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2007 Custom Wiring - Amps - Sub

arizona-dave

SM 2010
Full Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
1,691
Location
Phoenix, AZ
I installed my Custom-Built Subwoofer, Sub Amp, and 4-Channel Amp for Door speaker using ONLY the Factory Low-Level Pre-Bose Amp input.

Here is a link to the original thread I started, but its getting no attention, I think bad description, because I see a LOT of other topics and quesitons concerning wire colors, and "how do I" which ive covered. Hopfully it helps someone else: http://chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/topic,135995.0.html

Below are the install pics. I ran all wiring under the carpet next to the tunnel for the low-level and speaker level to/from the Amps. I will fill in more info on next posts:
 

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Factory Wire Colors Chart: (the Low Level and remote-on colors are completely different than pre-07)

Low Level Pre-Bose Amp (After Rear Entertainment if Equipped - Pass-Side Plug on the Amp, smaller wires 10 wires in plug)

Front Left (+) TAN                 Front Right (+) Lt GRN/Wht Stripe
Front Left (-) Dk GRN             Front Right (-) ORANG/Blk Stripe
     
Rear Left (+) BRN/Wht Strp     Rear Right (+) Dk BLU
Rear Left (-) BRN                   Rear Right (-) TAN

Remote Power-On - WHITE (or just Off-White)
Dont use that wire, causes bad popping when turning on/off engine - instead use: http://chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/topic,136118.msg2054811.html#msg2054811

SUB Speaker-Level Wires (Post Bose Amp - there is no low level pre-bose amp subwoofer signal)

Coil #1 (+) DK BLU/Wht Strp
Coil #1 (-) Lt GRN/Blk Strp

Coil #2 (+) Dk GRN
Coil #2 (-) Lt BLU/Blk Strp

High Level Door Speakers: (Same Colors as pre-07)

Front Left (+) TAN                 Front Right (+) Lt GRN
Front Left (-) GREY               Front Right (-) Dk GRN
     
Rear Left (+) BRN                  Rear Right (+) Dk BLU
Rear Left (-) YEL                   Rear Right (-) Lt BLU

(Hint - Notice the (+) wire color matches the Low Level pre-amp colors, doesnt mean anything, but interesting)

Hint: DO NOT use Press Taps for Low Levels - Solder only, taps come loose.
Hint: There are indeed (2) Tan wires, exact same color, but its on the other side of the plug, the colors are paired (+)&(-) next to each other for each channel into the plug, so you cant get the 2 Tan wires confused.

Hint: Remote-On Wire is in same Plug as Low Level inputs to Bose Amp. Turns on when doors are opened and when ignition on. Turns off 10-15 seconds after radio turns off after Key is removed. Does not Turn off when truck running and radio turned off, because the bose amp remains on so the truck can CHIME at you. Does turn on with no keys in ignition when doors are opened, dont know why, 05 did it too on pink wire. NOTE: 06- was Pink wire, new pink wire does not have +12V anymore, so dont use it cuz there is a pink wire in the big harness.

Hint: Use Side-Taps or quick splice connects and connect to the Harness on the Bose-Amp Side before the plug that goes to the subwoofer.
 
What I did:

I dont like the factory Bose Amp..its dead/flat/boring. I did the same thing on my 05, as Ive now done on my 07, but better.

LOW LEVEL SIGNAL

I tapped into the Low-Level pre-bose outputs from my NAV headunit by soldering RCA jacks onto the ends of the low level wires. This was tedious. You CANNOT use side-taps for the low level wires as they will vibrate loose. I pulled all the pins out of the plug that goes into the bose amp, soldered the RCA wires to the pins, then re-inserted the pins into the plug. This is the most difficult thing. It provides me with FR, FL, RR & RL RCA signals to feed both of my Amps.

