DIY: Upgrade Component Speakers from BOSE

SuperDave

Without running new wiring or replacing your head unit.

Purchase 6.5” Components with crossovers, amplifier of your choice, and some amp wiring.

Install fuse block and run power wire for amp (see other DIY’s). I went under the passenger seat for this install, as it is a good central location between the battery and where all the wires are for the BOSE Amp.

Remove carpet, plastic piece, and black foam (under strut tower bar, pull hard) from the trunk. You can also tap one of the unused bolts under here near the passenger side for the ground for your amp. Run it down through the passenger side under the plastic interior piece then pop it through the carpet, into your amp.

Remove two bolts and two nuts from the BOSE amp, flip it over, and unplug the two cannon plugs.

Line in to BOSE Amp, strip back and tap (do not cut completely):

• White for Amp Remote – run it down to the amp in the same path as your ground wire.

Line in to BOSE Amp, clip completely and splice into RCA Connectors:

• Pink is Front Left +
• Blue is Front Left –
• Red is Front Right +
• Green is Front Right –
  Make sure they are long enough to go from the BOSE amp plug down to your amp.

Line out from amp back to speakers, clip completely, splice into standard red and black speaker wire, and label:

• Purple and Blue pair is Front Left Speaker
• Light Green and Grey pair is Front Left Tweeter
• Orange and Green pair is Front Right Speaker
• Black and White pair is Front Right Tweeter
  These don’t need to be as long, since you will put your crossovers in this area.

Install your components. At the speakers, just clip and splice the factory wiring into standard connectors. (See other DIY’s). FYI I made my own 6x9 to 6.5” adapter plate using the BOSE speaker mounts and about $6 in plastic with a dremel.

Connect:

• Newly spliced RCA connectors into amp front left and right channel.
• Run two pairs of speaker wire from the BOSE amp area down to your amp, connect to amp left and right output. Back near the BOSE amp, connect these wires to your crossovers input.
• Connect the newly spliced speaker and tweeter wires from the step above into your Crossovers output. Secure your crossovers with double stick tape.

Reinstall the two cannon plugs back into the BOSE amp and reinstall the amp with the two nuts and two bolts. This keeps your BOSE sub thumping until your next paycheck when you have funds to upgrade it.

Double check all connections, install amp fuse, and crank it up!

Check that everything works, put your interior pieces back together, and secure your amp.

Sorry for the lack of pics. I did not really intend to make a DIY out of it when I was doing it, but I have gotten a lot of requests to write it up, so here it is. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them here. I also had a witness to the install, thanks for the use of your garage CBTech.

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Cbtech

Effing MONEY! Well done!

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zakimak

Agreed... Not everyone can afford or want complete tear down/build up. Basically bypassing the amp's output and using existing wiring. Cheap, effective and with minimal disruption. Good job

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SuperDave

I found some extremely useful pictures

Custom 6x9" to 6.5" adapter plate using the BOSE mount:


How to sit in your trunk while looking at wiring diagrams on a tablet:

Attached Images

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	2.jpg (116.8 KB, 1961 views)

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Riptide67

Ill be using this in the future!

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RonRizz

Nice work! well written DIY.

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P99rs Head Unit--- Amps- 2 Pioneer Prs800d --- Zapco ST1000MX---Zapco ST-4XSQ---- SI BM mk5 Subs---SI TM65v2 Midbass--- SI M3 mids--- SI M25 xbl2 tweeters ----- 2016 MECA street class 3rd place at world finals

DEpointfive0

Hey Jew

How do I connect just a sub using this "J" method? (Just tell me what to buy, lol)

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SuperDave

The "J" method would be to first wait for a sale. Then clip coupons even though they say, "not valid in combination with any other offer". Then ask to speak to a manager...

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SuperDave

But seriously though, same concept, just cut the rear line in to the bose amp, splice into rca cables, into your new amp, and cut the sub line out from the bose amp. Splice output from your new amp into the sub line out that you cut from the bose amp. Or, since it's close enough, run speaker wire directly from your new amp out to your new sub.

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Silly Rabbit

I have the bose with nav. If I want to add a sub and keep the rest factory. Not replacing speakers and not clipping any lines to the bose amp. Will this work?

-Add amp with power, fuse and ground
-Tap white line before bose amp and connect to remote in on sub amp
-Tap (4) L/R line-in lines before bose amp
- Connect tapped lines to LOC
- Connect RCA lines from LOC to sub amp
- Connect sub amp to subwoofer


Can a simpler passive LOC like THIS be used?


Edit - Some more reading and I get the idea that I want to use a LC2i and connect it using the sky blue and violet lines (9&14) coming out of the bose amp instead of the lines going into the amp. Correct?

Confused - Now I'm reading that it is better to use the red and green lines (hi-level) from the bose sub amp to the bose sub, it will provide a better feed than the blue and violet lines (low level).

merkil

Can this sort of method be used to replace the smaller speakers behind the seats?



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SuperDave

Yes, they are like 3" mids. Just splice the rear wires instead of the fronts (wiring schematic in service manual).

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SuperDave

Your original idea should work. I would splice the signal lines into the amp, that way you are tapping the signal from the head unit before the bose components come into play with their weird ohmage.

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PoonSlayer

-2009 Bose w/ Nav-

Tapped wires before bose amp for LOC.

Installed two amps, one for sub, and another for a set of additional component speakers.

Everything went smooth, but now for some reason, when Remote Switch On is connected my factory bose speakers work 10% of the time. But added components always work. When i disconnect Remote Switch On for amps, factory bose system works fine.

Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated!

roadsterblack

Any regrets after doing this amp and components install with existing bose system / wiring? I'm about to follow your lead.

Thanks,