I've been looking for several days now for some way to add an amplifier to power a subwoofer to the Bose factory stereo in my 2001 Max. Everyone talks about adding speaker level converters and such, but nobody seems to know EXACTLY how to make the connection. There is a FAQ on 5thgenmaximas.com that comes close, but the number of wires on the sub, and their colors don't match what's in the trunk of my max, or my wife's. I included a picture of the wires. There are five. Black, red, blue, yellow, and pink. If the sub actually has an amp built into the bottom like I've heard, I would guess the black is ground, red is power, blue is turn on, and the other two are signal wires. Does anyone know EXACTLY which (or any) of these can be tapped to add an amp to these systems?

Thanks.

 

Okay follow me on this one now.

Your picture shows the wires off the plug going INTO the sub. I am going to show you a diagram of wires that going INTO that plug. Basically the OTHER side of the plug you showed in that pic.

You want to tap into the WHITE and BLACK wires of that plug. The WHITE is the + and the BLACK is the -
These are PRE-AMP wires, so you dont need a line level convertor, just hook these wires to a cut end of a RCA cable. Or make one. I hope you understand this. You are basically going to run these wires STRAIGHT into the low-level inputs of your amp which are RCA plugs.

This will give you CLEAN and amplifiable sound for your subs.

Best thing is to do is cut off the wires and put spade connectors on it and run those wires to the amp, so then the BOSE sub is off. Then when you remove the amp you added, hook the wires back up using the SPADE connectors to the original wire you cut off. That way everything is in OEM condition except the spade connectors.

Let me know if you got anymore questions.

 

ya, you can thank me for all that info. Without me he would be nothin!!


Adam

 

That's excellent! Thank you very much much for your help. I do have one additional question though. When I disect my RCA cable, is the positive (+) the center conducter, or the outer one? Or is this not relevant. I've never cut one of these apart to experiment before. Thanks again.

 

Those directions are for a 4th gen, that is why they don't match. The 5th gen has a AMP in the rear that powers the sub. The speakers are powered by the deck on the 5th gen I believe.

 

Once again u are wrong russie...
That amp in the back powers all the door speakers. The sub has its own amp and crossover built into it


Adam

 

I've added two spade connectors to the end of an RCA cable now. I'll probably test this out in the car in the morning. Hopefully this arangement will work. From what I have read, it seems that that positive (+) wire should be connected to the center conductor of the cable. Do you know if I can tap the red wire running into the same conector you mentioned in the previous post for a remote turn-on lead for my amp?

Thanks again.

 

NO, tap into the green wire. THAT green wire with yellow dots is the remote wire for the sub amp...

Adam

 

OK, just to make absolutely certain we're talking about the same wire, I included a picture. Are you talking about the green and white wire that I have the white arrow pointing too? Also, do you know if that side of the brown connector on the side of the sub (green arrow) can be removed? I don't want to break it, trying to pull it out, if it should not be removed. I'm thinking that I can unplug it, and just use those 3M wire taps to make my connections without actually severing any of the wires. I would prefer doing this because the white and black wires are very short, and this doesn't give me any room for mistakes. Thanks for all your help.

 

Yup, thats the wire.. I juust cut all mine but if you dont want to i guess u can use taps. You can unplug the connector from the sub

Adam

 

Mad props to 2000MaximaSE for the info he gave me.

 

I just wanted to say thanks for all the help I received here. I ended up building a small converter to make the connection to the amplifier instead of modifying an rca cable. It consists of a small black plastic project box from Radio Shack, with an RCA jack on one end, and two binding posts on the other. The wiring information here IS correct. I set the amp and sub in the trunk just to test it all out. Now I have another question though. Where should I mount my amp? I considered mounting it on the underside of the rear deck, left of the opening where the factory sub was (assuming you are facing the rear of the car). This seems to me like it would be a huge pain, and would probably not allow heat to dissipate properly from the amp since it would be upside down. The amp (Alpine MRV-100)is not very large. Approximately 7" X 11". I have also considered just screwing to the side of the subwoofer enclosure. This would require me to find some sort of heavy duty electrical connectors for the power and ground wires so that I can remove the box easily to access the spare. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

YA dont put it on the deck, it will over heat.. Good spots are on the box or on the back of the seat

Adam

 

I guess I'll have to look around for some kind of connectors for the power and ground wires. I really don't have any interest in mounting the amp on the back of the seat. I did that in a car I had before, and I wasn't really satisfied with it. Thanks again for your help.