Hi,
I recently decided to install an aftermarket radio into my 88' IROC because the original one can't play music from my phone and it doesn't work sometimes. So I wired everything up correctly I believe, but no sound. I think this is because of the one cord that isn't connected to the aftermarket radio, but was connected to the stock radio. I bought a harness specific to my car so I wouldn't have to cut the original wiring or anything, but it doesn't have a slot for this random cord. Also haven't seen this cord on any videos about third gens so I'm confused. I'm thinking it could be an amp cord? I have no clue, help would be appreciated.

 

 

It looks like your tryin' to install an aftermarket radio into a car with a factory BOSE head unit; Can't do that, It's not gonna' work.


Send me a PM for more info.........

 

There is no way of making it work?

 

Yes there is but you need a power converter/adapter to lower the sound level output of the aftermarket radio. John would a preamp circuit work on a new radio? Funkman the one wire you did not connect up is to the amp relay that the BOSE system uses. It basically supplies power to the four amps at the speakers. The BOSE use a funky input ohm speakers so the amps have to play nice with the radio installed or they don't like it. Message John. He can help you a lot more than me. I installed a third gen equalizer radio in mine but still had to use the power converter/adapter.

Edit: You should have an amp power wire on you new radio that you can use to light the amps up. If you do get sound you will only have it at very low volume levels. Otherwise it will have a ton of distortion.

 

 

When converting this type of Bose, ideally you would not hook up the speaker outputs from your new head units to the wire pairs that go to the speakers, you would use the line-out RCA connections directly to them (as if you had an aftermarket amp), and as Chopski said, you need to hook up the amp relay so that when your new head unit is on, it turns on the individual amps at each speaker.

IF YOU DID want to use the speaker outputs from your new head unit, you would need a speaker to line level converter as Chopski mentioned. However, that would introduce double distortion - first from the new head unit's internal amp, then reduced back down and amped up again by the Bose amps at each speaker.

 

I think I'll do the power converter, will this cause distortion? Is it worth just getting 4 new speakers instead? Also how would I go about installing this power converter? Thanks for all the help.

 

It will but I think it's your surest way to hook the head unit in. You hook your head unit's speaker level outputs (the ones you would connect directly to a typical speaker) to the converter, then the converter output to the four Bose speaker/amp wire pairs (eg. for the LH Front, Tan and Gray). You would then adjust the output of the converter so that the system sounds good.

 

The levels need to be kept pretty low when using a 'Peripheral' converter. The same was true for another type of converter I used too,.. so I'll assume that most converters are similar.



When setting final output volume you've got to have each of the line converter levels set all the way down, & volume all the way up on the head-unit. ( EQ or BASS/TREBLE set to the middle across all bands ) Then adjust each channel output from the line converter Up/louder till distortion is heard,... then back off a little and move to the next channel. ( or mimic the first setting on all channels.)

I'm fairly certain that if I adjusted the line-levels all the way up at the converter, and then pushed the head unit Volume and EQ bands all the way up that I'd blow every speaker within a few seconds.