OK, I have a slight issue. My radio volume is extremely low. Even maxed out, I can still talk over it and be clearly heard. I'm not leaving it maxed out because 1, I don't want to blow my speakers, and 2, the sound quality is terrible. Now for a little history on my radio. Started life as a single disc base radio.

When I bought the car the radio worked for the most part. Would cut off sometimes, but I believe it was the connections from the faceplate to the radio the were not very tight. I would push in the center plate, it would come back on.

Then I bought a new faceplate. Lit up blue, 6 disc face. Put the new plate on, radio worked BUT the faceplate and info display did not. I put the old faceplate back on, no help. All controls had to be done thru the steering wheel.

I took it apart another day to reinspect all the connections. I found one plug not plugged in. It was the one that looks like a head phone plug. Plugged it in, put it together, NOTHING! Absolutely nothing. No radio, no info display, no A/C!

Took apart the A/C controls, everything was super glued together. I bought a new radio, with faceplate, and a/c controls. Its a 6 disc unit. I installed and everything worked great! A/C works, info display works, radio works, but its very quite.

Is this because I'm using a 6 disc unit in a standard equipped stereo system? Is this just how the radio unit is? I'll be installing a sub and amp soon. With this make a difference in sound volume?

 

Sounds like you're using a Bose radio in a non-Bose car.

 

Is there a 6 disc non BOSE? Would there be any BOSE markings on the faceplate?

 

Yep. AFAIK, every model headunit then comes in two flavors, Bose and Baseline. Unfortunately no. Probably have to go by part numbers.

 

And an aftermarket sub n amp wouldn't help?

 

haha Why would adding a subwoofer and sub amp help the rest of your speakers?

EDIT: If you can't return the Bose headunit, sell it on here or on eBay and buy the correct one.

 

Perhaps because the BOSE unit was originally set up to be used with an amp? I don't know. Thats why I'm asking. I didn't buy the sub n amp hoping to solve my problem. I already had it, then had these problems. Never installed them. From what I'm getting from this, I need a different radio.

Just saw your edit. Looks like theres gonna be 6 disc up for sale!

 

I understand. Pardon my joke.

The Bose system has a small amp that powers the cabin speakers. If you were to add a subwoofer and amp, you'd have more bass, sure. But the cabin speakers are still getting the same signal from the headunit. Would it be possible to buy a 4-channel amp for the cabin speakers? Yes, but it's a complete waste of time and money. That's like putting $1000 drag slicks on a Prius. Factory audio output, amplified, and sent to factory quality speakers.

Your best solution is to not band-aid anything up. Just do a little digging to find out the part numbers of the two headunits. Make sure you have the incorrect one. Sell it. Purchase the correct one. And then install your subs as normal.

 

Thanks for your help! I tried searching, but didn't know exactly what to search for...

 

BTW, this would be the perfect time to just upgrade to aftermarket. $150 for the kit + $150 for would put you miles ahead of anything factory. Or, of course, if you've got the money, for ~$575 get a double-din touchscreen DVD navigation headunit.

Makes installing your sub amp all that much easier too.

 

I know, I really wish I had the money. But my wife is a teacher and come summer time, we're strapped for cash! I probably will a few months though.

 

Understood. You could probably sell the factory Bose headunit for $100-$150 (?) to re-coop part of the cost. So $150-$200 would be out of pocket. Trust me. It's WELL worth it. MUCH better sound quality versus the stock radio and I now can't imagine not having direct iPod control and bluetooth in my cars. SO nice.

You'll need to keep the HVAC controls and the hazard flasher button when swapping to the Metra kit. Also having an aftermarket headunit with real RCA outputs would negate the need for a line output converter to install your subs. There's another $25 saved.

 

Hmmm...maybe I'll just suffer through the bad sound quality for a little while...

 

*EDIT* Found my answer

 

Too late. I already saw it. lol

Yes. I had one in my 8.

 

Lol thanks for the answer anyways.