SPEAKER LEVEL:
Speaker level I used normal Side-Taps with crimped Male-Female plugs. Worked good on every car Ive owned. Ran the wires (as well as all the RCA's and Amp Remote Power on) under the carpet from the back of the center console, next the the drive shaft tunnel and then under the seat frame. This required complete removal of the seats. Not hard, but heavy. In order to get my Subwoofer in there, it requires seat removal anyway. The Factory Plug for the speaker wires is simply disconnected from the Bose Amp - this is critical!!!

REMOTE ON:
Splice into the White Wire that goes into the Bose Amp on low level plug - I grabbed this at the Huge Main harness. Simple Male/Female crimped plugs. Dont use that wire, causes bad popping when turning on/off engine - instead use: http://chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/topic,136118.msg2054811.html#msg2054811


MAIN POWER:
I ran my 4GA (+) on the passenger side under the kick plates and up thru a small hole I did with a rubber grommet in the firewall passenger side. Needs about 12 feet. Have an 80-Amp fuse next to the battery. Connected directly to terminal bolt on battery.

Ground Wire is ran to a bolt on the rear seat frame, which is directly grounded to the truck's body via the 6 bolts. There are 2 13mm nuts between the big and small rear seats that are perfect for grounding to. My ground cables are about 16" long each!!!

Total Time: You dont want to know. But to do a job right, with nicely organized/unexposed wires with shrink wrap and cut to length etc, its whats required. All speaker and RCA cables were high quality, making them harder to run and to tie off and thread, cheaper wires are definitely easier to run, but sacrificed audio quality.

PS Notes:
0) There are 3 plugs into the Bose Amp (my truck has NAV Unit) - One plus is Power (+) & (-) and SUbwoofer Spkr Out (4 wires). The Middle Plug is 4 Door Speakers out only (8 wires), and the Passenger side plug is Low Level in plus Remote Power on for Sub and an Orange wire which is Data and basically unused?

1) The Low level pre-Bose signals are different than my 05, different colors, and different voltage. My 05 ran both (+) & (-) at +5.5VDC, my 07 with NAV runs at +0.1 to +1.5V AC (a normal low level signal)

2) With the 07 I found Im able to use the Low Level signal from the NAV unit to drive the Sub Amp, this was not so on the 05, as there was just no bass, instead on 05 I tapped into the Speaker Level Subwoofer wires and used a Line to Low level RCA converter. Dont need the converter on my 07!!!  :D Since I already ran the RCA cables for my Sub Amp under the carpet and seats re-installed, Im using RCA Y-Adapters pulling my sub signal from the R & L rear channel. This will Mute my Sub when the RSE is activated, and I can attenuate the Sub Bass by Fading to front if needed.
 

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My next Step is installing my Infinity Kappa 6.52i Speakers into the Doors. Its going to ROCK! Ive already got 10X the bass and far more highs than the factory amp ever had. With the new door speakers its really going to brighten up the sound. If I wanted I could blow these factory speakers apart! HAHA.
 
Still waiting on the speakers!!!  :E: next week! But the overall sound quality is already so far over stock its not even comparable. Far crisper and able to go much higher volume with no distortion.

Ive got a very faint alternator hum being introduced thru my RCA's right now which Im going to get rid of using 2 ground loop isolators at the Amp end. Its only audible when the volume is turned all the way down, and doesnt get louder with volume. I think its because the factory low level on 07+ runs with no carrier voltage, where my 05 ran both (+) & (-) signal per channel at +5.5 volts...running the longer distance even on RCA with no carrier voltage allows the RCA to just barely pick up some interference noise...I doubt most people could even hear it.

I was able to do some things to isolate the source of the sound, its pretty easy to do:

1) Unplug the RCA from the Amp and see if the Sound is still there - NO (If yes, then sound is being generated in Amp or in Power Source/Remote on to Amp)

2) Replug RCA back to AMP side, and Unplug the other end of the RCA cable from the Low Level Source - YES Sound Still There  (If hum/sound goes away now then sound is not being picked up by RCA, but being generated from the Low Level Source/Headunit)

Thats it. The reason the RCAs are picking up some sound is that the (-) signal on GM is not a ground, its an active (-) signal, it shields the (+) signal wire, but since its not a ground per se it can pick up interference.

