DURAtotheMAX
10-23-2006, 01:26 PM
All below FAQ's pertain to 2003+ trucks. As I said, READ THIS BEFORE POSTING A NEW AUDIO-RELATED QUESTION!!!
1. What adapters do I need to install an aftermarket radio/nav unit in my truck, but keep the stock Bose speakers and keep OnStar?
-PAC OS-2BOSE. This adapter will allow you to retain OnStar, door/warning chimes, and will give you the appropriate wires to keep RAP (retained accessory power) functional. This also allows you to hook up an aftermarket head unit to the stock Bose amplifier/stock Bose speakers. Keep in mind you will need an adapter of this sort because the stock radio harness does NOT have switched accessory and ignition power. The power wire going to the radio harness is 12volts hot all the time. The radios are switched on and off via the PMM (power mode master) function of the Class II data bus.
2. What adapters do I need to install an aftermarket head unit, but I keep the stock NON-Bose speakers (or you are ripping out all of the Bose stuff) and keep OnStar?
-PAC OS-2. This adapter will allow you to retain OnStar, door/warning chimes, and will give you the appropriate wires to keep RAP (retained accessory power, keeps the radio on until you open the door) functional. This allows you to hook up an aftermarket head unit to the stock non-Bose speakers, if your truck does not have Bose. This adapter will also work if you are using aftermarket amplifies and/or speakers with the aftermarket head unit. Otherwise it is similar to the OS-2 BOSE.
3. What adapters do I need to hook up an aftermarket head unit, keep the Bose speakers working, but do not have OnStar?
-PAC OS-2BOSE. Same as #1.
4. What adapters do I need to keep chimes/RAP, but do NOT have Bose or OnStar?
-PAC C2R-GM24. Taps into Class II data bus and gives you door/warning chimes, and a switched ignition power wire, also allows you to keep RAP.
5. What adapters do I need to only keep warning chimes, but will splice into an ignition wire separately, do not need to keep RAP?
-PAC CM1. Keeps chimes ONLY. You will need to tap into a separate wire under the steering column to switch the radio on and off. Be sure to use a fused relay, so as not to overload any ignition wires that do not have enough amperage capacity to power an aftermarket head unit.
6. What adapter do I need if I do not need to keep chimes, RAP, or anything, I just want to wire my aftermarket head unit in to my stock non-Bose speakers?
-Metra...(ill look up the part #) OR for free you can tap into the stock non-Bose radio harness by cutting and splicing the wires for free. Power is avialible at A1, etc...
7. What adapter do I need to keep my stock steering wheel controls functional?
-PAC SWI-X. This will keep your audio-related steering wheel controls functional. Note if you do NOT install this adapter, your DIC/instrument cluster related steering wheel controls will still work, but the audio related (volume, seek, source, onstar/mute) buttons will not work.
8. What adapter do I need to keep the factory radio, but replace the speakers/Bose amp with an aftermarket speaker/amp combination?
-PAC AOEM-GM24. This allows you to completely remove all factory stock speakers/Bose stuff and still keep the factory radio working fine. It will give you front/rear RCA line-level outputs that will hook up to any aftermarket amplifier. Much to people's surprise, the factory Bose head units have a surprisingly "clean" line level output that will sound very good with aftermarket amps/speakers. There is NO Bose equalization and NO 'bass cuts as the volume goes up' coming out of the Bose head units. All the Bose garbage happends in the Bose amp itself. You will still retain all volume/bass/treble controls on the factory radio. NOTE: THIS IS NOT a standard "LOC" (line output converter, hooks to the factory speaker wires and gives you RCA plugs) that you can buy at any stereo shop!!! LOC's work completely differently and while they will work, the PAC AOEM-GM24 adapter will give you a MUCH cleaner signal because it grabs the line-level audio coming out of the head unit, NOT the audio thats already been mucked around with by the Bose amp. There is a difference! Especially with subs, the Bose signals are rolled off on the low end as they cross over to the subwoofer, so therefore bass especially will sound muddy and crappy on aftermarket speakers hooked up with an LOC. If you use a PAC AOEM-GM24 on a NON-Bose radio and are completely replacing all the stock speakers and installing aftermarket speakers and amps, I advise you go to the dealer and have them reprogram the radio to BOSE ("UQ7 w/o Y91"). There are separate instructions on how to program the radios. The reason I say this is because the NON-Bose radios output a semi-crappy signal that is designed for the crappy non-Bose speakers, as you turn the volume up on the non-Bose radios, bass is severely rolled off to protect the crappy non-Bose speakers. If you reprogram the radio to BOSE, the outputs will be low level, clean, and not 'messed around with' or equalized.
