Bose system to kenwood upgrade kit?Interested?

[zedex]

Hi. I just throwing this out there. Would anyone be interested in a full kit to change out the bose head unit and amp? I just did my 987 and i have it all dialed in . Kenwood dnx 7140, full bluetooth,gps,mp3,dvd, you name it with ampine pdx5 amp. The system sounds really good now and i thought if anyone would be interested in me building them a system where you just install everything yourself. All wiring would be done you basically just plug the thing in and your off to the races. All bose speakers are still used. Brackets to mount the amp in the front boot. ETC

Realistically it would still cost about $2500 depending on the system but it would be a done deal plug in system.

Im thinking it would be a friggin nightmare too.:)

I dunno. Your thoughts?

[mqboxster]

I would luv to hear ur advice on how to do it. $2500 is too steep for me.

[zedex]

Its actually not hard to do. The bose amp goes away,the stock cdr24 goes away.The fiber optic loop gets disconnected and abandoned. The new head unit goes in.The new amp goes where ever you can fit it. The wiring from the bose amp has to be figured out with a multimeter for the speaker connections. Head unit gets wired up typically like any aftermarket amp. Amp gets wired to the speakers . Thats it. My head unit alone was around 1500 IIRC.If your not familiar with installing car audio i would get a shop to do it. Makes a huge difference in sound quality + all the goodies like bluetooth,gps etc etc with an aftermarket head unit. All the stories about error messages after dissconnecting the fiber optic loop are not true. You can switch everything out with no problems and everything is reversible if you resell and want the stock system back in. If your not in the know, you would not know that my system is not stock.Does not look out of place .

Edited March 28, 2012 by zedex

[ChipB]

Any issues matching the output of the amp to the Bose speakers? I've heard that the Bose speakers are some sort of oddball low impedance - not your typical 4 ohms. Also - why not use the EuroMotorSpeed harnes to adapt the speaker leads to the amp - it would make the install much easier I think. Finally - did you make or buy a bezel so the new head uni tfits nicely and looks good?

[phillipj]

Can you post a picture?

[zedex]

The bose speakers are 2 ohm which is why i used an alpine pdx 5 amp. Outputs are 2 ohm. Excellent amp BTW. As for the euromotorspeed harness? No idea. I installed my HU a few years ago so a harness was not available. It was no problem tapping into the factory bose harness. The bezel i bought in the UK. Cant remember the company off hand but can probably dig it up.

I will try and find some pictures.

[zedex]

Here is the amp which resides in the front boot as they call it . The RCAs run through the firwall and behind the battery, there is a rubber plug which can be punctured to run the RCAs to the HU. The speaker wires simply run to the bose amp plug which is lower and to the right near the tool kit.The plastic door closes over the amp so you never see it. The hole cut in the mesh around the amp is for the handle of the plastic door to set in, other wise the door would not close. The mesh BTW is not needed , it just hides wires and an open space.

Edited March 29, 2012 by zedex

[zedex]

Here is the HU.Pardon my fingerprints.

Edited March 29, 2012 by zedex

[zedex]

Here is the amp without the mesh screen. You can see the aluminum bracket which holds the amp in place.

[zedex]

[zedex]

You can see the center speaker and to the left of it is the GPS sensor. The HU is all touch screen btw. On start up i programmed the porsche icon to display for 5 seconds as the HU boots up. I have had the unit for a few years now and am pretty impressed with it. Sat nav is great(garmin) bluetooth is phenomenal for hands free calling.

Edited March 29, 2012 by zedex

[phillipj]

Great job! Looks very nice. :thumbup: And I'm sure sounds WAY better than the crap Bose system. The Bose "premium sound" in my Turbo is a joke.. Really bad...

Thanks for the pictures...

[zedex]

No prob.Bad pictures i know ,my camera skills are as bad as the bose system .

Im sure anyone can do this mod for less than $1000 . The pdx 5 amp is available online for $360 US now. Head unit is up to the individual. Im sure you can find a din style unit with sat/nav etc for under $500. Prices now are cheap compared to 2 years ago. It cost me around 2k i think once all was said and done. And yes. The bose system is quite sad. I found it to be a paradox driving a relatively high end sports car with a less than satisfactory sound system.