# BOSE removal



## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

So as I'm gearing up for a TT, very very soon hopefully, I see that most all of them come with the BOSE, read crap, sound system. I have never been a fan of BOSE and like to do my own speaker installs. Now I know this isn't the classic "amp at every speaker" BOSE design. The TTs have that weird two speakers are only woofers, the other two are mid range and then two tweeters plus the mid speaker in the dash. If I want to rid myself of this system, do I need to rewire? By just getting rid of the stock BOSE amp in the car will it work fine with front/rear left/right?
I'd rather not have to rewire, but if I have to, I have to and I am more than capable of doing some nice wire tucking.


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

*Re: BOSE removal (PDubbs20AE)*

if your gonna ditch the bose, rewire. 
im sure you could reuse the wire by figuring out which is which and using the wire thats in the amps location...but where are you gonna put the amp? in the same spot?? you may as well rewire.


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## cdougyfresh (Sep 16, 2004)

*Re: BOSE removal (speed51133!)*

The bose system aint bad with a head unit upgrade. I have the OEM bose system with an aftermarket 10" sub & amp setup, sounds as good as my jetta did with a fully amp'd MB quart speaker / sub setup. 
I looked at replacing all the speakers & amp but the cost / hassle isnt worth the benefit IMO


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

*Re: BOSE removal (cdougyfresh)*

where is the normal place to put an amp in a tt?


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## cdougyfresh (Sep 16, 2004)

*Re: BOSE removal (speed51133!)*

I removed the rear seats & built sub box to fill the space, amp is also there


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## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: BOSE removal (cdougyfresh)*

Hassle isn't an issue. I'm a bored EE and running wire always excites me, lol.








Anywho, I guess I could just get the wiring diagrams from the stock BOSE amp and once I put a new headunit in, just bypass the stock amp by hardwiring speaker to speaker. Anywhere I could get a wiring diagram of the amp?


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## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: BOSE removal (PDubbs20AE)*

Looks like its going to be a cable run! Not really a big deal at all, as I have done this before, actually on a VW! My buddies Fox wagon we just ran entirely new cable all over that sucker. I'll just follow all the stock wiring through the doors etc. Making it look clean is the only time consuming part. I guess it's time to grab a Bentley so I can get the pin out for the stock HU wiring. I assume that I can find a stock radio connector so I can repin it to my new wire right? Anyone know where I can find one?


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

*Re: BOSE removal (PDubbs20AE)*

The whole system is equally weak IMO, but for a stock audio system it's not all that bad. I do agree that Bose makes garbage, however, if you're going to replace it do it all. Adding a headunit to the stock setup is a good quick way out, but if you want to try and reuse the Bose headunit & amp you're not making a good move.
Why would you ever do speakers hooked up to a stock headunit? Most stock headunits have EQ compensation set into their sound to make the speakers sound adequate at various volumes. Also if you were going to install new speakers why not run new quality wires? Reusing stock wiring doesn't seem smart at all when you're already spending hundreds maybe thousands on a quality set of speakers.
Personally I did a Blaupunkt headunit, JL amp, Hertz speakers up front & 8" sub in the area where the former back seat was. There is no need to replace the rear "woofers" I would just pull them out and save some money. You want the sound stage coming from the front of the car, not the back!


_Modified by DougLoBue at 9:45 AM 3-11-2010_


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## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: BOSE removal (DougLoBue)*


_Quote, originally posted by *DougLoBue* »_The whole system is equally weak IMO, but for a stock audio system it's not all that bad. I do agree that Bose makes garbage, however, if you're going to replace it do it all. Adding a headunit to the stock setup is a good quick way out, but if you want to try and reuse the Bose headunit & amp you're not making a good move.
Why would you ever do speakers hooked up to a stock headunit? Most stock headunits have EQ compensation set into their sound to make the speakers sound adequate at various volumes. Also if you were going to install new speakers why not run new quality wires? Reusing stock wiring doesn't seem smart at all when you're already spending hundreds maybe thousands on a quality set of speakers.
Personally I did a Blaupunkt headunit, JL amp, Hertz speakers up front & 8" sub in the area where the former back seat was. There is no need to replace the rear "woofers" I would just pull them out and save some money. You want the sound stage coming from the front of the car, not the back!

