Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

I've been doing a lot of reading on upgrading the Bose stereo, but not being an audio expert I'm getting confused. Here's my dilema...I bought a new head unit (Clarion CX201) and new door speakers (Polk Audio DB651S). I got it from Crutchfield so I got the wire harness adapters for the head unit included. Once I finally got the unit to work, I noticed the volume level doesn't go very high. Guess I expected a little more from the setup. Reading about the bose amps and the Ohms for the bose speakers, I'm wondering if having the aftermarket HU and front speakers run through the bose amp and using the back stock speakers might be causing the problem. The new deck has 21 watts per channel (50 peak). I don't crank it to ear splitting levels, but as is right now, road noise almost drowns out the music. I'll guess if I was just running off the decks power I'd at least get louder than right now. So, what's the best course to proceed to get some more volume (I'm on a tight budget). Should I:
1. Buy new back speakers and just ditch the wire harness from Crutchfield and hook up the stereo directly to the car and run new speaker wires to all 4 speakers?
2. Re-wire in some other fashion to use the bose amp, or is it pointless due to the decks wattage already or some other reason?
Sorry if I seem kinda stupid on the subject, but at the end of the day...I am. Reading post after post on the subject just seemed to confuse me on the subject more. Thanks much in advance for any help you can provide!

Blck350z

iTrader: (10)

Z4ToddB, the best way to do this would be to just run heavier gauge wiring to the new speakers in the door and the rear (as most will say on here, myself included, I left the rear speakers out completely and just kept a sub and the fronts). This will give you the best sound with your setup.

Hope you like wiring

bmccann101

iTrader: (16)

the gauge of your wiring will do nothing to vlume levels of your mids.
This is the price you pay when interfacing an aftermarket stereo thru a vastly different impedance and voltage level signal path of a Bose system.. it has always been this way.
Thats why the best advice is to bypass all bose equipment in the car altogether.. the ONLY reasons not to are if you drive a 150 thousand dollar car and want to retain a fully stock dash .. and they usually have a million ohter gizmos integrated to the OEM head unit etc..

SO, in short, from an expert, bypass your Bose completely. you MAY retain the subwoofer if you ahve one and really want to keep it simple, but disconnect your mids from any Bose amps or signal patha nd go right to the deck, this will require you work outside the harnesses provided. Leave it to a pro, take it to a shop, they do this often and the Z is super easy to work on.

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Excellent advise...my thanks to you both for the replies!

TB

Spike100

You only need to bypass all the Bose components. You can use the existing wiring, but make sure all the Bose components are off-line (not connected).

--Spike

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Spike-

When you say off-line, does that mean i simply need to go the the amp by the spare tire and dis-connect the power from it? I thought I read somewhere there was another amp somewhere in the vicinity of the rear speakers too. Same applies there? Pull the power and done deal? Thanks for the input!

TB

Spike100

Yes... you understand.

--Spike

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Excellent! Thanks for clearing it up. Appreciate all the advice-

TB

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Ok, sorry it's been a while since I got on the board, but thought I'd update the stereo saga. First off, great advice from all above. I ended up running new wiring from the doors and the rear speakers straight to the deck. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Bypassing the Blose amps and speakers was surely the way to go. Since my last post, I ended up replacing all the rear speakers as well as the sub. Again...night and day from both the Bose and from my initial install using the Crutchfield harnesses. I highly recommend to anyone replacing any components do what was recommeded to me and bypass all factory junk. You won't be sorry I assure you. Now that all seems to be running great though, I do have one final question: The deck has subwoofer RCA outs, but the subwoofer only has the typical speaker connectors. I understand that the RCAs are meant for connection to an amp, but I'm not using one. I have the sub tied into the left rear speaker outs along with the 6 1/4 left rear speaker. Should I tie the sub into BOTH rear speakers or is there a cable I can buy that goes from RCA out at the deck to bare wires to the speakers? Thanks again for all the help from the experts out there...

uberz33

wait...you have the left rear speaker out wired to the left rear speaker and the sub? if so, do not do this. your head unit will not see the correct load and it will lead to the demise of the amp. some modern head units are capable of running a sub off the rear channels, what does your manual say? i quickly scanned the online manual and saw no mention of it. in all likelihood, you will need to buy another amp to run the sub.

