What years used the "Bose" speaker system with the speakers in the rear locking floor/storage compartment.

I have found a set. But I connot seem to figure out how to wire them up.

Thanx,andyZ28

 

sounds like something specific to 1984 or maybe 84-86 but I am not sure. good luck
gt

 

The Bose setup in the rear locking cover started as an option in 87. Any shop/electrical manual for 87 on up will show the connections.

If you don't have a Bose setup already in the car, the rear speakers will not work. Almost every stereo system installed in cars have their own built-in amplifiers. The Bose and the Monsoon systems are not amplified and require each speaker to have it's own amp. If you are running the standard in dash system, the Bose rear speakers will not work without external amplification first.

 

My friend has one of those in his '90 IROC, they are pretty rare, I have no numbers on them but if you have it, hang on to it!

 

I was thinking of something totally separate.. sorry for the confusion :lala:

 

A saw a '92 Z28 once that had that option. Pretty sweet sound system I thought. Made me wish mine had the rear speakers too. Still wish I had bought that car.

 

My 92 has the Bose system. The older rear decks look alot differant than mine. I'm not sure when they started using them.

 

any pictures?

 

I'll get one up tommorow.

 

If I understand you correctly. I will also need the BOSE in dash system also? I have the speaker equipped front kick panels from the donor car, and a big wire harness that came with it.

I will try to get a picture(s) of what I have.

Thanx, andyZ28

 

A while back you couldn't use an after market head unit with the Bose system. There is now a harness to hook up the Bose system. Since most head units are amplified it wouldnt work with the already amped Bose speakers. The new harness lets you use any head unit you want.

 

How can I locate one of these harnesses?

Thanx, andyZ28

 

I just sold one to another guy on the boards. It is an "interface", not a harness, that you could probably get from any decent stereo shop. It will set you back about 65 or so. Really easy to hook up. I had mine in my car with a Clarion Pro Audio head unit and all four Bose speakers. It sounded really good. Most ppl didnt think that it was stock. Good luck.

 

My car currently has 4 speakers in the stock locations. If I add the Bose setup with the kick panels, locking floor, and interface. Will I then be able to use/have 8 speakers?

Did the Bose system also use the stock speaker locations in addition to the kick panels and locking floor locations?

Thanx, andyZ28

 

I'm also very interested in what i would need to install the bose system in my camaro. Does anyone have any pictures?

 

The wire harness which I received with this Bose set up. Is over 14 feet long. The radio end of the harness appears to have been repeatedly cut and spliced to suit different systems.

I looked in my 1982,'84,86, and 1991 Firebird factory service manuals, and I can find no reference to this system. I am guessing that it was used somewhere in between. But GreenRS has this system in a 1992. Odd!

If anyone can shed some light on this topic, it would be a big help.

Thanx, andyZ28

 

Sorry I dont have the pics yet. When I looked into a stereo system for it back in 95, the harness didnt exist. When I tried again in 98 I got it from circuit city. I had them put in an alpine head unit. The Bose system has the kick panels and rear deck speakers. The stock and ERS systems have the dash and sail panel speakers. I'm not sure if the wires are set for 4 or if you can add by splice.

 

The reason you won't find the Bose setup in a Firebird shop manual is simple... it was only optional on the Camaro. It was used from 87-92. Some 93-up Camaro's used it too but they're setup somewhat differently.

The bose setup used two speakers in the front kick panels (they're thicker and vented), and two in the locking cargo floor in the back. The amps were built into the locking floor making it heavy. Everything in the bose system is proprietary.

To the best of my knowledge new Bose replacement speakers aren't available. Since the rear speakers are mounted in a high wear area, most of hte time they're garbage.

If you want the best sound possible, junk the bose completely and install aftermarket components.

 

Thank you for the info Drew.

I may have to do as you suggested, as the kick panel speakers are missing.

It would be nice to install the Bose rear locking floor with a set of good aftermaket speakers, and in the kick panels. Then you would have 8 speakers. Those days at the beach with the hatch up would sound a lot better.

Thanx, andyZ28

 

My '87 iroc had this option on it, emhpisis on the had. The head unit and the rear speakers are gone now, unfourtunatly. They have been replaced with high performance aftermarket units and the front kick panel speakers are there but have been disconnected. The way it is now doesn't sound bad at all, but down the road I would like to have this car 100% stock. So, long story short, pics of the head unit or the rear speaks or any other info on this option would be greatly appreciated.

Someone must still have this option in woking order on their ride somewhere!

Thanks for anything you can scrape up.

 

Well I finnally got the pics.

