Replaced Bose...PICS!!!

Triple Black 88 · 01-01-2005, 09:39 PM

Just wanted to share some pics and info on my experience replacing the
infamous Bose setup. I bought the Din 1/2 Alpine CDA-D852 off ebay for $187.00. I bought one for my daily driver about a year ago and just fell in love with it. The tri colored display is awesome, and it sounds great...45w x 4. I also bought a GM wire harness and soldered the wires to the Alpine harness outside the car. This made it easy. The stock harness's just plugged right in.
Stereo Install - From the start I didn't want the stereo to stick out of the dash opening like they normally do with the kits. I wanted it to sit behind the bezel like the stock unit and the AC/Heater. To make a long story short, I had to cut the back of the stock bracket off in order to mount the Alpine deep enough for the reveal I wanted. I did buy and use a kit, but I spent a lot of time customizing (rigging) it so it would fit just right. This was time consuming and a PITA.
Rear Speakers - I replaced the original round speakers with Sony 6x9's. I was planning on re-wiring the car, but didn't have to. I removed the factory Box/Speaker/Amp enclosure, cut the wire before the amp, and used the existing wire for the new speaker. The stock speaker was mounted below a plastic plate with a 6x9 opening, so I used that to mount the new 6x9's. The speakers didn't exactly fit flush in the indentation, so I modified it with a Dremmel. I also had to cut the rug which had a round hole to match the 6x9 and also added a tweeter.
Front Speakers - The fronts were tough. I couldn't get the stock enclosures out but while trying I came accross the wires going to the amp. I was so relieved! I cut them, bypassed the amp and wired up the stock speakers. That lasted about a day, they really sounded dull...no highs or lows, all midrange. So I went out and bought a set of Sony 5 1/4's and just made them fit. I had to use 2 layers of weather stripping to seal the airspace from the enclosure because there were gaps between the speaker lip and the molded enclosure.

Let me know what you think

Shore · 01-01-2005, 09:54 PM

Why is this the first time I have seen this deck???????

I like it.
BUT, My real compliment for you is the cleanness of your interior..It looks new.

snoopdan · 01-01-2005, 11:16 PM

Neat on those mids in the doors man... Much props on them. Like the tweater placement most of all.

and your clean interior makes me sick.

snoopdan

bogus · 01-02-2005, 12:36 AM

looking GREAT!!!

muddpile · 01-02-2005, 12:41 AM

Looks good, and I love that deck! I wish I would have known that it existed before I bought mine, it fits so perfect. Your system is simple yet effective. Good job.

screw991le · 01-02-2005, 01:15 AM

Had that same head unit in my camaro, nice deck.

C4DC · 01-02-2005, 01:42 AM

Looks very nice!

mikey whipreck · 01-02-2005, 01:46 AM

it's hard to find a deck that doesn't clash horribly with the digital dash... good work

Sportsdude · 01-02-2005, 11:18 AM

Wow, that has the look of "factory" finish. It's the type of install I'm looking for. Looks great!

Triple Black 88 · 01-02-2005, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportsdude

Wow, that has the look of "factory" finish. It's the type of install I'm looking for. Looks great!

Thanks, that's the look I was going for. I've had this car for 10 yrs and have held off on replacing the Stereo because I didn't want to ruin the factory "look". I've seen too many aftermarket units that stick out like a sore thumb.
They stopped making this unit a few years ago, but they do pop up on ebay every once in a while.