Ok, here the answer (in case anyone else had this problem):

When using the PAC SWI-Jack, connect the white wire to the red/black one, and ground the green/white wire.

 

Did anything major change with the '09 models and the Bose radio/amp? I've acquired a SNI-35, and I'm just trying to do a little research before I start operating

Maybe a wiring schematic for the amp is floating around somewhere??

 

you have an 09? Don't know if anything changed. Look at "photo 1" in the first post. Does your harness look the same? Colors in the same spot? Probably the same then. Use that picture to wire er up.

 

Correct on the '09. Love it

I'll pull the HU later and confirm....pix if different too.

 

Why would you pull the headunit?? You're tapping in on the Bose amp output. The amp is located next to the right rear speaker.

 

Yea you know...I thought about that post about 30 min after I made it...lol

I'll look at the bose amp tomorrow sometime....

 

If I have a Bose system in my 2004 with manual climate...

Can I just get this + the metra kit and plug it in? Or is there more to be done.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...+-NX-409-.html

 

I recently installed some simple mods to my stock Bose system (2007 AT RX8) : my setup includes replacing the front & rear tweeters with Infiniti Kappa 10.9T's, along with a Kenwood 1800W mono pushing a single Kicker 10L7 in a ported box in the back. Sounds amazing! But two weeks after installing I started my car (with audio running) and the AT and service engine lights both came on and I couldnt get past 3rd gear. Took it in to mazda, they ran a diagnostic, said I was draining my ECU of power, alternator was not giving near enough power according to the diagnostic reading. Turned my amp way down and it hasn't given any trouble since, which has been about a week. Any ideas on what I can use to give some extra juice to my system? The mazda tech said that the stock alternators don't push much power.

 

A high output alternator. Think they're ~$350ish

 

I thought I'd write in with my recent experience with replacing my stock speakers (non Bose) with Infinitys, and installing "RoadKill" sound deadening material and carpet liner.

I wanted a quieter RX8. Changing my tires to Kumho Ecsta SPs helped, but I felt the RX8 was like a tin can -- just knock on the outside of your front doors to see what I mean.

And, I didn't have time to "DIY" -- instead, I went to a local place in Burlingame, California called "Audio Images" -- http://www.ai-sf.com/

They did the following (and see below for pictures).

1) Installed Stinger "Roadkill" sound deadening material in the front and rear doors, on the rear deck lid (where the rear speakers are), and on the floor.
2) Installed Stinger "Roadkill Carpet Pad" on the floor (on top of the Roadkill sound deadening).
3) Installed new Infinity 6830CS speakers in the front, and Infinity 9633cf speakers in the back.

Results

Very happy with the results. The car is much quieter. I took baseline SPL measurements before install, and I'll do the measurements again and post the results. Subjectively, I have a much quieter car. Wind noise, road noise, and driveshaft noise are much lower. When I go over bumps, there's a nice, dead thumping, instead of the old "tin can" sound.

The Infinity speakers were cheap: $200 for all 4 via Amazon. Audio Images wanted me to go with some Focals, but I didn't have the budget. The Infinitys sound MUCH better than stock, and with a LOT more low-end. I would recommend bumping the front crossover to -3 dB, however, as my front tweeters are too bright.

All in all, I think the whole thing took about 10-12 hours of labor from Audio Images, and about $400 in parts. Well worth the investment.

Hope this helps some of you who are thinking of doing something similar.

Pictures of the install

 

So if I have a Bose stereo, and want to replace the deck with a built in GPS unit and add a basslink, will I need an LOC? Or anything fancy?

 

...yawn

 

Looking at getting an 08 rx-8 with base radio. (base car, no option packages) It has the SAT button but not the tuner. trying to figure out the best and easiest way to get satillite radio in the car. the dealer quoted almost $600 to add the SAT tuner, so thats not an option.

called Sirius and they said buy the universal tuner kit. looks like it comes with a 9 pin connector but I'm not going to buy that since I don't know if the stock unit has the same 9 pin plug.

