Ok, so here in Denmark we cant get the Bose pack, or i could not from the lease company.

Now, i like the sound of the default audiosystem in my 1.4MA but i miss some bass.

What would be the best way to go arround this since its a leased car?

Would it be possible to fit an active sub to any thing in the back of the car?

Is there a manual howto get to the back of the radio? Could i connect it to the rear speakers?

All great ideas are welcome

HEEEELP



(Posting here to hear from other Guili owners that might have ideas)

I dont have Bose and also like plenty of bass but i have had to turn the bass down to -1 in my car to get a level which doesnt overpower the music itself. Have you tried the different EQ settings? Mine is set to Rock/Pop EQ. People at work all say they can hear me arriving before they can see me. :lol:

 

ohhh i will try that Will play with that tomorrow

Sill would like to hear from any one with SUB ideas

 

when ordering my car, the bose needed an upgraded headunit (£0 cost on config) so i doubt it'll be the same :S

 

Same here with the £0 head unit upgrade.
It does look like the same from the outside though. I know the EQ isn't available on the bose head unit, but i have heard this can be activated by disconnecting the battery. don't know how true that is though.
If it is true, the £0 upgrade might be in the form of a flash memory upgrade maybe?

 

thx for all the help guys. Do you think Alfa would help if i called regarding the RCA outputs on the radio?

 

any one know how easy and how to get the to the back of the radio? Technical manuals?

 

i think you need to remove the metal trim thingy, but dont ask how you do that! and then pull it out?

side note: anyone with BOSE, where is the amp? i thought it would be visible or is it hidden away??

 

The Bose amp is built in to the speaker/sub, which sits in the spare wheel enclosure.
I'll post a photo later.

 

Really? I thought the amp was supposed to be behind one of the panels in the side wall lining of the boot... Thought it was just the sub in the spare wheel

 

i know where the sub is, but i to thought the amp was within the boot lining somewhere, was tempted to see if it can power a real subwoofer!

 

I think it is an active sub similar to the ones i mentioned above.
Here are some pics.
As you can see from the connector there are 2 thick wires (one is black at the bottom so is difficult to see from the pic) and 3 thinner wires.
I suspect one is live, one is earth, one is speaker positive, one speaker negative, and one ignition on power.
I know on other Alfa models the sub has a separate amp (usually on a panel behind the sub speaker i think) but i think it is not the case on the G's sub.

 

http://www.alfaromeo.co.uk/uk/documents/alfa_romeo_bose_sound_system.pdf

Page 6, it says the amp is mounted in the right hand wall, was wondering how to access that

 

Oh, ok.
Strange to have so many wires going into a speaker though.
I would have thought that if there was a separate amp, all the power connections would be into the amp and then just 2 wires (+ / -) going into the speaker.
Perhaps the separate amp is more of a DSP than a power amp.

 

now my brain is running away with me. definitely loooks to be power (+/-) remote and positive and negative for speaker. Now the real Q is is there maybe a wiring harness under the seat waiting to be tapped into.. hmmmmmm now if i can only figure out how to remove the rear seat

 

Well i just had another look at the wiring and it does appear to head off to the right hand wheel arch, so there might be a Bose amp or DSP behind there.

 

ok ok you twisted my rubber arm.. gonna go look

 

hunted all over and could not see anything. im assuming yours gooes right into the wiring harness that runs on the left and there is one on the right as well..

 

ok removed rear seat... no even close on the colours..

 

My cable seems to go towards the back seat then pops back out on the right and then goes under the right hand wheel arch carpet. I tried to show it in the last pic, but it isn't very clear.

I suspect the bose has its own factory fitted loom as it seems that other bose fitted models are like this too.

Sorry i wasn't much help.

 

Waiting for Alfa regarding if the stock radio have RCA outputs. Does no one here have an idea how to get the radio out?

 

i am sure you need to remove the metal trim peice, but havn't tried it

 

Brave lads

 

Did anyone figure this out yet? Just ordered one of these... (not from this shop but link was easier)
Pioneer TS-WX610A Bandpass Spare Tyre Subwoofer 200w Max

And i'm going to fit it next weekend....

 

Good luck!

Let us know how you get on!

I'm tempted to change my BOSE sub to something a bit better

 

would this not be easier?
Focal Subs Bus - Car Audio flat subwoofers Bumba under seat

 

I'd considered that one too and read all the reviews etc. I decided that I didnt want me or my passengers subjected through a load of bass in the ass just to get it sounding decent in the car, i'd rather have it louder in the boot to fill the car but not have it as close if that makes sense.
I'll do a walk through with pics and stuff like your good man did with the tow bar stuff when I do it. Rather than take off for the speakers behind the head unit I may well take it off in the loom in the sill that goes to the rear passenger door If i can work out the colouring of the wires. That would save me taking the head unit out - alfa warned me that the sat nav jobby is done using optics and the connections are really delicate.

I'm not sure if that's true but i'll let you know that too if i take it out - it seems really strange that you'd attach an LCD by fibre over such a short distance.

Mic

 

If the head unit is like other alfa models, what happens is that a power lead is connected to one of the terminals on the back of the headunit. This attenuates the output so it is at pre-amp level rather than speaker level, so there aren't any rca's on the back of the head unit. There maybe more wires on the subwoofer than you expected because Bose subwoofers tend to have a dual coil setup. This requires two sets of input. You're probably right about an additional wiring loom, I know others have said on other Alfas it's a bit of a pig to do. That is not to say that the Guilietta is the same, it's just every model previously has been!

 

please take as many pics as you can.. this should be really interesting

 

I certainly will
I'll explain the way it worked in the mondeo, so you get the ration step down....
Out of the head unit, on the normal speaker take offs, which are powered by the head unit, you join one (or more) wires, to take to the sub, and get that into the boot. You take a new fused positive from the battery, or another suitable permenant live source and get that into the boot. You get an earth from somewhere local in the boot (although this can induce a ground loop - mentioned later), and get that to the same place as your other wires.

The positive, ground, and speaker level line goes into a ratio step down converter.
There is another empty terminal on this which goes to the remote on the amp. Connect the remote on the converter to the amp, and the positive an negative also to the amp.
The converter has RCA outputs, which go to the amp.

When the converter picks up signal in the speaker input, it bridges positive and remote, which gives you the remote power for your amp.

You then wire the sub to the amp in the normal fashion.

With this sub i've ordered, it has high level speaker inputs already (as some amps do) but I don't know if it will handle its own remote switch on in the same way as the converter does, or it it will want switched live. If it wants switched live, rather than poking around with a multimeter to find one (and these are rare on new cars because everything is attached to the canbus) I will just use the converter, and use the low level RCA's which are also on the sub.

I'll post my findings and pictures etc when i've done, and whether the sub looks after its own remote switch on. If anyone wants to hear it in action too before buying one and is local to me i don't mind that

I shall have to be brave at the weekend.... ttys!

 

hi, i've got the pioneer sub fitted in my mito, it's been there for four months now and is still performing brilliantly, the bass is amazing, very rich at high volumes but subtle when the volume is low, do a search on the mito forum 'glovebox damping' to see some pictures, considering it costs less than half the price than the bose upgrade its well worth it, and if the bose sub in the giulietta is the same as the mitos (which i think it is) then it is an active (combined sub and amp) unit.

 

It's your thread I found it from in the first place
I've just always fitted them myself, but never on a car this new. I waited a year or so on the last car.
Thanks for your thread