Car Stereo Guys - Thoughts on System?

[Dave Popowitch]

Folks that have replaced their Bose system, it looks like you just basically buy a harness that bypasses the Bose system, and you run your own amp and speakers. Is that correct? It also looks like you need a DAC as well.

 

What I am looking to do is replace the entire Bose system in my 18" LTZ crew cab. Found some good videos online that show how to install the bypass harness, with the leads to go to an amp. I believe there are leads for a DAC to be wired up as well, which I would prefer to install as well. From there, it looks like you can buy a sub enclosure that actually fits where the OEM Bose unit went, and install your own 8" sub, which is fine with me. 

 

The questions I have for the car audio guys are.... can you run new wires through the doors, or are they now harnesses / molex and you have to reuse the wires? Is there anything I am missing on what I am describing here? The speakers I want to run are the Focal flax component 6.5"s up front and 6.5 coaxial in the rear doors. It looks like the only place to really install amplifiers is back where the OEM Bose amp is located. What amp would you recommend for the Focal speakers? I have owned Focal speakers for close to twenty years in my home, and now have the Aria 936's with the flax drivers, so I would like to run them in my truck. If you have a recommendation for a better speaker that that mid priced point, by all means, show me. I have owned many different speakers and love the Focal stuff. That's all. Sub too? Something tight and musical, not a boomer, I don't care about thump so much as I do quality. Lastly, recommendations on a good DAC? Can you plug an iPhone directly into the DAC as a source to play back hih res stuff? On another note, I saw that Kicker makes an amp that you can run an EQ program with to tune the car. Looks interesting, don't know how good their amps are. 

 

My goal will be for all of this equipment to fit directly in the stock locations, just entirely upgraded. It looks like the main interface / headunit from GM can be reused to look entirely stock, which is perfect. I stream music / playback from the Tidal APP in high res. If I go down this road and invest in all this gear, I intend to sound damped the doors pretty heavily too, they look uninsulated in the videos I have watched. 

 

Thank you ,

David 

 

 

[1SLOW1500]

In my option do a rear seat mod and use the back wall. There are nice 5 way but you get better and more power with seperate amps.
You can run new wires but it is a pain in the assss and really only needed for higher power. There is or was a company selling center console wooden boxes. In the new vehicles you want a high end processor that will also allow for a input to it and not the factory head unit. This is the highest quality.
All or nothing or it will not balance. My front doors are under powered my rear over powered for signal and my dash speakers will blow your ears they are so loud. So I need to change things.

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[Dub1796]

You'll want to purchase a pac-audio ap4-gm61 and a aph-gm02.

 

www.pac-audio.com

I would explain what they do and the benefits, but I'm too tired to write it out lol. The ap4 will save you alot of grief. 

 

Don't bother running new lines into the doors, it's not worth the hassle. Your oem lines are sufficient enough. 

 

I use focal speakers alot and the flax line provides a full range sound. I hate it when components are too bright. I use either the jlaudio jx or hd amps to power them, along with a dsp. One of my favourite amps is the audio control d6.1200. Provides more then enough power, gives you the option to run the front as either active or passive, and sub. It also has a built in dsp with amp auto turn on. 

[Dave Popowitch]

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I agree with you on the separate amp for the mains, and one for the sub. Thank you for the feedback on the speaker wires. It looks like you need to replace the connectors at least, which I will do, the wires look like a decent gauge. The wattage is something around 65, so it's not much. Agree with you. 

 

Component Mains: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091PS165F/Focal-Performance-PS-165F.html

 

Rears: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091PC165F/Focal-PC-165F.html

 

Sub: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091SUBP20F/Focal-Performance-Sub-P-20F.html 

 

The sub box, I found the guy on ebay that makes the center console unit, here:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/362061168337?ul_noapp=true . The guy that makes them confirmed the sub will fit. 

 

Did you use this bypass cable setup? You can wire up a DAC as well? It looks like these guys can build a harness for exactly what I need ultimately:

 

https://lljcustoms.com/store?olsPage=products%2Foem-loop-harnesses

 

Just need to figure out amp(s) and a DAC now. Looking at these:

 

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_347050/4-channel-Amps.html?tp=35782#&nvpair=FFBrand|AudioControl&nvpair=FFBrand|Focal&nvpair=FFBrand|Morel

 

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_347250/Mono-Amplifiers.html?tp=35834#&nvpair=FFBrand|AudioControl&nvpair=FFBrand|Morel&nvpair=FFBrand|MTX&nvpair=FFRMS_Power@@Channel|[rank6] 351 - 750 watts

 

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_140/Car-Equalizers-Signal-Processors.html?tp=61658#&nvpair=FFBrand|AudioControl&nvpair=FFBrand|Focal

 

I agree with you, do it ALL correct, or don't do it. It's $$$$ (Insert turd emoji's LOL)

 

TY

 

David

[Dave Popowitch]

Thank you Dub, reading now. Looks like the harness I posted is similar to the items from PAC Audio.

[1SLOW1500]

Everything good cost money. But what are you doing for dash speakers? You can mount the tweeter there.
I cut and and rewires for mine. Harness is cool also.


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[Dave Popowitch]

The dash speakers are the tweeters in the component kit from Focal. 

[1SLOW1500]

The dash speakers are the tweeters in the component kit from Focal. 

Ok. That is one way to do it. Or go 3 way or add a speaker and bi amp the set. So say a 4 channel powers the doors and dash. With the crossover delinked between the mid and the tweeter. My alpine have a little jumper for this. You can also change the ohms at that time. Just a option.
And are you combining all the signals or just using front doors? Because the rear door is useless for full range

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