9. How do I keep the stock Bose speakers, but just supplement them with an aftermarket sub?
-PAC AOEM-GM24. Same adapter as above. Keeps the Bose speakers working, and gives you RCA line level outputs to hook up to an aftermarket amp/sub. When you hook up the aftermarket sub, I advise to disconnect the factory Bose sub. Dig into the console and unplug the Bose amp's C2 (8 pin) connector, then pull the DARK BLUE/WHITE, DARK GREEN, LIGHT BLUE/BLACK, LIGHT GREEN/BLACK wires out of the connector, then plug the C2 connector back in. This will disconnect the factory Bose sub.
10. How do I keep the Bose speakers, but jsut supplement them with an aftermarket sub IF YOU HAVE DONE THE BOSE "LUXURY AMP" UPGRADE?
-PAC C2A-GM24 OR Soundgate LOC 4.2. I know I said dont use an LOC with with Bose stereo's, but the LUXURY Bose system is different. The Sub output of the LUX amp is 110% better than the sub output of the non-lux Bose amp. The LUX amp's sub output is very clean and crossed over perfectly with the Bose door speakers. The PAC C2A-GM24 is technically a cleaner solution, I messed around with one and couldnt get the levels balanced right, and it did NOT sound any better than the LOC I used. The LOC feeding the aftermarket sub/amp in my truck with the Lux amp sounds awesome IMHO. Yes, the Soundgate LOC 4.2 is quite expensive (60 bucks) but you get what you pay for. I was not going to mess around with the 15 dollar LOC's sold at WalMart.-:t
11. How do I add an auxillary audio input, say for a laptop, DVD player, MP3 player etc...?
PAC AAI-GM12 or PAC AAI-GM24. Each of these devices will give you two additional standard audio inputs. The AAI-GM12 is if you already have factory XM and/or the factory rear seat DVD player (RSE). The AAI-GM24 is if you do NOT already have factory XM or rear seat dvd player.
12. How do I add a dedicated iPod adapter, that will let me control teh ipod, charge the ipod, etc...?
Metra GMIP-01, PAC iPod-2-Car, Nucleus NC-X2i. There are many adapters that do this function, the main ones listed above. Each of them offer different features, capabilities, etc... Do some research or try a Diesel Place search to decide which one is best for you.
13. Ive seen that some people have installed the factory Escalade/Denali/Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon navigation radios. How do I install this in my truck?
Click here: http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40437
NOTE: PLEASE READ THAT ENTIRE FIRST PAGE BEFORE YOU PM ME OR ASK ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS IN THE THREAD. Yes, I know its really long and detailed and takes a while to read, but do yourself a favor and read it if you really want to install the factory nav unit. 9 out of 10 PM's to me or questions asked in the thread are CLEARLY answerd on the first page of the nav install thread. I get frustrated when people ask me questions that Ive already taken the time to spell out on the first page. Do me a favor and read the first page (you dont have to read the whole thread) before PM'ing me or responding to the thread. If the question has not been answered, or you have a unique problem/question, THEN PM me or respond to the thread.:)
Various other audio related questions:
1. You can NOT retain factory XM if you install an aftermarket head unit. However if you also install an aftermarket XM tuner, you can use the factory XM roof antenna. Do a search on how this is done. ;)
2. You can NOT retain factory RSE (rear seat entertainment, the rear seat DVD player) if you install an aftermarket head unit.
3. You can NOT retain factory RSA (rear seat audio, the audio controls on the back of the center console for the rear passengers) if you install an aftermarket head unit.
4. The guy at Circuit City/Best Buy/local stereo shop says my airbags wont work, truck will explode, nothing will work if I dont buy this 100$ adapter. Do I need this if I dont care about keeping ANY chimes/RAP/OnStar etc...
NO! 99% of those guys have NO idea how the audio/electrical/data bus systems in our trucks work!!! The Class II data bus works in a "star" configuration; each module passes on information/data to other modules on the data bus. Kind of like the game "telephone". Each time you start the vehicle, the BCM sends out a 'wake up' signal to tell all the modules to turn on. Each module that receives the wake up signal reports back to the BCM with a 'SOH' (state of health) signal. If you install an aftermarket head unit without using the adapters, when the BCM asks the radio to return its SOH signal, the factory radio wont respond anything (because its not there), and the BCM will mark it 'absent' and it will then "close" the star-pattern data chain to not include the radio. Simple as that. Everything else works 100% with no problems.
