[83eldo]

yes or no?

If i have a escalade with the regular head unit and bose system, and replace the head unit with an aftermarket unit, will i still have a bose system or will it be just a nice headunit and speakers that are gonna suck.

also if change the head unit, can i keep the steering wheel controls and the indash changer?

 

[JJhomer83]

yes or no?

If i have a escalade with the regular head unit and bose system, and replace the head unit with an aftermarket unit, will i still have a bose system or will it be just a nice headunit and speakers that are gonna suck.

also if change the head unit, can i keep the steering wheel controls and the indash changer?

First question is why would you want to put an aftermarket headunit in the first place. Your escalade has everything you need.

Second. If you do switch you have to keep in mind that you are messing with fire. Fire spreads quickly
Your speakers are meant to have that headunit power them. If you go to a new aftermarket one it is more power. Think about it man.
Personally i wouldn't touch anything till i have the money

 

[STS_spinnin]

I have a 99 STS and installed a Panasonic in dash DVD player. This was the biggest mistake I have ever made probably because they did not know what they were doing with my car. I went to Audio Images in Burlingame CA. They had a Ferrari and Tahoe in the shop at the time plus I had heard good things about them so I felt comfortable. They tell me that the problems they had with mine is completeley different from an escalade. my car has 1 amp that powers everything, the escalade supposedly has two. I say supposedly because this is what they are telling me. a rep for JL says there is a part for the escalades that make aftermarkets deck work with the bose system, i was not that lucky. the seville parts were for earlier years. there is obviously a way to make it work because the escalades are all over MTV & BET w/ in dash screens. My advice would be find a shop that has done the exact car you have and research. My deck is finally working out but it took about 2 and a half months of trial and error with those jerks. I love the Bose Sound but the in dash dvd is sooo clean and it is working well with the bose. Make sure they know how to wire them because the Bose system runs off different ohms. Forgot, the volume controls on my steering wheel that i loved no long work, gotta use the remote. And they told me the changer wont work w/ any aftermarket deck, maybe there is some sort of adapter to make it work...research it a lot

 

[Caddy Man]

I have a 99 STS and installed a Panasonic in dash DVD player. This was the biggest mistake I have ever made probably because they did not know what they were doing with my car. I went to Audio Images in Burlingame CA. They had a Ferrari and Tahoe in the shop at the time plus I had heard good things about them so I felt comfortable. They tell me that the problems they had with mine is completeley different from an escalade. my car has 1 amp that powers everything, the escalade supposedly has two. I say supposedly because this is what they are telling me. a rep for JL says there is a part for the escalades that make aftermarkets deck work with the bose system, i was not that lucky. the seville parts were for earlier years. there is obviously a way to make it work because the escalades are all over MTV & BET w/ in dash screens. My advice would be find a shop that has done the exact car you have and research. My deck is finally working out but it took about 2 and a half months of trial and error with those jerks. I love the Bose Sound but the in dash dvd is sooo clean and it is working well with the bose. Make sure they know how to wire them because the Bose system runs off different ohms. Forgot, the volume controls on my steering wheel that i loved no long work, gotta use the remote. And they told me the changer wont work w/ any aftermarket deck, maybe there is some sort of adapter to make it work...research it a lot

So what did u end up doin??? do they make a connector for ure car or what? or did they have to wire it themselves? like what exactly did they do that they werent doin before to make it work? the reason im askin is i have a 2000 DTS (im sure the bose system is the same) and i wanted to replace it with a knwood dvd player but i want to keep my bose. some people tell me i need to replace my entire system but i only want to change the headunit. thanks

 

[fast66]

man thats gotta be the worst place for installing in CA
the escalades headunit cannot be changed uinless all the speakers inside the lade are changed with it. Bose speakers dont work off other headunits and vice versa. I dont believe there are two amps in an escalade but i might be wrong cause mines the ext and im sure there is only one amp. You can still make the steering controls work but it will take a lot of time and wiring issues. If they are a good enough installler than they can do it I hope. But it is true that the fire will jsut keep on buring once it is messed with and this has been proved to me many times with both my stereo system and my alarm. I have been going back to both those install shops more than my caddy dealer. Anywayz good luck with the stereo system and I hope u get it resolved.

