My Bose based install so far..
06-30-2008, 02:51 PM
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My Bose based install so far..
I would like to share my experience with upgrading my Bose system keeping the Bose headunit though.
First of all I decided to upgrade the front speakers. I bought JL audio VR 650 components which fit fine in the stock tweeter location and with help of spacers in the stock door pods. Fairly neat install but the result was not so good as far as sound quality is concerned. Soundwise there was an improvement in quality, though tweeters sounded little harsh and mids muffled, but it was more than obvious that the Bose amp lacked even the slightest power to drive these speakers, which even made them sound less loud than the trashy Bose speakers.
So I bought a JL audio G2250 amp to drive the front speakers. The installation was performed by a professional but I dont think he would make it without my instructions and the service manual!
I put the amp in the passenger glove box and routed RCAs direct from the Bose headunit. The problem was with the speaker wires. it was impossible to locate them in the wire harnesses in the car, so the only option was to connect the pre-amp wires that leave the headunit with the speaker outputs of the JL amplifier. Then we had to go to the rear hatch and ,after taking out the whole trunk to locate the bose amp, bridge the pre-amp wires that come to the bose amp with the speaker cables that leave the bose amp!
Everything else went as planned and the job was done rather quickly.
As for the sound result...one word....AMAZING improvement compared to both the stock system and the speaker-only upgrade!!
Amazing clarity, no harshness at all from the tweeters and fantastic detail! The only problem that i noticed is that the Bose subwoofer now almost works less than 50% of its previous power. I attribute this to the loss of pre-amped signal from the front speakers which does not reach the bose amp now, and to the fact that the rear speaker signal which is the only that reaches the bose amp now, is faded by -3,-4 in favor of the front. Anyway the end result even with the sub working low is zillion times better than before even bass-wise!!!
I wonder if it would help if I connected and "copied" the pre-amp rear channel signal to the front pre-amp inputs of the bose amp as well. Any ideas on these or will I have to proceed and buy a sub amp and even a new sub in the near future?
First of all I decided to upgrade the front speakers. I bought JL audio VR 650 components which fit fine in the stock tweeter location and with help of spacers in the stock door pods. Fairly neat install but the result was not so good as far as sound quality is concerned. Soundwise there was an improvement in quality, though tweeters sounded little harsh and mids muffled, but it was more than obvious that the Bose amp lacked even the slightest power to drive these speakers, which even made them sound less loud than the trashy Bose speakers.
So I bought a JL audio G2250 amp to drive the front speakers. The installation was performed by a professional but I dont think he would make it without my instructions and the service manual!
I put the amp in the passenger glove box and routed RCAs direct from the Bose headunit. The problem was with the speaker wires. it was impossible to locate them in the wire harnesses in the car, so the only option was to connect the pre-amp wires that leave the headunit with the speaker outputs of the JL amplifier. Then we had to go to the rear hatch and ,after taking out the whole trunk to locate the bose amp, bridge the pre-amp wires that come to the bose amp with the speaker cables that leave the bose amp! Everything else went as planned and the job was done rather quickly.As for the sound result...one word....AMAZING improvement compared to both the stock system and the speaker-only upgrade!!
Amazing clarity, no harshness at all from the tweeters and fantastic detail! The only problem that i noticed is that the Bose subwoofer now almost works less than 50% of its previous power. I attribute this to the loss of pre-amped signal from the front speakers which does not reach the bose amp now, and to the fact that the rear speaker signal which is the only that reaches the bose amp now, is faded by -3,-4 in favor of the front. Anyway the end result even with the sub working low is zillion times better than before even bass-wise!!!I wonder if it would help if I connected and "copied" the pre-amp rear channel signal to the front pre-amp inputs of the bose amp as well. Any ideas on these or will I have to proceed and buy a sub amp and even a new sub in the near future?
07-01-2008, 08:32 AM
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Visit www.audiolink.biz. This will explain what you can do to a stock Bose system without all the trouble that you went through.
07-01-2008, 09:57 AM
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I don't think any audiolink product would be of any help since I had no incompatibility issues with my JL amp. My main problem was that there are no accessible speaker cables in the existing bose installation. So either you have to install new cables which is a hassle or to do what I did. As I said the result is great, and the only prob is the weak signal that goes to the sub now. Maybe it is time for a new sub+amp ? Any other ideas to fix this?
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