Hope that helps, if I forgot something or you think another Q/A should be answerd or posted in this sticky, please PM me and Ill add it.:)
-ben
1. What adapters do I need to install an aftermarket radio/nav unit in my truck, but keep the stock Bose speakers and keep OnStar?
-PAC OS-2BOSE. This adapter will allow you to retain OnStar, door/warning chimes, and will give you the appropriate wires to keep RAP (retained accessory power) functional. This also allows you to hook up an aftermarket head unit to the stock Bose amplifier/stock Bose speakers. Keep in mind you will need an adapter of this sort because the stock radio harness does NOT have switched accessory and ignition power. The power wire going to the radio harness is 12volts hot all the time. The radios are switched on and off via the PMM (power mode master) function of the Class II data bus.
2. What adapters do I need to install an aftermarket head unit, but I keep the stock NON-Bose speakers (or you are ripping out all of the Bose stuff) and keep OnStar?
-PAC OS-2. This adapter will allow you to retain OnStar, door/warning chimes, and will give you the appropriate wires to keep RAP (retained accessory power, keeps the radio on until you open the door) functional. This allows you to hook up an aftermarket head unit to the stock non-Bose speakers, if your truck does not have Bose. This adapter will also work if you are using aftermarket amplifies and/or speakers with the aftermarket head unit. Otherwise it is similar to the OS-2 BOSE.
3. What adapters do I need to hook up an aftermarket head unit, keep the Bose speakers working, but do not have OnStar?
-PAC OS-2BOSE. Same as #1.
4. What adapters do I need to keep chimes/RAP, but do NOT have Bose or OnStar?
-PAC C2R-GM24. Taps into Class II data bus and gives you door/warning chimes, and a switched ignition power wire, also allows you to keep RAP.
5. What adapters do I need to only keep warning chimes, but will splice into an ignition wire separately, do not need to keep RAP?
-PAC CM1. Keeps chimes ONLY. You will need to tap into a separate wire under the steering column to switch the radio on and off. Be sure to use a fused relay, so as not to overload any ignition wires that do not have enough amperage capacity to power an aftermarket head unit.
6. What adapter do I need if I do not need to keep chimes, RAP, or anything, I just want to wire my aftermarket head unit in to my stock non-Bose speakers?
-Metra...(ill look up the part #) OR for free you can tap into the stock non-Bose radio harness by cutting and splicing the wires for free. Power is avialible at A1, etc...
7. What adapter do I need to keep my stock steering wheel controls functional?
-PAC SWI-X. This will keep your audio-related steering wheel controls functional. Note if you do NOT install this adapter, your DIC/instrument cluster related steering wheel controls will still work, but the audio related (volume, seek, source, onstar/mute) buttons will not work.
8. What adapter do I need to keep the factory radio, but replace the speakers/Bose amp with an aftermarket speaker/amp combination?
-PAC AOEM-GM24. This allows you to completely remove all factory stock speakers/Bose stuff and still keep the factory radio working fine. It will give you front/rear RCA line-level outputs that will hook up to any aftermarket amplifier. Much to people's surprise, the factory Bose head units have a surprisingly "clean" line level output that will sound very good with aftermarket amps/speakers. There is NO Bose equalization and NO 'bass cuts as the volume goes up' coming out of the Bose head units. All the Bose garbage happends in the Bose amp itself. You will still retain all volume/bass/treble controls on the factory radio. NOTE: THIS IS NOT a standard "LOC" (line output converter, hooks to the factory speaker wires and gives you RCA plugs) that you can buy at any stereo shop!!! LOC's work completely differently and while they will work, the PAC AOEM-GM24 adapter will give you a MUCH cleaner signal because it grabs the line-level audio coming out of the head unit, NOT the audio thats already been mucked around with by the Bose amp. There is a difference! Especially with subs, the Bose signals are rolled off on the low end as they cross over to the subwoofer, so therefore bass especially will sound muddy and crappy on aftermarket speakers hooked up with an LOC. If you use a PAC AOEM-GM24 on a NON-Bose radio and are completely replacing all the stock speakers and installing aftermarket speakers and amps, I advise you go to the dealer and have them reprogram the radio to BOSE ("UQ7 w/o Y91"). There are separate instructions on how to program the radios. The reason I say this is because the NON-Bose radios output a semi-crappy signal that is designed for the crappy non-Bose speakers, as you turn the volume up on the non-Bose radios, bass is severely rolled off to protect the crappy non-Bose speakers. If you reprogram the radio to BOSE, the outputs will be low level, clean, and not 'messed around with' or equalized.
