Hey y'all I recently picked up a bose center channel speaker for my car. My car didn't originally have the bose center channel so I don't really know where to wire it to. I tried searching it up already and tried different things and still couldn't get it right. Any help would be appreciated. It's a totally factory audio Bose system so No aftermarket amps.

Hi Ironman, welcome to NICO Club!

Your car's factory system was a "Stereo" system, with left and right, not a "Surround" system with front and rear versions of left and right. So you have no place to connect a center channel speaker for your car in it's current setting. You have to add your custom center channel with custom power source and some sort of custom signal to drive it. This can and has been done with varying levels of success, but how it's done would depend on what your goal is.

What exactly are you trying to do?

Thanks for the quick reply! My main goal was to pretty much convert my current factory Bose audio system to the ones from the 1990 that had 3" in the front and 6/6.5"(don't remember which one) in the back along with the bose center channel. I have all the speakers and amps but I was trying to wire the center channel with the current Bose system I actually have in the car. Is that possible? I just want my center channel to be used the same way a factory one would work if it came with it.

Honestly i wouldnt worry about trying to make a center channel work... just get a good set of components to put in the doors and good composits to put in the rear, good amps to drive them and run that. I have played in car audio for years and only time i have ever used a center channel was when it origionally was installed in teh car from factory. Once I started upgrading the audio I ditched the center channel.

Can you make it work? yes. Are the gains in audio vs. the cost and effort to make it work worth it? Thats on you, but for a lot of people the ansswer to that is going to be no.

My 90 came with the center bose channel. it is now gone. I am rocking a set of Rainbow components in the front doors and CDT composits in the rear. Once it warms Up Ill be making a Fiberglass enclosure for a small sub in the back and be done with it. No more center channel for me.

I see what you guys are saying. In the future, I'll probably go with aftermarket speakers and amps but for the time being, since I have the speaker, I wanted to use it. Do you guys know how to wire it?

Im guessing your not looking for a reccomendation between Solder and crimps right??

I cant remember how mine was wired... I believe it had its own small amp, but honestly when I pulled it I was just cutting and capping wires to get it gone. It was horrible and crackly. If I get a chance I may pull my dash open this weekend and look, but I cant remember if I still have the wiriign and such back there.

I can do either one but I just really need to know where the wires go if you could take a look and get back to me I would be forever grateful!

I searched a bit. I looked in the FSM for 1990 and didn't see the Bose system detailed, just a four speaker system. 1991 had a Bose system, but no center channel mentioned. So I looked more and found an older thread here:
bose-center-channel-info-t572593.html

It's got some pictures and a bit of wiring described. You can look into the FSM for nearby years and maybe that will have the stereo parts spelled out a bit better. It seems as if the front speakers had an amp built into them (bose system) and that the center channel parasites off of both the front speakers for it's power... likely through a harness. But, that would seem that you have to have the Bose front left and right to make the power for the Bose center... that could be an issue.

When you're done having fun with this, replacing all with aftermarket componets will be fun. I recognize the Rainbow name right away... some very nice, although very expensive, sound quality from those drivers. I remember coveting those and some ribbon tweeters back in the day.

That's what I'm trying to say. I actually have the front and rear bose speakers along with all the factory amps for each speaker. I just can't figure out which wires from the front speakers I'm supposed to leech the center channel off of I appreciate all the digging you did though, I saw that thread already but I'm just not sure where to wire the com, in 1 and in 2 wires.

From what I have read and researched the center channel taps from the two front or all 4 speaker signals, this is the best diagram I can find, http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/upl ... titled.gif you can also try looking in the FSM published here on page EL-82 http://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual? ... zx/1995/el

That's an intense lookin diagram I'll try and break it down, thanks

The one from 12volt shows the taps to all 4 channels, what the center speaker did internally as far as processing I don't know. I've never actually talked to anyone who wanted their center channel. if you are looking for 5.1 or 7.1 type sound you are better off getting aftermarket processors, amps, crossovers, etc. The FSM doesn't really show much of anything. BTW just to clear it up a little, what you are looking for is if I'm not mistaken where JC (Joint Connnector) M54 leads to. I haven't been able to find it on any of the other diagrams but I am 90% certain that that's the center channel.

Alright I'll try and figure it out. Thank you!