To start, i have done multiple searches in this forum and in the audiworld forum and i cannot seem to find concrete info on installing an aftermarket HU in an a4 with bose. I've gotten things needed for the install but i couldn't find like a DIY or FAQ on installation. One things that has come up alot is a line output converter for the rear amp powered speakers. some posts say the the fronts are powered through the factory HU, some say that they are not. I just want to know how to do it w/ the bose. And will this harness work and eliminate the need for a line output converter. http://www.autotoys.com/x/catalog/AU...SE_p_1470.html . maybe i am typing all the wrong keywords in the search but someone please help. Thanks. [sm=insomnia.gif]

 

Metraworks part number "70-1787" - 91-03 (maybe 04) Bose integration harness.

Adapts any radio with 2 preouts or more into factory wiring via RCA-Preouts. I ordered on at my work for a buddy with a 97 A4 with Bose. Any Circuit City can order it, just gotta ask em to do it and pay up front...goes for $17.99.

 

Thanks, i will stop there today on my way home from work and order one. also just for poops and giggles, i called crutchfield to see if they had any helpful info and the tech told me that have to replace every speaker in my car if i change the radio, is tha true or bs. I have never heard of anything like that, and i have done a bagfull of stereo installs, just none with factory amplified systems.

 

I went to circuit city, they said they couldn't get the harness but i found it online anyway so no biggie, but they were telling me the same story about ripping my factory speakers out cause it won't work. I know theres guys on this board with aftermarket HU's. is that wiring harness all i'll need. I just don't want to screw anything up or have this install turn into a PITA. Any more insight or reassurance. Even a link of where to get more info. and also, do the factory bose speakers have individual amplifiers on them?

 

look at the wiring harness diagram for our cars, look and see if the speakers are drive by the HU, if so, then you probably will, because the speakers are 2 ohms vs what the HU is capable of dealing with 4ohms (yes it fluctuates with the music). That's probably why?

 

If you utilize the right adapter and use the low level pre-outs of an aftermarket head unit, 2 ohm or 4 ohm speakers won't matter; you'll be using the factory Bose amplifier still is why. And the guys at Circuit must've been dumb because I work there and I ordered one for a buddy in Milwaukee the other day.

 

The stereo guy that helped me to day reminded me of andy milanakis. I tried to go to the other stereo stores in the area but no one had it. I found it online and ordered it. Thanks alot initial, i am surprised that harness isn't easier to find info on. Or maybe it is and i'm just a mental.

 

if it makes you feel any better, Metra doesn't show it or list it in any of the books we have at work, I had to call them directly to ask about it and they told me to use that harness; I punched it in the computer and lo and behold, it comes up. So I had to go straight to the manufacturer to find that one out.

 

^^^ Makes sense.. I thought you would want to bypass the blose amp.

 

Well after all of my searching, i ended up finding this post on audiworld: http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2143678.phtml which answered all of my questions after an install. I didn't get my metra harness from autotoys.com but i imagine it is probably the same type of harness. Now i am just eagerly waiting to put my stereo in. the guy in the post even said that the sound quality improved from the stock HU, which i've always felt that when i turned the volume up on the bose radio, sounded like screaming cattle, so even a little improvement will be welcome. In the future if finances (the wife) allow, i will probably upgrade the whole stereo.