Alternate wiring for Kicker sub with Bose system. (DO THIS)

Derek99 · March 25, 2024

1 hour ago, MrLeadFoot said:

I assume you mean fine-tuning volume for each song, which you can do with the knob. But, what exactly do the switches do? And, how were they set when you got it? I thought first three were gain, so I assumed if you had them all up, you could just turn down with the remote, but I think what you're saying is that the knob doesn't turn down enough if the gain is too high, right?

If you take a look at the 1st page of this thread User Tjeli explains the settings pretty good. 1-3 are gain, 4 is remote on, 5 is crossover on\off and 6 is crossover adjustment.

I tried raising the gain switches but it was too loud for me even with the control knob. The knob works but I don't like having to make big adjustments all the time. Mine came set up with switch 1,4,5 & 6 up. 2 & 3 are down.

mtbadbob · April 7, 2024

On 8/23/2021 at 8:26 PM, Tjeli said:

Those are the microphones for Bluetooth. No ANC that I know of in the T1 trucks.

I found myself with 10 days of free time on my hands so I busted out the laptop today and did some measuring. I also measured with the phase switched going to the kicker amp input. I originally wired it using GMs color codes for positive and negative. Guess what? It sounds better and measures better with the input phase switched. So…. Bose sub green wire to green input on kicker and Bose sub blue wire to orange input on kicker.

I am running the eq at +4, -2, +12. I listened for about two hours at high volume to lots of different music. IMO this is as good as this system is going to get with these components.

I’d be interested to hear from others who have tried this. Maybe tomorrow I will fix the rattle in my drivers door.

-Eli

I'm going to switch mine, as I have it Kicker green to Bose blue.

mtbadbob · April 7, 2024

On 2/28/2024 at 9:08 AM, MrLeadFoot said:

What a bummer. When bought my 2022, i thought about buying that sub kit, but opted to wait a bit. Now, when I'm ready to buy one there's no remote volume! That's ridiculous, and is a no-go for me. I happen to have a Kicker sub and amp in my Vette, and from my experience you absolutely need to be able to control the sub separately. There's simply no single setting that sounds good with all music. Without that separate volume control one song sounds good then the next sounds like crap. I can't even imagine trying to turn bass up and down with the stock infotainment system in my truck for every song. The control is buried so deep in the system and trying to fine tune it on a touchscreen while driving would be next to impossible. You'd have to leave your screen in audio settings mode and try to hit just the right spots on the slider all the time. Kicker and GM blew it by making that change. I wonder how that Kicker hideaway 10" sounds compared to the GM version. It's half the price and has all the controls.

To identify the Kicker subs with the control port, the amps do NOT have the harness pigtail coming out of the amp. They have the white female harness plug on them, along with square edges on the amp.

mtbadbob · April 7, 2024

On 2/27/2024 at 3:42 PM, White LTZ said:

I was able to find the "older" version of the sub/amp on FB marketplace. It was used but in really great condition. I did the install last week using the original Kicker/GM instructions by tapping into the yellow and yellow/black in the passenger door jamb. Put all the dip switches up and added the Kicker bass control knob as mentioned in this thread. It sounds really good and makes a huge difference. I had planned to try the alternate Bose sub wiring but I'm happy as-is. Just letting everyone know there are some of the older models for sale out there. Also noticed the amp is two channel and there are four wires going to the sub so it must be dual voice coil. The amp is very similar in size and appearance the Kicker KEY series amps and is probably based off of these. I think one of the KEY series amps could be used to drive the sub with some wiring changes and adjustments. Picture of amp attached with the dip switch settings in the original positions.

Kicker factory settings are with switch 1-ON, so someone messed with yours already.

AsapAT4 · April 24, 2024

On 3/23/2022 at 10:01 PM, johnathanryan30 said:

I found an easier location to tap the sub wires actually. If you pull up the kick panel in the rear passenger door frame there's a small channel that the wires run through under a plastic cover. You just pop the cover off and find the blue and Grey wires and tap into them and you're set

are you talking about the channel that runs on the floor by the carpet? same one you remove for the normal install to run the harness?

myrez · April 24, 2024

On 5/22/2023 at 3:02 PM, Louie Foster said:

Ok, per earlier post the new subs don't have the dip switches or a port for remote gain control. I still connected to the subwoofer lines, much easier in the read passenger area of the vehicle AND... It was toooooo much bass. Even setting the bass as far back on the stereo as possible it was too much. Switching the phase helped - a little. But it was still too much unless listing to hip hop. It sounded really good with that FWIW. I eventually tapped into the yellow and yellow black, played with the phase through a few different genres and it is much better to my ears.

If you go to the rear seat passenger kick plate to access the wires it bends up easily and it gives you access to both the yellows and the green/blue. If you have a newer unit without the ability to add a remote gain control, the yellow maybe the way to go to get a more even sound.

Did you get yours sorted out? I want to tap into the sub wiring like everyone else but I have the same amp as you.

myrez · April 26, 2024

Has anyone else tried this alternate wiring with the amp without dip switches? If so, how did it turn out?

mtbadbob · April 27, 2024

11 hours ago, myrez said:

Has anyone else tried this alternate wiring with the amp without dip switches? If so, how did it turn out?

