Well i tried my best to live with the stock bose speakers with after installing a Pioneer Avic 120 but time has run out for the bose.

The biggest problem i would tell anyone that wants to replace the PCM and keep the bose speakers is not the sound. While they are not the best there is a massive improvement in sound over stock with a good aftermarket head unit. The problem is the bose amp, there is something going on with the bose amp that conflicts with the NavTV harness needed to connect to the fiber optic system.

I would get random power downs from the system. We thought i had a bad Avic120 but after replacing it we narrowed the problem down to the NavTv harness. Seems at random times anything powered through the NavTv harness would shut down when there was a drop in power for whatever reason.

After hard wiring the Avic120 to another power source outside the NavTv harness the problem went away for the headunit (which stays on) but the speakers that were run through the bose amp would shut down.

Solution:

Im doing a full replacement of the stock system.

JL HD600/4 amp
JL ZR650-CSI speakers in the doors
JL 10W7 sub
JL 700/1 sub amp

I will lose the dash speaker and the cargo area speakers but it should still me a massive improvement over stock.

This project has turned into a $5000-$6000 deal to be done the right way.

 

Wow I took my 08 in Tuesday for a similar system. I am completely pulling the BLOWS system too.

Kenwood DNX9960 headunit
Jl way components C5-653 front stage
JL 6-1/2 coax C5-650x in rear doors
JL stealhbox for sub. Yes it does fit the 2008 model. Panaromic roof motor must be moved
JL HD900/5 amp

I get it back tomorrow, anxious to hear it.
Let me know how yours is as well.

David

 

I will have mine done late next week, waiting on the ZR650-csi speakers. Good luck on yours system, i know it will blow the bloze system out of the water.

 

Yes I had to add the backup camera and the steering wheel interface as well. I dont know what will appear now in the dash area where it used to display the station name etc. I will let you know.

David

 

David,

Which steering wheel interface dud you go with? I'm getting my install done on the 5th, it is pretty similar:
Pioneer Avic 120BT
JL HD 900/5
JL Stealthbox
Polk SR6500 Components (Front Stage)
Polk MM651 (Rear Fill)

 

My estimate has the following quoted for the steering wheel.
PAC- SWI jack and PAC - SWI CAN each are $85.99 each.
The jack is listed as the steering wheel control interface and the CAN as bus steering wheel adaptor.

 

so guys correct me if I am wrong but your doing a complete rip and replace but the extra harnass will retain the factory controls on the wheel?

 

yes that is what i was told, we will see this afternoon

 

David,

What's the word? How did the install go?

Rob

 

Sound quality is awesome! There is a big learning curve with the new head unit. I now have Sirius and previously had xm. My Sirius reception sucks. The steering wheel controls work great . Soundstage is high up the dash with the tweeters and 4" and Midgard in the doors. Stealthbox is perfect fit.

 

I am trying a different approach, at least for now....

Adding a JL amp and the JL Stealthbox sub to to stock Bose system. I did this on my previous Audi RS4 and was really blown away by how the system was transformed. Without the burden of having to produce bass frequencies, the Bose speakers sounded much better. Not true audiophile sound, obviously, but much improved nonetheless.

I'll see how this goes. If I 'm not satisfied, I'll change out all the speakers, add another amp and utilize the JL Cleansweep OEM interface to be able to keep my PCM 3.0 headunit.

BTW...am also having a Bilnder M47 laser jammer installed at the same time and will be building a pod in the center console cupholder bin to house the sub volume control, the jammer control, jammer alert LED and built in phone charger.

Will post pics. Hopefully getting this done sometime over the next few weeks.

 

That's awesome! So you went tweets and 4" in the dash and woofer in the stock door location? My SR6500 are 2-ways and I considered putting the tweets in the dash but figure its too much of a separation from the 6.5's in stock door location.

What functionality to do you get with your steering controls?

 

pictures???!!!!

 

I heard it will fit the 09-10 with some trimming... considering doing is in my 10 gts as well.

 

I had the Reus upgrade to my 09 CTTS and it was a great improvement and still looks stock. Swaped out the sub with a new one with independant amp, swap out the 2 dash speakers for higher quality lower impedance speakers, and add another center channel in the mirror, all driven by the original bose amp. Since the dash speakers are louder now relative to everything else, it brightens the mids/highs nicely. Kick *** sub in the back fills in the lows, they said the door speakers are of less importance and are left alone. Very pleased with the upgrades and everything looks stock.