Not a big deal, and for $10 per filter one for front and one rear $20, its an easy solution without reducing my sound quality.

Im also going to play with a Choke filter at each end of the remote power on cable because it may be possible that it is the source of the interfering signal being picked up by the RCA's, in which case I wont need the RCA Line Filters.

Once I get it worked out I will post. Either way, this sound ROCKS over stock! Bose just doesnt cut it for output sound Hi-Fidelity.
 
Have you considered a line driver?
I have used these in the past with great results. (you would need to find room in the center console but they are generally quite small.)
I have linked a couple options below but there are many to choose from.
I really like the cache cloc d, as it boasts many useful features that you have addressed in other ways (high level to rca / remote turn on for amps, etc.)

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_33576_Cache-CLOC-D.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_38568_P.I.E.-LD-1.html

 
Really nice job. Sounds like a good day/weekends worth of work to get it just right. I have a '07 with the same options so I might just tackle some or all of this some day.

Thanks!
 
Good question - And I have an equally good answer :)

My understanding is that Line drivers still like to take the signal from the high level speaker out, and convert to a low-level signal (in the ones u sent with a carrier voltage)...now this would be fine, except for a few reasons for my purposes:

1) we are dealing with a Bose Factory OEM amplifier here. The Bose amplifier doesnt just amplify the signal from the headunit/NAV, it processes it and EQ's it to what the thinking heads at bose determine to sound good, or flat, or whatever...Very few people Ive ever talked to tap into the low level lines of any factory vehicle - this adds to my "customization" (  >:D as well as bragging rights hehe  >:D )

2) I want as clean, unprocessed signal as possible. Using a line driver to pull an amplified signal, down to low level and re-amplifying will introduce some additional distortion. Its probably minor I admit, but why introduce ANY new distortion if I can grab an existing un-molested low-level signal with some soldering - And besides just in order to get the signal to the Line Driver I have to tap or solder anyways (unless you want to cut factory wires, which I personally protest)

Other than that, a Line driver is an option, but in my case it would not do anything for the low level pre-bose-amp signal I grabbed my signal from (since there is no voltage to help the line driver with any power to generate a 10-volt output signal)


DouglasOak said:
Have you considered a line driver?
I have used these in the past with great results. (you would need to find room in the center console but they are generally quite small.)
I have linked a couple options below but there are many to choose from.
I really like the cache cloc d, as it boasts many useful features that you have addressed in other ways (high level to rca / remote turn on for amps, etc.)

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_33576_Cache-CLOC-D.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_38568_P.I.E.-LD-1.html
 
Now that I know how to take out the console etc, its probably still a good 2 full days, not including Subwoofer build (I have a whole thread on that one). It requires the rear seats to be taken completely out. So that alone adds time, they are odd, bulk and heavy.

Maybe I could do this again in 1 full uninterrupted day, but I would not be a happy camper at the end of that day haha

Its more work doing the tedious things like measuring, labeling and running the wires, connecting them, running power, seats, console removal, etc, than it is to tap into the existing factory wires - thats simple.

I Got my 4 Infinity Kappas Today!!!!!!!!!!! I might have time to do the fronts this weekend...I cant wait!


blu_fuz said:
Really nice job. Sounds like a good day/weekends worth of work to get it just right. I have a '07 with the same options so I might just tackle some or all of this some day.

Thanks!
 
arizona-dave said:
Other than that, a Line driver is an option, but in my case it would not do anything for the low level pre-bose-amp signal I grabbed my signal from (since thee is no voltage to help the line driver with any power to generate a 10-volt output signal)

Actually both the Line Drivers I linked to use RCA inputs (the Cache does have optional speaker level)
I knew you were using low level (RCA) to the amps... just thought if you boosted the voltage going to the back you could turn down the gain on the amps and reduce any noise induction.
Either way Ground Loop Isolator or Line Driver, I'm sure the system is leaps and bounds better than what you started with and you get to keep all the functionality and low key looks of the factory deck.