_Modified by DougLoBue at 9:45 AM 3-11-2010_

Yea, I wouldn't even joke around with using the stock Headunit. I was going to run an Alpine unit. I never heard of Hertz so I looked them up. What amazing speakers! I'm not entirely sure if I want to rid myself of rear speakers though. I understand the soundstage concept, but there is something in me that just wants to have rear speakers.








Anywho, I think I'll grab some cable, pins, and hopefully another stock harness connector and just go crazy!


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## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: BOSE removal (PDubbs20AE)*

After some more time spent cruising the net for wiring diagrams I think I hit jackpot. The fronts for the BOSE system connect directly to the Concert II I believe so they end up being full range speakers. This means that I will not have to repin them with a new connector or anything, just simply track the wire down from the BOSE amp if it even goes to it at all, I expect it to knowing BOSE. The rears are wired to the Concert as subwoofers. Instead of running the harness, I can either cut the stock wiring from the BOSE connection on the stock loom and repin it to the stock rear locations on the standard connector and bypass the amp again.
I'm not 100% on anything so there is the chance that I may have to just run all new wire and pin a new harness. Has anyone traced the wires from the headunit to the amp? Or maybe just an amp pinout?


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## TSTARKZ123 (Oct 1, 2004)

*FV-QR*

I would so love to cut out my bose amp. It is restricting my 85x4 headunit so much its not even funny. I have to put the volume near max to enjoy it. I hate that.


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

*Re: FV-QR (TSTARKZ123)*

What headunit are you using Tony? 
If you have the headunit plugged into the Bose harness correctly (the RCA adapter piece) then you shouldn't be experiencing this. Also sometime the preamp outputs are adjustable through the menu system.
Bose in a TT only works off a stereo set of RCA preamp outputs so your headunits internal amp won't be utilized at all.


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## TSTARKZ123 (Oct 1, 2004)

*FV-QR*

It's a fairly cheap headunit. BOSS 745BA. In my brother's Nissan its WAY louder.


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## TSTARKZ123 (Oct 1, 2004)

*FV-QR*

I'm using the standard radio harness for the TT, I'm not exactly sure if there is a way to wire it differently so I can just use my radio's internal amp.


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## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: FV-QR (TSTARKZ123)*


_Quote, originally posted by *TSTARKZ123* »_I'm using the standard radio harness for the TT, I'm not exactly sure if there is a way to wire it differently so I can just use my radio's internal amp.

I've been talking to Doug via IM as well as on this thread so through his mentoring and some of my own crazy ideas I think a plan of attack for both myself and you can be designed. 
First of all if you are uncomfortable with wiring this may not be the job for you. It isn't exactly a hard job but it is time consuming and you have to take off interior panels. I've been doing this since before I could even drive, so I have about 7~8 years experience and a friend who happens to have access to interior panel tools that way we don't break any clips!
Without the clip tool you could be fine, you might not so I plan to run the safe route. Anyway here is the plan.
1. Take off all necessary body panels in order to get to the speakers AND all of the speakers wiring. This also means taking out the glovebox in order to get behind the stereo.
** If you intend to leave the stock wiring in place in the event that you want to replace the stock BOSE units, just tuck everything up nicely that you are not using, and make sure no power runs through the wires when the new headunit is in place.**
2. If you aren't keeping stock wiring, simply remove the wires from the front speakers and trace them back to the headunit. They should go from speaker to amp back to the headunit but since you are taking them all out this should be pretty easy. Either remove the wire completely from the stock headunit harness or cut the wire leaving three to five inches left on the harness and cap all the wires off. The cut method means that you can still replace the stock wiring, it just requires to replace the wire you took out. Do this for the front speakers, tweeters, and center speaker.
3. The rears are pretty easy and require little actual effort as the rear speakers are connected to the stock headunits loudspeaker outputs, so the middle connector on the concert radio. Simply remove that connector and trace it's wires to the amp and remove it! Very simple.
4. Remove the wires going from the amp to the rear speakers. Now you can remove the amp and any other wiring to it such as it's power and remote wires. Trace them to the headunit harness and either remove totally or cut and cap the wires.
** If you keep the stock speakers then all you have to do is skip the next step and go straight to wiring the speakers. If you actually want better speakers, which I recommend, continue as normal in the guide.**
5. Remove stock BOSE speakers and replace them with new ones. Also if you want to keep the whole soundstage effect then just replace your rear speakers with a sub.
6. Install the new headunit harness in the dash, don't put the whole headunit in there yet because you need room to work.
7. Run wire from each new speaker to the headunit and simply connect (via your favorite method i.e. Solder, butt connectors, etc.) the wires to the corresponding speaker output from the headunit. If you keep the soundstage idea then you will only be required to do front left and front right. If you want to run normal rear speakers then continue with the same method as above if not move on to the next step.
8. If you keep the soundstage mentality, your rear speakers should be a sub(s). Connect RCA wiring off of the loudspeaker outputs on the new headunit to the inputs on an amp and then run wiring to your new sub or subs. Tuck all your wiring away, make sure you put an inline fuse on the power to the amp and your done.
9. Take the stock harness and get a normal Adapter harness for a TT with BOSE. You don't need the METRA harness anymore thanks to getting rid of the BOSE amp. Connect any other wires coming off of the new headunit up to their counterparts on the adapter harness and the wiring is done. Obviously don't connect any speakers up to the adapter harness.
10. Put the new headunit in the DIN slot and put all the interior pieces back together. Now you should have de-BOSIFIED, very made up word, your Audi TT.

