I'm in the process of upgrading my '95 Maxima SE which currently has an OEM individual AM/FM/Cassette and CD to an OEM Bose AM/FM/Cass/CD 2 DIN unit from a 1997 Maxima. As Phase 1 of my upgrade, can I drive the non-bose speakers directly from the head unit? Does the Bose head unit provide only unamplified outputs? -Your help much appreciated.

 

nope... the bose speakers are amplified individually.

Can I ask as to why you want to upgrade with OEM bose? Although it's not a bad unit, I think for the money you can get better... unless you can getting it for cheap or free.

 

I have done the stereos in a 93SE and a 97SE. The speakers/BOSE system is functionally the same in all cars that have a BOSE. The wiring is a nightmare, but if you can tap into it, it will run. If you can get the 97 Bose to plug into the existing harness in your 95, you are all set. But I don't know how you are going to do that. Will it plug right in?

I must add my opinion here: Those Clarion decks SUCK ***. In the 93, it died at about 70k miles. In my 97 it died a few weeks ago at 68k miles. I recommend upgrading and getting a deck and integrated adapter from Crutchfield. The adapter is $50 and you can use whatever aftermarket radio you want.

 

Not sure it will work b/c the amplification on the Bose units are on the speaker housing not in the radio...

-shing

 

Correct.

So much so that if you go in the trunk and unplug the pos and neg terminals of the speaker, you can run a wire right from an aftermarket deck to the speaker, bypassing the BOSE amps and that will also work.

 

My intent was to maintain the OEM appearance while gaining audio and visual improvements (i.e. I've liked the look of 2 DIN unit since I purchased the car in '96). Based on the responses so far, I wished I had asked prior to purchasing this new unit. Thanks.

 

They take care of appearance too. If you buy from them they provide a kit for free that fills up the gaps in the dash, and it looks nice and clean. Gives you another spot for storage too.

http://www.crutchfield.com

 

How much did you pay for the bose head unit? I might know someone who is interested in buying it.
If you do go with an aftermarket head unit, you could buy a double din unit. I also like the option of putting in a single din head unit and a single din graphic EQ. That way if you ever get a different car, you can take it with you.
Otherwise, your bose unit is nice but it's got no power for the speakers. You'll have to get an amp.

 

Can't say much about the wiring, but ditto for the factory unit dying in my 95 GLE (BOSE). Everything still works fine, but the display comes and goes. Really annoying when you're hunting for a specific CD track...

 

My friend has an Altima GLE and does not have the BOSE system, but still has trouble with her deck. The only difference is the BOSE on the door of the tape deck.

THEY SUCK!

 

I'm also upgrading, but will be replacing everything...

2 questions:

1. what's the best way to mount 2 amps in the trunk, I'll be using a JL stealth subwoofer that cozies right into the left rear corner of the trunk

2. what size are the tweeters in the door w/ 99 BOSE unit, I want to get Pioneer premier or MB Quart, so I need to know if I need 3/4" or 1"??

Thanks guys

Justin

 

if your going to spend the kind of money to buy mb quarts before you buy them look into ads or even better DIAMON AUDIO

 

and i forgot SOUND GATE is the best converter for a bose up-grade, it has a few settings you can choose from

 

I'm in the process of the same setup, JL stealthbox and two amps. I've gotten lots of suggestions and I think that I'm going to mount them on a custom cutout that matches the back of the seats. So then one amp will be on each side of the arm rest hole and if need be I can quickly remove everything with having to remove each amp, they'll be mounted to a board (most likely wood).

As for the tweeters, I have a 97 non-bose, but I have the tweeters in the door. You can either mount them in the factory location (actually on the door) or you could mount them with a flush mount kit (on the door panel). I have MB Quarts and I mounted them with a flush mount kit, cause then you can angle them wherever you want. It doesn't matter which size you get because you'll either mount them on the door (plenty of room for anysize) or mount them on the door panel (you'll have to make the tweeter hole larger to fit the flush kit anyway), so either size is good.
But 97GLS is right, check out other manufacturers. I bought these because I got a great deal, otherwise who knows.

 

There's a joint here in Austin that's selling a PPI 120-watt 2-way amp for $249, and they throw in the 6.5 MBQ components for FREE! I was thinking of giving the amp to my nephew (and roommate) for Christmas....
But anyways, I will look into some others b4 I buy (although that's a really good deal in my opinion). Lastly, I would like to put the tweets behind the factory grill if possible, so that's why I was looking for size restrictions.

Thanks again for the feedback,

Justin

 

...that if I have a stock non-Bose in my car (95SE) that I should not try to swap it out with a stock Bose stereo (from a 99SE) even if I could get it for $450?

I was also told that the front amps are permanently attached to the original car...is that correct? So I would have to get an adapter to run the fronts in my car?