 

[STS_spinnin]

They actually managed to make it work with the bose speakers but i did disconnect my stock 12 and put in two JL 10s i had around the house. it sounds perfect but now the deck not the brain, keeps overheating and turning off. Panasonic is calling it defective and i am getting a new one on Thursday, hopefully the problems will be over after this or else i guess i am going to small claims court. there was no adapter for my sts deck, they made a dummy plate and hid the original deck in my center counsel (council?). as far as the deville goes, make sure the place you go to has worked with bose and more imporantly caddies. trust me after my hastle, it would have been worth paying more for installation done right. everytime i have something done for my car, the place complains. i got the clifford matrix automatic startup alarm with the lcd screen put in and it took them 3 days to figure out all the wiring and make it work right. these cars are no joke i guess. before you play with the deville, i suggest you find someone who has had similar work done to it or go to cardomain.com and ask somebody with one how it was done. anyway, when it is working i love having the screen w/ the bose speakers but if this doesn't work on thursday i know this is going to be a bit&$ to get them to reinstall my stock system. and get my money back.

 

[Slick Black Cadillac]

Bose

In order for an aftermarket headunit to work on a bose system you have one of two options: Either replace every speaker in the whole car/truck, or bypass the "booster amps" on the speakers. Bypassing the amps is the most cost effective but in both cases you no longer have a bose system. Bose speakers are the same cone material and magnet weight as the basic system they are just worked more efficently. If you try to run the bose speakers you will burn out your new head unit and the factory amps very quickly.
As far as steering wheel controls go you will lose them with a new head unit but a company called Soundgate makes personalizable (you can even change the buttons functions to suit your needs) interface to get them back online. Othewise Alpine's newer headunits have a built in receiver for most steering controlls to read.

 

[STS_spinnin]

I just got my new deck, it is clean. it is working perfectly now. they figured out how to wire up the speakers correctly (supposedly). Are you saying that since i still have my bose speakers running my deck is now going to burn out????

 

[Slick Black Cadillac]

Fixed

If they told you that they got the speakers hooked up right, what they might have done is bypassed the boosters. You are then essentially running the base model speaker system with your new head unit. You wouldn't notice any quality change because the signal processor in your new deck is supeiror to any factory equipment. The only thing that makes a Bose system any better is the additional "boost and clean" the signal gets before it hits the speaker. If your install techs "fixed" your speaker system by bypassing the boosters you'll be fine. But if they meerely installed another head unit you risk burning this one out also as it tires of trying to push the oem speaker boosters.

 

[Caddy Man]

Re: Fixed

If they told you that they got the speakers hooked up right, what they might have done is bypassed the boosters. You are then essentially running the base model speaker system with your new head unit. You wouldn't notice any quality change because the signal processor in your new deck is supeiror to any factory equipment. The only thing that makes a Bose system any better is the additional "boost and clean" the signal gets before it hits the speaker. If your install techs "fixed" your speaker system by bypassing the boosters you'll be fine. But if they meerely installed another head unit you risk burning this one out also as it tires of trying to push the oem speaker boosters.

when they bypass the boosters and the headunit is used to power the speakers...does the subwoofer on the back tray still work?

 

[Slick Black Cadillac]

Sub

Not neseccarily, the subwoofer is run the same way the speakers are. There are usually two approaches to create a functional subwoofer: Because the sub is centered in the rear it is not a feature that can be ballanced out. Therefore you can tie it into the pos an neg wires for both the rear deck speakers and add a small monoblock amplifier to the line running into it. Also you can run patch(signal) cords from the rear pre outs in the deck to the sub. One other method exists that I know of but I'm not positive on its procedure.