Bose System sound issues?

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ShaginWagon

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03 Hoe has upgraded Kenwood head unit. I noticed IMMEDIATELY the sound quality was lower even with adjust my 12 band EQ. Spoke to a few audio guys and they blame it on the Bose amp? Not 100% sure if that’s true or not so looking for opinions on that. Also, I know the speakers are ready for a tune up but I don’t want to just slap new speakers in and have the same relative problem. Most audio guys have told me to bypass the stock Bose amp and wire direct to the speakers. This necessary? Will replacing my speakers all the way around solve this issue alone?
 

Doubeleive

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I am not sure on the 03 but on my 12 I use a pioneer headunit with the bose premium and yes I had to dial in the eq and crossover settings but it sounds pretty nice. I couldn't beat the bose without spending at least another $1200 in components and amps. it can probably also depend on what adapter you used it should say if it retains bose or not
 
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ShaginWagon

ShaginWagon

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  1. I am not sure on the 03 but on my 12 I use a pioneer headunit with the bose premium and yes I had to dial in the eq and crossover settings but it sounds pretty nice. I couldn't beat the bose without spending at least another $1200 in components and amps. it can probably also depend on what adapter you used it should say if it retains bose or not
    I’ve spent hours upon hours at this point dialing in settings.. that’s definitely not the case at the moment. It can sound a LITTLE bit better when I play with the EQ but it’s far from any quality sound. I’m going to get and do the speakers myself, but I don’t want that to not solve anything and be out however much the speakers cost plus my time if it’s not going to have any quality sound until I either bypass the amp or whatever else.
 

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  1. I’ve spent hours upon hours at this point dialing in settings.. that’s definitely not the case at the moment. It can sound a LITTLE bit better when I play with the EQ but it’s far from any quality sound. I’m going to get and do the speakers myself, but I don’t want that to not solve anything and be out however much the speakers cost plus my time if it’s not going to have any quality sound until I either bypass the amp or whatever else.
which adapter did you use? do you still have your chime and rap? or is it just wired in
 

adriver

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The bose amp needs a harness to run correctly with an aftermarket head unit. If you want to remove the bose stuff (and if you're doing 2 out of 3 : head unit, amp, speakers), you should really do it all, for cost and options. If you just get rid of the bose amp and speakers and put in new speakers, you will be running off the head unit power unless you get a new amp too. If you do that you will want low wattage speakers, and you could get two sets for less than $50 each. They will be clear, and better, but won't get TOO loud.

If your budget allows it, get an amp too, and 2 sets of speakers. One set for the front doors, one set for the rear. You can always get a small $30-$50 set for the rear hatch, but you will never notice them up front. If you can afford it, you want components up front for sound quality.

Depending on how loud you want it, how big your budget is, do you listen to it when your vehicle is off, how big your amp is, then you need to upgrade your vehicle's electrical system. Even a stock truck can benefit from doing the "big 3" (which is the first electrical upgrade everyone should do). Your factory wiring is designed for your factory system. If you add an amp, you will want to rewire for speakers (not hard, and not much, $20-$50 and maybe another 1-3 hours). Anything other than the smallest amp, and you will want a larger alternator and/or battery. A battery is $150-200 and a QUALITY alternator is another $200-(lets just say) $600.

ROUGHLY, most amps are twice the Peak power as they are RMS. Unless you spent extra on your head unit and got one that is more than the average 18-22W per channel, you would want an amp if you want it loud. You could put some low wattage speakers in the rear doors, and run a set of components off an amp in the front if you wanted to keep from doing too much.

Your SUV with all your electrical running is roughly 80-100 amps max, (fans, lights, ac, signals, stereo, FI, (guessing you haven't done the e-fan mod, so you are closer to 60-80)). If you still have your factory alternator (size), it should be 105 amp or 130 amp. My RPO code for a 105 amp is K68, K code should be your alternator. 400 watts at 12 volts (vehicle off) is pulling 33.333 amps. At 14.4 volts (running) is pulling 27.7777 amps.

Not trying to overwhelm ya, but give you some all-around starting info. Saying that:

What is your budget?
What is your END GOAL of your system?
What would you like to do now, what are possibilities for down the road, (subs, second sub, another set of components....)?


Alternator, lets say $200 for a good factory 160 amp (with belt) from an auto parts store.
 
