I have an 04 touring with the bose 6disk. I want a little more bass and wanted to change the factory sub with something thats got a little more punch. My question is, is it possible to run an aftermarket sub and amp with the stock bose head unit? I did a little searching but couldnt find anything.

From what Ive heard in the past is you can take the signal going to that speaker and run it into an amp because its already a powered signal, and the amp input needs to be unpowered. I guess in the future I plan to get an aftermarket head unit as well so should I just wait and do everything then or is there an easy way to throw a sub/amp in there now?

 

self-Powered sub enclosure with speaker level input would be easy..

Infinity Basslink will fit in there. Many posts here about how to.


Alphasonic PBAT-10 might fit too.

 

Yes. I first installed a JL 300/4 with an alumapro 10" under the rear strut plus a bass ***. I replaced the front speakers as well. The factory sub location is perfect for the installation of your aftermarket amp(s).

The sound was amazing!!

1 thing to remember is to not put the Bose bass setting above +2 if you do this. It still pushes bass through the mid's and will potentially blow them. You won't need it above that anyway with the added amp, sub & ***.

Oh, I recommend the Focal 165k2p's for the fronts.

 

so did you guys replace the factory sub or just put one in there? just run the wires that are going into the sub now into the new amp? How did you wire everything up? I know how to do everything with an aftermarket head unit but as far as i know the stock bose head unit doesnt have preamp outs.

 

To be honest, I've replaced everything. I originally had a strut bar box like Bix above but ended up replacing with a tire-well 12" flush with the trunk-floor.

Again, I would recommend looking at any old post referring to self-powered boxes in the stock location..like Basslink. The Bose system does some crazy EQing and amplifying on its own, but from what you said you are only concerned with the Sub signal. So yeah, you should be able to remove the stock 10", run the OEM sub signal spkr wire into the new unit and set the crossover and gain appropriately for bass of your liking.

Basslink is pretty sweet. 200W RMS in a sealed enclosure and most posts I've read give it thumbs up. I listed the Alphasonic because its a different design altogether (tuned ported enclosure), but it may be too long for the stock location (26"??). Either way, you would need to well dampen the cubby area with a Dynamt extreme type matting.

 

I just listed a possible solution to your question yesterday in the Private Classifieds. IM if interested.

 

That's a real picture.

The Bose unit does have pre-amp outputs, they just don't use RCA connectors. There are seperate amplifiers under the antenna on the trunk floor and just to the starboard side of the Bose subwoofer. Here's a picture of it compared to a real amplifier.



If you have to keep the headend and amplifiers remove the stupid audio altering microphone under the steering wheel and replace it with a resistor. Many here have said that that modification has helped. I just changed out everything except the factory AM/FM signal wire and antenna mount.

When I first started out I swapped out the stock sub-woofer with an Infinity 1030 which proved to me that the amplifier wasn't powerful enough to do much of anything. I swapped out the rear speakers it didn't make much difference either. Then I pulled out the factory Bose headend and front speakers and went with a Pioneer AVIC N2 and Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1's in the doors ... wow. Big difference. The door components had more bass than either of the two sub-woofers did. Finally I added a pair of amplifiers and subwoofers and my system rocks - lots (and lots) of boom/bang for the bucks.

 

HAHA! such a funny post paul!!

 

Great information there. Is there any way that I can just get rid of the stock sub and sub amp and wire in an aftermarket sub and amp with the stock headunit. I definitly want a new amp to power the new sub. Can the preamp outs out of the stock head unit be converted to rca or something that would work with a new amp?

 

lmfao funny pic.

Is that the same system as in the G?

 

Honestly man, new high-power HUs can be had for such little prices these days, don't let just the thought of $ scare you (if that is the case). They are cheaper than you might think.

 

Well I've built other systems in other cars and I replaced everything in them, so I know what everything costs its just I was hoping to keep the stock 6 disc and just add a little more punch. At least for now anyway.


