HI:

I put in the alpine 9833 headunit (cuz i wanted the mp3 and xm) into my 02 CL-S.

I did not change the bose amp or the speakers. Now there is this problem. Since the headunit has its own amp and the bose amp can't be tweeked, i'm getting a double amplification and its too loud. the headunit's volume control goes from 0 to 35 and with the windows up its already loud at level 4. In addition, I notice some white noise in between tracks.

Besides changing out the amp and speakers what can i do?

And, if I were to get new speakers and just run them off the headunit w/out an amp, would that sound like shit?

Note, I am not an "audiophile" and I don't listen to music too loudly or show off anything, so don't worry about that or me getting a sub when you come up with the answer that will help me.

Thanks,
Max

 

i have the same model.

make sure u connected it right.

the deck is PIMP, i love it

 

Do u also have everything else except the HU stock?

 

I love people who ask for help yet still insist on it looking their way : )

OK, Max, Derrick knows more about this system than I do (even though he owns a TL), but the way I understand it the HU sends a pre-amp signal to the OEM amp.

You are sending an amplified signal into the OEM amp.

Why not try sending a preamp signal to your OEM amp? (Take a cheap 3' RCA, chop it in half, strip it back, connect it to the OEM amp input wires in your car, plug them into your Alpine's RCA outputs...)

We do OEM HU upgrading essentially the same way in reverse... anyone try this?

If you don't want to do it with your Alpine right away, try your friend's Discman : )

 

thanks a lot! i'll try that.

 

Much easier than all that...

There is a bose adapter you can buy, that "de-amplifies" the signal from the new HU to the stock amp....

It costs about $40 at any circuit city or best buy (or online)

 

That "Bose" adapter is intended to take single-ended RCA signals and convert them to balanced differential signals, and to plug in with no wiring. These are common for GM and Nissan vehicles.

I have seen NO Bose adapters for this vehicle, but I HAVE seen posts saying that several folks don't think this Bose system uses balanced differential signals.

So I don't think you'd find a "Bose" adapter for this car, I don't think it would help, and I think my solution, if it works, is cheaper. Given how the speaker in worked, I think mine will work just fine : )

 

Odd, that is how mine is installed on my 01CL.....had to buy a bose adapter and a normal wiring harness.....

 

Well, it might work, it might not... but worth trying for the price of a cheap RCA, yah? : )

Most install shops don't understand balanced diff and single ended and have no tools to tell one form the other (requires an o-scope).

 

My 01 TL has the main amp inside the OEM HU, and I suspect that yours does too. Are you certain there's an OEM amp in there somewhere even though you put in an aftermarket HU?

If that's the case, you're going to want to find that OEM amp and eliminate it.

I think the 02 is different from the 01--doesn't your car have speakers in the rear deck? (mine just had a sub there).

I had another car with a Bose system where every speaker had it's own amp. You might verify that it's not that sort of setup.

Any '02 owners out there who can answer this?

 

if im not mistaken, the CL system has the OEM amp detached from the stock HU

 

Hey guys, so I'm having the RCA stuff done on Saturday. I'm doing it at Tweeter. (I'm not DIY in any possible way) but they are very much discouraging it. They say that it will be waaaaaay too quiet and that its possible to get distortion. Now first of all, to them what I find loud is normal so maybe its a taste preference but I just wanted to find out if

a) there are any people out there in the CL community that only have replaced the headunit, and if so, whether they went the RCA route?

b) is there any definitive information about what the stock headunit used to put out as an "amplified" signal. For example, I just read a TSX sticky that saud that ALL the outputs the TSX stock stereo has are preamp and so it makes perfect sense to go RCA.

 

Usually, unless an installer has tried something unusual on a particular car, you won't find installers who know much about what comes out of an OEM HU.

1) They don't know much about single-ended outputs and balanced outputs. Some do, but most don't - and at what chain stores pay their installers, it's not as much a shock as we might think.

2) They don't have an oscilloscope 99% of the time, which is the tool needed to determine which kind of output you have.

3) There are many Bose systems that work...unusually. Bose has used a few different configurations, none of them attached to what's done in the aftermarket (since Bose is not IN the aftermarket, they don't have any attachment to using circuits that have been used in the past). The TSX, by comparison, obviously uses the same preamp OP IC that is used in many aftermarket HU's.

4) The reason that MOST (not all) Bose adapters are plug and play is precisely that lack of an oscilloscope. If you're depending on an installer without an o-scope, and without much in the way of theory, to install a product you're making, you can't give them bare wires - it would be a disaster. You have to make it "foolproof".

5) I have a question in to a friend who has a CL-s and might know... but he is a hard core audiophile and is avoidant of OEM stuff. I would be happy to test a CL-S here (I am waiting at my store location ffor Qwest to show up and install DSL and a landline... thank goodness for unsecured 802.11!: )

I was surprised at the TSX... it's not that I consider that standard or anything. I don't think that running preamp into the factory system is any worse a trial than running speaker-level into it was...

 

RCAs worked great!!!!!!!!!!!!! less distortion, good volume control sensitivity. def recommend to anyone just changing hu and nothing else.

 

Sweet!

 

hey i got a 9833 too, hard as hell to figure out the damn eq settings you guys mind what settings you guys are using, i tried messing with it but can't get it right. i have sock speakers. i need some new ones but this is gonna be for the time being.

 

mshestop, any chance you can write up an DIY post on this? I bet Jonesi and Derrick would love to have it... : )

 

Agreed...!!

Did you have the correct metra wiring harness for radio in the first place? Seems odd b/c the wiring harness has a built in amp bypass for us CL guys..

 

Hm, so if I change my HU to an aftermarket HU, will this also happen? The aftermarket HU is 50x4, Sony xPlode. I have a 1999 TL, with OEM amp. also.