I've picked up a factory bose system for my car from an 89 firebird, complete with deck, harness, speakers, enclosures, gain switch, amps etc etc etc. Currently I've got a sony xplod deck and sony xplod 3way 6x9's in the sails and xplod 2way 4x6's up front in the dash.

I've searched as much as possible for the Bose unit, install, etc and most of it is trying to use the bose equipment already installed with an aftermarket HU or modifying existing bose wiring harnesses for use with aftermarket speakers. I want to be able to use the factory wiring thats already in my car with just the Bose speaker enclosures for the sail panels as well as wire up the gain switch to an aftermarket single 12" sub to make it all look like it belongs (switch wise that is)

I have read that the enclosures are really nice and help produce a very good sound but don't want to bother with them if they aren't going to out perform my 6x9's. Does the rule 2 speakers are better than 1 apply here?

Again just for clarification, im not using any of the Bose wiring or HU or amps, just the built in one from the sony deck and the existing wires already in the car.

As for the gain switch, is there any problems wiring it to a small amp to drive the 12" sub?

I dont really want opinions on how sony is bad or whatever, just want an answer stating, yes or no that I can plug in the speaker enclosures with some new speakers and possibly some pointers on things to look for or additional things that will be required to make it all work.

Hope there's enough knowledge to help!

 

I'm trying to visualize the bose enclosures... do you have a picture?

do they fit in the 6x9 location, or the one in the hatch area? the one in the hatch would be better... bass-wise and clarity-wise... also the sound won't be slamming the rear passengers in the face... that's why the 4thgens put their bass speakers in the back seat, and the components in the rear... very nice sound system that monsoon is.. (for stock setups at least)

 

The speaker enclosures go inside the sail panels right where the 6x9's go. They do have 2 speakers, a 4x6 2-way and a 5 1/4" woofer. I'll be replacing those with new ones regardless if I decide to use this.

I dont have any rear panel speakers but I did see some pictures of them with the fuzzy carpetting all over them in some camaros before.

 

I kinda wish I had the setup you've got there... I'd like to put in some perfectly matched components in the 'subwoofer' spot, and put some kappa plates in the 4x6 location...

Check up on the porting of that 'subwoofer' location, as you may be able to get some nice response from it if you do some research when buying some new components...

you can actually buy mid-bass drivers that will fit right in there.

do you just have 4x6s in the dash, or do you also have kickpanels?

 

Just have the 4x6 in the dash and currently 6x9's in the sails, no kick panels and the bose enclosures just sitting on the side right now.

The setup is ok as it sits right now(the bose setup) but you can tell that the bass on the woofers is really distorted and poor. They're showing their age and abuse from the previous owner.

 

You can definately do what you are wanting to. The Bose enclosures are excellent at reproducing sound. With good aftermarket speakers in the sail panels (4" and 4"x 6") you will have a considerable boost over the regular 6" x 9". For the gain switch, all firebirds came with the provision to mount the switch. You can hook it up to the wiring even if the car never had the bose system. It will only light up at night, it won't serve a purpose. To get the effect you desire will be a little tricky. It would be easy to use the gain switch as a on/off switch for the amp. This way you will be able to listen to music with or without bass. To wire in the actual "gain" effect will require some disassembly of the amp in order to bypass the built in gain, then running wire to the gain switch. It would be pretty cool to see, and you'll need a service manual to figure out which wires do what. I hope this all makes sense. If I can be of anymore help let me know.

 

you say you can use the gain switch to turn off the 'bass'... are you saying that you would have a separate amplifier for the 4x6's, and the 4" mid-bass? meh, I wouldn't do that, unless you've got money to burn...

most amps can take 2ohm loads x 4 channels... I'd just wire up the two front speakers to two channels, which those two would be at 2 ohms, then wire in the 4x6 and mid-bass to the rear channels of the amp... if you get good speakers, they have built-in crossovers, or you can make your own... but this way you don't need 2 separate amps just for your speakers...

 

It's harder then that to get the gain slider to work. If I remember right the slider is a single variable resistor. The gain control in the amps are two variable resistors 'ganged' together. It can be done. You would need to make a stereo pre-amp arraignment that could use just the one VR in the slider to control the gain, or in this case attenuate the signal.
I've seen the plains in the net for splicing it into the RCAs, but you'll lose the stereo separation. Don't use then unless you like mono.

 

That answers my questions, now to delve into the world of car audio and figure out what i'll need parts wise to make it all work.

 

all you need is a blow torch and a hammer