Seeing as some people have done it, all I need to know now is the actual wiring that everyone went through to do it. (getting the signal from the stock headunit to the aftermarket amp)

 

6 CDs isn't that great of a convenience. Especially since you can burn 100 songs in mp3 format to one disk or use an Ipod link.

 

mp3s/wmas are the new black

 

I have an ipod and I rarely use it unless I go running and my last car had mp3 headunit and I only ever made 1 mp3 cd and it took so long to load and if I hit a bump it skipped like 3 songs.

Anyway, I plan on upgrading the head unit a little later with a dvd touch screen unit. Untill then, I was just hoping to add some more bass. I dont want crazy overwhelming bass, just more than that stock woofer puts out.

 

if sub in trunk area is a no-no, boils down to:

1) Homemade box in stock area with sub and seperate mono amp.

2) Amplified box like Basslink

Plus figuring out how to run the pre-amp signal from the stock bose amp as Paul pictured above...or running speaker level input to the amp.

 

Yea, thats what I been asking. How do I get the signal into the new amp to power a new sub. I know what I want to do, I just dont know how to get the preamp signal since there are no rca's outputs on the stock headunit. Its obviously been done so how did you do it?

 

I've read quite a few posts in the past of folks adding the sub to a Bose system while keeping the head-unit, but don't remember them mentioning splicing into the pre-amplified cables before they run into the mini amp Paul pictured above. That of course would be the best choice (the pre-amp signals) as the signal would be clean and unamplified. Search past posts of those who installed the Basslink and ask Paul for more help identifying wires. The Service manual also lists wire colors at the amp.

In the mean time you could always use the spkr level inputs of the amp and simply run the wires that were connected to the stock sub..or use a HLC to convert to an RCA signal. yeah, yeah, I've heard the Bose EQing really screws up the signal so this is probably not a good idea, but it is 80hz and below so who knows. Worth a shot until you figure out the Boseamp wiring.

I got the non-Bose with my Z and initially I hooked up a sub/amp and simply tapped into the rear of the stock head unit spkr outputs. I used dual Hi-Lo converters and then ran RCAs to the amp. This may also be an option on the Head unit..but apparently you have Low level outputs from the HU already so no HLC would be needed????

 

You can get the results you're looking for. I started out the same way. I did end up replacing everything but that was because I wanted integration with my aftermarket Nav more than anything else.

- Replace the sub & preferably put it in a "rear facing" config. You don't need a huge sub. Mine is the AlumaPro 10" in a custom enclosure and fits under the rear strut bar so the storage space I lost was minimal.

- Replace the front speakers with some good components.
- Use the factory sub location for your amp(s)
- Get a base ***

The sound quality improvement will blow you away. Especially compared to the Bose.

Then later if you decide to replace the HU you can fairly inexpensively.

As someone else mentioned, a good HU isn't that costly. I wanted to remain as stealth as possible and also wanted to keep the OEM look in tact. Even though I no longer have the Bose HU I'm still fairly stealth with no sighn of amps, speakers or even the sub unless the car is opened up.

 

Excellent points Bixby. I've been watching this site for over a year and see a repeated pattern. New owners will post that they are looking for "a little more bass", or "a little better sound without losing the stock look." But that little upgrade (like changing the Bose sub with an amped one) is not really that little in the grand scheme of things if you consider it involves running power cabling from battery, through firewall to cubby. Removal of panels, splicing into stock wiring, RCAs, HLCs, remote wiring, building a sub box, etc. etc.
Usually when people go through all of this to "slightly upgrade" their system, they come to the quick realization that basically the rest of the stock system is crap and start replacing everything because of the new familiarity with the cars internals and the sudden appreciation for quality sound.
My point is, no one should rule out the possiblility of future upgrades and no one in my opinion should limit their future options by installing equipment that will not support expansion. NOr should they limit themselves by running basic power & speaker wiring that will not support future upgrades. Don't build yourself into a corner.