Bad bose amp.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I'm pretty sure the amp for my driver door speaker is bad. I just wanted to check and make sure that sounds like the right diagnosis before I start replacing things.

This morning, there was some minor sporadic popping, nothing major.Tonight, when I got in the car and popped in Tom Petty's Greatest Hits, I was greeted with a couple of very LOUD pops. It stopped until I was a way down the road, at which point it became a quieter continuous crackling and popping.The noise is completely independent of head unit volume. The rest of the speakers sound fine.Also, the crackling speaker emits a STRONG smell of ozone.

Prior to this incident, the same speaker has been an intermittent thing. Sometimes it would be completely silent, other times very quiet, and other times it would act normally.

I'm probably just going to pop off the door panel tomorrow morning and disconnect the problematic speaker until I can fix it.

[Jesda]

Its pooched.

[elwesso]

yeah, amp is bad. BTW most nissan bose are the same so you could probably find one. A nice mod that people do sometimes is put rear amps in the front.

[maxnix]

yeah, amp is bad. BTW most nissan bose are the same so you could probably find one. A nice mod that people do sometimes is put rear amps in the front.

As I understand it, each Bose amplifier and speaker in each car is equalized for that particular application.

Somewhere I saw a picture of the amp with the capacitors identified.

For guaranteed commercial repair, I used

http://www.carstereohelp.com

[qship96]

Brian is correct, The whole hoopla behind the Bose is their custom equalisation of sound based on individual make/model of car and even differences in interior trim levels{leather or cloth seats,etc} in order to obtain a high fidelity frequency balanced system.

Swapping any other bose amp other than the custom one designed for the individual application negates the entire benefit of the matched,balanced system.

The factory 94-96Q Bose system, when operating as designed,especially while listening to a CD, is overall a pleasant sounding system{this coming from a long time home audiophile with a 2 channel home system valued well into the five figures}

[3Q Jay]

hit me an email MoD. I can rebuild yours.qship is correct--when refreshed, these amps paired with some aftermarket 2ohm high efficiency speakers will amaze.

[Jesda]

Discard system, start from scratch with aftermarket.

[elwesso]

hit me an email MoD. I can rebuild yours.qship is correct--when refreshed, these amps paired with some aftermarket 2ohm high efficiency speakers will amaze.

What speakers are you running Jay? Ive always thought about putting in some new speakers into my car...

[3Q Jay]

kappa 692.7i rearkappa 42.7i front (no cutting of front pods required)

DAEDALUS and Q45man1 have heard it, as well as a few others who couldn't believe it was 'stock' amps, HU and no sub.goody is digging the amps i have rebuilt.

[goody90q45]

DAEDALUS and Q45man1 have heard it, as well as a few others who couldn't believe it was 'stock' amps, HU and no sub.goody is digging the amps i have rebuilt.

Jay has been very generous in rebuilding a few dead amps and a few marginal amps for my 90Q. It's not a quick job judging by the bag of removed resistors, capacitors, etc. that he returned to me. With Jay's rebuilt amps, Andy's (mrx662) kind donation of near new rear speakers (parked indoors for 17 yrs), front amps and a mint head unit, and David's (rhinoone) great price on a pair of excellent condition front speakers, I've got a super sound system. Thanks to all of you for your help.

I still want to try the Infinity Kappa speakers in the 94Q though.

[Q45tech]

Class D amplifiers use lots of electrolytic capacitors which have a limited time/temperature life. Anything over 10 years is borrowed time in the warm South...............Bose upgraded the designs in 91 and 94 with more robust capacitors but still budget for replacements/rebuilds.

As a side note the door amps have a Bass boost for tuned port which when used in the rear [requires some mods] is pleasing to some. One is enough since bass is non directional.

The amps are nearly identical for GM. Lincoln, Nissan all that changes is a couple of soldered on equalization IC chips.

[maxnix]

The amps are nearly identical for GM. Lincoln, Nissan all that changes is a couple of soldered on equalization IC chips.

And that is why they won't sound as good as stock if you change between car models.

[goody90q45]

But in a pinch (i.e.- for those in the remote areas- Canucks, Aussies, Alaska, Hawaii) could the GM and Lincoln amps be used without any soldering (plug and play) ?

Note: No offense intended to any of the above.

