What are your opinions on the best replacement for the bose sub? I need more bass! Is there a way to replace it without adding an amp? I really don't feel like running wires to my battery and buying wireing harnesses for my head unit. Is there any good solution that I can just do an easy swap with the speaker, call it a day and still get good bass?

 

No. The stock sub is a shallow mount free air that is attached to a flimsy rear shelf. Finding something that works well isnt worth it. The stock amp is worthless and wouldnt power anything any better. Your best bet is a aftermarket sub and box and amp. I found the stock sub louder when attached to a aftermarket amp but still nothing to write home about. Use the search button for more info and check out the audio section of the forum.

 

^ i agree

the stock amp is only like 100 some watts, its garbage. remove it and get a ported box with aftermarket amp and sub, you wont be sorry.

funny story, i recently got that stock sub/amp to work in my friends car. little pain in the ass to "hack" that bose amp with wiring and such, but i got it to work in another car. holding it in my hand it gets pretty warm, its also very tiny about the size of a deck of cards, no high pass filter either, so adding a larger sub to that amp would only exceed its capacity and create distortion.

you can go to crutchfeild . com and search of amps and subs.

 

just get one 12" in a vented enclosure and you'll be much happier. SonicElectronix is the best best site on the web to get the most for your money. you can go cheap and get decent stuff that will be far superior to the cheesy Blose wimpy sub.

 

Where is the stock amp located?

 

Behind the rear seat on the passenger side. It only powers the sub, and if youare thinking of hooking a different sub to it forget about it.

 

behind one of the rear seats - passenger i think...

 

so since it only powers the sub, I can just take that amp out and replace it with a stronger one and aftermarket sub? hook it up to the same power source and do this all right from my trunk?

 

^ why run more power through wires that are rated for a 100 watt sub/amp. plus you could blow a fuse, not sure what fuse that stock bose amp is on. much better off running a descent gauge wire (8,10) to the trunk which is not hard to do since there is a passage through the fire wall thats about 2 inches above the gas petal. just tap the + off of the battery, then ground the amp back in the trunk. if your going to run more power, you should have the correct gauge wire. also i wouldnt mount a stronger sub up on the rear deck without putting down some major dynomat to keep the rattles down. prefer a ported box. also you could tab the turn on signal from the old bose amp harness to turn on the aftermarket amp, you will need the wiring diagram for that.

 

think the orange wire is the turn on wire signal for the amp, not a 100%

 

NO. Any aftermarket amp you buy will require more than 16g power wire. Nor can the wiring/fuse panel handle it. You will have to run your own dedicated power from the battery and find a new ground.

 

You're asking for trouble to attempt to power a higher output amp from that stock wiring. Run a new, adequately sized wire directly to the battery & fuse it as close to the battery as you can.

 

What exactly do you mean when you say "fuse" it? And okay so I do that for the power wires but for the sound/speaker wires can I just use the ones that were going into the stock sub or do I have to start messing around with other speakers/head unit?

 

Install an inline fuse in the positive lead from the battery, near the battery.

 

Thoughts on running the stock sub in unison with a larger sub?

 

I think that the bass you would get from any aftermarket subwoofer would drown out any benefit of leaving the stock subwoofer connected. You could probably install a sub that small enough to hear both, but for the amount of work needed to do that install I would think you would want a little more kick?