your new car.

I too have the poverty spec entertainment system. I slotted in a set of 6x9 speakers in the rear shelf to replace the crappy 4 inchers? I have not installed any additional amplifier, and as the rear speakers run at lower power than those in the front, whilst the sounds improved, its by no means perfect.

Its entirely up to you. some people on here have replaced pretty much all the speakers and added additional amps. It all depends what you are after.

You also have the option to upgrade to a seven speaker set up without too much difficulty. this would give you a centre speaker at the front and two door speakers. there is an additional amplifier that comes with this upgrade to drive these three speakers. Given that your car is so new, you could approach the dealer and see if he will cut you a deal on this. The parts come in at around £300. If you had gone for the option from new it would have been around half this figure. With the entertainment system you have, ES1 (without a display screen on the radio unit) this is as far as you can go using standard parts. to upgrade to 13 speakers, you need to have at least the ES2 system. in addition to the extra speakers, you get yet another amplifier, this time to drive the rear speakers. there are loads of threads on here on this subject. have a good look round before you make a decision.

 

[ctrlz]

My Aero only comes with the 4 speaker system.

To me, it's confusing that Saab even continues to offer the stereo in the 4 speaker configuration-- and in a top-of-the-line Aero no less! I don't think they made the 4 speaker system available in the states.

I suppose the 7-speaker system is the "sweet spot' of the offerings. Those with 4 speakers all seem to say, "I can't believe a car like this could come with such a poor stereo." While those with 13 speakers say, "I can't believe Saab has the nerve to charge so much for this 'Prestige' system, which is average at best!"

 

[ctrlz]

Can I just replace rears without adding an external amp?

You can replace all 4 speakers, but you will never get a "full" sound without getting the upgrade which includes the factory amp (AMP1). There is no bass signal to be had without that amp under the seat.

Go ahead and replace the speakers to start. You will end up doing that anyway. I would recommend sticking with 4" speakers for the rear. Those speakers play softly, and there is no low frequency component in the signal to make 6x9's worth installing. 6x9's will cost you twice as much as 4" speakers (for good ones).