Ok so I've got no idea whats going on. Sad part is I've had the issue for about a year but have done nothing to fix it. I replaced my stock Bose HU with a Kenwood nav unit. I'm one of the few that always thought the Bose sounded really good to begin with. I thought the Bose sounded clear and the bass was pretty good. I never even set the bass all the way up because I was fine with +3. Rearview mirror was shaking and everything. I loved it. But I wanted nav more, so it had to go.

So after I replace it with the Kenwood, its seems I lost most of the sound "loudness", if thats the best way to say it. I have to turn the volume near max or sometimes at max on the freeway. Half volume isn't that loud to me. I almost have no bass even though its cranked high. The only time I actually feel bass is if I turn the volume all the way up. But that sucks if I'm just driving around the neighborhood or something. The sound itself actually sounds ok, its just low. I guess it wasn't that big a deal obiviously since I haven't done anything in a year. But everytime I get a loaner car I'm reminded of it, and I guess I'm finally sick of it. I was thinking of just getting a sub and being done with it. But then I got to thinking, no way my aftermarket is less powerful than the stock Bose. I'm sure the installer knows what he's doing install wise. Maybe theres something unusual about our cars? Then I'm reading stuff here about the Bose system being 2-ohms while most other aftermarkets are 4-ohms. I checked my deck and its pushing out at 4-ohms. Assuming the speakers are 2-ohms, is there a way for me to fix my problem of not being loud as old stock and get my bass back? Or am I actually screwed and have to replace everything, just to get it to sound good as stock, sigh? Does the ohm difference have anything to do with it and can it be converted somehow? Or is it that my old amp is connected with the new HU? Help!!!

 

already bumping

 

how did you connect the Kenwood HU to the Bose amp?

 

oh i didnt. i had it installed by a stereoshop. im just offering guesses as to whats going on with it.

 

It's really a difficult question to answer without knowing the specific model number of the head unit and the way the head unit it connected to the speakers.

If done properly, the factory bose amp should have been bypassed.

IF this was done, I can see one other problem. You state the manual for the head unit shows the internal amplifier of the Kenwood to be rated at 4 ohms. The stock speakers have 2 ohm voice coils. If the Kenwood is not rated for a lower impedance (2 ohms), then the internal amplifier in your Kenwood maybe going into protect because of the demand of the speakers.

To solve this ... you could connect your left front and left rear speakers in series, and the same with the right side. This way the head unit sees 4 ohms on 2 channels. The only problem with this would be the power to the speakers would be cut in half, and you would lose your front/rear fade.

It seems like an impedance issue to me ... the speakers are drawing more than the internal amp of the HU can handle because of a load (2 ohms) that the HU possibly isn't rated for/cannot handle.

This is just a shot in the dark with the little info provided

 

i think u needa add a amp

 

thanks for the help. im not sure how the Hu is connected to the speakers. id imagine nothing special, as i took it to a chain stereo shop. the HU itself is a kenwood dnx7100. if there is an impedance issue, is there any way to just convert it to match? instead of reconnecting the speakers in a special way, only to lose half the power?

 

correct me if i'm wrong here...but I thought the bose HU sent line level differential signals to the amp in the trunk and then the trunk sent the power to the speakers. I don't know how you would bypass the amp in the trunk at the HU.
The OP needs to tell us what kenwood HU he bought and how it was installed.

 

my last post said its a kenwood dnx7100. as to how its installed, i dunno. i took it to a cartoys. not saying they are the best, but they are better than me. thats why im asking for help. im not even sure if this is a problem. could be how the HU is. can anyone else with a kenwood chime in too?

 

Should have checked the tech section first
https://g35driver.com/forums/audio-video-electronics/86249-upgrading-sound-system-keeping-stock-hu.html

Just go to the installer and ask if they used followed the directions in the above thread.


If the installation does bypass the bose amp, the nav amp is only 22 watts RMS per channel which is not a whole lot. So you probably want a dedicated amp to get the "loudness" back. And if that is the case the 2 ohm speakers are going to be a problem.

 

How about getting an amp and some component speakers?

If you don't want a lot of bass, and from your description from above -- you don't ... then you don't have to get a sub. If I were in your shoes -- I would get a solid set of 3-way components, like Dynaudio ... and a single amp to power them.

I don't know exactly what you're after though.

 

I'm in a similiar situation but I knew that going into swapping out my OEM Bose HU to an AVIC D3. With the amp bypass currently in place my output is significantly less than original with my intention to replace both my speakers and amp. With help from some of the members here and a lot of reading, I decided on the following replacements:

Fronts - Infinity Kappa Prefects 6.1 (4 Ohm)
Rear Deck - JL VR690-CX1 2-Way (4 Ohm)
Amp - Boston Acoustics GT42 4Channel

The rears and the amp are shipping and should be here tomorrow so if I don't get them in this weekend, I'll do the install next week. I'll post up pics and a review afterwards.

 

I reccommend taking the car back to Car Toys and telling them you aren't happy and see if they can do something about it.

 

oh i def am but i just wanted to make sure,

A) thats not how the HU normally is
B) if theres any solution that doesnt require more $$$ to make me sound as "good" as stock
C) if anyone else had weird sound issues if they only replaced the stereo and not the speakers too

trueblue - i do actually want bass, i was thinking about adding a sub eventually. but id still like to have at least the same amount as i had on the stock.

so i rode in my friends car yesterday and listened to his stock bose stereo for comparison. the easiest way for me to explain the "loudness" issue i think i have is this. stock bose has a volume setting of 0 to 30 and bass of -6 to +6. in his car a setting of volume at 17 and +3 bass is pretty good and loud for regular street driving. its actually loud enough where we would have to speak up to hear each other.

in comparison my kenwood dnx7100 has volume settings of 0 to 35. i forget the bass off hand but its at the max, because it doesnt seem strong. for me to equal that close to halfway setting of the stock, i have to turn mine up to 27 at least. and the bass def does not thump as hard. if im on the freeway i have to turn it up to the max 35 volume setting to hear it clearly. i know they are diff manufacturers with diff number settings. the part that confuses me and makes me think i may have an issue is the fact that i have to almost turn my deck up to full to equal half the stock sound. that just boggles my mind, especially since my aftermarket should be stronger then the stock, im assuming.

im taking my car in to have them help me with a firmware update on the deck. since they need to take it apart for me to access some port on the back, i figured i could have them check the wiring too. but i just wanted to check on here if i even had an issue with the sound, or if im just hallucinating. i really do appreciate the feedback ive gotten though. thats why this forum is really helpful.