100 W amplifier upgrade for fronts

[secondchance]

I am not an electronic engineer but I believe that 100W amp run at 25% sounds better than 50W amp run at 50%. No empirical data - just my personal belief.
I know there have been posts about using 100W Bose amp off of later Corvettes, Cadillacs, Infinities etc... So, I thought I would try this swap.

First I modified (break off plastic mounting points and a guide) the amp access panel to accept a replacement 100W amp.


Followed by modifying (enlarging the opening to accept replacement amp).


Made strips of 1/8" thick (2 layers) neoprene to allow for deeper amp dimension.


Final assembly shows amp access panel projecting out by 1/4" but still well within depression on the side rails.


With fader control position held constant, addition of these amps definitely pumps out more sound up front.

I know when C4 was introduced in 1984, GM touted how Bose was brought in and each amp was custom tuned to work with Corvette interior, etc... Later orginal Bose was upgraded with Bose Gold which is what most (if not all) ZR-1s came with.
I am still impressed with the system based on compact size of amps and amount of low frequency produced from such tiny front speakers and only 6.5" rear speakers.
I have added Pioneer AVIC 140 which provide HD FM (sound quality is much better than traditional FM) and EQ function. So, even if I negate fine tuning of Bose engineers by going to later Cadillac Eldorado front amps I am not so concerned.

Final verdict? I'm glad I went this route. Once I pick up a pair for the rear, those should be easier.

[Billy Mild]

My system all works, but I don't think the system really gets the lows that well. What cars run these amps?

[secondchance]

Later Corvettes (97 to ?), same era Cadillacs (amps I used came from 97 Eldo) and some Nissan/Infiniti.

Changing amps will not add any low frequency. I added a 10" low profile sub with its own amp.

[Z51JEFF]

Thanks for the info on this. I've always liked the idea of a minor tuneup on the stock system but didn't know where to start. Is it possible to upgrade the stock speakers with something aftermarket without doing a lot of mods? I remember years ago if you wanted to upgrade the speakers in a Bose system you had to use an interface jobber from Skosh? to do it.

[XfireZ51]

Although my head unit is a Pioneer AVIC, I' m disappointed in the sound. It seems to come not from the rear. The front amp appear to produce insufficient sound even w fader turned full front. The lows get overtaken by the rumbling of my exhaust too,
Would you recommend this amp upgrade in a case like this? Every once in a while, I do like to turn on some tunes but currently I'd rather listen to the engine note.

[secondchance]

Originally Posted by Z51JEFF

Thanks for the info on this. I've always liked the idea of a minor tuneup on the stock system but didn't know where to start. Is it possible to upgrade the stock speakers with something aftermarket without doing a lot of mods? I remember years ago if you wanted to upgrade the speakers in a Bose system you had to use an interface jobber from Skosh? to do it.

Simple answer is no. There may be an interface that allows head unit to work with 2 ohm after market amplifier which in turn will allow typical aftermarket 2 ohm speakers. However, for proper operation, after market speaker should be mounted in front enclosure or custom made enclosure. Problem with non Bose speaker in front speaker enclosure results in tuned port built into front enclosure will not perform properly because port was tuned to Bose speaker. Because of this I plugged the port and turned it into sealed enclosure. End result was reduced low frequency (base) sound. Similar situation with the rear.

[secondchance]

Originally Posted by XfireZ51

Although my head unit is a Pioneer AVIC, I' m disappointed in the sound. It seems to come not from the rear. The front amp appear to produce insufficient sound even w fader turned full front. The lows get overtaken by the rumbling of my exhaust too,
Would you recommend this amp upgrade in a case like this? Every once in a while, I do like to turn on some tunes but currently I'd rather listen to the engine note.

