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Bose Harness - for HU and Amp

arizona-dave

SM 2010
Full Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
1,691
Location
Phoenix, AZ
So, Ive decided I want to add an aftermarket Amp for my door speakers in addition to my 10" Custom Box & Amp which I have here:
http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/topic,115804.msg1803741.html#msg1803741
:E:  :help:
Ive done hours of research into the Harnesses required, and to be honest, Im now rather confused...so, let me explain exactly what it is Im looking for, and any help from people who have ALREADY installed A.M. Amps will be greatly appreciated:

Ive ran into a few harnesses which keep the Chime and Rap functions, but for the life of me, I cant determine if these harnesses simply allow aftermarket Stereo Head unit to tie into the existing Bose Amp, or if they re-route the Chime signal from the Bose amp, back into the output from the harness intended to go to an aftermarket Amp  ???

A) I have a Bose system, I spliced into the factory "subwoofer" with a RCA line adapter for my Subwoofer Amp - I Am NOT looking for Any info regarding Subwoofer Amp, and any harnesses I install that have RCA outlets, I will re-route my existing subwoofer amp to.

B) First I want to add just an aftermarket Amp for the Door speakers, and Keep the Head Unit...However, I havnt seen any CLEAR info on any aftermarket METRA or other Harness Mfgr's on this....so: Does a Harness exist which keeps Chime and allows for an Aftermarket Amp for the Door Speakers using the Factory Head Unit without cutting the speaker wires that exit from the Bose Amp? If yes, does anyone have the Mfgr and P/N?

Second: If this Harness exists, does it splice into wires under the console going to/from the Bose Amp, or behnid the radio, or does it bypass the bose amp alltogether?

C) In a few months I plan on Replacing the Stock Head Unit with a Pioneer Stereo...I think there are several Harnesses which are made for Bose systems to allow this install..HOWEVER...Its Very unclear if these harnesses simply route the output from the aftermarket stereo to the crappy bose amp, or if they are intended to be used in conjunction with an aftermarket Amp.

Im serious about how many hours Ive tried researching this info, and I really have found no clear info on exactly WHAT or Where the aftermarket harneses route the output to.

Thanks All and Happy Holidays!
 
if you buy an amp with speaker level inputs, or get a line level converter, you could just use the factory wiring at the factory amp, without a harness at all until you're ready to add your aftermarket hu
 
I know this, Im using a line-level RCA for my Subwoofer now...but, I want to BYPASS the Bose Amp for everything other than the Chime...thus, this is why I asked for specific info regarding Aftermarket Harnesses.

I dont want to use the output from the Bose amp at all for sound.

....Im looking for very specific info on high-quality harnesses that keep my sound as un-processed prior to hitting my new amp and speakers...

Thanks.

kwistofoo said:
if you buy an amp with speaker level inputs, or get a line level converter, you could just use the factory wiring at the factory amp, without a harness at all until you're ready to add your aftermarket hu
 
Example: Here is a Chime-Enabled Bose Harness...I see a Plug, which looks like it goes to the plug behind the radio, and then it shows RCAs.

But...Its completely unclear if this harness is intended to have a new aftermarket stereo simply work with the factory Bose Amp, or if its intended to be used ONLY for a new Aftermarket Stereo Head Unit AND aftermarket Amp.

Are those RCA's 'IN' to the aftermarket stereo or 'OUT' to an aftermarket Amp?

Frustrating for sure...this is Why Im hoping some of you other people can give me a heads up...do I need multiple harnesses, or is there a great harness which allows for either factory head untit and/or aftermarket head unit, etc etc.

Tahnks all!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200320102100&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WXI8&GUID=09d24e4a1180a0b583250445ffe5c346&itemid=200320102100&ff4=263602_263622

arizona-dave said:
I know this, Im using a line-level RCA for my Subwoofer now...but, I want to BYPASS the Bose Amp for everything other than the Chime...thus, this is why I asked for specific info regarding Aftermarket Harnesses.

I dont want to use the output from the Bose amp at all for sound.

....Im looking for very specific info on high-quality harnesses that keep my sound as un-processed prior to hitting my new amp and speakers...

Thanks.
 
