Stock Bose upgrade...'94 to '97...or so?

[Warspite]

Greetings - I'm new to the world of Q45t's...OK, new as far as an old school '94 with 200K on the odo goes.

Since I'm trying to stick as close to stock as one can VISIBLY get (yea, the upgrades will be under the hood), I have the dubious "honor" of having a Bose HU, with the usual non-functioning CD changer. And, the requisite broken antenna.

So, my question is: Can I go with a stock '97 Bose unit (before the days of steering wheel control) that has the single CD player in the dash? One disc is all I'd get to listen to, since this is now my daily ride - and a comfortable one at that!

I am usually one to rip out the factory crap, especially after 20 years of American cars whose amps dish out a whopping 4 watts per channel, and speakers suitable for a table radio (AM, of course)...but I am trying to stick as close to visibly stock as I can.

First glances at what's out on Ebay make me believe that the pinouts are exactly the same, and it's plug 'n pray. Maybe? I ordered the shop manual, but who wants to wait that long?

While I'm at it...anyone in this forum have success in replacing the stock (and blown) 6x9 woofers with aftermarket (Rockford Fosgate, JBL, Pyle Driver) ones? Can the original Bose amp deal with them?

Thank you all in advance!

[PoorManQ45]

What is your budget?

Give us something to work with and we'll be able to help you find something much better then the bose system.

BTW: Unless the antenna motor is actually frozen more then likely there is just dirt around the base of the antenna that won't allow it to move. Try turning the car on and HU to tuner. Then get out of the car and pull the antenna up manually.

Then from there I put a drop of oil in the seam to lubricate it. That allowed it to work for a couple months.

[Warspite]

Thanks for the answer. The power antenna was real toast, since the actual "whip" part was already pulled from the sleeve. So, I replaced it already with a fixed whip, 1/4 wavelength deal. Looks and works well.

About the head unit...I have a new pair of Kenwood 6x9 3-ways for the rear deck. Will take 100W with no problem, as tested against a Marantz 2285 receiver. That unit can melt the ordinary speaker.

For a perfect fit in the dash, I assume the HU is a double DIN, and some of the units I've seen have way too many bells and whistles...and even worse, dancing displays! I may be old school enough to keep 15 turntables around...but dancing EQ and VU is way out there for this project.

I'd say in the $300 range, and maybe something that would make good of some of the existing wiring. I'd settle for a single CD unit, cassette optional, and a mini jack front panel for the wife's iPod. I asked about the '97 Bose unit, since it would appear to be stock when all is said and done. I'd spend more, but with 212K on the odo, I'm headed for some costly parts in the near future, so I need to minimalize the $ damage on the audio.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for the quick reply!

[PoorManQ45]

For a perfect fit in the dash, I assume the HU is a double DIN, and some of the units I've seen have way too many bells and whistles...and even worse, dancing displays! I may be old school enough to keep 15 turntables around...but dancing EQ and VU is way out there for this project.

Sounds like a Nakamichi CD400 is perfect for you then!

Or a Mcintosh or Denon unit, but those last to are rather pricy.

I chose the Nakamichi because it's one of the few that actually has an integrated amp. The rest are just preamps.

It is a little over the whole budget you were looking to spend, but just think, when your car bites the dust you can transfer it to the new one

[Rex]

Yes, you can use (nearly) any stock Nissan/Infinity Bose head unit, but it requires a $14 Nissan adapter.

Let me find the posts with all the info.

[Rex]

Here's at least one thread about thishttp://forums.nicoclub.com/zer...ber=1

[maxnix]

One thing I like when listening to CDs (95% of the time) is not having the antenna up.

My Gen1 Legend doesn't retract a long as teh radio is on. Dumb.