Awesome threads!! I have been pinned to them since you started
, and am considering cleaning my closet out. I have a "boatload" of gear, "old school" PPI Art Series amps (2100 rms - 1200.2 / 600.2 / 300.2) 1/3 octave EQ, Kicker Resolution Drivers, etc. I would have to leave all my 12's and 10's boxed up and find a suitable set of shallow mounts for an underseat box, but you've got me seriously thinking about it!
 
Ok, so when I was looking at those I though the 4 RCA jacks were all outputs for 4 channels - your saying 2 of them are In and 2 are Out?

Where does it grab power to run line voltage to the RCA cables?

Thanks for the Comps - I did it on my 05, and sounded great for 3 years til I sold, it took me 3 complete disassembles on it to figure out its impossible to use Taps on the low levels on GM because of the wire type/gauge...this time I soldered first time! :)

There is plenty of room for the Line Driver under there but not sure i need one now with my line filters going in at the Amp side, never know, maybe I will give one a try.

DouglasOak said:
Actually both the Line Drivers I linked to use RCA inputs (the Cache does have optional speaker level)
I knew you were using low level (RCA) to the amps... just thought if you boosted the voltage going to the back you could turn down the gain on the amps and reduce any noise induction.
Either way Ground Loop Isolator or Line Driver, I'm sure the system is leaps and bounds better than what you started with and you get to keep all the functionality and low key looks of the factory deck.

Awesome threads!! I have been pinned to them since you started
, and am considering cleaning my closet out. I have a "boatload" of gear, "old school" PPI Art Series amps (2100 rms - 1200.2 / 600.2 / 300.2) 1/3 octave EQ, Kicker Resolution Drivers, etc. I would have to leave all my 12's and 10's boxed up and find a suitable set of shallow mounts for an underseat box, but you've got me seriously thinking about it!
 
arizona-dave said:
Ok, so when I was looking at those I though the 4 RCA jacks were all outputs for 4 channels - your saying 2 of them are In and 2 are Out?

Where does it grab power to run line voltage to the RCA cables?
It's a pretty sweet piece, it also has a built in relay for "remote out" and you can either run a remote line in or have it sense the audio signal and turn on the amps!

clocd.jpg
 
Not bad- if the line filters negatively impact my sound quality or dont help, Im going to do this thing! Never seen one before, thanks for the input.

DouglasOak said:
It's a pretty sweet piece, it also has a built in relay for "remote out" and you can either run a remote line in or have it sense the audio signal and turn on the amps!
 
Hey there, so Ive got one nagging issue I have never had on other setups Ive done - Popping sound both when turning on ignition and when the stereo powers off about 30 seconds after truck is turned off.

I wonder if this line driver would help address that issue.

I think the popping is coming because of the low levels having no carrier voltage, but Im not quite that knowledgable about it...maybe you know?


DouglasOak said:
Actually both the Line Drivers I linked to use RCA inputs (the Cache does have optional speaker level)
I knew you were using low level (RCA) to the amps... just thought if you boosted the voltage going to the back you could turn down the gain on the amps and reduce any noise induction.
Either way Ground Loop Isolator or Line Driver, I'm sure the system is leaps and bounds better than what you started with and you get to keep all the functionality and low key looks of the factory deck.

Awesome threads!! I have been pinned to them since you started
, and am considering cleaning my closet out. I have a "boatload" of gear, "old school" PPI Art Series amps (2100 rms - 1200.2 / 600.2 / 300.2) 1/3 octave EQ, Kicker Resolution Drivers, etc. I would have to leave all my 12's and 10's boxed up and find a suitable set of shallow mounts for an underseat box, but you've got me seriously thinking about it!
 
I think it may but not absolutely sure, check the remote turn on lead to see if it still has power when you hear this popping sound. I am thinking that the remote line is triggered to provide door chime warning etc, even when the radio is off. If so the "audio signal sense" on the Cache would be great to turn the amps on/off.
 
