Decided to start the install today...didn't think it'd be too much trouble First off, the open grommet in the firewall I planned on running my power wire through wasn't open...someone used it on their 02 but my 03 has a tube from the brake fluid reservoir going through it. I couldn't find another opening so I ran the power from the trunk to the driver kick panel for today. Second, not gonna be running new speaker wire into the doors like I had planned...as someone else had also done to all 4 doors. I got the kick panel off and I don't have the same space under the wire harness that they used. I figure I'll just splice into the speaker wires from my bose amp in the trunk...why run new wire to the front only to splice into the factory stuff anyway...save myself some frustration. Last issue...when I got the Symphony II out the spot for the Blau adapter is already being used...pre-outs for the Bose amp I suppose. Not sure what to do here yet...I was going to run my Stinger Dream Series signal cables to the trunk but I'm seriously considering just tapping the line levels from the amp also. I'd like to keep the factory rears working for fill. Is this where people talk about re-pinning the factory harness? Would I just repin the harness with a single set of RCAs from the Blau adapter and run my interconnects? Running the power wire was such a serious b*tch that I'm not sure I want to run more wire up the other side...the easy way out is looking better all the time. I can't imaging It'd make a significant difference in sound quality. Maybe I'll just suck it up and run the wire and figure out how to hook everything up later...maybe have a shop make the connections and see if they can get the wires into the doors. Any input/suggestions?

 

I re-pinned the Blau. See my site for details.

 

all the holes in the factory harness are already being used by pins sending signal to the Bose amp. If I completely swap out the pins from the Blau adapter, I won't have any signal going to the Bose amp for the stock rears which I want to keep. If I just re-pin one set of outputs what do I do about the common ground? can I splice the wire from the Blau adapter onto the existing common ground wire so both the Bose amp and my new lines share the ground? That sounds reasonable. Although I could still just take the signal from the factory wires at the trunk too.

 

at the bose amp itself.

 

if I just tap the signal from the Bose amp in the trunk as opposed to running new RCAs from the head unit? I can't imagine there would be much difference considering I'm keeping the factory HU anyway. I know the current factory lines are clean. Plus running power up the driver side was enough of a b*tch...I'm not excited about doing it up the passenger side if I don't have to.

 

I dove under the dash Sunday to solve my power wire routing issue and found plenty of empty grommets. If you find the factory 4ga coming through, there should be an empty spot immediately below it in the same piece of rubber. There is also another "bank" of about 6 empty grommets a few inches to the left and below the factory 4ga. All of these are rubber nipples that poke through the fire wall. All I did was clip the end on a coat hanger to have a sharp point, pike it through one of the nipples, pull it back out and duct tape my 4ga to it and poke it back through. From the engine compartment you can easily get the end and pull the rest of your wire through.

 

I think it's worth a try. If it's noisy, then go all the way to the HU.

 

I followed John P's install advice, and it worked great (thanks John, headbobbin dude)

It was a pain in the *** to back the pins out, but i finally got them. Just replace the pins in the HU connector with the Blau pins, and you should be good to go.

It made a world of difference in the sound - I had been running through a line level convertor.

Good luck.

 

And I also ran my new Stinger Dream Serier interconnects to the trunk...another b*tch...but hopefully worth the effort. I got 4m but that is just barely enough to get the job done depending on where in the trunk you mount your amp. I actually ran it directly under the passenger's feet...most direct route from the door sill to the HU...instead of all the way up and under the dash...otherwise I wouldn't have had enough. Now I just need to re-pin the factory harness and tap into the factory speaker wires and remote power in the trunk.

 

PITA, but oh so worth it.