First of all, I dont want this thread to turn into a "BOSE SUCKS" or whatever thread. I'm not very pleased with the stock non Bose sytem in my car, but dont want to spend the $$$$ or the headache to find a matched and tonally acceptable system for my car so I hit upon the idea of buying a Bose speaker system from one of you guys and putting it in my car. Will there be any connectivity problems or is it pretty much a plug and play system with the exception of the subwoofer which I realize will require some cutting.

 

The harness will be the same.. however.. the bose system setup is going to cost you the same as a nice aftermarket setup.. Bose is not cheap my friend.. and it sounds like crap

 

He didn't want to hear that.

By the way, adding BOSE afterwards is not a good idea. Probably cost the same as a good aftewrmarket setup. For starters, where would the BOSE sub-woofer go?? From the factory, there's a hole in the middle of the speaker shelf in the back. Non Bose Maximas don't have that. From the factory it was cost effective as a ~$1000 option. You'll spend at least $2000 to $3000 to get a good aftermarket system that sounds better.

Bose does not sound like crap, sprint

DW

 

Um, the non-Bose Maximas have the hole in the back deck too.

 

Are you sure the harness is the same? It really does not look the same, the speaker plug in's are different and there are no wires for the amp and then from the amp.

 

you are really wasting your money.. i know i am biased because i have spent over $5000 in stereo for my car, but even so i had the bose setup in my 98 and it is really not worth the hassle to reinstall or the money, plus replacing those small amps and speakers is so expensive.

you have to realize that the aftermarket stereo world is an easy place to save money and get great quality as long as you know what you are doing, let me know how much the entire bose setup will cost and i will match that price with aftermarket stereo stuff and stuff of better quality.

 

I can't answer the Bose question accurately so i'm going to offer an alternative.

If you wanted the Bose for cost and practicallity. I'd then suggest you get the Infinity Basslink.

It's more powerful than the Bose, has a 10" Active sub and 10" passive radiator, built-in xover, bass boost, auto-turn on/off, rca and speaker level inputs and built-in 200w Class-D amp. If you buy through some online shops it'll cost you roughly $250 shipped to your door.

If you buy second hand, you can get it cheaper. I got mine for $160 through an old member at Sounddomain.

Granted it won't win any SPL wars it does sound a whole lot better than the stock Bose sub.

 

The only reason I considered it was because I see Bose speakers/amps in the for sale section for pretty cheap (whole system for around $500.00 or $600) and I have a friend who would install it for free. Let me state, that I'm not the type of guy who likes big booming systems. I just want a fuller sound and from personal listening expereince the Bose fits that to a bill for ME. I just need to know if the wiring harnesses or the same and if I could bascially just swap the two out. Cutting a whole in the rear deck wouldn't be a problem since my friend can make it look very neat.

 

One thing to note, the 2K2 Bose is more aftermarket friendly. They actually have line out RCAs now. 2 of them! 6 disc in-dash. If they had mp3 capability, that would really make it a worhwhile stock headunit.

DW

 

Would I need the 'Bose' headunit? I was iunder the impression that the headunit was identical for both Bose and non-Bose speakers since it (the headunit) was made by Clarion.

 

Can I add the Inifiniy Basslink to my non-Bose system easily? Sounds like a great value.

 

I was thinking about doing that, too. But I've heard several "not so positive" reviews about it. It puts out deep bass, but is lacking in dynamic range, or something like that. Sort of like the sub in the stock bose system, but a bit better.

I'm waiting for time, and I'll just put 2 10" in my trunk. I still want to have a decent sized trunk, though.

DW

 

for $600 you can have a nice head unit and some nice components

and i mean nice components.. like Diamond Audio.. but you don't want to hear that

 

dwapeni and strongislemax, it's quite easy to adapt it to your set-up. I have a non-bose system myself.

If you hear the sub in the store shelves you'll definitely regret spending the time to do so. *But* inside the car, it sounds like a totally different animal.

You can read about my full review of the basslink if you wish.

 

Nice write up. I may have to give this BassLink another review. I'd love it if it could made as stealthy as the stealthbox, though. It's like that thing isn't even there!

DW