The Pop is happening when the remote power on turns off, and sometimes when I start the ignition, which is when the remote power is cut for a fraction of a second while turning the engine over.

Im going to try a capacitor on the remote on/off and see if that helps, if not, then Im going to try the line driver. I Used a 650ohm resistor between the remote on power wire and the ground - eliminates the pop when system turns off by draining the 12V between the remote on and ground before the pop signal gets to the amp when the headunit powers off. Still getting a pop once in a while when turning over engine - I am going to use a delay circuit on the remote power on wire (basically a cap/resistor) which will kill power on the remote on line for a fraction of a second which will kill the popping sound while turning over engine.

I know basically whats happening is the RCA's are getting a surge of interference, which could be remote wire, or the actual main power creating an EMF signal that the RCAs are picking up on.After several tests the pops are actually coming from the low level head unit, how the Bose Amp manages to quell the pop is unknown, probably internal sound suppression built into Bose Amp

The poping sound is louder when the volume is kept up loud when ignition is turned on/off, and quiet visa versa.(Now this explains source of sound coming from head unit)

The other source could be the low level signal from the headunit, but I tend to think not because then it would have done it with the Bose amp. Its from the Factory NAV Head Unit


Im going to have to trouble shoot by disconnecting the RCAs at both the low level source and the Amp to see if the popping is indeed coming thru the RCA's or at the Amp. Its easy, just time consuming...I have to wait each time until the remote powers off the Amp, cuz thats when its happening mostly. Only at ignition sometimes. See above

I will get this worked out and keep posted whats going on. Overall, except the popping and extremely faint whining when the volume is all the way low, the system sounds many levels better than stock...and I dont even have the Infinity Kappas installed yet - Thats next weekend.

Thanks for the input.

DouglasOak said:
I think it may but not absolutely sure, check the remote turn on lead to see if it still has power when you hear this popping sound. I am thinking that the remote line is triggered to provide door chime warning etc, even when the radio is off. If so the "audio signal sense" on the Cache would be great to turn the amps on/off.
 
Got the Infinity Kappas 62.9i 2-way full-range with active crossovers in all 4 doors!!! AWESOME Clarity - not any louder but way more clear and crisp.

FYI DIYers:

Factory Fronts are 6-1/2" Mid-Range-only no-integrated tweeter over the voice coil (one-way) paper cone/fabric rings with VERY small magnets

Factory Rears are 5" Full-Range with integrated plastic tweeter on the voice coil and thicker foam outer ring.

Both F & R are integrated speakers into plastic housings, so the opening left after removing the factory speakers is not round. However F & Rear both have the same opening shape/size even though the rear speaker itself is smaller than the fronts.


The front factory speakers are the exact same size as infinity Kappas, and you can either cut the woofers and magnet out of the plastic factory housing and glue in a the new 6-1/2" A/M speakers, or make a small baffle that the A/M speakers sit on - which is what I did because I wanted to keep the factory speakers for some unknown reason.

Removing the door panels isnt that difficult, but its time consuming and some of the plastic clips tend to break, so be prepared to have patience even if your being careful. The Rear panels are on much tighter than the fronts.

Project done.
 
On the popping sound, the other thing Im going to try is pulling a remote on signal from a different wire, the wire I pulled from (off-white) which is the same wire that goes to the factory Amp seems to keep power while the engine turns over, rather than powering off like many other electrical systems do.

It also turns on anytime the truck is locked, unlocks, or any door opened or closed, for 1 minute.

This is allowing any pop/voltage spikes across the low level signals to be amplified even though the ignition isnt on etc...now of course GM did this so the Chime is sounded when lights are On but keys are removed etc, but its unnecessary IMO.

If I find another ignition on/off +12V wire in the main stereo harness under the center console drink holder I will post and let everyone know how its going. For now the popping is much better and not much of a problem.
 
