I have a 2000 Cadillac DeVille with the aplified Bose factory sound system. I was told that each of the 4 door speakers will need to be replaced when I install my new head unit. He said something like each Bose speaker has an amp built into it that wont work right with an aftermarket head unit. I am installing a JL 500/1 amp and 1 12" JL 12W6v2. if I have to reaplce all the door speakers can I run the new 5 1/4 speakers and the 12W6V2 off the 500/1 amp or will I need to buy another amp? Thanks
To do your setup the way you describe, you need to buy another amp for your door speakers, a class a/b or something with 4 channels for mids/highs. Jl makes a 500/4 I believe that is supposed to be pretty good.
And take anything you hear from a car audio shop with a grain of salt. Used car salesmen and military recruiters are the only careers with a higher percentage of bullsh*tters. Your bose speakers may have something like an individual 'amp', but I douvbt it. Late 90's cherokees and many other cars have (crappy) stock 'amps' that you have to disconnetct in order to use a different amp, but it's one amp for the car, not per speaker. Probably the guy is lying to make a sale but he might not be. The smart thing to do would be to look yourself if you have confidence in your abilities to open your door panel without breaking anything.
The car will have one external factory amplifier for all the speakers. The shop is telling you the truth about needing to replace everything though. When you replace the HU, it's damn near impossible to get a stock amp to work with it.