9. How do I keep the stock Bose speakers, but just supplement them with an aftermarket sub?
-PAC AOEM-GM24. Same adapter as above. Keeps the Bose speakers working, and gives you RCA line level outputs to hook up to an aftermarket amp/sub. When you hook up the aftermarket sub, I advise to disconnect the factory Bose sub. Dig into the console and unplug the Bose amp's C2 (8 pin) connector, then pull the DARK BLUE/WHITE, DARK GREEN, LIGHT BLUE/BLACK, LIGHT GREEN/BLACK wires out of the connector, then plug the C2 connector back in. This will disconnect the factory Bose sub.
10. How do I keep the Bose speakers, but jsut supplement them with an aftermarket sub IF YOU HAVE DONE THE BOSE "LUXURY AMP" UPGRADE?
-PAC C2A-GM24 OR Soundgate LOC 4.2. I know I said dont use an LOC with with Bose stereo's, but the LUXURY Bose system is different. The Sub output of the LUX amp is 110% better than the sub output of the non-lux Bose amp. The LUX amp's sub output is very clean and crossed over perfectly with the Bose door speakers. The PAC C2A-GM24 is technically a cleaner solution, I messed around with one and couldnt get the levels balanced right, and it did NOT sound any better than the LOC I used. The LOC feeding the aftermarket sub/amp in my truck with the Lux amp sounds awesome IMHO. Yes, the Soundgate LOC 4.2 is quite expensive (60 bucks) but you get what you pay for. I was not going to mess around with the 15 dollar LOC's sold at WalMart.-:t
11. How do I add an auxillary audio input, say for a laptop, DVD player, MP3 player etc...?
PAC AAI-GM12 or PAC AAI-GM24. Each of these devices will give you two additional standard audio inputs. The AAI-GM12 is if you already have factory XM and/or the factory rear seat DVD player (RSE). The AAI-GM24 is if you do NOT already have factory XM or rear seat dvd player.
12. How do I add a dedicated iPod adapter, that will let me control teh ipod, charge the ipod, etc...?
Metra GMIP-01, PAC iPod-2-Car, Nucleus NC-X2i. There are many adapters that do this function, the main ones listed above. Each of them offer different features, capabilities, etc... Do some research or try a Diesel Place search to decide which one is best for you.
13. Ive seen that some people have installed the factory Escalade/Denali/Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon navigation radios. How do I install this in my truck?
Click here: http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40437
NOTE: PLEASE READ THAT ENTIRE FIRST PAGE BEFORE YOU PM ME OR ASK ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS IN THE THREAD. Yes, I know its really long and detailed and takes a while to read, but do yourself a favor and read it if you really want to install the factory nav unit. 9 out of 10 PM's to me or questions asked in the thread are CLEARLY answerd on the first page of the nav install thread. I get frustrated when people ask me questions that Ive already taken the time to spell out on the first page. Do me a favor and read the first page (you dont have to read the whole thread) before PM'ing me or responding to the thread. If the question has not been answered, or you have a unique problem/question, THEN PM me or respond to the thread.:)
Various other audio related questions:
1. You can NOT retain factory XM if you install an aftermarket head unit. However if you also install an aftermarket XM tuner, you can use the factory XM roof antenna. Do a search on how this is done. ;)
2. You can NOT retain factory RSE (rear seat entertainment, the rear seat DVD player) if you install an aftermarket head unit.
3. You can NOT retain factory RSA (rear seat audio, the audio controls on the back of the center console for the rear passengers) if you install an aftermarket head unit.
4. The guy at Circuit City/Best Buy/local stereo shop says my airbags wont work, truck will explode, nothing will work if I dont buy this 100$ adapter. Do I need this if I dont care about keeping ANY chimes/RAP/OnStar etc...
NO! 99% of those guys have NO idea how the audio/electrical/data bus systems in our trucks work!!! The Class II data bus works in a "star" configuration; each module passes on information/data to other modules on the data bus. Kind of like the game "telephone". Each time you start the vehicle, the BCM sends out a 'wake up' signal to tell all the modules to turn on. Each module that receives the wake up signal reports back to the BCM with a 'SOH' (state of health) signal. If you install an aftermarket head unit without using the adapters, when the BCM asks the radio to return its SOH signal, the factory radio wont respond anything (because its not there), and the BCM will mark it 'absent' and it will then "close" the star-pattern data chain to not include the radio. Simple as that. Everything else works 100% with no problems.
Hope that helps, if I forgot something or you think another Q/A should be answerd or posted in this sticky, please PM me and Ill add it.:)
-ben