Well...after several MORE hours of searching and looking at harnesses and adapters, I have figured out some information...I will SHARE this with everyone, since NOBODY seems to know anything about this subject in detail...hopefully this helps others:

1) Most if not ALL of the Harnesses Available by METRA, PAC, SCOSCHE are intended to simply hook up an Aftermarket Stereo to the factory Bose Amp. None of them provide a Stereo PLUS Bose Amp Bypass.
METRA: GMOS-04 http://www.installer-parts.com/by_item.php?it=gmos-04
SCOSCHE DCGMOS2B11B: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_3776_Scosche+DCGMOS2B11B.html?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=froogle
CARXT: http://cgi.ebay.com/BOSE-Stereo-Wire-Harness-Chevy-Avalanche-06-2006_W0QQitemZ350178023130QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item51883c96da

2) There is a PAC Bose Amp-Bypass harness available which plugs into the huge harness under the cup holder in the center console, it provides RCA Outs from a Line-RCA converter from the Bose Pre-Amp wires. And it supposedly retains chime...this is a seperate harness from ALL other harnesses that I have researched.
PAC: AOEM-GM24 http://www.installer-parts.com/by_item.php?it=AOEM-GM24


I have also learned that on Factory Bose systems, the Head Unit Outputs a 5-Volt Pre-amp signal to the Bose Amp, Im attempting to verify the Line-Level pre-out wire-colors from the head unit prior to the bose amp. I will post what I discover in the future.

It seems like most everyone just does their own thing, and eliminates chimes etc etc...but Id like to keep the wiring as factory as possible, while rally customizing and keeping qigh quality sound from a good aftermarket install.
 
Well....Ive done some more fiddling around, testing Front-Rear, Right-Left wires. And Ive found the wire-colors from the Head Unit to the Bose Amp (pre-Bose Amp).

On top of that, Ive tested how the Bose Amp Works in con junction with the Rear Seat Entertainment and the Chime.

Im going to be tapping into the Pre-Bose wires from the Head Unit and completely bypass the Bose amp, the signal from the Head Unit will still go to the Bose Amp, which will then provide the Subwoofer wire outputs, but I will be getting pre-amped sound to rout to my Real Alpine 4-channel Amp.

Ive seen very little interest/help in regards to harnesses and wiring diagrams on this forum....so, before I take the time to list the Pre-Amped wire colors from the Head Unit, as well as explain everything, Id like to know if other even care/want to know.

-David
 
Count me in!  I've been trying to figure this out since I bought my 09 Av.  Countles hours of internet searching, contacting Rockford Fosgate - Pac - Metra etc etc etc.

Dealer is replacing stereo/nav in my 09 Av, then after that goes in I was going to go whole-hog on trying to find something that would work without comprimising the chimes, rse.

What I'm looking for is a harness to connect between the HU and the amp to eliminate the Bose amp and go to an aftermarket amp, sound processor, speakers but keep the original sub and steering wheel controls.  I like the OEM look.

I appreciate your research! (y)

 
I am  :D  :D  :D to see someone else is actually interested in this...and so, I will pass on more info :)

I have Good and Bad news...not for the faint of heart, because, as I am now learning, this Sh$t is complicated  >:D

1) There is NO Harness available right now which will Bypass the Bose Amp PRIOR to Bose Amplification.
The PADC and METRA harnesses which go behind the head unit all send the signal from the new stereo to the Factory Bose Amp.

2) This Harness: http://www.installer-parts.com/by_item.php?it=AOEM-GM24 connectes to the factory wires, AT the harness under the "hidden-compartment" Cup-Holder in the center console, between the Bose Amp and the Factory Head Unit - However, Its my understanding this Harness converts the AFTER BOSE amp speaker wires to RCA level for an after market Amp.

3) I have the wires figured out from the Head Unit to the Bose Amp FR, FL, RR & RL - They run at 5 Volts, and so they are Pre-Amp 5V levels, I am going to determine if I run these thru the Speaker Level input on my Alpine 4-Channel Amp, or if I am going to convert them to RCA, or leave them as-is at 5Volts and run RCA's to the Alpine.

Like I said...This is complicated, but its Do-able

BTW: I have determined that all Features of the factory system work properly (Rear-Seat Entertainment, XM, DVD, Front-Rear Fader, with the Bose Amp Disconnected.) The one thing that doesnt work is the Factory Subwoofers, since that signal is generated inside the Bose Amp from the FRONT (Not Rear) Speaker Head Unit signals.

tHIS TOOK ME 3 hOURS  of using Multi-meters, and Modified Headphones with loose wires to figure out.

Oh...and I also will retain 100% functionality of the OS2 Serial Data signals when Im done with my retrofit.

09avman said:
Count me in!  I've been trying to figure this out since I bought my 09 Av.  Countles hours of internet searching, contacting Rockford Fosgate - Pac - Metra etc etc etc.