Is your AVIC connected to Bose amp/speakers or did you replace all 4 speakers with 2 ohm aftermarket?
Front Bose set up is with tweeter/3 (or 3.5)" speakers. Due to such small speaker Bose solution was to limit low frequency signal to front resulting in perception of sound being biased to rear. Reason I went to 100 amp was to offset this rear bias. Also, adding dedicated amp for the sub and adding subwoofer was to add badly needed low frequency to the total sound. Remember that this system was designed back in the mid to late 80s before recorded music had low bass in the recording. Real low bass started to appear in recorded music in the 90s perhaps fueled by better amp/speaker systems in hi-fi for homes and surround sound systems.
My Z, due to increased displacement, headers, cat delete and OBX cat back exhaust ended up being quite louder than stock. And, for long hauls I like to be entertained with music, music video and movies. For this reason, I had to overhaul the total entertainment system and quite pleased with the result. I tried converting to 2 ohm system back in the mid 90s for my 91z and was very disappointed. Main difficulty was lack of space up front to add any speaker larger than 4" limiting low frequency up front. Best solution was to stay with Bose design which allows surprising low frequency reproduction up front due to tuned port enclosure design (still not low enough but better than I could reproduce with aftermarket speaker/custom enclosure).
Resulting refinement I have currently is Pioneer AVIC 140 with Metra converter feeding Bose system with 100 w amps up front, with dedicated amp running 10" Pioneer low profile subwoofer in 1.2 cu. in. Sealed enclosure.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by secondchance

Is your AVIC connected to Bose amp/speakers or did you replace all 4 speakers with 2 ohm aftermarket?
Front Bose set up is with tweeter/3 (or 3.5)" speakers. Due to such small speaker Bose solution was to limit low frequency signal to front resulting in perception of sound being biased to rear. Reason I went to 100 amp was to offset this rear bias. Also, adding dedicated amp for the sub and adding subwoofer was to add badly needed low frequency to the total sound. Remember that this system was designed back in the mid to late 80s before recorded music had low bass in the recording. Real low bass started to appear in recorded music in the 90s perhaps fueled by better amp/speaker systems in hi-fi for homes and surround sound systems.
My Z, due to increased displacement, headers, cat delete and OBX cat back exhaust ended up being quite louder than stock. And, for long hauls I like to be entertained with music, music video and movies. For this reason, I had to overhaul the total entertainment system and quite pleased with the result. I tried converting to 2 ohm system back in the mid 90s for my 91z and was very disappointed. Main difficulty was lack of space up front to add any speaker larger than 4" limiting low frequency up front. Best solution was to stay with Bose design which allows surprising low frequency reproduction up front due to tuned port enclosure design (still not low enough but better than I could reproduce with aftermarket speaker/custom enclosure).
Resulting refinement I have currently is Pioneer AVIC 140 with Metra converter feeding Bose system with 100 w amps up front, with dedicated amp running 10" Pioneer low profile subwoofer in 1.2 cu. in. Sealed enclosure.

Yun,

You sound like an electronic engineer to me. You're killing me with these mods; first the brakes and now the sounds. I'm subscribed! I can wait to upgrade and listen to Vanilla "Ice, Ice Baby" or some Hammer "Can't Touch This"!

[secondchance]

Originally Posted by HAWAIIZR-1

Yun,

You sound like an electronic engineer to me. You're killing me with these mods; first the brakes and now the sounds. I'm subscribed! I can wait to upgrade and listen to Vanilla "Ice, Ice Baby" or some Hammer "Can't Touch This"!

Hey Craig,

Back in 92 I took my first ZR-1 to a hi-fi shop wher Shaq had his car upgraded. Maybe they had a wrong installer work on my car. I invested in top of the line Alpine head unit, surround sound processor, 6 channel Sony amp, MB quart speakers and a pair of JL subs. Sounded like sh*t and! worse yet! butchered by car. I had no option to learn real fast and try to rebuild the system.

BTW - I have ice ice baby music video in my iPod hooked up to the system. Reminds me of driving around in my Z around Florida when I was in my 30s. Thought it would never end...

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by secondchance

Hey Craig,

Back in 92 I took my first ZR-1 to a hi-fi shop wher Shaq had his car upgraded. Maybe they had a wrong installer work on my car. I invested in top of the line Alpine head unit, surround sound processor, 6 channel Sony amp, MB quart speakers and a pair of JL subs. Sounded like sh*t and! worse yet! butchered by car. I had no option to learn real fast and try to rebuild the system.

BTW - I have ice ice baby music video in my iPod hooked up to the system. Reminds me of driving around in my Z around Florida when I was in my 30s. Thought it would never end...

Well, you piqued my interest about sounds because I have always wanted more bass. I have never really invested in a really good sound system in any of my vehicles, and mostly afraid of the butchering. I did the Crutchfield thing in my other Z with mild upgrade. I just try to learn from the smart guys in our community like you as to what works.

That is too funny. My cousin has a video of me doing Karaoke to Ice, Ice, Baby (drunk of course) and I would have to kill him if that every made it on You Tube. Let me guess, you were dressed like Miami Vice too checking out the hot dog cart bikini girls back in the day?