Car Stereos: 05 Trailblaizer, using a digital multimeter, bose amp

Question
I have an 05 trailblaizer with a flat screen bose cd player and bose speakers wanting to know how i can hook up my subs and amp to this unit Can you help

Answer
Hi Jeremy,

You can use a line-out converter to add an amplifier and subs to the factory radio, but the Bose system makes it a little trickier.

A line-out converter connects to the factory speaker wiring and provides a low-level output through RCA jacks.  You can use RCA cables to connect this to your after-market amplifier.

The tricky part is finding the speaker wires.  You can't tap them behind the factory radio because of the Bose system.  You'll need to connect to the wires between the Bose amplifier and the speakers.

The Bose amp should be located under the side panel in the cargo area, above the rear wheel well.  If you have the extended version of the Trailblazer, then it's probably on the driver's side; if it's the standard length, then it's on the passenger side.  Either way, you can find the speaker wires there.  I'd suggest connecting to the wires that run to the front door speakers, because they should be carrying the full bass signal.  The left door speaker pair should be tan and gray; the right door speaker wires are light green and dark green.  The tan and the light green wires are the positive speaker leads.

If getting to the Bose amplifier is too difficult, you can find the same wires in the "kick panels" (the interior panels to the left of the driver's feet and to the right of the passenger's feet).  The speaker wires will be found in the wire bundles running into each door.  Usually the two speaker wires are coiled together.  You can verify that they're speaker wires using a digital multimeter, set for AC voltage; if audio is playing through the speakers, there will be AC voltage present on the speaker wires, and the voltage will increase as the volume increases.

In addition to the line-out converter and RCA cables, you'll need to run a power wire from the amp to the battery.  You'll also need to connect a remote turn-on wire to a key-switched voltage source so that the amp doesn't stay on when the key is off.  I'd suggest tapping into the windshield wiper fuse; or into the thick brown wire coming from the key switch.

Hope this helps.

Brian