It all sounds like alot of work and hassle to install a stereo which many of you believe to be inferior to what can be bought elsewhere. Is this also a true assumption?

Jim

 

Holy guacamole! $450?!?!?!?!?! Christ you could buy a *really* nice deck for that money! Maybe not top-of-the-line Pioneer Premiere, but a really good deck nonetheless. Hold on, I take that back... as long as you're getting the Bose speakers *with* the bose amps... then I suppose it's an okay deal.
I'll be selling mine in a month or so, and it'll prolly go for around that price (all of it). Yeah, it still works fine, and yeah, it sounds fine, but I want much more than this deck & speakers can give me.

Justin

 

Okay but wassup with the front amps being permanently attached to the doors? Is this really true?

Jim

 

Honestly I don't know about that, as I haven't opened the doors up yet. It looks like I'll have to in order to:

1. Find out for sure what size the tweets are, and
2. I'll check on the front amps

-however-

Those of us who are truly vigilant know nothing of the words "permanently attached". It may be welded on to the door frame or something, which is unlikely. Even so, I swear I will cut the little bastards out (as delicately as possible, cuz I know there are people out there who could use them... non-bose-equipped Maxima's and Bose Maximas whose amps go out).

I'll try and open it up this weekend & let everyone know.

Justin

 

My question about the amps is:

How is the power supplied to them? Do you have to run a power wire to each amp? If so, then that isn't worth the trouble. Your better off buying a single amp which needs one power wire.

 

OK here's the scoop. I installed the '97 Bose/Clarion head unit into my '95 which had the standard sterio with CD. The installation went very easy, all connectors were identical from existing to new unit(except Bose unit has additional connector for pre-amp outputs - Anyone know the pinout of this 12 pin DIN?). For Phase 1 - I wired the Bose/Clarion unit using it's "powered outputs" (less than standard radio's 12.5Wrms X 4) to the standard speakers. Works fine, but now I need an amp just to get back to where I started!

 

Are you crazy!!!! ???

If you want one that bad, I will sell you my 97SE BOSE for $50 and you can have it repaired and use it. The CD doesn't spin, but I'm sure you could have it fixed for under $100 and save your money..............

BUT, I recommend spending that $450 elsewhere on a $300 deck and a good pair of speakers, or build a box.

 

you could get even a double din head unit for the same price thats gonna be 40x4 instad of boses powered speaker....also i had trouble with my bose....you will be alot happier with ugrading to other things i think
<img src="http://www.geocities.com/ryanhayslip/maxhead.jpg">

 

It was $450 for the headunit, speakers, and rear amps, not just the headunit. And it was from a '99 Maxima.

Jim

 

I put a '95 double-din BOSE headunit in place of my '91 single-din BOSE headunit. No prob...bought 2 harnesses ad plug-and-played. Now if I could fix that illumination problem...:-P

 

I like bose for home theather, and I even have a pair of there 701's for my house which are very nice, I also have a stock bose cd/cass system in my car which completely sucks. It is probably one of the nicer stock stereo systems that comes with a car, but it's quality is not that great. Also because each speaker has it's own amplifer it can cause some problems for instance the amplifier went out in my front left speaker so the entire system would not work because of it. Now if I would go buy an after-market system the speaker would work with that, but instead I just unplugged the front left speaker until I have enough money to buy a new system. Basically what I'm trying to say is people say that it's good and it is for stock, but if your going to drop any money into a car stereo for your car, stay away from the whole bose thing. There is no demand for bose systems in the car stereo market, hence why they only sell to car manufactors, and the car manufactors only buy them assuming that it will be just one extra perk to say oh well it has a bose stereo system in it. It really does suck when compared to the competetion. I'm eventually going to drop a pioneer double din head unit in there, I have not yet decided on what type of amp/sub, any suggestions?

Does anyone agree with me on this bose thing?

-Nate

 

My GF has the BOSE home system with the cubes and the bass box and all that crap. It sounds incredible. But for the car.....your point about just selling to manufacturers is dead on. And don't get me wrong it's a nice little system, but only for about 50k miles... then it's time to upgrade if you havent already.

 

I've successfully installed the '97 Bose head unit into my '95 Maxima which had the standard sterio and it works, sorta? The good news is that all 3 plugs on the std AM/FM cassette radio plug into the Bose unit perfectly. FYI; these plugs are; 10 pin rectangular, 6 pin rectangular and the attenna plug. The only problem is that the built-in amps in the Bose/Clarion (yes they have minimally powered speaker outputs) unit provide less than the std radios 50W max. In the Bose installation the preamp outputs (note a separate 16 pin connector)are used. For Phase 2 - I am adding an external amp and would like to wire to the preamp connector, but I don't have a mating connector nor a wiring diagram for that connector. Can anyone help?