Replaced BOSE headunit, noise level problem...

[Evil Empire]

Well, I replaced the Bose HU with a Pioneer headunit using the Metra wire harness that has the RCA jacks. Everything went smoothly but the problem is that the sound incredibly quiet. Now, I've heard people having ****ty quality and that doesn't seem to be a problem with me because it sounds nice and crisp but just really, really quiet...I mean, when I turn the sound ALL the way up on the Pioneer, it's still too quiet to drive around with the windows down and enjoy. Anyone have any solutions or ideas? I don't have the money or time right now to replace all the speakers and get an amp & sub.

[blazncypher]

did you simply just plug the new harness in? or did you bypass the stock amp? if you did bypass the stock amp then that would explain the loss in power. also what type of deck is it? is it new, used, model...... it could be a number of things.

[davskins97]

Are you saying you used the RCA outs from the Pioneer to the Metra harness and then to the Bose amp? You should be using the speaker level outs from the hu to the Bose amp.

Can you provide some links to the harness and the hu you have?

Also a more detailed explanation of how it is connected would be helpful.

There has to be something connected incorrectly. When I installed my Pioneer all of my speakers got louder, not quieter. Certainly the level of sound you are describing indicates something is wrong.

[Evil Empire]

Well, from what I gathered from reading threads on here and maxima.org, the Metra harness I got bypasses the internal amp of the Pioneer and utilizes the stock Bose amp and sub. The harness is this -



And also from what I read was saying that you splice the wires from the harness to the Pioneer's harness that can be spliced and then plug in the purple, green, black, and white into the sub outs on the back of the HU. These -



That is what I did and from what I gathered, that's how it's supposed to be.

If you can help out further, I would greatly appreciate it.

[blazncypher]

that harness allowys you to hook up an after market amp to your stock stereo. you are using it for the wrong purpose thats why your sound quality is so bad. what you need to do is t-tap directly into your harness that way you dont bypass the factory amp. go to 12volt.com for a detailed list of our wiring configurations.

[blazncypher]

those line outs are one for subs and one for components your signals are super tweaked i would disconnect it immediatley before you blow something

[Evil Empire]

Well, see, that was the thing...from what I read, directly hooking up the harnesses is gonna send a bad signal or something and it'll sound worse.

And the harness is supposed to keep the stock amp/sub, not to add another. I'm not sure where you read its the other way and I was instructed by other posters that the sub outs are where the 4 RCAs from the harness go. That's all I was TOLD. This is my first time dealing with Bose so you'll have to excuse my stupidity on the subject.
Modified by Evil Empire at 2:10 PM 4/23/2008

[davskins97]

The corded ones on the right are typically the RCA outs on the headunit. What are the ones on the left labeled as?You can't use the sub out to the Bose amp because the Bose sub is wired in with the rears so it needs a full signal, not one that had been low-pass filtered for a sub.

I used the Scoshe adapter where I had my Bose amp connected to my Pioneer. It uses the speaker outs from the head unit and connects them to the inputs on the Bose amp.

[davskins97]

that harness allowys you to hook up an after market amp to your stock stereo. you are using it for the wrong purpose thats why your sound quality is so bad. what you need to do is t-tap directly into your harness that way you dont bypass the factory amp. go to 12volt.com for a detailed list of our wiring configurations.

Not according to the site I found it on. It is intended for an aftermarket hu to connect to a Bose amp. If it was to plug into the stock stereo it would be male not female. Check out this link:http://www.installer.com/cars/...=2883

[Evil Empire]

The corded ones on the right are typically the RCA outs on the headunit. What are the ones on the left labeled as?You can't use the sub out to the Bose amp because the Bose sub is wired in with the rears so it needs a full signal, not one that had been low-pass filtered for a sub.

I used the Scoshe adapter where I had my Bose amp connected to my Pioneer. It uses the speaker outs from the head unit and connects them to the inputs on the Bose amp.

So what should I do, then? Just use the regular wire harness without the RCAs? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get this solved.

[blazncypher]

well i dont know what to tell you i would just t-tap directly into the amp, thats how we do it at my shop.

[blazncypher]

davskins the cord that are directly connected are for hooking up an aux unit. the ones on the left are sub out and line out .

[blazncypher]

the only other thing i can think of doing it with that harness is to adjust your line level outputs on your headunit. if the signal is indedd going from the line outs on the aftermarket hu to the stock bose amp then you need to adjust your hu accordingly, especially your sub-out level. try that and let us know.

[Evil Empire]

well i dont know what to tell you i would just t-tap directly into the amp, thats how we do it at my shop.

So just use the regular harness and splice the wires together? I've never heard of 't-tapping' before so I'm not sure what you mean.

And I tried the sub level thing and no difference.

[blazncypher]

ok so i researched your harness and it is supposed to do what you say it does, it could be that you have the rca plugs in the wrong spot. if the bose amp is supposed to receive a low level input along with a high level input then you would need to make sure the low level rca is in the sub out and high level rca is in the line out. the hu itself should be labeled to tell which is which, if not check your owners manual. hope this helps, you might want to just take it to your local stereo place and pay the $50 to have them install it.

[Evil Empire]

Hey, thanks a lot for the response, I really appreciate it...I'll take it out tomorrow and make sure everything is where it's supposed to be and if not, I'll probably just take it to a place. Thanks again for the help.

[blazncypher]

[davskins97]

The Bose amp needs a front R&L input signal and a rear R&L input signal. If your headunit doesn't have front and rear RCA's (not sub outs, those are missing the 200hz and up frequencies) then I am not sure you can use that harness. My recommendation would be to buy the $20 Scosche if you can't this Metra one working and hook it up using the speaker level outputs. I know that will work. There are only so many ways you can hook up the RCA's. If there isn't a combo that works a stereo shop is going to charge you for the Scosche adapter and the installation anyway.

[blazncypher]

that is most likely your problem, i can tell your for a fact that your deck has one sub out and one line out for hooking up amps, it does not have have pre-outs for front and rear and subs. if davskins is right you should just buy the harness he is speaking of.

[Evil Empire]

Hey, thanks a lot, guys for the responses. I really, really appreciate it. I'll get that Scosche adapter and hook it up. This is the one, right? -

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-t...4NN03

Thanks a lot, again, guys.

[davskins97]

That's the one. It will definitely do the trick!

[Evil Empire]

Sweet. Thanks a lot.