i had this in the car audio forum, but its more of an interior question. i have an 89 iroc with the factory equipped bose stereo with the kick panel speakers on the floor and the hatchback box. i am wanting to know if the underdash panels are different for the bose system(since it has the kick panel speaker boxes) compared to a regular stereo system without the kick panel boxes. they take up a little room and it would seem that they are different. my car also has the aux lighting, and the bulbs are mounted on a plastic tab that screws onto the kick panel boxes. anyone else have a bose setup, and do you have underdash panels in your car. thanks to all.

 

To my knowledge the Bose speaker setup did't have any underdash panels just the "tabs" as you described. Mine has the bose setup also and came the same way I bought some standard panels and cut them to fit around the speaker enclosure. Trims it off nicely and cuts out some noise.

 

thanks for the info. i got my car with 44,000 miles and they didnt come with underdash panels but i wanted to see if anybody else had them with there bose system. i will eventually get some and do the same as you did. thanks for the reply.

 

I have just received some underdash panels I bought off ebay and am a bit fed up as they dont fit. I have an 88 car with the Bose system also. My first thought was that the design of the panels changed at sometime in the camaros lifetime.
It seems a bit hard to believe that Bose equiped cars didnt come stock with underdash panels as all that wiring looks messy. I'll try to modify the panels I have and fit them.

Is there anyone out there who has a Bose stereo that came new with underdash panels?

Simon

 

I think your best bet is jsut to carful modify the panels. My reasoning that there are no panels is two fold.
1. I have been looking for 3 years and have yet to see one's for Bose equiped cars.
2. The panels have a cutout for the curtousy lights. Where if you have the Bose option there are little tabs that hold the lights in place. Makes sence that the panels simply weren't removed.

I think the Bose option wasn't done on enough cars to warrent GM spending $$$ to engineer, tool, make and wharhouse a new part.

 

Any one interested in buying my BOSE setup? I don't have the kickpanel speakers though. Just the hatch well cover with 2 4" speakers, the 4X6s in the dash, the external amp, and of course the head unit. My amp is molded into my kick panels.

 

I too have the factory BOSE system in my car. Execpt that that I dont have the 6x9s in the B-pillers and the head unit. They were taken by the previous owner.

I want to know all I can about this system, because I am wiring in a new head unit probably pioneer and some new 6x9's.

Did this system have an amp on the back of the speakers, I think they do because I took apart the hatch stereo part and there was a circuit board there so I assumed that it was an amp. Am I right?

What is the external amp you are talking about bEtUr4dRustang? Is it outside the head unit or somewhere else. Also can you show me a picture of what the head unit looks like?

 

yeah i got the same setup u do in my 87 sport......what do u wanna know?
bub

 

Hey, its pretty much just a black box lol!...my car didn't have the 6X9s in the sail either i installed those later with the new system...as far as i know there is one external amp that runs the fronts and another that is build into the well cover to run those two 4inchers. I am told that you cannot run BOSE speakers with any other manufacturer of headunit because they use a different resistance and you will actually blow your head unit...i am not sure if you can play non-Bose speakers with the Bose headunit/amps for the same reason but this time your speakers may be in danger? my old head unit looks like just about any other 80s GM car steario except that it says BOSE/DELCO or something similiar to "this car has better sound than a strip out" written on it ...

I don't have that system in anymore and am infact looking to sell...i should post in the classifieds i guess.
Good luck

 

Interesting comment about running the Bose off of a Bose head unit. I wounder if the Bose are not 4ohm like (most) normal car speakers. I am running my bose straigt off a Pioneer deck. The are louder that the INfinity Kappa 4x6 plates being run off of a 50x2 amp. I wonder if the resistince is why?? I always just assumed it was beacuse the Bose were more efficent.

 

Bose donuts:

I had the 84 Eldorado Bairritz with BOSE speaker system. The amps are located in the speaker enclosures and not in the head unit. Also was told these are very low amp, thinking below 4ohm.

One thing I know is true of the same era units... These were designed to produce a certain live effect by reversing stereo channels of a four speaker system! Bose had some (crap) rationale for offering L and R up front as normally heard, and the R/L channels switched on the two rear speakers. When I rewired my Cad radio with a CD player, I used the BOSE speakers bypassing their amps and correcting the stereo for L on the left side of the car only. It was a labored project! I took notes but didn't care to bother again! UGHHHHHH!
Thanks, Bose! hehe

BILL

 

My CD player was a Pioneer, as it turns out. I think they are 1 ohm or below. I don't know for sure, but even though I had plenty of compatibility problems, bypass the amp and play with the FADER/Balance controls and you can crank them pretty good. For the size, they are good speakers, just don't marry well outside the BOSE family!

 

Yikes I had no Idea thanx for the info!!!!!

 

My 88 IROC has the under dash panels and also has the BOSE sound system in it. These under dash panels fit and I had no problem with getting them to go back in after I removed them to replace the computer and the speedo cable. Although it is a little difficult to put the fuse box cover back on after it is removed.

 

If memory serves me (which usually fails after 30!), the Bose system runs on a 3 ohm setup. You can use an aftermaket head unit with the amplified Bose speakers, but you need an interface. I got mine for $50 from a good stero store. Although I have pulled all the Bose stuff out, it did sound really good with the Clarion Pro Audio head unit with the adapter. (I do have the interface for sale if anyone is interested.) You can blow your headunit and speakers if you are not careful, and it is getting hard to find the Bose stuff in good condition. You can make your system sound REALLY good with the proper installation, esp. if you want to keep and stock appearance. If you have any specific questions, you can PM or email me. Hope this helps someone. T

 

When I was having a car alarm installed in my old car a few years back, I opted to wait for them to complete it. While I was there, the only reading materials they had were trade magazines related to car audio and installation, and it just so happens that one of the articles I read in there was related to Bose audio systems, and why they are a pain in the a$$. It seems that the factory Bose speakers do have a much lower resistance than regular speakers, and if you connect an aftermarket HU to these speakers, it can fry the HU, or damage the speakers, or both. I don't remember all of the details of the article, but I do remember enough to know that Bose and aftermarket are like oil and water - you can put them in the same container, but they don't mix.

Maybe you could wire a small resistor in-line with the speakers to put them up to a 4 ohm rating? Probably only a temporary solution at best though, because this probably wouldn't be good for power transfer or anything, with those lil resistor wires...

 

I have the front BOSE kick panel speakers in my T/A i had to buy an adapter from radio shak to use them with my pioneer C.D. player to run them.they do have amps in each box.They sound good.The panel that covers the wireing had to be modified to go back in there,and i tried 2 or 3 diffrent ones.

 

I had an 84 Eldorado with the Bose and they used them in the Buick Rivs and Olds' Toros too. I didn't use the amp with an after market head unit. It only makes sense to run it that way. With out the Bose head unit, it won't wire up as intended.

Anyway, I never damaged my speakers or the radio but the volume levels DIDN'T match. That's fer sure.

The speaker enclosures were in the lower front of the door trim and were actually pretty good. When I bought the car, the previous owner had put Kenwoods in the doors, left the rear deck speakers wired thru their amp and had a Pioneer CD player installed. I had to deal with the whole compatibility issue because of the electrical hum that resulted from the bose amps with the aftermarket system. Getting the panels back in was right up there in the frustration level. Still, I liked how they looked and they were not altered.

BILL