titanbk

iTrader: (3)

I am picking up my new 4th gen on saturday, the car has bose but needs a headunit. I was wondering what you guys thought of the stock bose components compared to some aftermarket speakers and headunit. These would be powered by the headunit only, no amp. Any input on which you prefer?

Crusher103

iTrader: (10)

the Bose unit tends to be a PITA, unless u are obsessed with the looking OEM i suggest u go aftermarket

4thgenftw

I have to disagree, the bose unit is great if you intend on playing CDs or using one of those tape-deck adapters with a 1/8'' stereo plug for an ipod or mp3 player. But if its too much of a bother to find, just throw a cheap headunit in there and an average amp, you'll need the extra power.

VTonmymind

iTrader: (1)

Yup, ditch the Blose and go aftermarket. I have a sneaking suspicion that after you do though, you'll get a hankerin to juice it up a little bit. Won't cost you too much if you shop wisely. If you don't have a lot of cabbage, do it in stages.

titanbk

iTrader: (3)

ya I'm sure I will go aftermarket but I have never heard what the stock bose sounds like and I am really interested to know but I dont want to spend the coin and not be happy.....obviously. Is there a special adapter I need for a max w/bose to install an aftermarket head unit? I know it will need a wiring harness but other than that nothing special?

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Just throw a Z33 or Pathfinder 6-disc unit in there and call it a day, unless you're looking for better sound. Personally I love my stock Bose setup with a 350z 6-disc

Then again I'm not a big audio guy. If it plays CD-Rs, I'm good with it.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

I like the way my Bose system sounds. If you go aftermarket, be aware that you will have to bypass the Bose amps, and probably change the speakers too, cause I believe the Bose are 1 ohm (aside from subs, most speakers are 8 ohms). Much too low to drive with an aftermarket headunit. Maybe you should check the "Audio and Electronics" forum.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

You either need an adapter or replace all of your speakers. Check the audio forum, you'll find good info there.

komik

I'm running stock Bose speakers up front with my Sony HU and they sound great. You just have to clip a couple wires off the amps and run them straight to the speakers. The 6.5" Infinitys I had in my old car are too small for the Max, so I'm sticking with the stockers for now. I have 6 x 9 Rockfords in the rear with my RF amp and subs.

modenaf1

iTrader: (3)

I am running the individually amplified bose speakers and my car has an aftermarket headunit. There is some sort of a signal converter unit between the head unit and the individual bose amps.

With my Kenwood deck and stock bose speakers, I am very happy. Of all the cars my family and friends have owned, I think the Bose system in my Maxima is the best sounding.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

Could you get an impedance reading on your stock Bose speakers for me? I read hear that they are 1 ohm, and I don't see your Sony driving that successfully. Is it possible that that speakers up front are 8, maybe 6 and the (stock) rears are 1 (less impedance, more bass)?

modenat,
I believe what you are talking about is that your Bose speakers are wired to the pre outs of your Kenwood, meaning that the signal that leaves your headunit is unamplified, and as such, will not distort the Bose amps because of an input overload. This is the same way your would wire any external amplifier to the Kenwood or other units with pre outs.

Snypa

iTrader: (35)

pathfinder 6-disc ftw.!

x X CLoud X x

iTrader: (2)

just get the adapter if u dont wanna spend more money or better yet you can buy my new 7" touchscreen audio acustik

mightyMax95

iTrader: (5)

our bose speakers are rated at 1 ohm and individually amplified. personally, before i had to replace my stock head unit, i think my bose had the best sound. that's prolly cause the system is specifically designed for our cars.

to use an after market hu though, you need an adapter that removes the power from the hu's internal amp, an universal antenna adapter, and a wiring harness kit. also, depending on how clean an install you want, a dash kit too. (all said items can be found in the walmart car audio section and with the harness, no cutting required)

all in all, you'll prolly spend close to, if not more than, what you would for a good working oe unit. like pmohr and snypa said, a 6-disc fill in the slot quite nicely.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

