No sound - installing new Alpine HU in 1999 Denali w/ Bose?

Question

I'm trying to install a new Alpine head unit into a 1999 GMC Denali w/ the Premium Bose sound system. When I took the stock unit out and connected the wiring harness and the new Alpine unit, everything works...... except...... there's no sound! I don't want to maintain the use of the 6 CD changer, the door chimes, or anything like that; I just want sound to come from the speakers from my new deck!

I was told that I need to splice the pink wire into the remote wire on the back of the deck in order to turn on the Bose amp - no dice. I've been searching online for the past few hours trying to find a wiring diagram and all I've come up with are the basic diagrams and charts; yellow=power, black=ground, blah blah blah. I even spent a few dollars trying to buy the information from sites that supposedly were selling it...what a rip off.

Is anyone familiar enough with this set up to help? I'm fairly experienced in car audio, but I'm really trying to avoid having to test every wire with a meter.... :(

Answer 1

Activating the Bose amp through the pink wire might not be enough. I don't have a wiring diagram available for the Bose system in a 99 Denali, but many GM Bose packages use a common ground in the signal wires between the head unit and the factory amplifier. For example, instead of separate (+) and (-) wires for each output channel, your factory radio plug may have four (+) wires, then a single (-) wire each for the front and rear outputs. This wouldn't be compatible with the floating-ground speaker outputs in a high-power head unit.



Bose systems with common-ground signal wires usually include shield wires. Take a look at the wiring in the factory plug. Do you see any wires that are uninsulated, or have clear insulation? They'd look like bare wires coming out of the plug.



If you see shield wires, then you definitely have a common-ground system. In this case, you'd need a premium sound adapter to integrate the after-market deck with the Bose amp inputs. A premium sound adapter includes isolation transformers, so the common ground wiring won't affect the head unit's speaker outputs. It also includes level adjusment, so you can dial down the head unit's output to match the Bose amp's low-level inputs.

Answer 2

1999 Denali

Answer 3

99 Denali

Answer 4

1999 GMC Yukon/Denali Stereo Wiring

Constant 12V+ Orange

Switched 12V+ Yellow

Ground Black

Illumination Gray

Dimmer Brown

Antenna Right Front

Front Speakers 6 1/2" Doors

Left Front (+) Tan

Left Front (-) Gray

Right Front (+) Light Green

Right Front (-) Dark Green

Rear Speakers 6 1/2" Rear Doors

Left Rear (+) Brown

Left Rear (-) Yellow

Right Rear (+) Dark Blue

Right Rear (-) Light Blue

Answer 5

unfortunately you have a big expensive problem. the factory bose systems are costly to change the head units on because you have to install all new speakers also. i've had to deal with a few of em. the first one i had the same problem as you and found out each speaker has its own small amplifier built into it. to change head units you gotta change the speakers too.