Nick97SE

iTrader: (14)

Hi guys~

Within' the next few months, I'm going to be doing my system. I just had a thought. Could I keep my stock BOSE headunit and just put in aftermarket speakers?

This would be beneficial to me for a few reasons:
a) It's easy to use, and I know how to use it. If I were to get an aftermarket headunit, I'd have to learn how to use it, and they all have the small buttons and stuff.
b) It would deter potential thefts into thinking I have a stock stereo if they see the OEM headunit.
c) It would save me the trouble of ripping apart my dash to put a new headunit in.
d) MOST IMPORTANTLY...It will save me money! The headunit I was looking at is ~$400!

I'm going to be adding amps to the speakers, subs, and an amp to the subs too. What do you guys think? Should I just spend the extra money and get the headunit, or is it ok to leave in the stock BOSE unit? BTW, my car is a '97 SE.

Thanks for any feedback,
-Nick

pianoman41

I don't think you can (easily) because of the Bose system. I've got a '97 SE with the non-Bose (Clarion) setup. The stock head unit is 100W (25 X 4). Direct speaker replacement was a piece of cake (Boston Acoustic separates up front and BAs in the rear, plus a Kenwood sub amp and a JL Audio 10W6 sub). The sound was phenomenal and I think it is the best set-up going for some of the reasons you listed (anti-theft, OEM look, etc). I purposely deleted the Bose option when I ordered so I could upgrade.

However, from what I have heard in the past, the Bose option (for $800!) uses the same stock head but adds an inline 25W parametrically EQ'd amp to each corner (another 25W X 4 gives you the 200W rating) and each corner amp drives a 1-ohm speaker. The problem is you won't be able to find any 1-ohm aftermarket speakers and there's no way to disable the additional Bose amps. Maybe if you ran new wiring direct from the back of the head unit harness to the speaker locations you could do it but that would be a lot of work.

shortchaz

[qoute]However, from what I have heard in the past, the Bose option (for $800!) uses the same stock head but adds an inline 25W parametrically EQ'd amp to each corner (another 25W X 4 gives you the 200W rating) and each corner amp drives a 1-ohm speaker. The problem is you won't be able to find any 1-ohm aftermarket speakers and there's no way to disable the additional Bose amps. Maybe if you ran new wiring direct from the back of the head unit harness to the speaker locations you could do it but that would be a lot of work.
[/qoute]

Actually it is not hard to wire around the amps, all you have to do is meter the wires going to the amp and take the ones that are for the speakers and splice into them and run that to the speakers, as for keeping the HU I don't have any idea cause I have the entire system changed to non BOSE including wiring.

Nick97SE

iTrader: (14)

Anyone else know anything about this?

Thanks,
-Nick

max'n out

You can leave it in. When you go to add amps it should still be fine unless you get high current amps. That then would require a larger output than the stock head unit could supply...or you could get a line driver.