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Step by step instructions for do-it-yourselfers...
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C5 and general audio FAQ
When the bose head unit is removed from the wire harness the accessories power lead is disconnected by the pcm. The acc wire is what 'tells' your headunit to turn on so you'll have to tap into some other source for this. The easiest place to tap this lead from is fuse number 22 under the passenger floor board.
if you look in the passenger footwell, pull out the cover and look in the top left corner. There will be a small plug with three wires (orange, yellow, & black) that are just taped up. Check out this schematic to see which fuses they use, but the yellow wire is the +12V switched, and that I am sure of.
or you can use fuse 22
I used a razor blade to stripe away some of the wire covering, then used an extra extension piece of gray wire between the “brown ignition wire” and the “red HU power wire”. That way I can pull out the HU all the when needed. Solder and tape the connection.

Look for a small bundle of wires under the steering column (you have to remove the interior panel that covers it first) - the colors should be grey, purple, pink, sea-green, and yellow. The yellow wire is switched +12v power:

I used a scotchlock connector to tap into it:

This wire will provide +12v power when the ignition is in the "ACC" and "RUN" positions.
Hopefully this will save some people time, as I spent hours trying to get all of this sorted.
- Mark
read this should explain
We now need to wire up the Peripheral SVEN2 for the bose subs. We will not use the set of wires with the rca’s. Set the input switch to wired, and the output switch to RCA. Leave the gain ***** at the max position, they can later be dialed down during testing if the factory bose subs are too powerful. On the input harness match the wires to the same wires from the radio and gm harness, white and grey (discard the black wire). Now the output side will be wired into the bose subs harness. Of the two remaining harness we have from the OEM headunit we will use the larger one. From the SVEN2 output harness take the grey/black and white/black wire and splice them into the light blue wire. Take the grey wire and connect it to tan/black, connect the white wire to light green/black.
dont forget to tie blue wire from gm harness to amp turn on wire from ur radio
Last edited by knyght4; Feb 20, 2009 at 10:34 AM. Reason: Added info
I found a key on 12v hot wire behind the ac heat control unit, it is the brown wire , and tapped into that. Everything else was color to color on the harness that I had. Thanks for all the input, sounds and works great so far!
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
I noticed a small squeak behind the head unit, so I have to pull it apart again or it will drive me insane. I think it might be the SVEN2 rattling around.
So make sure everything is rattle and squeak free before putting it all back together when you swap your HU.
Thread:Adding an amplifier
To add a subwoofer or to give your aftermarket speakers more power you will need an aftermarket amplifier. Please note you will not be able to power the stock bose speakers with an aftermarket amplifier. If you are keeping the stock head unit you will need a bose interface (please note: When tapping into the stock wiring, the low frequencies for bass ARE NOT present at the twiddlers. The 8" sub in the doors or behind the h/u must be tapped when adding a sub). A popular model for the c5's are the 'soundgate' adapters or pac-audio interfaces. This will allow you to retain the stock headunit and all of the stock features associated with the head unit such as retained accessory power and automatic volume compensation even the stock speakers if you only wish to only add a subwoofer. The bose interface will give you pre-amp level outputs that you can run to the rca jacks of your amplifier.
Just FYI, check out post #9 to see how you could maintain RAP with your aftermarket amp.
And BTW, in the future, for specific questions you may want to start a new thread instead of posting in the FAQ.
Good evening all! I'm a newbie to the forum.You have been very informative throughout many threads that I've disovered and I'd like your thoughts on the following:
I've read the thread on C6 and cleansweep but my questions are...
1)Do I need a cleansweep for a 99' C5 under the following setup?
-Factory Bose HU in 99' vert/
keeping CD changer in trunk/new 4 channel amp/new component speakers/stealthsub/remote for sub/JL cleansweep?
2)Also your comments and/or suggestions/advice on the following components or others you could reccomend
-Front speakers: Focal 165vr or 165v1
- 4 Ch-amp: Kenwood KZCX4R (digital) or JL 300/4
- Rear speakers: running off HU or disconnect?
-Sub: 8/10/12inch
Thanks

I used Focal components in the front and developed the lazy man's way to install them. First I removed all the Bose speakers and brackets and then I stripped off all the Bose stuff from the brackets. I then made adapters out of thin plywood to adapt the Focals to the brackets.

