Replace Bose Head Unit. RP5-GM11 And Kenwood DNX9140

DAlastDON

Original poster
Member
Apr 6, 2014
5,550
Kentucky
After replacing the blown Bose speaker, i took the opportunity to listen to the Bose head unit with everything zeroed out. I like the neutral sound stage but the highs and lows sound flat.

Replaced the Bose head unit with a Kenwood DNX9140 from my Maxima. Used the RP5-GM11 harness to retain steering wheel controls, chimes, onstar, and rear seat audio(no overhead DVD). Steering wheel controls worked perfect out of the box with no programming. Chimes did not come through the speakers as i hoped they would. Instead i have to use the CMX Chime Module. It sounds and acts a little different then the stock chimes but it should suit my needs. RSA still works somewhat. It is dependent on the Bose head unit to be fully functional. The DNX9140 supports dual zone. I can send a different source to the rear speakers and it plays through the head phones. The source must be selected at the Kenwood. Source button on RSA does nothing without the Bose head unit. The dimmer function that ties into the head lights does not work. But it did not in the maxima either. Set the dimmer to sync with the navigation.

Had the option on the RP5 to use with an amplified or non amplified system. Tried both. On the non amplified the sound got louder quicker with better bass response. I was able to get rid of the distortion in the rear speakers with an adjustment to high pass crossover setting in the Kenwood. BUT the onstar was too loud and had a initial pop and a steady buzz. Unacceptable. If it was not for the how the onstar sounded then i would have went with the non amplified. On the amplified it does not get as loud but it gets plenty loud by the time you get to 3/4 volume to ride with the windows down. No audible distortion(that i have heard so far) at full volume despite having to use speaker level sound to the RP5. Excelon series FTW.

The CMX gave me issues due to quality control. Initially it would only chime when i held the wires at a certain point. After some prying i got the plastic case opened up to find the traces on the circuit board lifted and broke off. Scraped off some of the non-conductive coating over the circuit traces and made some nice solder bridges between the connector and the fresh copper traces. Then i took some hot glue and smeared it everywhere to keep the two pin connector in place. Zip tied it back together and it is better than new. It works :smile: Just left it inside the bottom of the dash behind the carpet. Not as loud as the stock but it will get my attention if needed.

Got a late start on it am going to install the rear camera another day. Fished the wiring for the camera along with a pair of 12v aux outs controlled by the head unit to a point that i could access under the dash to finish at a later time.

When i do get around to running the camera wire to the rear, where did you mount yours? Not looking to fish it through the lift gate but i will if i have to. It is a regular square shaped camera with a wide angle lens. I was thinking about mounting it to the bottom of the receiver hitch. Not decided yet though.




Kenwood DNX9140 is a deep head unit. Had to hack a little inside the dash of the maxima and the envoy to make it fit. It was almost too wide. The scratches are from the screws that secure the dash kit to the head unit.



The scratch happened when i removed it from the maxima. Shifter knob had to be removed and during a bone head move i let it rest on the shifter without the shift knob. I knew what had happened before even looking at it. Doesn't affect functionality and it is barely seen when the unit is powered on.






 

IllogicTC

Member
Dec 30, 2013
3,452
"No highs, no lows, it must be Bose," that's the saying I see astroturfed across the Internet. I think those people must not know how an equalizer works. While it's no extreme-end, "oh I'm sitting RIGHT THERE in the concert hall!" quality, it's definitely above stock standards. Maybe I'm biased because my last two vehicles had 10-watt 2-speaker systems stock :rotfl:
 
  • Like
Reactions: xavierny25

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Nice. I really been wanting to switch to a DD unit myself
 

DAlastDON

Original poster
Member
Apr 6, 2014
5,550
Kentucky
Did anyone notice the typo in they word "System"? I just noticed that it is spelled "Ststem" in the picture. I will have to fix that one of these day's.
 

DAlastDON

Original poster
Member
Apr 6, 2014
5,550
Kentucky
HARDTRAILZ said:
Nice. I really been wanting to switch to a DD unit myself
The opening of the stock dash was not too hard. Required the use of a nylon pry bar. No way to pop the metal clips free and not damage something with a screwdriver or putty knife. Wiring the Kenwood to the RP5 was done at my desk. Solder and heat shrunk the harness's of all the devices, then zip tied up. Plug and play after that since the steering wheel controls were built in and pre-programmed. There is not much room in there so wire management is a must.
 

xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
Great right up. Thumbs up.I did my brother-in-laws set up just about the same way with the rp5 gm11. Worked out beautifully I might add. We went with the pioneer 7" it's pretty awesome. And we went with a 5 channel amp in the rear. I have a envoy and I find the trailblazer/ss is alot harder to get the dash apart.
 

Attachments

  • 20140831_153931.jpg
    20140831_153931.jpg
    61.4 KB · Views: 20

Forum Statistics

Threads
23,271
Posts
637,476
Members
18,472
Latest member
MissCrutcher

Members Online

No members online now.