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Yes, I currently have both the sub and the left rear speaker connected to the decks left rear positive/negative wires. I wasn't aware that could damage the deck. Do you know if there is an adapter cable to connect to the head units RCA outs to speaker terminals, or am I stuck with now having to go buy an amp? Guess the only other option would be to either disconnect the left rear 6 1/4 speaker (or both rear speakers) as I would like to keep the sub for a little bit of low end. There really isn't ANY with only the front and rear 6" speakers...Thanks for your post!

TB

uberz33

the rca outs are not amplified and therefore cant power a sub. if it were me, i would call clarion and see if they suggest running a sub off the rear channels and what load it can run. are you running the stock bose sub? in most cases bass = power, so an amp might be the best route. also, as far as no bass now, make certain the speakers are correctly connected, as in + to + and - to -. an error there can kill bass response. however, i wouldn't expect much from the speakers you are currently running.

mattk

iTrader: (2)

What you're describing is running your subwoofer and left rear driver in parallel. Missing a high pass filter won't be too much trouble for a subwoofer as the high frequency content can't be reproduced by a heavy bass driver. Unsure what the impedence of the subwoofer is, but assuming both drivers are 4 ohms, that's a 2 ohm load and not ok for your head unit.

What you're trying to do is connect the subwoofer in tri-mode, but before you do that, check with Clarion to see if they recommend it for your head unit. Typically the answer is no for a head unit:
http://www.bcae1.com/trimode.htm

You're pretty much stuck with a dedicated subwoofer amplifier or a powered subwoofer box because the head unit amp only supports a 4-8 ohm load, and that won't let you bridge the rear speakers.

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Wow. Thanks for the replies. I think my best bet will be to disconnect the rear speakers and simply run the 2 fronts and the single sub off the rear until I can afford an amp. Once I get the amp, I can reconnect the back speakers and run the amp off the RCA connection on the HU. Guess I better make it a priority before I fry my Clarion...thanks again for setting me straight! In the meantime, do you recommend connecting both rear channel positives to the sub +, and both - to the sub negative or just run the sub off the rear left channel?

TB

uberz33

you don't want to wire the sub the first way you described. you may be able to bridge the rear channels or run a 2 ohm load. my HU is capable of this but i have no idea if yours is. i would be comfortable with the second method regardless as long as it is a 4 ohm sub, but you won't get much power.

SageZ

iTrader: (1)

low budget only means something if you have a time limit. just save, save, save, and in the meantime do research, research, research. In the end you will eventually have everything you want. search the audio/video and build threads and plan/map out what you want for you car and slowly but surely head in that direction.

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Thanks UberZ, I'll go that route while I search for a new amp. "Sage" advice. Maybe that's why you're name is SageZ... Saving, Saving, Saving does not get me any closer to hooking up my wires though. It's not that I can't afford an amp, it's that I didn't WANT one. I don't play the music that loud and was trying to avoid spending money on what I deem an unecessary expense. In the long run though, spending money on an amp will save me money by not having to buy a new deck when I burn this one up. To me, that's "sage advice".

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

Final entry. I took the advice here on the board and bought an amp. Installed it in the glove box, turned out pretty good. Sounds so much better than the factory system ever did. Now I'm also not in danger of frying my HU due to how I had it hooked up before. Again, thanks for all the advice provided, as I stated I wasn't an expert...all of the EXPERTS here helped tremendously. Safe motoring all-

TB

SageZ

iTrader: (1)

good for you *yawn* so how's the weather?

Z4ToddB

iTrader: (2)

You're a douche...how about STFU? Bust your post count on someone elses threads-