 

2

 

Either there are more than one variety of the bose system, or that ones been refinished. The speakers should have square plastic grills rather than carpet. Usually the grills are broken.

 

man that looks awesome. I would love to have that system in my car. If anyone's interested in selling their bose gold setup to me let me know, lol

 

GreenRS, how many speakers come with the bose system? Does the bose system have speakers in the dash and sail panels like the non bose system?

 

no, i dont think green rs bose system has been redone, the one in my 92 looks exactly like those, and yes there are two variety, his with bigger speakers in rear, and another bose system with smaller ones in back.
also on my bose systew there are only the two in the rear locking compartment, and the two in the lower front kick panles, none in sails and none in top of dash,

 

92heritage is right, thats the way it looked when they built it. I know what your talking about though. The older Bose set up had the little metal grill. Mine is the new style. Im not absolutly sure what year they changed, maybe 89. The system only comes with the kicker panel 5' and rear deck speakers 6' I think, I never opened it to see. Thats what a guy at chevy told me. The standerd set up has dash 4x6 and 6x9 in the sails.
Ive seen the older style on ebay a couple of times but never the new stlye. The only trick is, you have to replace the back trim peice. It has to have the ledge on it for the deck to lay on. The locking bracket just has a couple of screws(easy install).
At on time I took all the Bose stuff out and I had a 1500 dollar Rockford system(in my younger days). I've since replaced it all back to stock.

 

89 still had the grilled speakers in the back. AFAIK the grills were plastic. The few cars I've seen with the bose system intact had large sections of the grills broken out.

 

Hey guys I think these are the speakers you are talking about. I have the kick panels and rear speakers, but not the original head unit. The stick to hold up the rear hatch is original equipment from the previous owner.

 

IROCJTOWN, That is what mine looks like. What yaer is you car?

Thanx, andyZ28

 

It is an 87 IROC. By the way I never needed any kind of harness to change radios in my car. The other owners had a kenwood unit it and I replaced that with an excelon. Maybe I misunderstood that part of this topic?

 

I have a 92 Camaro Z28 and it too has this Bose setup. no speakers in it, and the front kickpanels don't have any speakers. weird.

I am going to install a new stereo, how much is this flip-down thingy worth anyways? a guy in my club wants to buy it.

actually, now that I hear it's so rare I don't know if I want to! ahhh!

 

Both my kicks and rear speakers work well. I doubt they are worth much, I would sell mine. My car had alot of neat stuff on it(was really neat to me considering its an 87). My electronic mirror needs a new motor as it is having trouble moving, and my power seats don't move well either. I guess I should be glad that my bose system stayed in decent shape. lol

 

IROCJTOWN, how does the wire harness plug into the rear speakers on your '87

Thanx, andyZ28

 

If you need me to get a closer picture or anything tell me.

 

Yeah I do. I would like to see how the harness at attached to the rear speakers. I can't seem to figure out how to connect mine up.

Thanx, andyZ28

 

My 90 IROC has the new style Bose speakers in the rear. I was told about $700 for a replacement rear speaker unit a few years ago so they ain't cheap to replace with new. To install a new radio, look in the Crutchfield catalog. I know a few years back I saw an inline adaptor allowing a newer type amplified radio to be used with the original Bose speakers.

 

Here's a pic of a kick panel(Bose)from behind.

 

So has anyone come to the conclusion about the value/rarity of these things? I am curious because I am currently starting to remove mine from the car, trying to keep the entire harness complete with the rear locking part.

 

They're worth whatever someone will pay for them. They aren't especially rare. The reason they aren't seen that often is that they wear out and people install aftermarket stereo equipment. If I had a car that came with the Bose setup originally, and I was taking it out I'd keep them in a closet in case I ever wanted to restore the car. As far as putting the bose setup in a car that didn't have it originally, I'd say it wouldn't be worth the trouble.

I've got almost all the pieces of the factory sub/amp setup they used in the Firebirds, and after careful consideration I determined it would be more work then what its worth to put the setup in my 86 T/A.

 

Here is a pic of the wiring harness and the inside(had to open it up to safely disconnect it).

 

The harness. The pics are kinda dark if anyone wants better pics let me know.

 

I have a completely stock 87 IROC with the rear locking deck with the Bose speakers and original head unit. I have speakers in the stock areas as well though. I think someone said they didn't? I think they are good speakers and with a head unit they would be really nice. I will try and post some pics for those who want to see what the whole stock sys looked like.

 

IROCJTOWN, so I will need to open the unit up to install the wire harness? That's what it looks like anyway.

Thanx, andyZ28

 

Ya I had to open it up to unclip it and pull it out. There is not much to it once you open it so it shouldn't be hard.