Why is my aftermarket stereo not as loud as my stock radio?

Question

I installed a Pioneer 4800MP CD player with all correct wiring harnesses and the converter needed to go to the Bose amplifier in my 2003 Chevy Trailblazer. But it would only play about half as loud as the stock CD player would. Why?

Answer 1

upon the many dumb things about bose, one of them is you can only use bose if the whole system is bose. the only thing i can think of is the bose amp doesnt like, for lack of a better term, the Pioneer cd player. my suggestion to you is rip all the bose crap out of your car, and replace it all. replace it with Pioneer Premier and not only will it be louder then stock, it will sound a lot better as well.

good luck man, and for future referance just remember, bose blows.

Answer 2

you need the correct interface this will let you adjust the gains and turn up the volume also use the speaker wires of the pioneer radio not the rca jacks i did a system on a 2003 suburban with the bose system and the new pioneer radio was louser and the bose speaker are very good i like them better than pioneer or kicker besides you spend all that money on getting the best ausio system from factory and now is going out ?
don't so that try this interface first and use the pioneer speaker wires not the rca jacks

http://www.soundgate.com/index.php?request=product.details&categoryid=185&productid=404&usereferrer=1&

Answer 3

You need help on level matching. Differend headunits have different volts. You can't use the same settings on ur camp with any stereo.

Here's how:
Level matching is simply put, matching the voltage of the source unit (head unit, DVD player, whatever...) to the amplifier's input gain.
The source unit has an optimum volume setting wherein it produces the most amount of voltage w/o distortion. Usually it begins at about 75% of the source unit's maximum volume.

How To Level Match (DIY / mano-mano)
1. Turn the amp's gains way down... usually this is counter-clockwise.
2. Turn up the source unit's volume 75% - 80%.
3. Turn up the amplifier's gain up slowly.
4. Turn up the volume of the source unit up again. If you hear distortion, turn it down a bit to the last setting which didn't produce any distortion.
5. Adjust the amp's gain upwards again... just like step 4, if you hear distortion in your speakers, turn it down to the last setting which it didn't produce it.
6. Now your source unit and amplifier is level-matched! Mano mano nga lang... usually this is the easiest way to do it since not all of us have oscilliscopes or RTA's...

The mano-mano technique although has limitations. our ears aren't always that sensitive to detect slight distortions.

Also, the mano-mano technique gets harder if you have speakers which are HU powered... you have to take into consideration the HU's internal amplifier's limitation. I know some people still have front stages powered by their HU and a sub which is powered by an amp. For people who have systems like this... upgrade na!

Answer 4

they are both right, however i would agree with metelman and get all new stuff, keep the deck but get new speakers and amp. check out kicker and alpine equipment