I'll post pics when I do mine but on my car there has been an aftermarket system installed, with a Concert II. I'm going to be doing it all over with quality components so I'll be having some fun with it.


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

*Re: FV-QR (PDubbs20AE)*

idk man, i think it sounds great with the bose setup and my pioneer premier headunit.


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## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: FV-QR (speed51133!)*


_Quote, originally posted by *speed51133!* »_idk man, i think it sounds great with the bose setup and my pioneer premier headunit.

I don't intend that everyone should do this. I explained it to one of my friends that BOSE just takes normal speakers and just takes the time to eq them so it sounds good. If you really take the time to eq a good set of speakers and a good headunit you end up with a much better system. 60% of TT owners won't change the headunit because it sounds fine for them. 30% will change the headunit to get more options i.e. easy ipod interface, satellite radio etc. That last 10% is who I am talking about. The guys that are let down by the quality of the BOSE and want to do it themselves. This isn't going to be some stupid system install to see who can go loudest, I just want cleaner music while I drive around considering that I spend lots of time in my car. I am by no means an audiophile, but being so interested in music for so long, I really can tell the difference between most components and the BOSE just didn't do it for me.


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

*Re: FV-QR (PDubbs20AE)*

You missed a few things about the bose setup. The Concert headunit has two options - bose & non-bose. I'm pretty sure all TT's came with bose.
You forgot about ohm raitings. All the bose speakers are rated at 2ohms IIRC and also the use the stock EXTERNAL bose amp as a crossover for all three speakers. The way the system is setup is to use the concert headunit for preamp outputs (not using the built in headunit amp), running those preamp outputs to the bose amp in the backseat area and then the amp splits it up to all the speakers. Most aftermarket headunits cannot power less than a 4ohm load on each of their built in channels and if you had an amp that could power 2ohm per channel you would need a pretty adjustable crossover built into that headunit to get the tweeters to not play bass notes & ect.
With the bose speakers & bose external amplifier installed you cannot use a headunit's built in poweramp. Also no matter what your headunit advertises there is no way it puts out more than 25watts per channel. Tony in your situation it sounds like the preamp outputs aren't matched well to the stock bose amp- they must be too weak.
The reason the bose headunit has a built in amplifier is because non-bose was an option in cars like the A4 & A6 I believe. These cars didn't have an external amp and had different speakers that were powered directly from the headunit. 
The easiest thing to do is to just install a headunit with at least 4v preamp outputs and you should be pretty happy.
In my mind pretty much the only other way is to buy a set of speakers, amp & headunit. Anything else would end up being substandard to the bose setup.