The orange backlighting of my Z33 unit perfectly matches my CEL

Xfactor22

iTrader: (13)

bose is one of the best speaker companies out there. you arent going to get a better sound. To get the best out of your speaker just get the stock bose head unit, just make sure the cd player works and your set.

mightyMax95

iTrader: (5)

LOL!!! i don't think it would be a real max without the CEL constantly on, haha.

bigpopaj369

iTrader: (2)

my opinion is aftermarket is great! but you have bose wich is like amazing for example i have an 00se with bose and subs, i just installed a headunit 4 door speakers an amp and subs in my friends 00 non bose his sounds amazing but i think its hard to beat bose. so if u have it id keep it if i were u

JSMax

iTrader: (13)

not to be rude... but you have much to learn. I wonder what you think of people who sound deaden their cars then?

The factory cd player is ok... but it doesn't play mp3 files. That can be a major pita for some. Also... it's missing any sort of factory aux input. You can add one if you want to so that is easily overcome. That wasn't really a concern for people in 1999 though so what ever.
I would have liked some form of graphic eq on the stock deck. I have never even used the tape player so whatever.


Any speakers amped will sound better than those factory blose. Check the audio forums if you don't believe me. There is a reason people pay money for upgraded speakers.

modenaf1

iTrader: (3)

I am pretty sure my pre-out's go to my amp for the subwoofers in my trunk. It appears that everything is wired up to this line control module which looks to be about the size of a power-brick for a laptop computer, maybe a bit smaller. It has 4 dials to adjust the signal. It looks like this module converts to an unamplified signal or controls the amount of amplification that goes through.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

Alright, I got ya. Its a level converter. Like you said, it just reduces the amplitude (volume) of the signals your headunit outputs to smaller signals that wont overload the input of the Bose amplifiers. The problem with this module is that when you amplify a signal (the outputs from the headunit), some frequencies get amplified more than others. This is the reason you have a loudness contour on your headunit. At lower volume levels, bass and treble frequencies are attenuated relative to mid frequencies. When you couple this with the attenuation that occurs inside the module for certain frequencies, you end up with an uneven representation of sound frequencies at the inputs of the Bose amps. While this can be overcome, its not the best solution.

I would think the best way to send audio signals to the Bose amps would be through the pre-outs on your headunit. Since you already have your pre-outs routed to your aftermarket amps, you could install a splitter and route the split signal to both the Bose amps and the aftermarket amps. You may lose a slight amount of volume this way, depending on the input impedance of the amplifiers (more impedance means less loss, but with high impedances, you run into other problems), but I would think that signal loss would be very low.

However, if I was doing an aftermarket install in on of these cars, I would install a new headunit, remove the stock amps, and install new speakers. Bose drivers (speakers) are generally not really very high quality. They spend a lot of money on enclosure development, and not a lot on the part that actually makes the sound, the drivers.

petro2342

I love my Bose speakers. It out performs most of my friends after market speakers. I have no complain and will NEVER change it unless it blows out and even then I'll get oem again!!!!

choray911

iTrader: (1)

I'm shocked there are still that many 4th gens with functioning BOSE. I replaced 3 to 4 a week when I was in car stereo, and the majority of the time it was due to bad factory equipment.

When the factory amps are working, BOSE sounds great. Once they start going bad, it gets expensive.

I have installed several after market radios on BOSE amps with out adapters that works perfectly fine. The down side is like ajm8127 said is teh signal input from the A/M radio. With the radio on volume 5 it really sounds like 20, and is blaring. The more you turn up the volume the more extreme the difference. As long as you are responsible and don't try to wake the neighbor hood, it will continue to work.

S1cTech

Can't be done good. You need to rewire everything if you want Bose speakers to run off an aftermarket headunit nicely. The Speakers run off 8ohm iirc. So if you can find the right adapter and an aftermarket Stereo that does 8ohm Then all the power too ya.

S1cTech

titanbk

iTrader: (3)

<----------thats what this response did to me! Very good info though thanks. I have a sound car and that gets most of my attention so I was hopeing that a stock BOSE system would be enough to keep me happy. I think I am going to try to go this route. Anybody got a BOSE headunit kickin around? lol

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

I just changed my brake fluid tonight and I ran out of light. Tomorrow I will measure the impedance of the stock speakers, front and rear, and report my findings.

