How to Install subwoofers on a Bose System

[notaverage]

I was hoping that someone could show the rest of us how to wire an amp and a sub to our existing Bose System by using a High-Low Converter. I know it should be very simple.

Could someone, also post step by step pictures? Specifically, how to get access to the speakers and wire them to the converter, and how to run the power wire all the way to the firewall, and connect the amp remote wire to the fuse box?

I am sure Robert or Eric, would be very knowledgeable in this area. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[rjdmmfl1]

I was hoping that someone could show the rest of us how to wire an amp and a sub to our existing Bose System by using a High-Low Converter. I know it should be very simple.

Could someone, also post step by step pictures? Specifically, how to get access to the speakers and wire them to the converter, and how to run the power wire all the way to the firewall, and connect the amp remote wire to the fuse box?

I am sure Robert or Eric, would be very knowledgeable in this area. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Well, I could definitely walk you through it and explain it, but as far as taking pictures, this isn't an install I planned to do myself, so I wouldn't be able to do that!

Amp wiring kit:Depending on what type of amp and woofers you'll be running, you will need an appropriately gauged wiring kit. 4, 2, or 0 gauge. Rule of thumb...

up to 1000 watts ...4 gaugeup to 1500 watts ...2 gaugecrazy system...........0/1 gauge

If your system is only going to be about 1000 watts RMS AND you don't plan to ever upgrade your system, then go with the 4 gauge kithttp://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-KICKER...wItem

If you think you may want to upgrade in the future, go with the 0/1 gauge kit. Also, ONLY USE OXYGEN FREE COPPER wiring!

AMP / WoofersI wouldn't even begin to tell you what type of woofers and AMPS to get, that's a personal choice, but depending on what type of sound you're looking for and how deep your pockets are, I can help you make the best decision for what you want.** Important rule of thumb***you should buy your amp and woofers together!

Woofers can only be wired in a certain configuration. Good woofers are always DVC or dual voice coil. Now they could be 2 ohm DVC or 4 ohm DVC... Why is this important? Well because if you plan to get two woofers you want to match the resistance of the woofers when wired in paralell or series in order to match the optimum performance of your amplfier

Example:

2 x 12" 2 ohm DVC woofers can ONLY be wired to either a 0.5ohm, 2 ohm, or 8 ohm load. So if each of these woofers produce 500watts rms each, you want an amplifier that puts out 1000 watts RMS at a 2 ohm load! THis is how you match # of woofers + resistance(ohm) of each woofer with RMS power output of an amplifier!

2 x 12" 4 ohm DVC woofers can ONLY be wired to either a 1 ohm or 4 ohm load. So you can see that you would NOT buy the same amplifier to try to power these two setups. For this scenario, you would want an amp that produces 1000 watts RMS at 4 ohms... you never want to wire woofers to 1 ohm... that's a sure fire way to over heat them and blow them!

OK, so that's the kit, amp, and woofers, the last piece you need (if you want to keep using your factory setup) is a simple high-low converter like thishttp://cgi.ebay.com/PERIPHERAL....m118

or thishttp://cgi.ebay.com/Car-Radio-....m118

these are just simply wired to the positive and negative wires going to your rear speakers. I can not immediately recall the color scheme for the rear speakers, and although this can be done from thetrunk, right there at the speaker, it's not as simple as red and black because the factory wires are not colored that way. Next time I'm in the deck, I'll make a note of the colors.

Runnig the wires

As always, disconnect the negative battery terminal. Take the power wire from your amp kit, start from underneath your front drivers seat and find a whole in the firewall to slip them through. If there's no hole there, you will have to drill a hole in your firewall. If you've never been underneath the driver'sseat and looked at the firewall, you may want to get a professional to do this. You don't want to accidentally drill into anyting important! *KEY POINT* your power wire will have a fuse attached about 18 inches from one end. This is the end that will be connected to the battery and thus is the end that must go through the firewall. (obviously you will need to take the fuse and holder off to do this) Once you get the power wire into the engine bay, push it towards the battery (DO NOT CONNECT TO BATTERY YET).

Next, pull the plastic covering next to the kick plate up piece by piece. Next, remove the rubber door seal. Now, take the rest of the power wire and run it along the door seal neatly towards the back seat. Run the wire under the rear seat into the trunk.

Now you have to find a place to mount the amp. Some do this by drilling into the metal plate on the back seat. This is the second best option next to creating an amp rack. NEVER mount the amp upside down, and you shouldn;t mount it on the back of the speaker box. The vibrations from the woofers are not good for the amp!

Next, find a good grounding point. You will need to ground the amplifier (A second ground wire will come with your amp kit)

***AMP TURN ON WIRE**I forget off the top of my head what color the amp turn on wire is in the stock harness. I'll come back and update this in afew days when I go into my center console again

Connect the amp power wires, and ground wires as instructed on the amp's manual.

Connect a pair of RCA cables from the RCA ouputs on your newly wired high-low converter to the RCA inputs on your amp.

Wire the woofers as per the above described system. Use this woofer wiring wizard to properly wire your woofers...http://www.rockfordfosgate.com...imp=4

Now, go back to the engine bay, connect your power wire with in line fuse to the positve battery terminal. Reconnect the negative on the battery terminal.

You're done!!!! I'll finish the post with the color codes as soon as I get a chance! I'll review this and make additions if I see I've left anything out! Good luck! Shoot me an email if you get confused about anything!

[notaverage]

Thanks for the response Robert, I haven't had a chance to read through your whole post yet, I've been busy at work all week

I'll get back to you on what I plan to do.

Thanks again