Minor upgrade to the Bose system

paauto · June 1, 2018

50 minutes ago, Bish said:

Speakers fit in the dash. Screws were a little tight so start them both a bit before tightening down. No connectors available so had to splice into the speaker wires. I wanted to leave the original connectors in case I ever go back for sale.

Regarding the rear seat space, I have the GM underseat storage. I trimmed the storage so it meets with the sub pretty cleanly and I still have almost 2/3 of the storage space. I can try to take a pic if you are interested.

would love a pic! did you disconnect the factory Bose sub?

Bish · June 1, 2018

Did not disconnect the Bose sub yet. I am thinking about testing it with and without it.

Here are a couple pics.

pogrelis97 · June 2, 2018

Nice thread, I'll definitely be doing this upgrade! I've already put a JBL 10" powered sub under the seat and it made a world of difference.

avalonandl · June 2, 2018

Bish- how do you replace the door speakers? did you notice a big change?

How about the dash speakers? I am not doing a sub W. Its too much hastle, I like the Bose overall I must say.

Bish · June 3, 2018

7 hours ago, avalonandl said:

Bish- how do you replace the door speakers? did you notice a big change?

How about the dash speakers? I am not doing a sub W. Its too much hastle, I like the Bose overall I must say.

It is definitely an improvement. Huge, no. No louder, just cleaner sound IMO. I'm also sure the dynamat (actually used Stinger Roadkill Expert) helps some but wouldn't venture to guess what percentage was speaker improvement and what percentage was sound deadener improvement.

Regarding how difficult, on a scale of 1-10 I would say a 3-4. Door panels come off really easy once you remove the proper bolts and use a pry tool to pop the clips. It goes back on even easier. The Crutchfield speaker wire adapters made it plug and play. The dash speakers were a little more difficult only because of access as the windshield stops you from using a lot of tools. All I did was watch some videos on how to remove the panels and gave it a shot. Mind you I consider myself very mechanically inclined. I have stripped the interior of my vehicles completely in the past to install stereo and sound proofing. Those days are gone for me now though

The sub was pretty easy too. Install was simple. the hardest part was running the wires to under the driver's dash and finding the proper wires to tap. Just followed the instructions. The sub was no more difficult to install than the door and dash speakers.

MotionMan · June 3, 2018

I have a 15 with the Bose system, I went with a Rockfor Fosgate 10 inch sub and an 800 watt RF amp with a v control, it was the best thing I have done to this truck short of the cap.

paauto · June 4, 2018

I did the install this weekend - using the Infinity speakers for the doors and the Memphis speakers for the dash - same as what Bish did. I also completely Dynamated the doors. The cab is significantly quieter inside and the sound a big improvement. Not sure how to proportion between the speakers and the Dynamat.

Install is fairly easy, but time consuming. You need adaptor brackets for the door speakers. Crutchfield has everything, including de-construction instructions w/ pics. Removing the door panels is a bit of pain at first, but I had experience b/c I already did it to install the Intellihaul cameras. My suggestion, after you remove the screws, is to start with the top near the window and use the glass as leverage on your knuckles to pull the panel away from the frame. The clips across the top are metal and pretty stiff to get out. You get the sense you are going break something (like your fingers!) but you won't. Once you get the top off, you can work around the sides with your removal tool and pry the plastic plugs out.

I didn't find the dash speakers to be that big of an issue. Would recommend you have a U joint for your 1/4" ratchet to get at the screw closest to the windshield though. Crutchfiled didn't have a wiring adaptor for the dash speakers, so i cut the factory connector off and crimped on single wire connectors to both the factory wire and the Memphis speaker (the red male / female ones you can buy at Home Depot). Before cutting, make note of which wire is positive on the factory connector so you can connect that to the positive (red) wire on the Memphis speaker. I believe on the left side it is the gray/dark blue wire and on the right side the one with the green stripe. If you look closely at the end of the factory connector there is a very dim "+" stamped on it, but you have to look close.

I plan on removing the rear seats and Dynamating the rear wall of the cabin and putting a Sub in then. You can buy Dynamat in bulk on Amazon.

Bish · June 4, 2018

avalonandl · June 8, 2018

Thanks guys.

Petrolhead · June 10, 2018

I was just on Crutchfields website and saw those Memphis mid's. I was concerned about how long they would last with foam surrounds on a baking dashboard. I hope I'm wrong. I'm looking at Vifa drivers at Madisound, but need to look at the curve. I heard the head unit has cut-off's at 400hz for both the door speakers and the dash

paauto · June 12, 2018

I'm now making plans to upgrade the sub, putting a powered one under the rear seat. Can I tap into the stock sub feeds for signal to the new sub or do i need to tap into the rear speaker wires in the B Pillars? The schematic for the stock speaker set up is attached. I will of course run power to the new sub.

pogrelis97 · June 12, 2018

Tap into the sub feed, I had originally tapped into the rear speakers at the B pillar and it sounded like crap. once I tapped into the sub feed it sounded awesome!

paauto · June 12, 2018

41 minutes ago, pogrelis97 said:

Tap into the sub feed, I had originally tapped into the rear speakers at the B pillar and it sounded like crap. once I tapped into the sub feed it sounded awesome!

Thanks!

Bish · June 13, 2018

The only downside to tapping the sub output to power your amp is the Bose system pulls bass as you turn up the volume to save the speakers. You would be well served if you have a remote gain control for your amp so you can crank it up when the Bose system pulls power from the sub.

SierraHD17 · June 15, 2018

Just finished up my Kicker install. Went well except that stupid grommet in the firewall... what a miserable thing that was. Otherwise the sub dropped right and hooked up fine. I used the instructions and was able to find the harness for the wires to tap into easy enough.

It sounds pretty good to me.. actually has bass coming from somewhere that is not the door speakers. My truck is an odd ball SLE double cab with the center console and UQA Bose premium system with the useless factory sub. I may do the door speakers in the future but for now this sounds plenty good to me! I have zero complaints.