Ok, 350Z and forum noob here! This may be a dumb post but I just bought an 04 Z about a month ago...I hated the base factory system so I upgraded to a Pioneer AVIC-F700BT Nav/CD head unit immediately. That helped a little. The clarity is still pretty bad out of the speakers but I digress...

I had the base system when I bought the car, but apparently I had a sub in the Bose sub box behind the driver's seat. Would this have been installed separately (aftermarket) or with the factory base system? There weren't any mods on the car when I bought it (it only had 25K miles on it) a month ago.

My HU doesn't show the sub hooked up at all. I had the HU installed by CarToys and they didn't say anything about the sub. So, I am just wondering if anyone knows (before I go popping off plastic parts) if that is factory-installed or aftermarket? It sounds decent, but I would like to tune it some more if possible. But, I know that will mean giving it it's own amp and wires (which I'm ok with as long as I know what I'm getting into).

I am installing a Popcharger this weekend with a mechanically-inclined friend and may have some time to look into that sub but I am just wondering if anyone has any advice on this before I go popping plastic. Thanks!

 

Bose 10" sub comes factory installed, and won't show up on a head unit because it runs on the same driver as the "bass" control on the stock H/U. An aftermarket sub will only show up on a HU if the LC1 plugs are directly connected to the HU. (i.e. not run through an LC1 converter, or part of a stock system)

My advice would be to rip out that crumby Bose woofer and throw in a diamond or a JL! I did a custom job in the wheel well area and installed a 12" pioneer, that takes up absolutely ZERO space. Let me know if you ever have speaker problems, and welcome to the Z forum!

 

Thanks! Yeah, it sounds pretty crumby. So what all would I need to put in a new one? An amp kit (wiring), amp and sub? Just a new sub? Sub and amp?

Would that go into that same spot or were you talking about somewhere else? I don't really want a lot of bass, just "enough" to enjoy the full spectrum of the music. I'm a rocker. And I don't really want to sacrifice any storage space. I've read some threads here that had installed powered subs like the basslink behind the driver's seat...Would that be an easier option or would I still need to run wires to the HU?

Forgive me for I know not what I ask!

 

Not true. I installed a Kenwood DNX8120 and it sees my Bose subwoofer.

 

My Kenwood DNX7100 makes adjustments to the sub seperately as well too.

 

Same question here. My bose sub seems to be dying very soon. When I turn the music on it plays for about 15 minutes and then stop working. I took it off the car to check. Seems like there is no connection failure or anything like that.
I figured may be I can buy nice JL sub with the amp and connect it to the factory system. Anybody tried to do that? Or is it better just to buy a sub without amp? Does any of the subs fit the factory mountings or some modifications needs to be done?

 

My bad, I rerouted the sub to an LC1 converter (bass **** for independent control without pressing a lot of buttons in the menu- just my preference)

Anyways OP, you should definitely get a sub and amp, and IMO the head unit made a HUGE difference in terms of bass capacity and treble. If you are a "rocker," I strongly recommend this.

 

Hell if you did have control and turned it up it would just distort more and sound even worse. Walmart subs sound better then the bose in our cars.