If the stock speakers are 8 or even 6 ohms, then you should be able to drive them with any headunit, as long as you cut out the Bose amps in between. Most all aftermarket speakers, except for subs, are 8 ohms. that's like the unspoken standard. Except if you have some proprietary setup, the speakers in your living room are probably the same, 8 ohms. If the speakers in the car are lower than 6 ohms, then you will have to either drive the bose amps with an unamplified signal from your headunit, or replace the stock speakers, and bypass the stock amps.

Here's an article on impedance as it pertains to speakers and audio designs:
http://www.prestonelectronics.com/audio/Impedance.htm

Here's a bunch of other articles on sounds and electronics if you really want to blow your mind:
http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm

95Maxima719

The previous owner replaced my bose with POS kenwood stuff

rcintorino

you need this:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142C4NN...n-Adapter.html

Each BOSE speaker is 1 ohm resistance (same as high end surround sound equipment). each speaker is connected directly to an amplifier suited for the resistance of these speakers. These BOSE amplifiers DO NOT accept regular inputs, they also DO NOT accept preamp outputs. they use a level differential pair for an input. what this means is that the same level signal is sent in two wires, one wire sends the opposite signal as the other wire, and when this signal enters the amplifier, the negative signal is reversed, and combined with the positive signal.

The REASON for this is immunity from noise, by noise, I mean electronic noise. it allows for (theoretically) a MUCH crisper, clearer, sound.

I've gone through 4 cars, 6 stereo's and all sorts of speakers. The BOSE system in the maxima is GOD compared to any speakers you can get that ARE NOT COMPONENT speakers. infinity speakers, and the alpine type -S, aren't bad, but I haven't heard anything I like more so far (that aren't components).

you're not going to get better speakers for $50, or even $100. They have a good base response, amazing treble and midrange. the bose speakers and my kenwood head unit (DNX7120) sound better then my $600 surround sound system in my house (yes I'd rather spend hours listening to music and movies in my car )

My oppion? By the stupid converter for whatever it cost (I don't remember I didn't look, I paid like $40 for mine). upgrade the head unit, you'll be happy for a long while.

P.S. get a sub, if you tune down the bass on the BOSE speakers, and your sub can handle the extra load, you can get it much louder in there . just keep in mind when you tune if from the drivers seat, all the passenger seats (including front passenger) will sound a lot more bassy.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

That's not how differential signalling works. The term differential comes from the word difference, which can be thought of as subtraction. The two wires do carry equal and opposite signals, but, when they get to the amplifier, it amplifies the difference between the signals. This is advantageous because any noise induced in the signal wires will be very, very close to equal.

Imagine it this way. You have a signal leaving your radio that at some given instant is +5 volts and -5 volts. The difference is 10.

5 - (-5) = 5 + 5 = 10

That signal travels to the doors where the amps are and along the way picks up 2 volts of interference. Now when the signals get to the amps, the voltage is +7 and -3 on each wire.

7 - (-3) = 7 + 3 = 10

As you can see, the amplifier was able to extract the whole signal because equal interference was added to each wire. Five volts is a little high for an audio signal, but you get the point



I just got done reviewing the FSM and I see that they are definitely differential inputs. Good thinking there. They are also shielded. A car is one of the noisiest environments for electronics. Nissan engineers had their heads on straight.



If you want to keep the Bose system, $40 isn't back for that level converter. Though, if you hook an oscilloscope on it and look at the waveforms, I would be very surprised to actually see a differential signal coming out of it because it it completely passive, in other words, you do not hook power to it. You would need to power an inverting amplifier in it to invert the audio signal, and achieve a true differential signal, unless the signal leaving the headunit was differential to begin with, which may be true (some amplifier designs use this topology, its called class AB, or push-pull). Remember that your Bose system will amplify the difference in the signal wires, so a non differential signal is still ok.

