I am installing an aftermarket stereo head unit (Alpine CDA-9886) to replace the stock Bose. I bought the 1 DIN mold with wire harness adapter. I want to keep the stock speakers and amp if possible (4 speakers in door and 1 8" sub in back). I currently have the Bose pulled out with the console still disassembled and the Alpine temporarily in place with all the wires connected to the new wire harness. So far so good, all the door speakers work fine as long as I have the Alpine's internal amp (four channels) on to power them. My plan is to let the Alpine power the door speakers but the sub... this is where I'm confused. Obviously, my sub does not work right now. Does the stock amp only drive the sub and where is it located? I found these wiring diagrams from another post:

http://www.nealgravatt.com/acura/img/wiringdiagram.jpg
http://www.nealgravatt.com/acura/img/wiringdiagram2.jpg
http://www.nealgravatt.com/acura/img/wiringdiagram3.jpg

The wiringdiagram.jpg shows the smaller connector that comes out of the Bose going to an equalizer unit? Is there an equalizer and an amp?

My thoughts at this point are, I will probably have to bypass the stock amp and buy a mono amp to run the sub. Any input I can get on this is much appreciated.

 

There is a EQ (which gets bypassed by removing the HU) and a Sub amp. The speaker amp is built into the HU. You have to wire up the sub amp to turn on and give it a line signal (splice RCA's) to get the sub to work.

There is a DIY on how to wire it up but its not in the DIY page. Ill try to locate it later

 

Good info.

I look forward to trying this out if you can find it.

 

I found it. Garrote's posts were especially useful for me. Start on page 2. He tells you how to bypass the equalizer and tap into the wires (using RCA cable) from behind the head unit that go back to the sub amp. This eliminates having to run separate wires all the way back to the amp.

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/keeping-factory-sub-when-adding-aftermarket-headunit-99-03-tl-326253/

I will be trying this soon. I am also putting in a SWI-JACK to retain use of my steering wheel controls.

 

Job complete. A note for those with Navi... I had to pull the instrument panel cover and navi screen off to get to the equalizer. All the info is there from the link in my previous post. Good luck!

 

You shouldnt have had to bypass the EQ. That happens the minute you disconnect the factory HU and use a wire harness for aftermarket HUs.

 

^^Yup! Exactly.

Side note you may consider; my stock speakers didn't sound bad with my new headunit, but i got new speakers and it was much better. Good luck

 

CJitty, what speakers you get? Size? Brand?