Subwoofer for 2000 Maxima GLE

[elitts]

Ok, after doing a fair piece of reading about the frustration level involved in working with the Bose sound system, I need help.

I'm getting no sound at all out of my subwoofer.

Since everything else seems to work just fine, I’m going to take that to mean that I need a new subwoofer. Is there a good way to verify that the speaker itself is the problem?

Assuming the Subwoofer is the problem, what do you experts suggest as the best/cheapest way to fix it.

A. Replace the sub with another sub from a junked out 2000 Maxima;B. Buy a new OEM sub;C. Buy an aftermarket sub that will fit in the existing housing and work with the existing amp.

Please guide me.

[Looneybomber]

You need to do a root cause analysis on your system to see what the problem is. Is it the sub, is it the amp, is it the wiring, is it the headunit? Test them all to see which one isn't working. Sure you say your sub isn't working, but if your headunit isn't sending a signal to the amp, you wont get anything. Same goes for a corroded wire or a bad amp. See what is actually faulty and fix that. Who knows, there might even be a couple things wrong.

[elitts]

Yeah, I kind of figured that. I plan on getting out the old voltmeter out to see if I'm getting anthing from the HU. And someone suggested touching the speaker leads to a 9 volt battery to check for movement in order to find out if it truly is dead. However, I'm not sure how I would determine if the Amp is bad.

Any suggestions on that part of it? And assuming it truly is the sub, my original question still stands.

[Looneybomber]

Typically I use a AA battery, but a 9v can also work so long as you don't touch the wire leads on it for more than a tenth of a second. If the subs cone does move, then you know it's atleast functioning. From there keep working down the system.

See if you're getting power to the amp and if it powers up. After that check to see if you're getting a signal to the amp. If the amp powers up and you're getting a signal to it, but no output, it's probably the amp. You can also try putting another amp in its place to see if everything works...Trial and error and eventually you'll get it.

[elitts]

Ok, so it is the subwoofer that is bad. What subs can I use if I don't want to try and find a used one or a Bose replacement?

[jmaxima]

The simple answer is that since the original equiment was garbage it makes sense to replace it with something that can actually reproduce bass and hopefully sub-bass.