I'm OK with little docking radios sirius offers from their web site, but they plug into the cig. lighter for power and I really want a more permenant install and already use the cig lighter for the radar detector and occasional GPS use.

Does anyone have any other ideas or does anyone know if the stock unit does have the 9 pin type plug?? Not a fan of ripping out the whole stock unit and buying a "regular" head unit with SAT. Don't want to screw up the whole car for that. I would like to have an MP3 input also, if possible.

Thanks

 

Any outboard Sirius receiver setup is going to be worlds cheaper than any OEM solution. The power connection problem is simple solve. Most of the newer ones run off 5VDC, so you still need to "use" the cigarette adapter. You just connect a piece of wire on the nipple of the adapter and a piece around the two outside pressure plates on the adapter. The nipple is positive and the two outside plates are negative. Now just give the wires regular +12VDC from anywhere in the car. As for sound quality, you'll NEED an FM modulator. This just hops in-line with your factory antenna wire. Far superior sound quality. While you have the headunit out, throw the satellite radio antenna next to the center channel speaker, put everything back together, and you're good to go.

I used to do this setup 3-4 times a day 4 days a week. Shouldn't take more than an hour with the proper tools and work space.... even on an RX8. If you don't feel confident in doing this yourself, take it somewhere. Even Best Buy does this 3-4 times a day, every day. Labor should be about $75.

Hell if you live in Central Florida, let me know.

 

Has anyone found the manufacturer/PN's for the pins/sockets and extractors used in the connector to the HU?

 

The firewall method behind the washer fluid works really well. I drilled the hole last night and ran my 4g amp power cable and it worked like a dream. Only took about 10 mins total time to run the wire.

 

Those WITH THE BOSE SYSTEM who are installing the Metra kit to replace the factory headunit with an aftermarket unit, you must install the kit using your new headunit's RCA outputs. The RX8 factory headunit sends a low-level signal to the Bose amp, which then amplifies it and sends it to the speakers. Your new headunit has a small amplifier built in. If you connect your new headunit by following Metra's instructions and using the regular speaker wires, you will be sending an amplified signal to the Bose amp, which will then amplify it a second time before sending it out to your speakers. This will yield an extremely high volume with the headunit volume set very low, as well as distortion and noise even with the volume set to zero.

To solve this, use a simple RCA to speaker wire adapter piece, like pictured below:

Just plug the RCA end into your new headunit's front/rear RCA outputs and wire the speaker leads to the appropriate wires on the Metra harness. This will allow a low-level signal to be sent to the Bose amp and save you a ton of headaches.

If you plan on using your new headunit's RCA rear output for subwoofers, then a simple RCA Y-cable would work. One pair to the Metra harness using the method above and one pair to your new aftermarket sub amp.

If your headunit only has one pair of RCA outputs... well... return it and buy something worth a damn. lol You can try using two RCA Y-cables and fading all the music to the rear (so all the sound is output through the RCA output), but I'm not sure how that will sound. Less than ideal surely.

This post does not apply to those with the base non-Bose system. Install using the regular speaker level outputs on your headunit.

 

How big is the Bose Amp? I would like to get another amp and put it where the stock Bose Amp is located

 

if you're replacing the amp you can put it anywhere you want

 

I like where it is at now, under the seat it can get too hot

 

I think you'll have a hard time finding an amp that's worth buying and fits in the same location.
I agree, the placement is pretty much ideal, but not too much space there.

 

what is the front door speaker depth?

 

It's right at the top of the first post homeslice.

 

Hi all. I want to put 6x9s in the front door...first page here says cutout is "approx" 8.4". The speakers I'm looking at need an 8.74" cutout. Likely to get it to fit, or not?

 

If you are referring to the Bose woofer in the front then no not without modified bracket. Think about it the Bose is a round speaker and a 6x9 is oblong. Even then why would you if the impendance is .5 which no company makes.

If it's a base then, I'm am not sure.