I have a subwoofer I removed from my C4, which had an Alpine amp installed. I noticed that in my Suburban there's a stock subwoofer in the rear, so I was wondering if the stock Bose in my C5 would allow me to just plug'n'play my subwoofer, without needing to add an amp. Anyone know?

 

I don't think it will, but some of the more experienced audio guys can probably give you a definite answer.

 

You will need a converter that will attach to your rear speaker wires and convert to a signal on RCA cables to feed your amps input. Most mobile audio shop sell these for around $29.00 or so.

 

So, are you saying I need another amp of some sort to power the subwoofer?

I hooked one of the rear speaker wires to the sub yesterday to see what would happen, and although I got sound from the subwoofer, it seemed that it wasn't the right frequency, nor did it it have enough power to thump.

Do you happen to know if there is any built-in sub output not being used on the stock amp?

Also, what if I tapped into the sub out in one of the front speaker, which apparently do have some kind of sub being powered (although they must be small)?

Thanks for any more help.

 

The converter I speak of only gives you a signal source for your amplifier (required) which will then drive the subwoofer. The wires from the rear speakers will not drive a sub. There is only enough power there to drive these speakers which seem to be nothing but mid range fillers of some sort.

I don't think there is a sub output on the Bose system. Bose discourages you from hooking up additional speakers to their system and does not provide outputs that I am aware of, thereby the necessity of the converter.

 

Thank you so much for the very important and useful information. One more question, if you don't mind:

Let's say I tap into the rear left speaker signal, via a Hi-Lo Converter/Adapter(which I believe is what you're referring to), and connect to a subwoofer amp to drive my sub. Would that "rob" power from the already-weak rear left speaker signal? And, would that tap provide enough signal strength for the sub amp?

Thanks again!

 

No problem, knowledge gained is wasted unless its shared.

The one I purchased uses a tap from both left and right rear speakers. I believe that this gets bass that may come from either side, not just mono. I guess it would not make any difference to use just one source. Did not affect the sound from the rears at all. It isn't driving anything, just providing a signal.

 

Well, before you get too far into this MrLeadFoot, I installed the amp and sub today for a test run and didn't appear to get any bass to the amp from the converter signal.

I may have a problem with the amp itself, going to check that in the next day or so, but it could be that the Bose system only delivers a certain frequency to the rear speakers.

Perhaps someone could weigh in on that?

I'll weigh back in to save someone else the hassle....I checked with a different audio shop today and it turns out that the converter will have to be installed behind the head unit to get a full signal (one that is not already stripped by the Bose eq circuits. Live and learn. Just goes to show that its easy to get bad info when someone is trying to sell you something.

 

im about to do the same thing, i got a 1000 watt sony xplode amp and a 1100 watt sony xplode sub and im going to get the converter for the rca but what about the remote wire? where do i find it on the stock bose to hook to the amp? any help would be good. thanks

steve

 

OK, thanks for the update. Please keep me posted so that I know what to do to get mine up and running. BTW, how will you power the sub amp? Are you tapping into a connection somewhere in the harness of the stock system? Or...?

Thanks.

 

I pulled a remote wire from the front of passenger foot well. Pull the panel and you will find a fuse block. There is an spare fuse that gives power when the ignition is switched on. I don't remember the exact number but its near the middle top of the block. this is one way. another is to hook into the head unit for the signal. Below is an excerpt from a post by 99HT on wiring of the Bose head which should be helpful.

I pulled a battery power cable, fused of course, from the battery back to the amp. Not that hard to do. You have to remove the battery and look up under the passenger dash and you will see the harness come through from the engine compartment. Drill a hole in the clear space to pass the power cable.

99HT
Wiring info:

The following are the Bose head unit 4 channel pre-amp outputs
Signal CD/Radio Color code
LF out C4(9) TAN/BLK
RF out C4(10) LT GRN/BLK
LR out C4(11) BRN
RR out C4(12) DK BLU
Common C4(13) LT BLU, DO NOT USE FOR EXTERNAL POWER AMP
Shield C4(14) Bare wire
Ground C4(15) BLK

The following are the Bose head unit 4 channel power amp inputs
Signal CD/Radio Color code
Common C4(7) YEL, DO NOT USE FOR EXTERNAL POWER AMP
Shield C4(8) Bare wire
LF in C3(1) DK GRN
RF in C3(2) LT GRN
LR in C3(3) BRN/WHT
RR in C3(4) BLK

The following are the head unit power and control signals
Signal CD/Radio connection
Radio "ON" C1(8) DK GRN, Switched 12v used to turn on power ant and Bose modules
Power C1(10) ORG
ground C1(5) BLK/WHT

The following are inputs to the Bose signal conditioner
Signal Bose signal processor connection
LF in B5
RF in B7
LR in B6
RR in B8
Common A4

The following are Bose "conditioned" outputs
fed back to the head unit 4 channel power amp
Signal Bose signal processor connection
LF out B2
RF out B12
LR out A2
RR out B10
Common B3

The following are Bose "conditioned" outputs
fed to the front door sub-woofer amps
Signal Bose signal processor connection
RH out A9
RH return A11
Drain B9
LH out A3
LH return B11
Drain B4

Bose signal processor power connections
Power A12
SW +12 in A8, turn on processor
Ground B1

 

Thanks for the info. However, I'm a bit confused with a "remote" wire compared to the "power cable". Are they one and the same? I'm interpreting what you're saying is that you pulled power directly from the battery, and did NOT tap into either the bose or radio harnesses.

According to the wiring info you forwarded, specifically the "head unit power and control signals" section, I could tap into:

"Radio "ON" C1(8) DK GRN, Switched 12v used to turn on power ant and Bose modules"

for the hot lead to my amp, and ground with:

"ground C1(5) BLK/WHT"

correct?

What about the signal to my amp? Do I draw from the pre-amped outputs listed in the first section, or conditioned signals? And do I just draw from one side?

Sorry for so many questions. Although I've installed stereo equipment in the past, it's usually been the main unit into an amp then to four speakers, no sub. I had a shop do the sub in my C4. But, I don't want people working on my C5 if I can help it. I'm sure you can understand. I mean, I had tires replaced at a run-flat certified shop. Instead of using the plastic scraper, the guy used a screwdriver to remove the stick-on type weights, right after I asked him to be careful and not scratch my rims! I can just imagine the stereo shop tapping into the wrong wire by mistake and burning something out!

 

I just spoke to Jim over at http://www.logjamelectronics.com. It turns out that Pacific Accessory Corporation makes a harness that taps into the stock harness between the head and the amp, http://www.pac-audio.com/oem1kits/ao...or+AOEM-1+kits. This harness provides a left and right, and amp trigger connection.

A local stereo shop said such a device costs US$129, but Jim will sell them for $49. Sounds like a winner, huh?

Your thoughts are appreciated.

P.S. Oh, and if you're going to buy one they're not on his site pages, so you have to send him an e-mail asking for one. Of course, you can always call him, if you remember how to use a phone these days. :-)