I would think that tapping into the factory sub wires is a better bet than the right or left side speaker wires regardless of what amp you have. Factory sub colors are: green/black & blue/gray, They are visibly larger than most all others in the harness, they look like 16 gauge.

Edited April 27, 2024 by mtbadbob

mtbadbob · April 27, 2024

On 4/24/2024 at 9:15 AM, AsapAT4 said:

are you talking about the channel that runs on the floor by the carpet? same one you remove for the normal install to run the harness?

I believe he is talking about the sill plate cover. I tapped into mine right at the passenger front seat so I can access them just by removing the side seat track cover.

myrez · April 27, 2024

15 hours ago, mtbadbob said:

I would think that tapping into the factory sub wires is a better bet than the right or left side speaker wires regardless of what amp you have. Factory sub colors are: green/black & blue/gray, They are visibly larger than most all others in the harness, they look like 16 gauge.

My only concern is another guy did the same and mentioned he couldn't turn the bass down and it was too much.

mtbadbob · April 28, 2024

21 hours ago, myrez said:

My only concern is another guy did the same and mentioned he couldn't turn the bass down and it was too much.

I don't have that issue, although I do have the sub controller. EVERYONE is going to have a different opinion on how much is too much, what is muddled, & what is clear. I had the 200w Kicker sub in my '15 with no controller & it was fine, you just have to adjust factorey EQ to dial in the sound. Almost every song varies anyhow. Tjeli claims he actually tested the different taps & found the factory sub taps w/reverse phase to sound the best. I would think that'd stand true without a controller also. You can contemplate back & forth until the cows come home, Kicker does state that if you don't hook it up per instructions, you'll void your warranty. I bought mine used and wasn't worried about tapping the sub wires, it just made far more sense to me to do it that way & Tjeli confirmed it with his testing. One member said he ran all of his dipswitches on, and another said it was too much for him. I'm going to experimentwith mine & make my own judgement.

Edited April 28, 2024 by mtbadbob

MrLeadFoot · April 28, 2024

29 minutes ago, mtbadbob said:

I don't have that issue, although I do have the sub controller. EVERYONE is going to have a different opinion on how much is too much, what is muddled, & what is clear. I had the 200w Kicker sub in my '15 with no controller & it was fine, you just have to adjust factorey EQ to dial in the sound. Almost every song varies anyhow. Tjeli claims he actually tested the different taps & found the factory sub taps w/reverse phase to sound the best. I would think that'd stand true without a controller also. You can contemplate back & forth until the cows come home, Kicker does state that if you don't hook it up per instructions, you'll void your warranty. I bought mine used and wasn't worried about tapping the sub wires, it just made far more sense to me to do it that way & Tjeli confirmed it with his testing. One member said he ran all of his dipswitches on, and another said it was too much for him. I'm going to experimentwith mine & make my own judgement.

This has nothing to do with people's individual taste. Nor does it matter as much about dip switches. It's all about attentuion of the low bass signal via the remote volume knob that didn't come with some models. Those models would be quite useless because, as you said, each song is mixed differently so you NEED that knob.

2023 Black Beauty · April 28, 2024

How’s it going,I have a 2023 denali crew cab/installed the Bose 19417164 unit followed instruction to the letter and the amplifier is not coming on,

I have 12 volts incoming to the amp and 7 volts coming off the yellow/yellow black twisted pair to the subwoofer side,even sent the unit back to kicker to make sure it checked ok,they did find the subwoofer was bad,received it back plugged it in and still no power,I see in your post you gave settings for the dip switches on the amp do they have to be set exactly to that for the amp to come on?

mtbadbob · April 29, 2024

On 4/28/2024 at 10:27 AM, 2023 Black Beauty said:

How’s it going,I have a 2023 denali crew cab/installed the Bose 19417164 unit followed instruction to the letter and the amplifier is not coming on,

I have 12 volts incoming to the amp and 7 volts coming off the yellow/yellow black twisted pair to the subwoofer side,even sent the unit back to kicker to make sure it checked ok,they did find the subwoofer was bad,received it back plugged it in and still no power,I see in your post you gave settings for the dip switches on the amp do they have to be set exactly to that for the amp to come on?

The first 3 dipswitches are just output levels, so amp should power on regardless. Derek99 did say that dipswitch 4 was remote power, so make sure that is on.

Edited April 29, 2024 by mtbadbob

mtbadbob · April 29, 2024

On 4/28/2024 at 10:13 AM, MrLeadFoot said:

This has nothing to do with people's individual taste. Nor does it matter as much about dip switches. It's all about attentuion of the low bass signal via the remote volume knob that didn't come with some models. Those models would be quite useless because, as you said, each song is mixed differently so you NEED that knob.

As I stated, my '15 GM Kicker sub for the Bose DID NOT have the ability to control the bass with a seperate knob, so the new subs without the controller will work and still can be controlled by the factory head unit's EQ. They won't be useless, just not as tuneable. Some people will still enjoy the sound regardless, others won't like the bass as much, but you're still getting a 200w sub in either case.