jfriar52

I recently got my first Maxima and so far it's been a great car. The only thing I want to change about it is the stereo. I want to put in an alpine mp3 player and cd changer and the difficulty I'm having is removing the head unit. I've been able to get the panel around the gear shift and the ash tray off so I can see the bottom brackets. Is there another bracket that I need to remove at the top or is there some other way to remove the radio? Can someone please let me know if they know how to take it out. I don't want to play around with it and damage the dash or the unit. Thanks.

maxima42

iTrader: (3)

you need to pry out the panel with the vents and the clock in it. Use a putty knife and go slowly. I usually start at the seam between the vents and the clock. nce you get this out you will see the other bolts for the radio and climate control.

mp3superfreak

If you have a 4th gen, check my instructions here:

Bose Removal Instructions

-Dereck

jfriar52

Well, I wansn't able to get the vent unit out, but I was able to pry it open just enough. I was able to get to the screws that I needed without any damage. Thanks for the advice.

maxima42

iTrader: (3)

Nice write up

TheNip73

Save yourself a lot of headache with this and future repairs. Buy yourself the Haynes manual at the autoparts store. Its about 13 bucks after tax. It tells you how to remove the radio, seats, doors, speakers, rear deck and anything else you need to remove to redo your stereo! Also, I hope you know you need to replace all your speakers if you are replacing your deck. Bose speakers are not compatible with afftermarket decks. Just an fyi, I am sure you knew that already, but just in case I am telling you again.

philpoe

iTrader: (4)

Is there any way to put some kind of adapter between the aftermarket head unit and the amplified Bose speakers?

If not, any reason that the OEM wiring can't be used to attach to aftermarket speakers?

JetBlackMax

iTrader: (12)

Very untrue. All you need is the Bose adapter that will run ya about 80$. Come on now Nip, I have myself an aftermarket radio in my Max, Runned to all 4 of my Factory Bose Speakers! Who ever said this couldnt be done?

TheNip73

Alright. Let me correct my previous post by stating that there is an adapter.It does work and you can use it.

However, adapters are junk. Bose speakers just aren't made for the power of a QUALITY aftermarket deck. I associate Alpine with quality and the desire for loud, clean sound. I know for a fact the bose do sound good at moderate listen levels, but once you try to get em loud the pup out and sound like trash. If your going to replace your deck, you should also do your speakers, no doubt about it in my mind. And yes, you can use your existing wiring. Just cut into the wires (or tap into them) before the bose amps and then run some new wire from where you splice in to the new speakers.

I appologize for not mentioning all options, but I am a firm believer in doing things right. Crap in = crap out so I neglected to mention a thing or two

TheNip73

Here is a quote talking about the use of new headunits with Bose speakers:

Q7. Can I add a new radio? (BOSE question)
A. It is not a great idea. Most customers who attempt it change their minds and revert back to the Bose head unit or end up spending more to complete the change of the entire system. Each Bose music system is completely integrated, with every element custom-engineered to work together as a whole. That's why the music sounds so rich and life-like. To help achieve this sound quality, special equalization circuits are built into the system -- in the radio and in the amplifiers. If you install a new radio, you lose these circuits and their special signal processing algorithms. The results can be disappointing: decreased sound quality, incorrect bass and treble balance, distortion at high volumes, and loss of bass at low volumes.

Heres the link. Check it out for yourself.

Now hopefully people won't doubt my Bose stereo knowledge.

Also, check out some crappy pics of my car and stereo. I made the page in about 10 minutes from some nasty pics taken with a digital camera. It is only a temporay page and the best I have for now. On the page you will see my stereo isn't for fun and games, but only for serious business. Car pics

JetBlackMax

iTrader: (12)

Its cool nip. I just dont understand though. I had this Bose adapter in my 93 max for 1 year, and never had a problem. The quality was still the same as when I bought it. Now that I have my 98 Max, I took that same bose adaptor and put it in this one, and i still dont have a problem. It all sounds the same. But then again, I dont use my Bose Speakers for Base, there strickly for Highs.

Gary95

Same here. I get decent base through mine too, although I don't go so far as to do that young-arrogant-punk let-everyone-know-i'm-playing-music thing and make myself half-deaf a few years later. The Bose adapters work just fine. If you're really intending on pushing the decibels to ear damage limits, then just go ahead and replace all your speakers.

