Hi everyone. New member here, but owned my coupe since it was new in 2004. I found great info here to address my power window issue, and am now looking into addressing my developed needs for a better audio system.

I first just want a better understanding of the basics of how the current Bose system works. I am a complete novice at car audio. So I only want the simplest explainations. I would appreciate input on the following curiosities of mine:

1. I know there is a amplifier in the rear of the car, by the spare tire, and it powers the subwoofers in the rear dash. Does that same amp also power the other speakers in the car? Or is there another amp in the front to do this? Or how are the other speakers connected?

2. Will an aftermarket HU be a plug & play to the stock amp(s) and speakers? (I know this won't address sound issues, again, just curious as to how the different components of the Bose system work with each other.)

3. Will it affect the rest of the system in any way if I remove the rear Bose amp (a source of the sound issues I am aware) and replace it with a basic aftermarket amp that powers a small sub? (other than the obvious outcome of losing the stock rear subs)

4. Since the Bose amp is described as sub-par, will it be beneficial to replace it with aftermarket without replacing any speakers? I don't want to have to add any components in the trunk area (other than possibly an amp in the stock location)

 

See above. Hope i kept it simple.

 

So then you can't just remove that amp, without replacing it with an amp that's capable of powering all of the car's speakers? And upon doing this would pretty much make it pointless to keep any of the stock speakers...

 

Heres what the end of the bose amp looks like(ish):


here is what aftermarket amps need:


you have to take each pair of wires, splice them, and turn that into a positive and negative for ONE terminal, each channel has 2.

using this wire for every speaker would be ROUGH, you only have to do 4 wires to add a sub:

 

One more question then....
Replacing those two Bose 6X9's on the rear dash with something better and more capable without changing anything else, would it make a difference in bass quality/volume? If there's a chance of this working, what is recommended for these two replacements?

Thanks so far!

 

Sorry to thread jack but how big is the factory subwoofer?

 

I was actually going to just ask if anybody knew the specs on the factory system components as well.

I'd like to see the rating/specs on the speakers and amp, so I can decipher what it is I can, and see for myself the comparison to aftermarket stuff.

 

unfortunately, if you are looking for any decent improvement, the system as a whole should be dealt with accordingly. I have never tried, nor heard of anyone who has replaced the stock 6x9 subs with other 6x9s hoping to get a better output. It just wont happen.

Before you go changing everything, the first thing i would recommend is adding a sub and amp to your system, as it sounds like that is the area you are focusing on, then that must be the area you are unhappy about. After changing the sub, if you are still not happy, then move forward, but this is the most logical progression in car audio.

There is a sticky with great info on adding just a sub and amp to the stock bose system, check it out.

As far as specks...6 1/2s in the doors and rear quarter panels, 6x9 subs, 3/4" to 1" tweets, and powering these with an aftermarket amp is a no no... In car audio, improve the weakest link first to get the best effect. First, (for most people its the bass) get a decent sub. Next, the weakest link from there is the "entire" bose name minus the HeadUnit. Everything after the HU is basically crap.

Hope this is simple enough...

 

How many watts do I need to push through a sub to notice an improvement over the stock system? I just want crisper, deeper and louder bass. Doesn't need to be anything drastic. Just don't want to be maxing out the stock system all the time.

 

a small 10" and 250 watt amp would be better than stock...