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ShaginWagon

ShaginWagon

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The bose amp needs a harness to run correctly with an aftermarket head unit. If you want to remove the bose stuff (and if you're doing 2 out of 3 : head unit, amp, speakers), you should really do it all, for cost and options. If you just get rid of the bose amp and speakers and put in new speakers, you will be running off the head unit power unless you get a new amp too. If you do that you will want low wattage speakers, and you could get two sets for less than $50 each. They will be clear, and better, but won't get TOO loud.

If your budget allows it, get an amp too, and 2 sets of speakers. One set for the front doors, one set for the rear. You can always get a small $30-$50 set for the rear hatch, but you will never notice them up front. If you can afford it, you want components up front for sound quality.

Depending on how loud you want it, how big your budget is, do you listen to it when your vehicle is off, how big your amp is, then you need to upgrade your vehicle's electrical system. Even a stock truck can benefit from doing the "big 3" (which is the first electrical upgrade everyone should do). Your factory wiring is designed for your factory system. If you add an amp, you will want to rewire for speakers (not hard, and not much, $20-$50 and maybe another 1-3 hours). Anything other than the smallest amp, and you will want a larger alternator and/or battery. A battery is $150-200 and a QUALITY alternator is another $200-(lets just say) $600.

ROUGHLY, most amps are twice the Peak power as they are RMS. Unless you spent extra on your head unit and got one that is more than the average 18-22W per channel, you would want an amp if you want it loud. You could put some low wattage speakers in the rear doors, and run a set of components off an amp in the front if you wanted to keep from doing too much.

Your SUV with all your electrical running is roughly 80-100 amps max, (fans, lights, ac, signals, stereo, FI, (guessing you haven't done the e-fan mod, so you are closer to 60-80)). If you still have your factory alternator (size), it should be 105 amp or 130 amp. My RPO code for a 105 amp is K68, K code should be your alternator. 400 watts at 12 volts (vehicle off) is pulling 33.333 amps. At 14.4 volts (running) is pulling 27.7777 amps.

Not trying to overwhelm ya, but give you some all-around starting info. Saying that:

What is your budget?
What is your END GOAL of your system?
What would you like to do now, what are possibilities for down the road, (subs, second sub, another set of components....)?


Alternator, lets say $200 for a good factory 160 amp (with belt) from an auto parts store.


I’m not looking to have the best system in the world. I’m a huge metal head, windows down, music up kinda guy. I want clarity, a little bang, and fairly loud but nothing the neighborhood a street over needs to hear. The factory head unit was plenty loud enough if that helps any. Budget? Idk 500? Ish. Maybe little more or less.. I’m not a audio guy so this isn’t going to be anything I do unless it’s just installing the speakers. Not sure on the adapter used.. Old Lady surprised me last year for Christmas and had it professionally installed. Steering wheel controls work with it if that adds anymore info. Want to add another set or 2 of tweeters on the passenger and maybe rear windows pillars.
 

adriver

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Your factory head unit was loud enough because of the bose amp.

With $500 what I would do, is first see what alternator you have. If its the 105 amp, I can pretty much guarantee you are going to want to upgrade it if you get an amp. If you have the 130 amp alternator, you should be fine, or at the least wait and see where this goes, and how it does. You can get a new 145 amp alternator from a good company for $150. There are alts in size 130, 140, 145, 160, 180, 220, 250, etc... and I'm sure there are a few I am missing. If you are upgrading from a 105 amp, you will need to get the matching V-belt/serpentine belt too ($20). All Gen III engines use the same alternator so there are going to be tons of used/rebuilt/craigslist or junkyard partouts that you should be able to get for 1/2 that or less. If you think about saving money on a no-name brand alt, find out two things before you do: What amperage it has at idle, and what rpm is full amperage output. If it doesn't do full output until 3,000 rpms do you plan to downshift to cruise that high? Once you know your end goal, you will know how many amps you need to plan for.
ALT


The "big 3" improves your current flow at the source. Its where your electrical mods should begin. Its increasing the size of three wires off your battery.
Batt + to Alt
Batt - to Chassis ground
Batt - to Engine block ground.

