bose system

[killercity]

i have a 95 camaro with the factory bose system, i heard i need some type of adapter for installing a new stereo head unit. is this true?

[TraceZ]

The Bose system works as follows:

The headunit's amp section is preamp only. The output is line level.

The amps are all small one channel units. One amp is attached to each speaker housing. The subwoofer also has its own 1 channel amp inside it's enclosure.

Replacing the headunit will not make your system sound noticably better. Replacing the speakers and amps will. It is pretty easy to splice RCA jacks onto the output of the Bose head unit. That allows for the use of any aftermarket amplifier and speaker system.

You should hear the setup in my Z. It's a stock Bose headunit running into an old SoundStream Rfgerence 405 5 channel amp that I have bridged down to 3 channels. In the doors I installed a pair of crossovers in the mounts that previously held the Bose amps. The door speakers are 6.5" midbass and a pod mounted tweeter attached to the door panel. In the trunk is a 10" subwoofer in a sturdy wood box.

My setup sounds awsome, and with the trunk closed it looks stock, with exception of the tweeter pods. There is no reason for anyone to want to break into my car.

But to answer your question, yes you can get an adaptor to replace the Bose headunit with an aftermarket one... not that it will make it sound any better.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I put an old Kenwood radio in mine and it does sound better. I bought the regular radio adapter and soldered on some RCA jacks to the harness. I plugged the RCA jacks into the line level outputs of the radio and the power as normal. It plugs right into the car harness no cutting required. My radio is a 2 volt output so a 4 volt output radio would be better. I think the biggest difference is the aftermarket radio has more ability to pump up the bass and treble.

[MN6WS6]

As I always have said in the past, TraceZ and I do not agree on this subject. As a former car audio installer, my suggestion is to dump all the Bose stuff and go all aftermarket. Better equipment with better controls, better features, a warranty, years of design improvements, etc. If you're worried about theft, get a paging alarm or a detachable face radio and take it with you (like I do for all of my vehicles). I work in a parts department at a dealership now, and when people come in or call asking about stereo stuff, I still tell them they'd be better off getting aftermarket equipment. I will not let money get in the way of my knowledge that factory equipment is substandard and severely overpriced.

Nothing will look like it goes with the car like a factory radio, but I live by the mentality of function before style. You can buy a million dollar McLaren F1, put it on a dragstrip, and get beat by Bubba with a 67 Camaro with a $500 motor and a ton of nitrous. That's the same reason that I ride a Honda instead of a Harley, because my Honda does everything any Harley does but better, in all aspects, except by some people's opinion of what is stylish. I'd rather have something that performs to the task it was designed to do than look correct according to it's surroundings.