I re-eq'd and adjusted the Alpine Amp for the Infinity Kappas, holy crap Ive got major crisp non-distorted sound at full volume..as in all the way.

Awesome!!!

Note: The factory Bose speakers are only 1.5 ohms, not 2, and thus are a tad "louder" at the same Gain setting, when I installed the Kappas I left it alone, and have noticed my Sub was a little overpowering at low-mid volumes. Thats when I re-adjusted the Amp for the 4 door speakers today, left the rear at Nominal, and put the fronts at +.025 (almost nothing, its only about 10%) - But brightened up the Fronts incredibly.

Not sure what the reason, but the NAV unit on this truck puts out a far cleaner music signal than my 05, All my settings are almost identical to the 05 and its the exact same Amps and Sub cuz I removed them from my 05 before selling.

Cool thing with my sub where it is, is Im not thumping neighbors too much, my bass is pretty contained in the truck, but its thumping! And its a single 10" Shallow Mount Kicker. I get really deep lows, and cut off the sub at 75hz. It blurs my vision at high vol! HAHA
 
Glad helping some people out. Its really not super difficult per se, but its time consuming to do correct. I dont have time to do a slam quick job only to have connections get loose later on. And if your not doing a custom sub, then yo can shave about 30% of the time off install right there.

papacueball said:
Thanks for documenting all of this! We just picked up a 2009 LT, and I plan on tackling this soon.
 
Yeah, this type of thing can be tedious. I added some molex connectors in the harness in my car, so I could grab signal coming out of the factory amp to route to a processor, then return signal back to the factory speaker wires from aftermarket amps. I had to leave the factory amp in the signal chain, since it controls the volume. A week or two after I finished that, PAC came out with a freakin amp bypass/canbus adapter for the car!  :E:
 
What's the best Line Output convertor for the price? I bought a Scosche LOC-80 that I used on my 06 EXT but let it go with the truck. I worked fine but felt cheaply made imo.

Also as far as the "popping" sound is concerned, you may need to buy a ground loop isolator. They are very cheap. I had to use one in my '12 Camaro and although it doesn't completely get rid of the pop (or THUMP from subs), it makes it barely noticeable. Here's a link for one if you can't find one at a local store: http://subthump.com/Car-Audio-Products/Installation-Accessories/Vehicle-Integration-Adapters/Audiopipe-Ground-Loop-Isolator.html

Hope that helps.
 
I put in GLI's in December - got rid of most the popping. :)

Someone posted some links to Line converters up a few pages, they looked good, but expensive. Im not using any line converters anymore, straight low level direct to my A/M Amp. Honestly Ive never used a line converter for door speakers, only for subs, so I dont know how different ones fair as far as sound quality.

As for my system right now, all I can say is its Night & Day compared to the factory Bose system.

I put in Infiniti Kappa 62.5i speakers in all 4 doors, and running a 4-channel Alpine Amp to them, and a seperate Alpine Subwoofer Amp to my 10" Kicker.

It goes loud and clean enough for everyone except a 16-yr old teen boy who wishes to go deaf!! :) LOL
 
Dave,

Since you seem to be pretty knowledgeable with wiring schematics, I want to see if you can help me with something. I'm about to start my install of my system this weekend. It's basically the same exact setup I had in my 06 Escalade EXT. In the EXT I wired my remote turn on for my amp to a switch that I mounted on the dash, for times when I didn't feel like all the bass. I would like to do the same for my 08 AV now. Now, instead of mounting a new switch, I would like to just use the heated washer fluid switch since it is already disconnected due to the recall. Can you help me find some diagrams or just tell me what I need to do to get this switch to work as my on/off switch for my amp. I haven't even looked behind the dash, but I can tell you the LED on the switch doesn't even come on anymore.

By the way, my setup is for 2 12" Pioneer Premier TS-W12PRS subs mounted in a box that replaces the midgate. They are powered by a 1000w class D Memphis amp. I will tap into the bose sub wires using a LOC-80 to grab my signal for the amp. Thanks in advance for the help!
 
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