Greetings all,

Been doing lots of reading and I'm starting to get parts together for my upgraded audio system on the 8. To start with, I have the "Bose Premium System" i use that term loosly lol

Anyways, I have an Alpine MRV-F545 4channel Amp, Boston Acoustic SL95 6X9's (for the rear) on the way, and Boston Acoustic Pr060's on the way (for the front)

i've seen tons of wire diagrams on the net and i want to do this myself because dont trust a shop to work on an RX8... it seems all my work (since this is the bose) can be done at the rear deck of the car where everything is connected to the bose amp right?

My plan (please correct me if I need it) is to tap the signal straight from the factory head unit RIGHT before the bose amp, and run the signal to my Alpine amp and mount it *IN PLACE OF* my stock bose amp. so far so good? Would the power cables that are running to the amp be acceptable to use to the Alpine amp, or would I need to run custom power wire to the battery of the car?

Once I have the amp mounted and powered - its just a matter of replacing the speakers individually (the rear deck seems easy enough) the doors I'm still reading on. I was told that the wiring on the RX8 is adequate for the speakers so I dont have to worry about running any new wire or replacing any wire.


On this particular amp: the Alpine MRV-F545, i saw nothing about speaker level inputs.... im assuming I need to go and buy a Line output conveter? and I assume I take the inputs from the head unit stick them into the LOC, and then from the LOC to the amp, and then run the amplified signal to all my new badass speakers?


Any and all advice is appreciated

Jeff

 

I think your on the right track... with some nice speakers picked out..

yes you will have to run a new power wire and i recommend a ground as well

I don't have a bose so I don't know for sure but I do think you still need a LOC

I also am not sure that the new amp is going to fit where you have your old amp.. I looked on alpine and here is the specs of the one you have -- (WxHxD)in : 16-1/2" x 2-5/16" x 8-11/16" I would make a cardboard cutout and make sure it's going to fit.. if not I would suggest you get the Alpine PDX 4.150 it's alot more powerful, alot smaller, and makes alot less heat

keep us updated...

 

yes, power wire is going to be needed to be run to the battery, if not ground as well. you can easily run it down the passenger side of the car, through the firewall right behind the washer fluid resevoir

yes, you will need an loc (line output convertor/high lo)

no, that amp will most likely not fit there, as the factory amp is quite small in comparison, but with some work you still might be able to mount it there, but please mount it correctly, ie up is up, as heat could be an issue if you mount it upside down.

also, you will either

a: run new speaker wires to the front

b: make sure you disconnect the wiring fromt he factory amp in each door and jump the wires to the new speaker

it is possible to run new wires into each door through the door boots, i ran 2 pairs of 16 guage into each door for my components as well as 2 extra wires into the drivers door for my windows control, though it is a royal pain in the ***

any other questions, feel free to ask

 

thanks for the replies guys... one question lurch: It's my understanding that the wiring to all the speakers in the bose system converges at the rear deck amp in the car. My initial plan was to use the existing wires to send the power and signal to the front mids and tweeters. (basically all i had planned for the front was to disassemble the door take old speaker and tweeter out, install new speaker but have the wires running into the Alpine amp... how does that sound?

 

All signals go through the main (rear) amp. However, the door speakers are powered by their own amp inside each door. I beleive lurch is talking about disconnecting the input and output of the front amp (and connecting together) to bypass the amp which in turn will run directly to the speakers.

 

ahhh thanks for letting me know that. I had no idea that each speaker had its own amp up front. I'll have to hunt for some more wiring diagrams on the internet to know how to approach wiring up the doors when I get the chance to do this project.

 

my recommendation would be to run new wires, though it is a PITA. reason behind this is if you decide to get rid of the car, (god forbid), this will allow you to much easier restore back to original condition.

 

thanks!

 

Read my how to wire through a door molex sticky on www.the12volt.com as this will apply to your install on the front doors.