Bose Sub Woofer Replacement

[Ahsmo]

You will need something like a clean sweep or rockford fosgate 3sixty to clean up the signal coming from the stock stereo. The stock stereo has it own eq. One of these signal processers will flaten that eq of the stock radio which will allow the amp to do its on thing. It will act more like an aftermarket radio once you add one of the processers.

 

THAT'S what it was called! I was trying to think of it the other day. JL Audio Cleansweep. They were like $400-$500 at the time though...So I gave up.

 

Ahsmo...You do good work. I can't work with glass to save my life.

 

 

You have to use their volume control on those silly things. So basically those things are a waste of money imo. This works better: JBL MS-8

 

Thanks wingnut.

 

EDIT:

 

I was wrong about the volume control. The clean sweep will allow you to use the factory volume control. But the MS-8 would be sweet.

[AKDenali907]

Yeah, I've received multiple responses that there is indeed a line level output from the factory HU, and that this line level output goes into the Bose amp's input. So I'm going to go on a search for that pretty soon when I get back from a business trip.

 

As far as fitting the 8W7s: The issue is of course the size of the magnets. They are quite huge for 8s. I've seen some box designs that involve downward firing of the subs... but I don't want to go that route. I want them to be visible on the front of the box under the seat. I haven't done all the measurements yet so I can't say it's even possible, and I haven't seen anything online about it.

 

But...it seems that if I construct the box with a slightly angled face such that the magnets angle downwards I might be able to make them fit. If necessary I could raise the seat an inch with spacers.

 

I dunno, once I get in there and start measuring I might just say to hell with the 8W7s and go with some REs

[Ahsmo]

Yeah, I've received multiple responses that there is indeed a line level output from the factory HU, and that this line level output goes into the Bose amp's input. So I'm going to go on a search for that pretty soon when I get back from a business trip.

 

Once you take the center console out, the wiring harness is easy to get to. I really don't think the Bose version I have does any sound modulation that would require a JL clean sweep. So if you have the same, that line level out will sound good.

 

As far as fitting the 8W7s: The issue is of course the size of the magnets. They are quite huge for 8s. I've seen some box designs that involve downward firing of the subs... but I don't want to go that route. I want them to be visible on the front of the box under the seat. I haven't done all the measurements yet so I can't say it's even possible, and I haven't seen anything online about it.

 

But...it seems that if I construct the box with a slightly angled face such that the magnets angle downwards I might be able to make them fit. If necessary I could raise the seat an inch with spacers.

 

I dunno, once I get in there and start measuring I might just say to hell with the 8W7s and go with some REs

Check out what this guy did. It is pretty much exactly what you are talking about. I think the w7s might be a little bit deeper but this guy's digital design subs look huge.

 

http://gmfullsize.com/forum/showthread.php?t=186466

[Ahsmo]

I put the truck back together this afternoon. Before I did that I moved my ground to a stud on the floor of the cab that some part of the tire changing system attaches to. I used some 80 grit to get the paint off the floor around the stud before I use a nut to secure the ground terminal. You can see a stud I tried to use but I couldn't find a nut to secure the ground terminal so I used the stud under this black thing.

 

I also did some trouble shooting on a problem I thought had to do with signal transfer from the Bose amp to the high level inputs of my amp. Turns out the ground on the high level inputs does not need to be hooked up to ground. If you do hook it up to ground you get a nice alternator hum.

 

I also put my remote sub woofer volume control knob in the center console.

 

I am going to hold off on saying how it sounds for a few days until I get used to listening to it. Thus far I have just been listening for distortion for just a few minutes at a time.

[Wingnut]

Very nice...

 

*crosses fingers*

[icetraxx]

I have a sub hooked up to my factory bose right now with no problems. I found the low level imput before the bose amp that I tapped off of since my amp has low level inputs. I just have my exsisting bose sub disconnected. I am also waiting on the outcome of this project because I have been debating on doing the same exact thing esp since I am not useing the bose sub any how. thanks for the updates let us know how you like it.

Larry

[Ahsmo]

I have a sub hooked up to my factory bose right now with no problems. I found the low level imput before the bose amp that I tapped off of since my amp has low level inputs. I just have my exsisting bose sub disconnected. I am also waiting on the outcome of this project because I have been debating on doing the same exact thing esp since I am not useing the bose sub any how. thanks for the updates let us know how you like it.

Larry

 

Which low level inputs did you tap? The rears? Or is there a separate one for the subwoofer?

 

I will keep ya'll updated.

[icetraxx]

Its been a while. I'll have to look at the wireing diagram I have and see which ones I tapped. I just used a speaker wire that had rca connections on the other side for my amp. I picked them up at radio shack for about $15. Been working fine for about 6 months with no amplified door chimes or turn signals. I'm about to change out my front speakers and add another amp by passing the bose altogether. that is as soon as I make up my mine which components I'm going to go with LOL

[Ahsmo]

I drove over to the grocery store with my wife in the truck today and here is what I thought:

 

The bass certainly is louder. The 8 inch sub will play down pretty low but not at terrifically high levels at lower frequencies(its an 8 go figure). I forgot to put in poly fill before I put the woofer into the box. Poly fill would have slowed down the back wave and made the woofer "think" it was in a larger box than it really was. By the time I realized my mistake I was halfway through installing the console. It is punchy and sounds good with rock and country. When I turn the volume up the bass does not seem to draw down relative to the other speakers. I was listening specifically for this the whole time. I played different types of music to try to detect it. I am overall pleased with how much bass I have now. The volume knob in the center console allows me to turn the sub down when I want it to really blend well with the rest of the speakers or turn it up when I have a song on that I really want some more bass out of.