TheNip73

Just becuase you have a good system doesn't mean your out to play it like an *******.I find your comment out of palce. Perhaps you should not stereotype and just state the fact your not into playing your music loud. You'd get your point across without being offensive. Something to think about.

Gary95

I'm not saying "loud system = @sshole". Where do you get THAT?
I know plenty of people that have a good system and play it loud discreetly. I've also experienced plenty of young arrogant punks that blast their music through quiet neighborhoods late at night, in traffic jams, and parked in public areas. But you're right, my comment did sound stereotypical (though that wasn't my intention). I was fresh off a stereo blasting experience. I'll homogenize it...

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

If you really want your QUALITY aftermarket deck to sound good with the stock Bose amp/speakers, you should get a quality Bose adapter;

PD4

It costs twice as much as the other adapters, but it's the ONLY one that takes the line out RCAs of your Alpine etc, and then feeds it to the Bose. Cleaner signal. All the other $80 ones take your speaker outputs and feed them to bose. Double amplification, not so clean signal.

I've got it running my Clarion mp3 unit. The system does sound much better with this setup.

DW

philpoe

iTrader: (4)

Can you clarify the statement "takes RCAs and feeds them to the Bose" please? Is that to the Bose deck or to the Bose amps/speakers?

Thanks!

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Take the RCA line outs from your new HU and feed it to the Bose amps/speakers. So there's only one stage of amplification. Clean signal

On my car, I have the Clarion DXZ815 mp3 HU feeding the PD4 which then feeds the remaining stock Bose stuff. I gotta tell you, this PD4 really brings out the dual 24 bit D/A converters in my HU's CD and the Bose system has cleaners bass and better highs, and much more detail. Those 1st 2 weeks with the new stuff really blew me away. Now, I'm used to it

Having said that;
1) I'm not a PD4 employee despite my glowing review
2) The weakness of the Bose system is still the bass. Those 6.5s in the rear still work to hard to produce all that deep bass, and they reach their limit quickly.

DW

Gary95

Nice... MSRP is $150 (and the needed CableLink is extra), so I wonder if you can get it much cheaper elsewhere? It has some nice adjustable controls, but everytime you'd want to tinker with it, you'd have to pull the center console apart.

I paid $45 for my Bose converter. It does seem to work rather well, but then I don't push the bass all that hard. I went out to my car and blasted some bassy music, and y'know, it sounds the same as when I had my Bose HU. I'll bet this PD4 makes it a little better then.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I beleive those controls are really meant to be set, and then forgotten. I adjusted mine the day I installed it, listened for a week, then tweeked my adjustments, and then tweeked my adjustments a 3rd time, then I was done. Haven't touchd it since.

DW

NUGE

I just removed my Bose head unit this weekend. The only problem with the instructions listed in this threads is that when it comes time to remove the ash tray panel, if you pull to hard towards the passenger side, then you will brake the little stubs that are sticking out. There clips attached to the to the stubs, but they are alomost immpossible to get to. So i ended up braking those two stubs. But I crazy glued them back on.

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

I agree, I put an aftermarket pioneer radio in my maxima, but the combination of bose and pioneer at high volume levels doesn't sound that good, my problem is that until i get my new speakers I want to just bypass the amps and go straight to the speakers, can that be done? And if not, when I get my new speakers hwo will i be able to "tap" into the existing wires? Does any1 have a write up? I have a 95 Maxima SE.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

OK. Read this thread a little more.

Hint: my posts

DW

TheNip73

There is a product made by 3M and other comapnanies where two wires are placed side by side into the connector and then crimped, making such that you do not need to cut the original wire apart to splice. I tried to find a picture, but this is the best I could find http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showp...ctGroup_ID=403 I hope it is helpful.

seanqlee

PD4 sounds like a really good idea, since I'm thinking about getting a new HU without having to spend $$ on changing the quality bose speakers.

I would like to hear your suggestion though....
$150 for PD4 is kinda alot so I've been thinking.. What about changing just the two front speakers with aftermarket speakers(with tweeter in the middle), and buy a 4 channel amp that supplies power to those two new speakers, and my sub? So only my back bose speakers are still put. My right side bose speaker kinda blew up, but I don't mind the sound that it gives right now, but if i spend $150 to get a PD4, then I wouldn't get the most of out of my not so well right speaker. I've been thinking $150 would get me a new pair of quality aftermarket speakers.

OR

Just get a new head unit and a decent($80) converter and use my current bose speakers. I don't know how bad my bose speakers will sound with a conver and a new HU(alpine CDA-7995), but if there is a little improvement over my current stock bose HU and speakers, then I'll go for it for sure.

what do you think?

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I would either keep all the bose speakers/amps, or get rid of them altogether. Mix and match probaably won't get the best results. The bose systems does alot of electronic sound shaping, and the aftermarket stuff does not. BUT, if that's what you want to do, they also make a PD2 That would be better suited to what you want to do.

DW

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

I agree, the entire BOSE system was made to make really good music, but once you mess with the systemk, for example by adding an aftermarket radio, you're messing with the chemistry. The rich sond of BOSE will never be the same because the "base" of the whole system has been changed. If you still want goo sound, you could get those PD4 or PD2 things, but I rather just get 4 new speakers, which is what I plan on doing. Its better to have the amp form the radio power my aftermarket speakers then have the amp from the radio and the amp form the BOSE speakers push the speakers ot the point where they begin to sound bad and even crack. In other words, if you dont' want to buy a PD4 or PD2, it would be best to change everythign to aftermarker, or stay with all BOSE, including head unit

seanqlee

Hm, I am very convinced to spend some extra money to get things done "right". Seems like whole new speaker system will definately give a extra kick.

Hows this for mix and match? I've been researching and decided to go with the Infinity kappa speakers(63.5i). BTW, will kappa 63.5i speakers fit in my Max(crutchfield says no..)? If it does fit, will it fit in the rear as well? I'm about to order 2 pairs of these guys and put 2 in the front and 2 in the back. OR, I guess this is where I do mix and matching. Hows putting in a different brand mid-range speakers with the front infinity kappas? I can save upto $50 bucks if i get 2 rear Kicker midrange speakers..

Thanks for all your helps guys

super32

iTrader: (5)

I'm trying to swap out the factory HU with aftermarket too. I bought the 2 harnesses (one to connect deck to output plug and one for antenna conversion) that I "thought" was all I needed. When I finished crimping the harness to my aftermarket HU and plugging in the deck, the deck turned on and seemed to be recieving, but there was no sound... very sad, I was (yoda talk).

Sooooooo, I see your post and I am wondering where did you get your BOSE converter from? Is there a website for it or something?

Thanks for adding music back in my life

TheNip73

Sucks to be you. You gonna be doing a lot more work and paying alot more than you expected... Best of Luck.

super32

iTrader: (5)

aww man! from what you're saying theres going to be work in it for me then...

So, do you suggest that the only way to get the best out of the Bose speakers is to buy the PD2 or the PD4? The only reason I don't want to buy one of those is because I don't know much about this stuff. Like I had before, I thought that swapping decks would be as easy as done... but those bose speakers are really getting me frustrated w/ Nissan... everytime I read about them, I think "Do they do this on purpose just to make it harder for us?"

Thanks for the luck though.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

The instructions that come with the PD4 or PD2 are very clear. Before my PD4 install, the last time I did a car stereo install was a while ago, and Bose is different from regular car stereos. Still came out fine.

You can use other adapters, but I think the PD4 is the best. Kindof why it's so pricey. CDs on my Calrion DXZ815MP thru Bose amps/speakers sound awesome. Better than they did stock. And I play mp3s now, too!

DW

mr_elotoe

I disagree...the instructions that I got with the PD2 were very generalized, and the ones that came with the cable link harness referenced a completely different powerdrive model. They were pretty old, but, the guys at Audiolink are very personable and will respond to tech support questions within a day or two. That's good.

Best and easiest upgrade to Bose system is to use the PD2 and add an amp & sub.

Has anyone attempted to adjust the bose sub to a midbass filtering out lower frequencies?

super32

iTrader: (5)

Alright everyone, as many know, I am also swapping out the factory for an aftermarket. I've searched and searched and read many threads about the possibilities of doing a clean swap.