Dealer is replacing stereo/nav in my 09 Av, then after that goes in I was going to go whole-hog on trying to find something that would work without comprimising the chimes, rse.

What I'm looking for is a harness to connect between the HU and the amp to eliminate the Bose amp and go to an aftermarket amp, sound processor, speakers but keep the original sub and steering wheel controls.  I like the OEM look.

I appreciate your research! (y)
 
i must be confused as i thought that the amp in the center console was only for the stock sub.

i have  a pac rca adapter tapped into the sub wires to run my amp that is powering my sub.

but i to would love to do this if the amp is powering the door speakers.
 
Sooooo.  If I'm reading this right...  you're going to use one of the "common" adapters (for aftermarket HU to bose amp) which will "insert" the chime tones and whatnot back into the wires leading to the OEM bose amp.  Somewhere along the line prior to the signal reaching the bose amp, you're going to intercept those wires (which carry music from your aftermarket HU AND chime tones) and run those to the inputs of your 4-channel Alpine amp.

Sub outs will just go straight from the HU to the sub amp.

It's a bummer (and surprising) that the AOEM-GM24 harness doesn't go before the bose amp.  by using that, a person would be going line level --> bose amp --> harness --> line level --> other amp --> speakers..  what a perfect way to degrade SQ and introduce system noise!

I'm on the fence about adding an external amp to the main speakers, but it'll be great to have the info available should I decide to do it..

The only little tidbit I can think of is the turn-on-leads for your amps...  the 4-channel's should come from the bose amp's turn-on wire, so that the truck can turn on the amp to play the chimes..  the sub amp's turn-on should come from your new HU though (no need for the sub amp to turn on and play nothing)
 
The Bose Amp Powers the Doors and the Factory Sub.

The Head Unit on a Bose-Equiped Truck sends a pre-amp signal thru 8 smaller/different colored wires to the Bose Amp, the Bose Amp increases the signal (amplifies) and then outputs it to the larger speaker wires to the doors thru the main plug, and the subwoofer thru the smaller plug that runs along the passanger side and up thru the front of the console.

And the Bose Amplification is not that much at all, like ive stated in other posts...the factory Amp is a complete Joke and incapable of High-current high-wattage (Clear & LOUD) music.

Timmaaay4 said:
i must be confused as i thought that the amp in the center console was only for the stock sub.

i have  a pac rca adapter tapped into the sub wires to run my amp that is powering my sub.

but i to would love to do this if the amp is powering the door speakers.
 
Your reading me partially right:

I am Not going to Use one of the harnesses behind the Head Unit. I am going to splice into the pre-amp FR,FL,RR,RL wires from the Head Unit and send that signal to my 4-Channel Aftermarket Amp. I am going to KEEP those pre-amp wires feeding into the Bose Amp for the time being ONLY so I can keep my existing RCA converter which is running from the Factory Subwoofer wires to my Sub Amp.
(I will change this later by sending the pre-bose-amp Head Unit Rear signals to the Sub Amp once I know the new 4-channel Amp works)

I am then Cutting Door Speaker Wires OUT from the factory Bose Amp and capping them off, and splicing the New Alpine Amp to the factory wires to the Doors. This approach will have no impact on any factory Chimes, Keeps the Rear Entertainment System & Factory DVD Fully Functional, and retains ALL factory OD2 data in error-free status.

I did a preliminary test with the Bose Amp disconnected, using headphones and a small speaker, and ALL systems worked properly when I similated this - Much to my surprise.


Eskimo said:
Sooooo.  If I'm reading this right...  you're going to use one of the "common" adapters (for aftermarket HU to bose amp) which will "insert" the chime tones and whatnot back into the wires leading to the OEM bose amp.  Somewhere along the line prior to the signal reaching the bose amp, you're going to intercept those wires (which carry music from your aftermarket HU AND chime tones) and run those to the inputs of your 4-channel Alpine amp.

Sub outs will just go straight from the HU to the sub amp.

It's a bummer (and surprising) that the AOEM-GM24 harness doesn't go before the bose amp.  by using that, a person would be going line level --> bose amp --> harness --> line level --> other amp --> speakers..  what a perfect way to degrade SQ and introduce system noise!

I'm on the fence about adding an external amp to the main speakers, but it'll be great to have the info available should I decide to do it..

