What to connect to remote AMP on lead for Bose system?

msun · 09-17-2007, 12:21 AM

Just starting my carpc project and ran into problem already just from the stereo part...

My 1999 Pathfinder comes with Bose system, which has 2 in-door amp for the front speakers and one amp for the rear two doors. I purchased a wiring harness from a local stereo store and they seem to match just fine, including a "remote amp turn on" lead.

Next I purchased a Clarion DXZ465MP that comes with 2 pairs of external amp RCA connectors, however there's no wire for "remote amp turn on lead", after I connected all wires and fired it up..... there's no sound at all.

After searching the forum I found that I might need to connect this "remote amp turn on lead" to somewhere, so I spliced it into the front speaker (+) and surprisingly I got sound coming out from the front speakers only. So I thought it's probably because of the amperage on the speaker wire is probably not enough to wake up the rear amp, so I tapped it into "power antenna" instead, and magically I got sound coming from all speakers.

However,
1. is this the safe way to do it? If not, where should I connect this "remote amp turn on" to?

2. Also I got loud static sound when I turn the volume all the way down to zero, is this because the "power antenna" lead is constantly sending power?

Appreciate any help

pancit175 · 09-17-2007, 12:51 PM

1. you are correct, the remote turn on should be attached to the power antenna lead at the remote/antenna wire from the radio. So that is safe
2. How are you interfacing with the factory amp. Because you have a factory amplified system, and you are using an aftermarket headunit, you are in a mannor of speaking double amplifying the speakers. If you did not use a signal converter, what you are experiencing may be the low level noise from the deck being amplified by the factory amp.

msun · 09-17-2007, 04:00 PM

The Clarion head unit actually has a feature to turn on/off "external amp cancellation", so I have to turn it on in order to get sound.

Since the HU comes with 2 pairs for RCA for external amps, is it possible the following setup would work?

Connect the speaker wires to the RCA connector directly then turn off "external amp cancellation"?
But still use remote amp on lead to turn on the factory Bose amps?

pancit175 · 09-17-2007, 04:46 PM

Yes you could, but I would recommend that you pick up a premium sound line output converter so that you can adjust the output levels that go to the factory amp.

msun · 09-18-2007, 02:10 AM

Okay I tried connecting the speaker wires from car to the RCA amp output on the HU but nothing came out of speaker, only a loud pop when I disconnect or connect the RCA adapter. What's wrong here? I tried changing the "external amp cancellation" also but didn't help.

HU external amp RCA <--> Bose factory amp <--> car speakers

If this setup works, what would the major difference comapres to the regular wiring method?

HU speaker wire <--> Bose factory amp <--> car speakers

ccjustin · 09-18-2007, 11:32 PM

if you connect the high-level outputs of the new radio to the bose system you will have very loud sound and a smaller volume range, say 1-10 instead of 1-40 (non-specific estimate) its usually better to connect the new radio's rca (line-level) outputs to the car so you have more of a range in volume. also on the harness you purchased there should be blue and blue/white wires, if your new radio only has one wire a blue or blue/white you'll still need to connect all the one's on the car side to turn on the bose amps and make the power antenna work

msun · 09-19-2007, 07:25 PM

If I understand correctly the wiring method you suggested would look something like this:

HU <------------------------------------> harness on car <--> factory Bose amp <--> speakers
--------
external amp RCA FL(+-) <--> speaker FL(+-)
external amp RCA FR(+-) <--> speaker FR(+-)
external amp RCA RL(+-) <--> speaker RL(+-)
external amp RCA RR(+-) <--> speakerRR(+-)
remote amp on <------------------> power antenna
speaker FL, FR, RL, RR(+-) <--> not connected

I tried this but there was no sound at all, what could be wrong?