Then I was looking for a place to install the crossovers and found that there is enough depth in the door to mount them on the back of the brackets. This made the wiring a snap. I mounted the tweeters on the top of the windshield against the a-piller. They virtually disappear in this location because of the dark glass.

I also spent some time thinking how to install the H/U in the dash. I kept looking at the old Bose unit and thought why not copy that design. So I fabed up these little brackets. It was very fussy getting the fit perfect, but they work great. They mount using the stock mounting holes in the dash.


I installed Focal composits in the rear and used the Bose wiring to connect them. They work fine. I still have a small fitment issue with the one on the driver's side. The magnet in the Focals is much larger than the Bose, and it hits the plastic that shrowds the gas tank filler pipe. I am going to make a spacer that will look similar to the ones in the front that will give the clearance I need.
I installed the I-Pod in the back of the consol. Since my Kenwood does not have a USB on the front, I connected a short USB extension that I hide tucked in the console at the passenger's footwell. I then connected the Ipod adaptor to that and routed it to the consule. With this setup, I can disconnect the Ipod easily and use the USB port for updates etc. I set the Ipod on a piece of foam to reduce any heat transfer from the tunnel area.

I mounted the GPS antenna on the dash at the base of the a-piller on the passenger's side.
The most significant issue I ran into was the constant 12 V supply. At first, I found the Bose supply in the harness and tapped into that. The unit would not power up. After much time checking everything, I concluded that the H/U was defective. I took it back to the dealer and he bench tested it and found it to be OK. I then did voltage tests and found that the constant supply (from Bose harness) was 1.5 V less than the switched supply. I then took my constant supply direct from the battery and it powered up. I installed an in-line fuse with this supply. I have no idea why the original setup didn't work, but don't really care now.
I also installed the Kenwood Bluetooth unit and had a difficult time getting the H/U to recognize it. I couldn't find proper installation instructions and finally posted on here to see if anyone else had an answer. While I was doing that my wife found the installation instructions in the back of the manual. Go figure. Anyway, there are dip switches that have to be set to match the H/U.
I hope this helps any of you that want to do a similar install.
I wish to thank Dennis C5BearsFan for the great bezel. You will notice that it retains the ashtray which I didn't want to lose. Also, I'd like to thank the member's of this Forum for all the help and support that I got.
Dave
Last edited by 4 KRUSIN; Sep 17, 2010 at 08:36 AM.
nice work! clean that interior!
You may not have a problem up in Canada, but if you plan on taking any long trips in the summer you may want to put the ipod in the glove box. Many MP3 players have prematurely met their makers due to the heat in the center console, and 6-speed C5's seem to be the worst.
You may not have a problem up in Canada, but if you plan on taking any long trips in the summer you may want to put the ipod in the glove box. Many MP3 players have prematurely met their makers due to the heat in the center console, and 6-speed C5's seem to be the worst.

As for the interior, 5 minutes before the pic, it was full of tools and parts. Hopefully tomorrow will be nice enough to give it the Spring cleanup.
Last edited by 4 KRUSIN; Apr 11, 2009 at 06:08 PM.
1) How do they sound? Is there a overwhelming SQ difference vs factory in your configuration.
2)Are the Focals "apparent" in the rear. (I'm debating rears. May just use oem for fill) Your experience on this?
3) Focals sound good in the showroom but what about with the top down?
4) Any comments would be helpful
As for the interior, 5 minutes before the pic, it was full of tools and parts. Hopefully tomorrow will be nice enough to give it the Spring cleanup.

1) How do they sound? Is there a overwhelming SQ difference vs factory in your configuration.
2)Are the Focals "apparent" in the rear. (I'm debating rears. May just use oem for fill) Your experience on this?
3) Focals sound good in the showroom but what about with the top down?
4) Any comments would be helpful


