Shops will do this for $50-$75. You can buy the wire and connectors for half that if you have a way to solder or crimp them on (reliably). There are thousands of youtube vids many of which are on your exact engine bay, and should be many easy to find how-tos.
Big 3 (These first two can be done separately)


If you run an amp to speakers, use new speaker wire for those. You will need a main power wire from your battery to your amp, another large ground wire with terminals, fuse holder & fuse, rca wires, OR just buy an amp kit. This could be as little as $25, I wouldn't spend more than $50 on what you are planning. If you are piecing together, I have liked knukonceptz.com. Depending on the amp you get, your head unit and amp may benefit from having 4ch RCAs. Once you figure out what amp you want, then you will know how big your wiring needs to be.
Wiring


Speakers in all four doors are going to be 6 1/2" or 5 1/4" with a separate factory tweeter mount if you get components. If you get components up front and can swing components in the rear, I would just get the same set for the front as the back. You can get coaxial speakers, that will save you a few bucks on speakers (, and some places try to charge more for installing components). Getting two of the same sets will make sound quality even, and make getting the right amp easier. Watts are not quality, only volume. If you are piecing together, I always suggest starting with Crutchfield.com. Great support, and I want to say the price match, but not sure. You might have to shop around after you find something you like. Amazon and ebay, might give better deals, but crutchfield gives 3 months support on anything you buy from them, wiring schematics, install tips, phone support, and they included the little odds and ends usually for free.
Speakers


When you figure out what speakers you want, find an amp that is the correct channel (4 channel, or 2 channel if you get low wattage coaxials instead of matching for the rear doors). Match up your wattage to your speakers, and your resistance/ Ohms, (will most likely be 4 ohms). There is RMS and PEAK output. RMS is your constant steady music level. Peak is your cranked up, heavy note hitting beats Peak. RMS is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than peak. Quality in an amp is less distortion, better materials so they don't overheat and last longer. I would expect $100-$150 for a NEW amp. You can find used amps everywhere if you wanted to save some money on that, as all stereo equipment you never know how well it was taken care of or abused (handled, hooked up, played).
Amplifier


This is going to be some really basic stuff. Anyone who has done an amplifier before, can probably help you with this and do it in a couple hours tops. IMO, watch some youtube vids, read the how-tos. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, I would see if you know someone who has installed there own, (maybe its me, but its nice to bring someone to the dark side). Check to see if you have anyone on craigslist who will install for cheap (less than $100 for all of it), if you have any local car clubs, (even cruise on a Friday or Saturday night for a group in a parking lot). Shop prices are going to be ridiculous for what they are doing. For two sets of speakers an amp, and big three, shops will try to charge $300+. You might even find a package deal on craigslist if you are cool with used. They might even help with install. Your best option if you haven't found anyone yet is to see if you have any shops locally that do $1 install if you buy your equipment from them. This can definitely be worth it even if you have to spend a few bucks more. Figure this all out before you spend any money anywhere. Anyone who installs it, ask them how they will install the amp, (whether or not, they will mount it to through the floorboard or not, and ask yourself if you are cool with that). We may still see some holiday deals around before and after Christmas at shops doing cheap installs. There is nothing difficult or unusual about doing an install in these compared to any other vehicle.
Even if you don't feel comfortable wiring up the amp, and pay a shop a high price to do it; I would install the speakers, and run new wire to where you want your amp mounted. Leave an extra foot or two, because wiring sticking out from the amp, may change the direction you mount it. Then you are only paying for an amp install.
Install


Take a few minutes and here is some information about a subwoofer if you might be interested.. If you are; its either a 5 ch amp now, or upgrading with another amp for the subwoofer down the road. The 5 ch amp would be cheaper, but its more now, and probably out of the budget. Either way, plan for your end goal (electrical, wiring, amps, are cheaper and easier to do it with the complete goal in mind if you do it from the beginning. Any serious subwoofer setup is beyond a $500 budget. It might get you to buy a larger alternator now, (Example, spend $30 more now on a larger alt than what you would have used, or $200+ on a slightly larger third alternator).
Adding a sub

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/subwoofer-options-without-losing-cargo-space-swb.107846/
 
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adriver

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I have a pioneer unit w/ the PAC wiring interface. I noticed an immediate increase in SQ
Yeah, that would be the easiest and cheapest thing to do. :) You could buy a used one, see if it works well enough, your golden. If not, you post up a for sale thread.
 

chrmbly

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I added an 50w rms 4 channel Kicker amp, got a powered sub and upgraded the headunit on my old tahoe before it got totaled. If i could do it over again I probably would have just kept stock and upgraded the headunit w/ carplay and the PAC kit to retain audio controls. I didn't feel there was a big enough bump in the sound quality (save the huge 12" sub) over the old system. If you're not nuts about it and have the Bose system anyway, I'd just stick w/ a new headunit. It will be fine.
 

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