The first time I tried to swap, I just bought the simple harness converter and the FM Diversity adapter. When I plugged in my aftermarket with the Bose speakers still connected, my deck turned on, but no sound... I got anxious, mad, frustrated, call it whatever... ****ed!

I read you can get a special harness with a converter on it, or a PD2 or PD4, or just swap the whole system.

MY WORD OF ADVICE:
Just do a swap of the whole system. Why stress yourself over guesses and expensive, bulky equipment. My new AIWA deck cost $100, 2 6" Eclipse (not from the car, the brand name) front speakers cost about $100, and 2 6"x9" for $160. Total = $360 and whats best of all, you can install them yourself. See Craig B's website for 3rd Gen Maximas... might be similar for later years??
The PD2, PD4, and the special Bose converters are too much of a gamble. The PD2 and PD4 are expensive and you might not know how to install properly, and then again it is kinda big. The gamble witht the special Bose coverter is that it might cause a hiss, it might cause crackle at high volume... then again it might work excellent... its all a roll of the dice.
Take it easy on yourself and swap for new speakers you know will work and a new deck you know will work... else if they don't work... TAKE 'EM BACK!!!

When you take off the door panels, do yourself a favor and grease your window regulator tracks too, prolong the regulators life.

I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, just giving everyone my suggestions... sort of

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

The PD2 and PD4 interfaces are not gambles. They won't cause hiss, crackle etc. The main reason I chose the PD4, and paid the $150 is simply b/c it offered the highest quality connection I could find for a Bose car system. No other Bose adapter allows you to take your Pioneer, Clarion,JVC, etc headunit, use the Line-out RCAs to feed the PD4, which then feeds the stock Bose amp/speakers. All the other Bose adapters work from speaker outputs, so you wind up with a signal that is amplified twice, once thru the Pioneer or other HU, then again thru the bose system, hence twice the distortion. Those cheaper bose adapters will cause hiss and crackle way more than a PD4 will. I can blast my Clarion DXZ815/PD4/Bose system for hours without feeling pain or distortion, just like my original BOSE system.

As for big size, consider that people buy amps and put them under seats, in the trunk, or 10" subs sitting in the trunk taking half your trunk space if not more. The PD4 can fit inside the dash right behind the ashtray. That's where mine is.

As for ground problems, I installed my PD4 twice. Why? The 1st time I did get pops and crackles etc. Was it the PD4s fault? No. I used RCA jacks that had metal covered ends instead of plastic. Those metal ends would touch a metal part of the car's body and cause the crackle. I substituted with RCA jacks that had plastic covered ends and it was all good after that.

I'm not arguing for arguing's sake, I'm just saying you can upgrade the Bose and put a better HU and still drive the stock bose system, and the PD4 will bring out all the higher quality of the better HU better than any Bose adapter can. FOr that you pay 200-300 for your HU, then 150 plus cable for the PD4. Around $450. Of course this is a higher end HU with dual 24 bi D/As, mp3 capability etc.

DW

TheNip73

Sorry, but your use of blast is out of line. Your Bose stereo never could and never will blast if its running off stock amplifiers and speakers. Thats plain fact, foolio.

SonicDust187

iTrader: (11)

I remember reading somewhere that the bose has relays and goes through some box before the signal reaches the speakers. I want to take the whole bose system out, HU, speakers and wiring and replace it all with good stuff and get ride of these relays and boxes. Can soemone tell me exctly what is in teh bose system that needs to be removed to make my car be like a non bose Maxima.

Maxima 504

i got my Alpine cda-9811 hooked up to my stock Bose speakers yesterday.. all i needed was a harness and fm antenna... no $80 or $60 convetor needed in my install, just a $10 harness... and the high sound better than when i first got my car with the new Bose HU.. but i will eventually switch my speakers out but for right now i am very satisfied.

JetBlackMax

iTrader: (12)

Well I just used the adaptor from my 93 cause I had it for like 3 years already, didnt know to much about what I know now, at that time. And I agree, my Highs DO sound a tad bit louder. I dont plan on chaning the inside bose speakers, I love them. Best Stock Player Ever!