I took my dash apart the other day to replace some light bulbs and a few other things. I was looking at the filler plate on the dash next to the defroster and hatch release buttons. I'm pretty sure that this is for the gain switch on cars that came with the performace sound package. Mine did not come with the bose system but I noticed that there is an electical connector behind the plate for a switch to plug into. If I were to plug a gain switch in would it be functional? Thanks for the help.

If the plug is even for the UQ7 system, simply plugging in the switch will do absolutely nothing. The UQ7 system consists of special speaker enclosures that replace the 6x9s with a 4x6 and a 5" subwoofer on each side, the switch, an amplifier, and a special harness that plugs into the normal speaker harness and connects to the additional speakers, amp, etc. Bose didn't have anything to do with UQ7.

I'd question if the plug is for UQ7 or some other option your car doesn't have since I've removed the UQ7 system from a couple of cars and it's always been a separate harness from the rest of the car. At any rate just adding the switch isn't going to do anything since you don't have the amplifier that it connects to, or the speakers.

Thanks for the info. What other options were available that would have some kind of switch in that spot on the dash? The connector comes out of the same harness as the connectors for the hatch release and rear defroster switches. I was just assuming it was for the perfomance sound option because I am not aware of any other options that would have a switch in that location.

That plug is for the performance sound switch. If i'm not mistaken, the extra harness pig tails off of the radio harness, and has a plug for the amp, and the rest to the speakers. The factory harness consists of the plug for the switch, and a plug on the passenger side for the amp. From there the second accesory harness plugs into the amp, plugs into the radio, and from there goes to the back to power the subs. Correct me if i'm wrong, but that is round about what's there, and I installed the performance sound switch in my car in the factory location and it plugged right in. There is nothing else that could go there.

Thanks! That's what I thought. So I guess at least certain cars came equipped with the harness for the performance sound package even if they did not have that option. So it sounds like it's pretty much a plug and play type deal to upgrade to the performace sound package if I can find the rest of the components. Is that correct?

Relatively. Have fun trying to get your hands on the special boxes that replaced your rear 6X9s. Took me a while to find a set, and now i don't even use the blasted things, lol. Also the amps are known for going, and many people have tried to find a replacement with no luck yet. Speakers are a pain to locate, although i have found a 5" substitution, but again, i didn't give much work to the setup to try things out.

Many people use the switch as a nice factory touch to have an on/off switch, or even better, if you have an aftermarket sound system, as an on/off for the remote wire of the amp.

I have 3 pairs of the performance sound rear speaker boxes along with a gain switch and dash mounted amp if your interested

thats exactly what I use mine for. As for the slider, I made it a dimmer for the lights on the gauges in my cowl...

How much do you want for them?

PM sent

A previous owner could have installed that harness, or could have unplugged the original gain switch and installed a new Bezel. If your car isn't wired for the subwoofer system than you will not have any way to plug an Amp or the speaker boxes in.


Check your codes..........

Or

If you remove the rear speaker cover you should be able to access the rear speaker harness/plug(s). ( Quick and easy ) The subwoofer system has 2 rear speaker plugs on each side. Normal systems only have 1 plug at each rear speaker.

Or

Buy a button and plug it in !


If you find that your car was originally equipped with the Subwoofer system from the factory than be sure to follow wiring schematics that are for the correct year of your car. It's very possible that the wiring was changed at some point...... similar to the changes made to Camaro BOSE system over the years.

Some geuius cut off the plugs to the rear speakers and installed regular terminals for aftermarket 6x9s but I'm pretty sure the car did not come with the performance sound option. The only additional plugs are the one behind a filler plate and an unused plug behind the dash on the passenger's side. I guess that is the one that 84redTA was talking about for the amp.

my 87 Trans Am that DID NOT come with the Performance Sound package also had the pigtail for the gain switch in the factory harness...