1990 BOSE speakers - question - is it blown
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 22,209
Likes: 12
From: OBAMA IS HITLER
1990 BOSE speakers - question - is it blown
annoying buzz sounds on more bass-oriented music started, on right rear speaker.
opened the enclosure, pulled the speaker itself -- visually inspected it and it looks fine. no separations in the speaker cone that i could detect.
i thought, that's wierd.....reinstalled and it still making those buzzes on when bass pedal hits on certain tunes. which is damn annoying. rear speakers are about 3-4 years old.
can it really be "blown" without looking blown? time for replacement of that rear woofer? where's the best sources to buy replacement of the Bose woofer round unit by itself?
opened the enclosure, pulled the speaker itself -- visually inspected it and it looks fine. no separations in the speaker cone that i could detect.
i thought, that's wierd.....reinstalled and it still making those buzzes on when bass pedal hits on certain tunes. which is damn annoying. rear speakers are about 3-4 years old.
can it really be "blown" without looking blown? time for replacement of that rear woofer? where's the best sources to buy replacement of the Bose woofer round unit by itself?
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,566
Likes: 4
From: Mt Laurel NJ
St. Jude Donor '06-'07
annoying buzz sounds on more bass-oriented music started, on right rear speaker.
opened the enclosure, pulled the speaker itself -- visually inspected it and it looks fine. no separations in the speaker cone that i could detect.
i thought, that's wierd.....reinstalled and it still making those buzzes on when bass pedal hits on certain tunes. which is damn annoying. rear speakers are about 3-4 years old.
can it really be "blown" without looking blown? time for replacement of that rear woofer? where's the best sources to buy replacement of the Bose woofer round unit by itself?
opened the enclosure, pulled the speaker itself -- visually inspected it and it looks fine. no separations in the speaker cone that i could detect.
i thought, that's wierd.....reinstalled and it still making those buzzes on when bass pedal hits on certain tunes. which is damn annoying. rear speakers are about 3-4 years old.
can it really be "blown" without looking blown? time for replacement of that rear woofer? where's the best sources to buy replacement of the Bose woofer round unit by itself?
Good luck,
Randy
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 7
From: Iowa
best way to diagnose this type of problem if its only one speaker which has the buzzing, swap the speakers from one side to another and see if the problem follows the speaker or stays on the original side.
rattles can often sound like a driver is buzzing, make sure that your speaker is screwed down into the mounting location properly, no stripped screws or air escaping behind it. also make sure there are no loose objects near by which may be rattling (on C5's the bose logos plates on the front door woofer grills tend to rattle leading owners to think the speakers are blown, when in fact they aren't)
if the speaker is blown, I would consider an aftermarket replacement. they sound much better and are often cheaper! if its the amplifier I would consider the last poster's suggestion.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 8,897
Likes: 1,357
From: Santa Ana CA
Sounds like something is loose or the speaker's coil may be rubbing. I've had the amps go bad on my '91 and when that happens, the sound gets distorted, makes spurious noise, and/or goes away. I've never had a bad amp (three before I replaced them all with two big stereo JBL amps in the right rear hatch) only make certain bass notes rattle. (Not saying it can't happen though.)
BTW, the stock rear speakers when pushed by a nice amp properly eq'ed with some auxiliary tweeters can sound very nice. And the bass that those rear speakers are capable of is unbelievable when compared to being pushed by the puny, stock amps.
"Billie Jean" can just about blow the windows out of our '91 coupe and you would swear that there is a big sub in there.
BTW, the stock rear speakers when pushed by a nice amp properly eq'ed with some auxiliary tweeters can sound very nice. And the bass that those rear speakers are capable of is unbelievable when compared to being pushed by the puny, stock amps.
"Billie Jean" can just about blow the windows out of our '91 coupe and you would swear that there is a big sub in there.
