Replacing a Bose headunit with Pioneer AVH-X2700BS (options)

[Kiwironic]

Hi guys,

I am new here and I am going to use this Topic to think out loud and get your opinion about things.

I just got myself a 2005 roadster NC (that's a 2005 NZ MX5 and yes, Japanese models include a 3rd gen 2005 NC) It supposed to have Bose head-unit, but it was fitted with a Sony Xplode as you can see in the photo attached

So I am setting up a reverse camera, PAC SWI-CP5 Steering Wheel Control with Bus Data and those are the easy ones to setup. The Pioneer AVH-X2700BS on the other hand

Now, I am quite the geek, but I don't know how car audio systems fully work. I have set up a few simple ones, harness to stereo, reverse cam, mount flush input/output, etc and bam... All done.

The questions here are, I have 5 speakers, two subs and the Bose amp setup which I am assuming based on my model. The original Bose stereo was removed by the previous owner.

Questions:
- For the best results, should I use the internal Pioneer AVH-X2700BS amp or the bose one???
- How do I wire this stereo to use the bose amp (if that is the best thing I should do)
- Do I need any other components ?? such as a line-level adapter?? or a specific harness? and how to wire those as well.
- How do I setup the stereo to best work with this system? Digital time alignment and the sort?
- How do I wire and set it up to work with 2 subs (in doors).

My car also has a GPS antenna fitted in, which makes me suspect that the car was imported with a GPS screen unit (which was then replaced by the sony unit).

I hope I don't see any nasty surprises when I remove the trim with wiring.

Now, the second option is to find the original bose headunit (with trim) and replace my headunit with it. Then connect a USB, bluetooth and AUX android module to it (connects to the CD changer port). This way I can get BT, AUX, USB, and steering wheel controls working. The reverse camera is not a priority at the moment.

What do you guys think???

Much appreciated....

[pready]

So how did you get on with this? Did you get it going satisfactory with the Dose amp? Did you end up using a line level converter?

[pready]

I successfully fitted a Sony XAV-AX1000 to my MX-5 NC.
I fitted it in conjunction with the Bose factory Amp. I needed to add in a line Level Converter (LLC) between the head unit and Bose Amp. I chose this method in order to run all the original speakers. Without the LLC there is loud and extra loud volume and you can only use about 25% of Sony volume control. The other option would have been to bi-pass the Bose Amp, but would have needed to replace all the speakers, as they are only 1-2 ohms and the Sony needs 4/8 ohm speakers. I used a Axxess AX-ALOC648 4-Channel Adjustable Line Output Converter 80-Watt. There are Aerpro and other makes around as well.

[samjewel]

nice observation... Also learned from it