_Modified by DougLoBue at 9:10 AM 3-16-2010_


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

*Re: FV-QR (DougLoBue)*

how about buying a new headunit and running its rca outputs to the stock bose amp? why is that so sub par.....is sounds great.


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## Mattionals (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: FV-QR (speed51133!)*

Thanks Doug for clearing everything up! I should have mentioned that. I guess my mind keeps going with all new headunit, speakers, tweeters, amp and subs so I'm gutting EVERYTHING.

_Quote, originally posted by *speed51133!* »_how about buying a new headunit and running its rca outputs to the stock bose amp? why is that so sub par.....is sounds great.

It's not sub par, it will probably sound great, but personally I want more definition and more hit, so I want to do everything new.


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## TSTARKZ123 (Oct 1, 2004)

*FV-QR*


_Quote, originally posted by *DougLoBue* »_You missed a few things about the bose setup. The Concert headunit has two options - bose & non-bose. I'm pretty sure all TT's came with bose.
You forgot about ohm raitings. All the bose speakers are rated at 2ohms IIRC and also the use the stock EXTERNAL bose amp as a crossover for all three speakers. The way the system is setup is to use the concert headunit for preamp outputs (not using the built in headunit amp), running those preamp outputs to the bose amp in the backseat area and then the amp splits it up to all the speakers. Most aftermarket headunits cannot power less than a 4ohm load on each of their built in channels and if you had an amp that could power 2ohm per channel you would need a pretty adjustable crossover built into that headunit to get the tweeters to not play bass notes & ect.
With the bose speakers & bose external amplifier installed you cannot use a headunit's built in poweramp. Also no matter what your headunit advertises there is no way it puts out more than 25watts per channel. Tony in your situation it sounds like the preamp outputs aren't matched well to the stock bose amp- they must be too weak.
The reason the bose headunit has a built in amplifier is because non-bose was an option in cars like the A4 & A6 I believe. These cars didn't have an external amp and had different speakers that were powered directly from the headunit. 
The easiest thing to do is to just install a headunit with at least 4v preamp outputs and you should be pretty happy.
In my mind pretty much the only other way is to buy a set of speakers, amp & headunit. Anything else would end up being substandard to the bose setup.



I'm not sure what it is really. The RCAs have a 5v output. Might just be my 3.5" exhaust drowning everything out LOL. Man I need to quiet this thing down.


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

*Re: FV-QR (TSTARKZ123)*

3.5" DAMN! Last time I saw you had what looked like a 3" welded up at Ed's shop and I didn't even get to hear it... Any chance you still have that setup laying around?


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## TSTARKZ123 (Oct 1, 2004)

*FV-QR*


_Quote, originally posted by *DougLoBue* »_3.5" DAMN! Last time I saw you had what looked like a 3" welded up at Ed's shop and I didn't even get to hear it... Any chance you still have that setup laying around?



If you want the old 3", look around behind Ed's dumpster LOL


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## TSTARKZ123 (Oct 1, 2004)

*FV-QR*

The current setup is still 3" but it flares out to 3.5" magnaflow race muffler. I mis-typed LOL


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## Murderface (Nov 13, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (TSTARKZ123)*

I thought my TT sounded better with JBL speakers in it.








Then again maybe it sounded the same








I never understood all the hate on the Bose system. Yeah it doesn't have hella bass, but that's to be expected when it doesn't have a sub. The highs aren't very sharp but that could have to do with the tweeters being pointed at your knees rather than your ears. Yeah it doesn't go ear splittingly loud but I like my hearing anyway. I always thought it was nice for being factory and I'm a ****ing audio nerd. Maybe some of you just haven't heard a godawful factory system in a while


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

*Re: FV-QR (Murderface)*

I like your setup!
I am going to dive behind his dumpster!
I was fine with the bose for the first four years - yep it's a great and respectable stock system, but I finally got to the point where I could afford the equipment I wanted so I just went for it.
Also you want your tweeters as close to the mids as possible for a wide and forward sounding front stage. The tweeters I have now can be rather ear splitting in the stock location before they broke in. Now they mellowed out very nicely after I plugged my laptop in and had it cycle through tones for a weekend...


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