[Q45tech]

Just as easy to find used Infiniti as used Corvette but age is the factor as the capacitors are all the same.

http://www.corvetteradios.com/...2.htm

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

[texasoil]

99% of time change the electrolytic capacitors -use high temp, higher voltage rated ones and do it only once.

[silver2k2]

My rear speaker started to crackle.

These look to be a bit less expensive then the ones Jay mentioned while remaining 2ohm

http://cgi.ebay.com/Infinity-R...A1318

[maxnix]

My rear speaker started to crackle.

These look to be a bit less expensive then the ones Jay mentioned while remaining 2ohm

http://cgi.ebay.com/Infinity-R...A1318

It's almost never the cone nor the driver, it's the amplifier, inparticualr, the capacitors.

[silver2k2]

I contacted Jay to have my amps rebuilt, I just figured since they are already out why not upgrade, turn something bad into something good thats my motto

[Q45tech]

Over the 20 years since designed........................electroytic capacitors have improved and it is possible to purchase MIL rated units suitable for NASA and outer space that will last longer [50 years] compared to the <10 year life of originals.

Same with using oem 18 or 20 volt units as modern 50 volt spec will assure longer life.

It's a amatter of find an equal SIZED unit with better specs to fit in limited space.

Something BSEE/MSEE do for a living every week.

[breaksr]

You can send them back to bose and they will rebuild them and replace the speakers at the same time. My local guy charged me something like $90 to do one front speaker and that is the same charge from bose with the new speaker.

[infinitinut2]

At one time, there seemed to be a recall on these, w/ Nissan picking up the tab for dealer r/r. I know dealer did my rears at no cost, and fronts sent to Bose for same freebie! Sort of like Nissan r/r on my M30 seatbelt retractors several times, lifetime warranty and all.

[BadQ45t]

For once jesda and I agree, dump the whole thing and do an aftermarket system. You can do so much more than being stuck with the bose repair stuff.

[qship96]

Discard system, start from scratch with aftermarket.

Two huge problems are created by doing this- first one is current aftermarket headunits seem aimed at teenagers with over-styled displays, tons of blinking/multicolor lights and cheezy looks that spoil the refined, integrated looking dash of the Q.

Second problem is the flashy headunit attracts the criminals, whereas nobody is going to smash a window/destroy a lock to get into the Q to steal the factory headunit

[silver2k2]

I agree the #1 reason to stay stock is to avoid the crack heads breaking in. I remember when my stanza was broken into. The face was off and in the house they broke in to check the glove box for it.

I think runnng some infinitys at 2ohm would be killer

[Jesda]

Two huge problems are created by doing this- first one is current aftermarket headunits seem aimed at teenagers with over-styled displays, tons of blinking/multicolor lights and cheezy looks that spoil the refined, integrated looking dash of the Q.

Second problem is the flashy headunit attracts the criminals, whereas nobody is going to smash a window/destroy a lock to get into the Q to steal the factory headunit

I agree with you, but there are solutions.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Two huge problems are created by doing this- first one is current aftermarket headunits seem aimed at teenagers with over-styled displays, tons of blinking/multicolor lights and cheezy looks that spoil the refined, integrated looking dash of the Q.

Man, you nailed that one. I despise (both aesthetically and, with growing frequency, functionally) aftermarket headunit designs. They're TERRIBLE. Top of my despised list is Alpine with their MORONIC control layouts.

I mean what on earth is this crap?!



Absolutely unintuitive, backward, and just stupid. You should never have to look at your HU to use it. I can't imagine trying to use that thing while driving. Just idiotic.

[maxnix]

I agree with you, but there are solutions.

But that is not Double DIN!

This is!

[silver2k2]

The HU is worth more then most Qs on the road today

[qship96]

Volume control must be a round knob for quick, precise control- not silly little up/down buttons you must continue to press upon to change volume!

[BadQ45t]

Double-DIN is the only way to go in the Q. I have an Alpine in my X-Terra (the stock stereo was HORRIBLE). I agree the newer ones are really shiny, this was a 2005 and not as bad with the lights and displays.

I would say fix the stocker or put in an AVIC or other double-DIN. I just think that once you start to fix a 15 year old system it will be one thing dropping after another. My 97' has a great stereo but when compared to my X-Terra's MB Quartz with Alpine head unit and 400 watt booster there is not much comparison....the aftermarket blows it away.

That said I will have the stock unit in the Q until she dies.