Although, if you want to upgrade your speakers (an no, I do not think Bose is the end all be all in drivers) the amps look as if they can easily be found very near the door speakers, and may even be attached. What this means is that you could just throw your aftermarket headunit in, and send its signal down those very wires already routed through your car, as log as you hook them up to regular (8 ohm) speakers in the doors. Hell, get a cross over and power the tweeters too. Just remember to take out the fuse that feeds the audio amp relay, you don't want a stray wire carrying battery voltage hanging out in your door.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

The Bose speakers work fine if you use a Scosche adapter to step down the signal from the headunit. Bose speakers have amps already in them, so the headunit will not be powering the speakers.

The only downside to the Bose is if you want to listen to your music at deafening levels, or you're already deaf and you have to turn your radio up like old person's hearing aids. The Bose is designed for good listening at normal volumes, and for that it is an excellent value.

Dave

DBluMaxMan

I had the BOSE system and after getting tired of the buttons falling off, and not having a display, I installed the Clarion DUZ385SAT that I got thru crutchfield and when I ordered it they threw in the converter for free. They give you all the info that you will need to install and it looks great and the usb interface is AWESOME. You can get a 4 gig flash drive for $20 and have music for days. It sounds great with the stock speakers. I paid less than $250 for the Clarion.

Xfactor22

iTrader: (13)

i dont have much to learn. i have learned that when people come into my car they ask what brand of subs i have in my car so that they can get the same. i know that the quality of bose is 100 times better than the pioneers and sony i used to have. i know that i dont have to spend money on amps and speakers because my stock deck and speakers are amazing for being stock. i know bose speakers, ive done speakers for a while and bose has quality unlike many others. they arent expensive for no reason.

quique

iTrader: (3)

its been mentioned a few times that speakers are normally 8 ohms, that is only true for home speakers, for car speakers they are normally 4 ohms. with subwoofers having various ratings from 8,4,2,1 ohm impedance.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

Huh. I just checked crutchfield, and you are completely right. I was mistaken. It's just that for as long as I can remember, I've been putting 8 ohm speakers into cars. Or maybe I just assumed they were 8. It makes sense though. lower impedance speakers are louder, and a car is an environment where power is limited.

It's irrelevant though. Either way you can put in new speakers and take out the Bose amps, or leave the Bose amps with the Bose speakers in the door.

And to the guy who keeps saying Bose is the greatest thing since sliced break, I'm telling you their cabinets are amazing, and their drivers are sub par quality.

Alright someone needs to pull this rats nest of information together.

You can

a.) Leave it bone stock. This would involve finding a working Bose headunit, and you will be very short on features, but this is very cost effective depending on the availability of the Bose units.

b.) install all after market goods, which will sounds great, and have lots of features (mp3, usb, remote) but will come at a price.

c.) just replace the headunit and either take the audio signal from the pre outs, or buy that $40 level converter from cructhfield (still not completely convinced you need that if you have pre-outs). This is a middle of the road option, but leaves the door open to upgrade your drivers later. If you plan on going this route, make sure you keep in mind that you will have to remove the level converter later, if you use one, to work with aftermarket speakers, if you plan to install them.

In conclusion, the Bose system is not bad at normal volumes, but from my experience, turn it up and it distorts. It all basically depends on how loud you want your music.

1997MAXZ

I love my BOSE in my 97 GLE, you can turn it up all the way and still have no distortion.

Xfactor22

iTrader: (13)

im with you. i dont know why people dont like them.

choray911

iTrader: (1)

I was in car stereo for 10 years. I loath them. I specifically looked for one with out BOSE.

Maximum-Maxima

Bose goes through a lot of tests and adjustments to make the system sound great for each car that has it. Why throw that away, my Bose system sounds great and looks great in the center console. Aftermarket systems tend to bulge out too much, and look cheap in the center console. I say find a Bose headunit and call it a day.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

It sounds like you've only seen an aftermarket headunit installed by a hack.

Ultimately, the OP should do what suits his own needs. If he wants better quality, and yes, such a thing does exist, then he should buy aftermarket. If he wants stock fit and looks, then he should buy a stock Bose (Clarion actually) headunit. Money does have a hand in this also.