Replacing Factory System, 2001 Suburban

I have a 2001 Suburban with the factory radio with Onstar and a subwoofer in the rear. I've already changed out the door speakers, now I wanna change out the radio. But I have several questions. Is it better to turn on the factory amp, or run wire straight to the speakers from the new radio, bypassing the factory amp completely. I'm not asking what is less labor, I'm asking what will be better in the long run as far as sound quality. As for the Onstar, I could care less about trying to interface it into my new radio. But what about the factory sub? Can I trigger the factory amp to still run the subwoofer? And what about the rear pillar speakers all the way in the back? What size are these and are they tied in with the rear door speakers? Will they come on if the back door speakers are wired up?

i would say bypass the factory amps completely for better sound just straight wired from the new head unit, yes you should be able to still power the factory sub with the right wiring harness at least i know you can with the mach 1000 systems with factory subs, check out your harness behind radio for how many plugs you have and the wires running to the plugs, how many factory amps do you have? im guessing one is dedicated to the sub so hopefully there is a harness to keep that amp, i think the speakers you are refering to in the very back may be 4x10s i know chevy suburbans and tahoes are bout the only vehicals that use those speakers in the very back like that, but they may be 6x9s look it up on metraonline or crutchfield

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mustang GT convertible with lots of performance mods... Alpine M500 amp with sealed enclosure, 10 inch kappa perfect, clarion cz500 head unit, kicker ks speakers all around

I've been told that I have a factory amp, not sure if its more than one or not, I have no clue, and never even tried looking for them. And as for harnesses to keep the factory sub, I've ran plenty of searches and never found one. Only harnesses I can find sre for the bose system or for keeping the Onstar working. I'm not paying for onstar, so I could care less about that. And I dont have a bose system.
As for the rear pillar speakers, they are not 4x10's, they are small round speakers look like maybe 3 or 3.5 at most but the depth behind them is an inch or 2 at MOST. The outside metal is right behind them. The thing I'm more worried about is how and where are they wired? I have 4 speaker wires from the radio but there are six speakers. Could these be tied in with the rear door speakers? I'd like to keep something on in the back, because if you sit in the rear third seat, thats the closest speakers to you, the rear door speakers are in the bottom of the rear doors, and aimed at the 2nd row passenger's feet. I mean if it comes down to it, I may even end up custom mounting some 6.5's or 6x9's in the rear hatch/tailgate. (If I open it all up and see no major obstuctions inside the tailgate).

ahhhh yea gotcha, well not too sure bout how the speakers are wired in the back prolly tied in at the amp, i think the amp on that vehical is behind the glove box, and did you check out this interface AOEM-GM21A

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mustang GT convertible with lots of performance mods... Alpine M500 amp with sealed enclosure, 10 inch kappa perfect, clarion cz500 head unit, kicker ks speakers all around

dont forget "axcess" brand gm-os 01, but i might b wrong but the amp may be located under the 2nd row seats

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If I'm to loud, then you're too old!!!

That AOEM-GM21A harness is not what I need. Thats to add an amp to a factory radio. I'm trying to replace the factory radio. If I keep anything, it will be the factory sub and amp. And memfus, I definitely dont have an amp under my rear seat. I also do NOT have the bose system. I thing they made 3 systems in these trucks, the base system, an upgraded base system with a subwoofer added, and then the premium bose system. Mine is not the bose system, but I do have a factory subwoofer. And as for the onstar, I do not care to retain Onstar. I never have and never will use it. That might be a different story if I had a new vehicle with onstar already paid for for a year. But I have no reason to pay 20 bucks a month for onstar service.

Hs anyone ever bypassed the factory amp in these trucks?? Or has everyone here just triggered them to turn on?

i used the amp turn on on the model before yours, because the older ones have the rear door speakers amplified

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If I'm to loud, then you're too old!!!

I think I'm gonna try and bypass the factory amp. If I can find the speaker wires from the amp to the speakers, I'll connect there and post the wire colors and location on here for others wanting to do the same. If I have trouble finding what I'm looking for, I'll just run new speaker wires from my new radio to each door and have a direct connection to each speaker. I've done that before to a few vehicles, such as a nissan with a bose system. Also did it on a dodge minivan with the infinity system. It's just such a PITA to run wires into each door.

   I think the amp is under the drivers seat.....

Does it have the rear seat audio controls on the back of the center console?

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Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while; you could miss it.

Yes, it does have the rear seat audio controls in the center console. And I know they will be useless once I remove the factory radio. But does having those controls affect how the speakers are wired? Maybe I will just run new speaker wires and forget about all the factory stuff. But I know one thing, I wont be digging into it any day soon. The weather here has gotten bitterly cold, and I have no garage to work in. So I'm not working outside when its below freezing outside, it won't kill me to wait a bit longer.

Your amp is most likely under the center console!  Once you get into working on your vehicle, try checking there, and the wire colors should be standard GM colors.

LF(+,-)  tan, gray

RF(+,-) lt. green, dark green

LR(+,-) brown, yellow

RR(+,-) Dark blue, Lt. blue

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...half of the truth can be worse than a lie. <----Roger Russell said that..

No, I know its not under there. I removed the center console before, when I changed out my seats. So I can definitely tell you its not under there or any of the seats. I think it may be under there on 03 and newer or else on the trucks with the Bose systems, but not in mine. I know I saw a subwoofer under the console of an 04 Bose equipped truck before.

For what it's worth, you might want to check out  the site alldatadiy.com. You can subscribe for your vehicle for a reasonable fee, and it will give you loads of info for it. Its like having a "Haynes" manual that is up-dated every so often.

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"That'll get ya 10 in Leavenworth,11 in Twelveworth, or 5 & 10 in Woolworth". Groucho Marx                                                      

I ain't that worried about it. I'll just run new wires straight to the speakers in the doors. I know that will give me the best sound quality anyways.