The only little tidbit I can think of is the turn-on-leads for your amps...  the 4-channel's should come from the bose amp's turn-on wire, so that the truck can turn on the amp to play the chimes..  the sub amp's turn-on should come from your new HU though (no need for the sub amp to turn on and play nothing)
 
I have to add one more thing:

The Cool thing about doing it this way - which is a complete pain in the ass, is that not only does it retain all factory serial data lines, chimes, and RES/DVD - It also allows me to hook up a new aftermarket head unit in the future by buying the PAC harness, and rather than having to run that nice new aftermarket output thru the Bose Amp, it will be pre-configured to send the aftermarket output to my Alpine 4-channel amp.

BTW - If anyone does do a PAC Harness, I called PAC last week, and you need to buy the Chime-1 Module, and to keep steering wheel functioning, you buy a seperate module for that too.

Integrated systems are a hell of a lot more complicated that my old 1979 Camaro with a Pioneer CD player...Geesh!
 
(y)

Im finished  :D
I successfully tapped into the Line-Level outputs from the factory Bose Head Unit using RCA Cables directly to my Alpine 4-Channel Amp. NO LINE Converters required !!!

The sound quality change is awesome, and I now have some real volume as well, WITHOUT distortion at high volume levels.

The wiring is nearly 100% hidden, and I have Not replaced the factory door speakers YET. Actually the factory speakers dont sownd that bad - as others have said - Its the Factory Bose "Amp" which was causing the distorted and flat boring sound.

ALL of the factory systems work 100% - Chimes from Fr-Lt door, Rear System Entertainment & DVD, Onstar, Fade F-R & Bal R-L (Ive seen some of the METRA and PAC harnesses specs say they dont output 4-channel RCAs but instead do 2 RCA outs Rt & Lf only - well, mine does all 4 !!! )
 

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Here are a few more pics of the install, and thew custom RCA wires I made that hook into the Line-Level Low Headunit output that are Pre-Bose Amp.

I should note: I kept the harness plugged into the Bose amp because Im still pulling my Subwoofer signal from the subwoofer speaker wires to an RCA adapter, and sending that signal to my Sub Amp on its own 2 RCA wires. So in all I have 3 pairs of RCA cables.

I did however disconnect the Speaker wire Outputs from the Plug out of the Bose amp, and capped off those wires. I spliced into the Speaker wires under the cup holder area harness, not the bose amp harness, there was no more room to tap into wires near the back of the Bose amp plug.

The Line Voltage of the Bose Head unit is 5.85 Volts on both the wires, this is really good because it means you dont need the gain turned up on the amp much (mine is 1/8 turn below Nominal) Geneally (but not always) a higher line volatage on RCA line level signals means a cleaner signal for the Amp to work with.
 

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I ask this question a long time ago with no reply's.  I have a couple questions:

- You have totally removed the BOSE amp and everything (but the SUB) works (chimes, Rear head phone audio, steering wheel controls Etc.)
- This was all done without any aftermarket harnesses?

I'm basically looking to do the same thing, but keeping all the factory speakers.  Looking at the Alpine PDX-5 Amp (smallest 5 channel amp I can find)to run everything and hoping I can shoe horn it the factory space.

Do you have aprox. dimensions of the BOSE amp?

Thanks,
Cameron
 
09Avman ... you need to realize that his truck is an 05 ... the wiring is different on the 07 and up trucks vs the 03-06's .....
 
No I didnt totallt remove the Bose Amp - See my last 2 posts. Its still there. It provides the signal to my RCA cables for the Subwoofer Amp.

I provided dims for the Bose amp a long time ago, but here it goes again: Its approx 1.25"-1.5" Tall, about 5"-6" wide and maybe 10" long.

It would be impossible to shoehorn an aftermarket amp into the Bose amp space unless the aftermarket amp was very small, there is a metal frame that the center console bolts to which prevents a larger amp from being installed where the factory Bose amp is.

Take out your center consol glove box and you can see the back end of the bose amp.

Im here only to share my ideas...not to do all the leg work for others, so your gunna have to start taking stuff apart and pulling measurements to see if what you have in mind will fit, I dont know your amp dimensions.

cjgemm said:
I ask this question a long time ago with no reply's.  I have a couple questions:

- You have totally removed the BOSE amp and everything (but the SUB) works (chimes, Rear head phone audio, steering wheel controls Etc.)
- This was all done without any aftermarket harnesses?

I'm basically looking to do the same thing, but keeping all the factory speakers.  Looking at the Alpine PDX-5 Amp (smallest 5 channel amp I can find)to run everything and hoping I can shoe horn it the factory space.

