You use a low to high for amplifier signal integration... In the Bose system, that is what is required when you add an amplifier. It only works to receive the pre-amplified signal.
The Bose system uses the headunit as a pre-amp. The signal is then fed to each individual amplifier (there is 1 for each Bose speaker). The signal is the "low" part that everybody talks about. The "high" is not what you can hook up to a speaker, but it is actually a usable voltage level for aftermarket amps.
Bose "low" signal: around 350 millivolts
Useable signal for aftermarket amps: 1.5 to 6 volts
The low-high converter basically takes the 350 millivolts to 2.5 volts
NOW... the reason you cannot hook up aftermarket speakers to the Bose amps is because the impedance (or resistance measured in ohms) is around .25 ohms to 1 ohm. Aftermarket speakers offer a 4 ohm load, which is way too much resistance for the Bose amplifiers to produce a useable amount of power. What you were talking about with regards to low-high would mean that you would take the pre-amplified signal and use it as amplified signal. This cannot be done because of the low amount of voltage and the lack of a sufficient power supply (to put it VERY simply).
High-low converters are used only to interface the aftermarket headunit to the factory wiring. When this is done, the aftermarket headunit is only used as a pre-amp. It's power is reduced to meet the low voltage level required of the Bose amplifier. [It does not matter whether you have an aftermarket headunit with 20 watts per channel or 60 watts per channel.] So, if you are worried about the integration of an aftermarket headunit using the high/low adaptor... dont worry about it.
Hope this sheds some light on the subject.
