LJD51

I have a 2013 with the POS nav/Blose sound combo. In dash navigation is not important since I have a portable Garmin I prefer using so I want to replace the nav with the Kenwood DMX 7704S. The 7704S is Rear View Camera/ Front View Camera capable (a must have), has Apple CarPlay (yes, I drink the juice) and a bunch of other nice to have features.

The 7704S is a 50w/4 channel unit and since the '13 has speakers in the dash in addition to the doors/B-pillars, does the entire Blose setup have to be removed (amp, speakers, etc, etc, etc) and be replaced with aftermarket speakers and amp?

If the OEM sound system has to be replaced, I don't need a 9,000 watt amp/sub-woofer combo that announces my pending arrival 10 minutes before I get where I am going, I just want something that sounds good with some bass on long distance road trips. I want to keep steering wheel controls but don't need to keep BlondeStar or XM since I prefer Pandora.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

TorchRedFred

You don't need to replace the whole system if you choose not to. I replaced my navigation head unit with a Pioneer and kept the Bose speakers and amps for now. You have to buy the right wiring harness to do it and keep the Bose system. I used the Pac Audio RP5-GM11 harness. Just changing the head unit and keeping the rest of the Bose system does improve the sound quality and overall sound of the system. So you may or may not find it to be a sufficient sound upgrade along with all the other features your new head unit will offer.

TorchRedFred

I just reread your post and saw that I didn't answer all your questions and wanted to add a few things. The PAC Audio harness I mentioned also comes with steering wheel controls. Also, you don't have to remove the whole Bose system. Most people would recommend leaving the dash speakers as is, with the exception of maybe disconnecting the center dash speaker for better separation of sound, but you could replace the door speakers and subs with 6.5" components and also replace the rear speakers with some quality 5.25" coaxial. Then you would add a subwoofer in the back and hide 5 channel amp somewhere (behind passenger seat maybe) to power the new speakers and sub. You would need to run new speaker wires connecting all the new speakers to the amp and sub. So if you are looking to replace most of the Bose system, this is probably your simplest and best option to a good quality sounding system without going overboard, IMO.