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 22,209
Likes: 12
From: OBAMA IS HITLER
thanks guys. i've checked everything in the physical arena, all seems solid. the 4 bolts holding the woofer down are tight. actually when i tightened them further the bass-note buzzing got a little worse, so i backed off on the mounting bolts. the quick buzz is definitely confined to the duration of certain bass notes. this just started a week ago.
if the "test" reveals its the one rear speaker that's bad, i'll just look for a better 6" aftermarket replacement for both rears. i suppose polk, inifinity or the like are good improvements. i'll have to be sure they aren't too much "deeper" in dimension (speaker magnet thicker) than the stock bose units, or they won't fit when bolted down. i don't know how much space i have to work with in there.
if its the amp, i'll contact "same day audio services repair" on ebay -- they are a little cheaper than dr. dons, are alot closer to me, and they do the same work with the same warranty.
if the "test" reveals its the one rear speaker that's bad, i'll just look for a better 6" aftermarket replacement for both rears. i suppose polk, inifinity or the like are good improvements. i'll have to be sure they aren't too much "deeper" in dimension (speaker magnet thicker) than the stock bose units, or they won't fit when bolted down. i don't know how much space i have to work with in there.
if its the amp, i'll contact "same day audio services repair" on ebay -- they are a little cheaper than dr. dons, are alot closer to me, and they do the same work with the same warranty.
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,566
Likes: 4
From: Mt Laurel NJ
St. Jude Donor '06-'07
thanks guys. i've checked everything in the physical arena, all seems solid. the 4 bolts holding the woofer down are tight. actually when i tightened them further the bass-note buzzing got a little worse, so i backed off on the mounting bolts. the quick buzz is definitely confined to the duration of certain bass notes. this just started a week ago.
if the "test" reveals its the one rear speaker that's bad, i'll just look for a better 6" aftermarket replacement for both rears. i suppose polk, inifinity or the like are good improvements. i'll have to be sure they aren't too much "deeper" in dimension (speaker magnet thicker) than the stock bose units, or they won't fit when bolted down. i don't know how much space i have to work with in there.
if its the amp, i'll contact "same day audio services repair" on ebay -- they are a little cheaper than dr. dons, are alot closer to me, and they do the same work with the same warranty.
if the "test" reveals its the one rear speaker that's bad, i'll just look for a better 6" aftermarket replacement for both rears. i suppose polk, inifinity or the like are good improvements. i'll have to be sure they aren't too much "deeper" in dimension (speaker magnet thicker) than the stock bose units, or they won't fit when bolted down. i don't know how much space i have to work with in there.
if its the amp, i'll contact "same day audio services repair" on ebay -- they are a little cheaper than dr. dons, are alot closer to me, and they do the same work with the same warranty.
Randy
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 8,897
Likes: 1,357
From: Santa Ana CA
thanks guys. i've checked everything in the physical arena, all seems solid. the 4 bolts holding the woofer down are tight. actually when i tightened them further the bass-note buzzing got a little worse, so i backed off on the mounting bolts. the quick buzz is definitely confined to the duration of certain bass notes. this just started a week ago.
if the "test" reveals its the one rear speaker that's bad, i'll just look for a better 6" aftermarket replacement for both rears. i suppose polk, inifinity or the like are good improvements. i'll have to be sure they aren't too much "deeper" in dimension (speaker magnet thicker) than the stock bose units, or they won't fit when bolted down. i don't know how much space i have to work with in there.
if its the amp, i'll contact "same day audio services repair" on ebay -- they are a little cheaper than dr. dons, are alot closer to me, and they do the same work with the same warranty.
if the "test" reveals its the one rear speaker that's bad, i'll just look for a better 6" aftermarket replacement for both rears. i suppose polk, inifinity or the like are good improvements. i'll have to be sure they aren't too much "deeper" in dimension (speaker magnet thicker) than the stock bose units, or they won't fit when bolted down. i don't know how much space i have to work with in there.
if its the amp, i'll contact "same day audio services repair" on ebay -- they are a little cheaper than dr. dons, are alot closer to me, and they do the same work with the same warranty.
And while GM rated the Bose amps at 50 watts each
, there is no way in he-- that the semi-conductors that they used can really push that kind of power through them.BTW, as I recall from a friend in our Corvette club who made a side business of fixing these in So Cal (The Solder Joint), it is typically the two biggest capacitors on the board that go bad..., a simple replacement if you can get the right parts.
Last edited by toddalin; Jan 23, 2008 at 09:28 PM.
