# Bose Integration with Aftermarket Headunit



## RP300zx (Nov 3, 2008)

WHEN I EDIT THIS THREAD I WILL PUT A PARAGRAPH AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE STATING WHAT I EDITED.

◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙

TOPICS THUS FAR:
Q1. I have a stock Premium Bose Sound System in my car, what does this mean?
Q2. My stock premium sound system headunit has died, what do I do.
Q3. Ok so now that I have chosen an aftermarket headunit and the wiring harness of my choice, what other items do I need?
Q4. How will my aftermarket radio fit into my car. I have a 1 din radio, what do i do?
Q5. MY BOSE amp died on the back of one of my speakers, can i use the power from my headunit?
Q6. Can i replace a BOSE speaker with a different brand speaker and connect it to the BOSE amp?
Q7. Why are there so many damned colors?
Q8. WHOA OMG, WTF. I have an extra black wire eminating from my METRA harness 70-7551, who what and why is it there and what do i do with it?
Q9. My harness comes with crimp tubes, are these any good?
Q10. How is My BOSE Headunit grounded?
Q11. Ok so now that you have explained these confuzzling ground wires, how the hell do i ground my new aftermarket headunit?

◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙

The Q and A:

Q1. I have a stock Premium Bose Sound System in my car, what does this mean?

A1. You have a Clarion headunit(even though bose is plastered all over it) which integrates to individual BOSE amplifiers which feed power to each BOSE speaker. 
(AKA 4 speakers, 4 amplifiers. Front speakers are components consisting of 6.5 inch woofers with 2 inch mounting depth and tweeters on the pillars. Rear Speakers are full range 6.5 inch speakers.)

Q2. My stock premium sound system headunit has died, what do I do.

A1. You have choices. Get it repaired, which can be costly and far from time efficient, or purchase a headunit of your choice. There are 2integration harnesses that allow you to send a signal from your new headunit to the BOSE amps behind each speaker. 

Method 1:
Amp Integration Harness Metra Part 70-7550 as shown here:
Metra Part 70-7550


This harness is all well and good, but it is taking the raw power signal from your headunits internal amp and sending it to the BOSE amplifiers. This harness is geared for aftermarket headunits without 4 sepaker preamp out jacks. This method will work, BUT, you get alot of distortion because it's a high level signal. TOO much signal produces distortion, too little signal will prevent the volume from reaching a decent level. As I said before, this will work, but you will get a crappier signal.

Method 2:
Amp integration Harness Metra Part 70-7551
Metra Part 70-7551


This harness is the best harness you can get. This harness utilizes the low level RCA preamp outputs of your new headunit to produce a clear signal to your BOSE amplifiers. With this harness you bypass your headunits internal amplifier and use only the preamp outs. This method supplies the proper amount of signal to eliminate distortion presented by direct amplifer hookup like with the Metra 70-7550.

Q3. Ok so now that I have chosen an aftermarket headunit and the wiring harness of my choice, what other items do I need?

A3.Well assuming that you still have a stock antenna wire, you most likely will need the antenna adapter 40-NI10
Infiniti/Nissan Antenna Adapter Metra Part 40-NI10


This adapter will allow your stock antenna wire to work with th aftermarket antenna wire found on the rear of your aftermarket headunit.

Q4. How will my aftermarket radio fit into my car. I have a 1 din radio, what do i do?

A4.You need to get a dash kit. There are several companies that sell dash kits to fit your stereo, but for the sake of keeping everything from the same company we will use METRA as our source for this dash kit.

Dash Kit 1:
Nissan/Infiniti Multi Kit Metra Part 99-7417
Nissan/Infiniti Dash Multi Kit Metra part 99-7417


For infiniti purposes, you will not use most of the pieces floating around that center section. YAY!

Dash Kit 2:
Now if you so decided to be a baller and purchase a 2 DIN aftermarket headunit you can purchase the 2 Din dash kit Metra part 95-7417
2 Din Multi Kit Metra Part 95-7417



Q5. MY BOSE amp died on the back of one of my speakers, can i use the power from my headunit?

A5. NO, NO,NO. Bose runs their speakers at 1ohm. Aftermarket headunits run their channels at 4ohms unless otherwise stated. 99% of the time it will be 4ohms.

Q6. Can i replace a BOSE speaker with a different brand speaker and connect it to the BOSE amp?

A6. NO, NO, NO. Once again, the speaker runs on 1ohm, most, 99% of aftermarket speakers run on 4ohms. You will ruin the amp or your speaker, whichever comes first.

Q7. Is it hard to intergrate the wiring harness?

A7. Not at all. When you intergrate the wiring harness of your choice you are not splicing any part of the existing harness. The harness that is attached to your car remains the same. The intergration harness you purchased will plug into your car's harness. From here you have wires on the opposite end that need to be attached to the wiring harness that cames with the aftermarket headunit you chose. Both the headunit and and Metra cable come with directions specifying what color wires are for what. The Metra cable packaging has the wire designation on the back so do not throw the packaging away. Somewhere in your headunit manual will be the wire color designations for their harness.

Q7. Why are there so many damned colors?

A7. So many colors because of so many connections. Most aftermarket manufacturers follow the same wire color schemes to keep things more uniform. It is easier on everyone'es part when it's this way. HOWEVER, this is not true in 100% of the cases. Always double check to make sure that the colors match so that when you hookup your accessories you dont ruin anything.

Q8. WHOA OMG, WTF. I have an extra black wire eminating from my METRA harness 70-7551, who what and why is it there and what do i do with it?

A8. Ok here's the deal. After alot more research i am fixing this answer. The deal is, there are 2 ground wires, 1 per harness. Unfortunately, there will most likey be no place to connect these to on your new aftermarket headunit because these wires are grounds for the bare negative wire which travels along side your + and - signal cables to your amps at your speakers. This method is called shield wiring because this single bare negative wire removes electrical pulses from its environment and grounds them. This prevents interference on your signal. Basically, now that you know this you should ground these two wires to the chassis as close as possible to the HU. I haven't done this yet because i just figured it out so i will fix the end of this and tell you all where i put my grounds for them.

Q9. My harness comes with crimp tubes, are these any good?

A9. The crimp tubes are fine. The metra harness's don't have crimp tubes to my knowledge but many times, in the case with my alpine headunit, the headunit harness has crimp tubes. You can use these tubes and things will work fine but it is always recommended that you twist the wires together and cover it with something to protect the bare wire. I always ditch the crimps and twist the wires together and then use heatshrink tubing. You should solder the wires together as well and then cover with shrink tubing, but you dont have to. Make sure the wires are firmly together. If you chose to forego the shrinkwrap, use electrical tape. Choice is up to you, i just find shrinkwrap tubing to be more of a finished look.

Q10. How is My BOSE Headunit grounded?

A10. The way your BOSE headunit grounded is via the metal case. In other words, your headunit is screwed into the cage which is screwed into the dash which is connected to the chassis which is a common ground to your battery.

Q11. Ok so now that you have explained these confuzzling ground wires, how the hell do i ground my new aftermarket headunit?

A11. Well, there are options. Chances are you new aftermarket headunit will come with a black ground lead on it. In the case of our cars, ground the wire to the chassis spot of your choosing. Your new aftermarket headunit may grounditself to the chassis via its metal casing but make sure that the black ground wire from your new headunit is grounded to the chassis.



http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=265-012
:idhitit:


----------