 

My reference system was in my old car that had several different woofer setups. My loudest setup hit 137db on the dash with a term lab mic. My best sounding setup was with two Boston Acoustics 10s in a sealed box powered by Phoenix Gold Amps.

 

Things I would have done differently:

 

-Not glassed in the speaker rings. The first board I cut was fine.

-Put poly fill in the damn box

-Figure out a better source for a switched 12+ source. The white wire on the Bose amplifier harness works fine but does give a turn on pop. The solution is buy one of these PAC-Universal Trigger Output Module or come up with a circuit that will delay the turn on and turn off. I may correct this by going with the latter of the two for fun. The pop is only present when putting the keys in and turning on the radio then starting the truck. If you just start the truck there is no pop.

-glassed the inside of the box. I am worried the ABS plastic will crack one day but when that happens I'll build a bigger box to fit in that space.

[AKDenali907]

LivNLo94's original design was like so:

 

I am thinking of modifying it like so:

 

I am going to get all of the proper dimensions and do the real calculations but I am thinking this is possible, so it's at least worth pursuing.

[Ahsmo]

LivNLo94's original design was like so:

 

 

I am thinking of modifying it like so:

 

 

I am going to get all of the proper dimensions and do the real calculations but I am thinking this is possible, so it's at least worth pursuing.

 

Did you check and make sure that the w7 won't fit with his box specs? I just ran some numbers and it looks like there might be enough. The angle design will certainly work.

[AKDenali907]

LivNLo94's original design was like so:

 

 

I am thinking of modifying it like so:

 

 

I am going to get all of the proper dimensions and do the real calculations but I am thinking this is possible, so it's at least worth pursuing.

 

Did you check and make sure that the w7 won't fit with his box specs? I just ran some numbers and it looks like there might be enough. The angle design will certainly work.

 

 

Actually no I had just assumed it wouldn't fit. But looking at it, you're right, there's a chance that it would. I have the drawn-to-scale schematic of the 8W7 from JL's website so I'll use that to make the determination. Good thinking.

[Wingnut]

I drove over to the grocery store with my wife in the truck today and here is what I thought:

 

The bass certainly is louder. The 8 inch sub will play down pretty low but not at terrifically high levels at lower frequencies(its an 8 go figure). I forgot to put in poly fill before I put the woofer into the box. Poly fill would have slowed down the back wave and made the woofer "think" it was in a larger box than it really was. By the time I realized my mistake I was halfway through installing the console. It is punchy and sounds good with rock and country. When I turn the volume up the bass does not seem to draw down relative to the other speakers. I was listening specifically for this the whole time. I played different types of music to try to detect it. I am overall pleased with how much bass I have now. The volume knob in the center console allows me to turn the sub down when I want it to really blend well with the rest of the speakers or turn it up when I have a song on that I really want some more bass out of.

 

My reference system was in my old car that had several different woofer setups. My loudest setup hit 137db on the dash with a term lab mic. My best sounding setup was with two Boston Acoustics 10s in a sealed box powered by Phoenix Gold Amps.

 

Things I would have done differently:

 

-Not glassed in the speaker rings. The first board I cut was fine.

-Put poly fill in the damn box

-Figure out a better source for a switched 12+ source. The white wire on the Bose amplifier harness works fine but does give a turn on pop. The solution is buy one of these PAC-Universal Trigger Output Module or come up with a circuit that will delay the turn on and turn off. I may correct this by going with the latter of the two for fun. The pop is only present when putting the keys in and turning on the radio then starting the truck. If you just start the truck there is no pop.

-glassed the inside of the box. I am worried the ABS plastic will crack one day but when that happens I'll build a bigger box to fit in that space.

 

Very good info. Thanks for posting this thread and keeping us up to date

[Ahsmo]

In case anyone is referencing this thread for their amp install...

 

The clearance between the seat and the back wall is a major consideration. I mounted my amp on a .5" piece of ply wood and I got lucky that it fit. If I were doing it again today, I would use something much much thinner to glue to the back wall. DO NOT mount your amp to the back wall with self tapping screws. That is just plain lazy and may cause a huge ground loop between the amplifier chassis and the truck.

[Wingnut]

In case anyone is referencing this thread for their amp install...

 

The clearance between the seat and the back wall is a major consideration. I mounted my amp on a .5" piece of ply wood and I got lucky that it fit. If I were doing it again today, I would use something much much thinner to glue to the back wall. DO NOT mount your amp to the back wall with self tapping screws. That is just plain lazy and may cause a huge ground loop between the amplifier chassis and the truck.

 

I did exactly that on my '02 (self-tapping screws) ex-cab. Never had a problem. That system was great. I wound up redoing the whole thing and putting the amps on a board...But I didn't have a problem while they were screwed directly into the wall.

 

Here was the first try, before I cleaned up the wiring: