Nope, no gain control. It was just the standard AM/FM/Cass deck with the treble slider right above the Bass slider, to the left of the display, but it had Bose on it like the Cadillac and Corvette radio'* of the same vintage.

I just searched google, but couldn't find any pictures. So instead I did a search on www.car-part.com for a radio for a 1987 Bonneville and sure enough there is an option for a BOSE stereo. There are even a few listed too with speakers. Interesting though is when you look up the options for radios in the 1988-1990 it doesn't give a BOSE option.

You CAN go anywhere and get the speakers. Onething though, your rear speaker connector is a 4 pin plug, so the speaker adapter harness (can be gotten at any car audio place such as Best Buy, Curcuit City, etc..) that you can buy won't work. You will have to chop enough wire from the original speaker and use that wire and connector, unless of course you are going to put an aftermarket amp in. In either case though, if you have the time and don't mind spending an extra $35-40 for some good 12-14g speaker wire you won't regret it.

Good info thanks. Is that only for the back ones ? Will the adapter harness work for the fronts ? Also, the backs are 4 pins ? WHat the heck do the other 2 pins do ?

JLathem

The adapter will work with the fronts no problem.
I believe the 2 extras for the rear are power feeds from the amp. Don't quote me though. That'* what the extra two wires are for on the Chrysler Infinity systems.

So it has powered ( amplified ) speakers in back .....
That further complicates things. Again . hmmm
Ok NOW I'm thinking about yanking out the HU. :?
Thanks again for all the good info.

JLathem

I have BOSE in the 87.

You have 4 wires in the back because 2 wires carry the mids and highs to the speaker, and 2 wires drive the bass. It'* a two-coil speaker. Nothing too exciting or fancy. I HAD the same system.

I wouldn't be too concerned with using 4 ohm speakers with your current HU, but you might want to look into upgrading the HU. It would sound better, and it would have a CD (MP3, MiniDisc , whatever) player.

If you want some good suggestions for speakers and HU'*, specify which brands you like, especially if you have favorites, like me, hahaha. And specify a price range...then we'll get you set up.

I don't really have favorites. I just don't like cheap stuff. Pioneer has worked well for me in the past. AS for price range ... maybe 500 bucks ? If I could get a decent system for less it would be great. I would install it myself. Most of my sound experience comes from home theaters but I have installed multiple ( simple setups ) car stereos in the past

JLathem

You can't go wrong with Pioneer. If you are doing a non-amp'd system, $500 will get you pretty far. However.. if you are buying a HU, you will need at least $300 to go to that, $50 in wiring [varies], and the rest can go for speakers.. which won't be anything special, because mid range Pioneer'* run $100 for two [varies on size, output, and whether it'* a Premier or Pioneer product].


-justin

Non amped works for me ... Again I just want clear music. I'm not really interested
in blowing the back window out.
So 500 bucks will get me a decent non amped tuner and front and rear speakers ?
Any more suggestions on brand names ?


JLathem