Do you have aprox. dimensions of the BOSE amp?

Thanks,
Cameron
 
arizona-dave said:
No I didnt totallt remove the Bose Amp - See my last 2 posts. Its still there. It provides the signal to my RCA cables for the Subwoofer Amp.

I provided dims for the Bose amp a long time ago, but here it goes again: Its approx 1.25"-1.5" Tall, about 5"-6" wide and maybe 10" long.

It would be impossible to shoehorn an aftermarket amp into the Bose amp space unless the aftermarket amp was very small, there is a metal frame that the center console bolts to which prevents a larger amp from being installed where the factory Bose amp is.

Take out your center consol glove box and you can see the back end of the bose amp.

Im here only to share my ideas...not to do all the leg work for others, so your gunna have to start taking stuff apart and pulling measurements to see if what you have in mind will fit, I dont know your amp dimensions.

I appreciate all you have shared,  My truck is an 08 so I knew I was going to have to figure some stuff out.  Was most curious about retaining the rear audio controls, tones and such. 

Thanks again,

Cameron
 
Your 08 will have SOME differences, but Im betting many of the wire colors are the same, maybe the actual Harness behind the Radio is a little different due to possible changes in XM and Onstar. I mean...they have to change something.

However, on the 03-06 I can tell you for certain, the Rear Audio works WITHOUT the Bose Amp installed. That little rear system panel behind the console has its own built-in Amp for Headphones. Its got a relay inside of it so that when the RSE is turned on, it cuts the Low Level input to the Main Bose Amp - Thats how it turns off the Rear Door Speaker sound. The Bose Amp also does NOT generate the Chime sound - thats done by the head unit.

Hope this helps a little bit.

cjgemm said:
I appreciate all you have shared,  My truck is an 08 so I knew I was going to have to figure some stuff out.  Was most curious about retaining the rear audio controls, tones and such. 

Thanks again,

Cameron
 
Cool that's exactly what I needed to know.  I emailed PAC with a couple questions about their harness, and basically what you just answered.  The HU is the brains of the system and besides the output for the Subwoofer the amp is worthless.

Thanks again

Cameron
 
You can get Output for the Subwoofer by tapping into the Pre Bose Amp wires from the head Unit. But Im not sure how balanced the Bass levels will be. The Bose Amp seperates out the Bass/Mid/Trebble internally and directs different EQ'd music to the F & Rear door speakers.

Teh Front tweeters are NOT powered by a seperate set of wires from the Bose Amp in my 2005 - they are tied into the Midrange door speakers.

The rear speakers have more bass output than the fronts, by the After-Bose amp rear speaker signal has very little bass under 125 Hz....not enough for a Sub to sound good. I tried.

I suggest ANYONE who has a Bose system, and tapped their RCA Line adapter into the rear speaker wires, to tap into the factory Subwoofer wires instead - And TURN YOUR GAIN DOWN FIRST :) !!!!!!

cjgemm said:
Cool that's exactly what I needed to know.  I emailed PAC with a couple questions about their harness, and basically what you just answered.  The HU is the brains of the system and besides the output for the Subwoofer the amp is worthless.

Thanks again

Cameron
 
AZ-Dave,
thanks for all the research and info.  I have a 4 Channel amp I pulled from another vehicle, and I've been toying around with putting it in the Avy to run the door speakers.  I will retain the factory sub for now, so this sounds like a good approach.  I'm gonna pull the console apart and start looking at harnesses...
thanks again!
Jim
 
No problem, I searched literally Everywhere on the net for days trying to find wire colors, etc, for the Low-level out from the Bose Head Unit.

I ended up doing it the hard-way, and I took the entire Bose Amp out and took it apart...thats how I know the Bose Amp is not really an Amp at all, its more of a sound processor.

I dont have the exact colors, but you should be able to trace the wires on my photos to get ya started (I dont feel like rippping my console apart again.

I can try to email you a close-up photo that hasnt been reduced to 100K for this web-site...youd be able to get wire colors off it.

Lemme know.

gilkman said:
AZ-Dave,
thanks for all the research and info.  I have a 4 Channel amp I pulled from another vehicle, and I've been toying around with putting it in the Avy to run the door speakers.   I will retain the factory sub for now, so this sounds like a good approach.  I'm gonna pull the console apart and start looking at harnesses...
thanks again!
Jim
 
Nice work Dave and thank you for sharing everything you have.  I am wondering where i could pick up the short rca cables you used to tap in to the low level outputs. Also, which part of those is +/- ? Thanks.
 
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