Are there any Q45 members with Factory Car Stereo Repair in Longwood FL experiences?

Recently I sent my two bad Bose front speaker amps to Factory Car Stereo for the standard overhaul and repair that comes with a purported lifetime guarantee.

Yesterday the amps returned. I was surprised to see it only took them an hour to turn around the repair and call for return shippiing and billing charges after the amps were initially delivered by UPS. So I worked all night here to finish my sound deadening installation along with the window regulator maintenance for the front windows to get the Q ready for some better car tunes..

Unfortunately, both amps still have problems -- albeit different from the original issues. I did get to listen to one speaker for a little while -- though it still makes a loud pop when the ignition is turned on.

I know TEST is one of those four letter words that some folks try to avoid. Somehow I just don't think the amps were tested before beintg shipped out.

Could this be just a fluke experience?

BTW - window regulator maintenance on the front doors is way easier than it was last weekend on the rear doors. Again, I'm glad to see the front regulators in good shape as far as I can determine.

Ive actually talked with the owner of that place, and if I recall he does some of the factory rebuilds for other bose setups, like in honda and other stuff. They all basically used the same design with a few changes..

Overall Ive heard people are pretty satisfied with the stuff he does.

I think they have a nice web site and the DIY removal instructions are really helpful. It was their web presence and the instructions I enjoyed the most and the reason I went there.

The amps are on their way back to FL right now. So hopefully after some additional work things will turn out fine in the end.

Let us know how it works out for you... Sometimes these problems are intermittant, and a quick test won't show them. The rebuilt amps I've received from Bose/Clarion have always worked flawlessly, but I'm pretty sure they just swap in new boards and speakers into the old case.

Heath

Q451990 wrote:Let us know how it works out for you... Sometimes these problems are intermittant, and a quick test won't show them. The rebuilt amps I've received from Bose/Clarion have always worked flawlessly, but I'm pretty sure they just swap in new boards and speakers into the old case.

Heath

Will do -- you know it!

I think both problems would be hard(er) for a bench technician to identify without running the amps through a battery of tests or testing both amplifiers simultaniously. I bet a single or "specific set" of parts were replaced to correct the "siren noise" or the most common failure problems as the "cure all ills" solution.

I was up all night trying every possible combination of amp/speaker/channel/head unit/ combination to isolate the problems and rule out any other variables through testing.

One amp performed significantly "louder" than the other -- I guess like 45+ dB or so. So one amp delivered output on a level that would be compatible with the rear speakers at mid fader point. So I was really glad about the volume level that it delivered and I called that one the "good volume" amp. The other amp was so weak that you could barely hear it operate at the same volume level. I called that one the "weak volume" amp.

Unfortunately the "good volume" amp, after playing for a few minutes, would make a loud pop when power was restored. I switched out head units and switched between channels (all combinations that I had available) to further isolate this issue. The "weak volume amp" didn't make the popping noise.

Both speakers worked the same regardless of the amp/head unit combination -- following the characteristics of the good vs. the weak amp. I could not detect any difference between the (R/L) output channels on either head unit with any combination of speaker or amp. So it appeared the issues were mutually exclusive to each amp.

The amps were returned to FL last week. They arrived on at the shop Tuesday. The issues were corrected and the amps were shipped out same day. I received the amps today and both are function correctly! Both amps put out sufficient volume for me to run the fader in the 50/50 position. With the sound deadening enhancements in the doors and soon to be for the floor, the Bose system is adequate.

So here's to this restoration project milestone now being complete.

What is the cost of re-doing those? I have to wonder if you can do better with some aftermarket replacements and a big central AMP pushing much more power? I agree the BOSE stock is actually pretty good, better then I would admit as I have invested in my 300ZX and X-Terra for pretty decent aftermarket equipment, but wonder if you need to re-do all of them where you should just break away and go fully aftermarket.

It was $80 each + shipping for a lifetine warranty on the amplifiers.

http://www.carstereohelp.com/CarStereoRepair.htm

For now roughly $50 to $80 a pair, I have (4) Infinity Reference 6022i speakers in my other vehcile with Dynamat sound deadening (roof and doors) hooked up with the factory sub woofer and the stock 240 watt amp. The tweeters can be adjusted and pointed to enhance the stereo effect. It looks like stock system to a passenger but sounds completely different. Those Infinity's will kick some bass with the right power -- and with a small sub it gets even better. So that configuration has me spoiled!

But I understand it would be a lot of expense to try to change out all of the Bose to an aftermarket solution. So I decided to enhance it with sound deadening and roll with the stock Bose. I can't find a better price for sound deadening at $1 per sq. ft. for eDead. I think eDead is cheaper than the alternative stuff from Home Depot.

http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Referenc ... retrevo-20

BTW - PoorManQ45 turned the forum on to eDead -- which saved me a lot of money.

Well for $80 bucks each as long as the speakers themselves are healthy would save a hell of a lot of $$. I know I spent easily 3X more then that on all new speakers and a nice 400 watt amp.

I think you did the right thing given the numbers. My 97's Bose speakers sound darn good, much better then any other stockers I have owned. My dad had the Mark Levinson system in his LS460 and I don't think it was night and day better then our older systems too...I may add a new head unit but if the speakers fail I will take that route too.

OwnerCS wrote:The amps were returned to FL last week. They arrived on at the shop Tuesday. The issues were corrected and the amps were shipped out same day. I received the amps today and both are function correctly!

Did you happen to find out what the problem with them was by any chance?

I didn't get any details on the correction -- other than the weak amp had been corrected. The popping amp came back working fine. So far so good. The output level at the 50/50 setting is good for both front and rear volume levels. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.