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I have a driver side door woofer that is not working. I will be testing the speaker by swapping the right for the left and see what happens. However, I am told that one possible cause might be the Bose amp which is located in one of the foot wells. The unit is a somewhat smallish box. My question here is, exactly where is this thing located and how hard is it to get at it. Here is a photo of the device.
I've installed stereos in probably 100 different c5s and never removed the factory processor. I will bet a large sum of money it's the woofer itself and not the processor. Now is the time to rip the Bose out all together and do a budget oriented upgrade
The whole door speaker assembly sells for less than $50 on that auction site. You might also PM one of the forum vendors and see if they will give you one from their junk pile and swap it out; might be an easy fix.
I've installed stereos in probably 100 different c5s and never removed the factory processor. I will bet a large sum of money it's the woofer itself and not the processor. Now is the time to rip the Bose out all together and do a budget oriented upgrade
So, that box is now am amp? All of the ads on Ebay and other places are calling the thing an amp.
Anywho, I ordered a replacement speaker assembly on Ebay for $44.00. It looks to be in great shape. Will report if it was the assembly that went bad. Wanting for replacement door tabs.
[QUOTE=pentavolvo;1594483920]I've installed stereos in probably 100 different c5s and never removed the factory processor. I will bet a large sum of money it's the woofer itself and not the processor. Now is the time to rip the Bose out all together and do a budget oriented upgrade[/QUO
Being you have experience I have a question. Can you plug into the factory bose harness speakers for aftermarket 6.5's or do you have to run new wire to the front doors? I'm instaling a new JVC reciever and 4 JL speakers. Thanks for any help.
So, that box is now am amp? All of the ads on Ebay and other places are calling the thing an amp.
Anywho, I ordered a replacement speaker assembly on Ebay for $44.00. It looks to be in great shape. Will report if it was the assembly that went bad. Wanting for replacement door tabs.
That box is not an amp it's a processor. Low level line outputs from the head unit are sent to it for processing then sent back to the head unit where the sound is amplified. The speaker outputs from the head unit are wired directly to the 3.5" door speakers.
There is a line level output coming from that processor to the door woofers. The woofers in the doors have their own little class D amplifier.
I've installed stereos in probably 100 different c5s and never removed the factory processor. I will bet a large sum of money it's the woofer itself and not the processor. Now is the time to rip the Bose out all together and do a budget oriented upgrade[/QUO
Being you have experience I have a question. Can you plug into the factory bose harness speakers for aftermarket 6.5's or do you have to run new wire to the front doors? I'm instaling a new JVC reciever and 4 JL speakers. Thanks for any help.
You could but the factory head unit is under powered and you may not see much benefit. You would have to remove two powered woofers that the Bose system uses for bass to get 6.5" speakers in there. The power going to the 3.5" door speakers is crossed over at around 150Hz -200Hz so the bass would be missing without the woofers.
I would be surprised if the factory head unit made even 5W RMS/ channel.
Bad news today. I installed the replacement door speaker assembly and nothing changed. It looks like the processor module needs replacing. I looked in the passenger foot well and I could not see the device.
If any one knows, where exactly is the processor located? I can find no details on the processor and its location.
I honestly would ditch the Bose system. For very little money you can out 6.5 coaxial in the doors and a small sub in the back with a low dollar amp and blow the Bose system out of the water, can even tie into factory headunit
I honestly would ditch the Bose system. For very little money you can out 6.5 coaxial in the doors and a small sub in the back with a low dollar amp and blow the Bose system out of the water, can even tie into factory headunit
I am running a Kenwood DDX9903s head unit that I recently installed. Excellent unit that has improved the sound of my mostly stock sound system. I am using the Bose amps with a module installed to make the head unit work with everything. I replaced the rear 6.5 in factory speakers with Coax speakers, and replaced the door tweeters with Coax tweeters. In the process, I discovered that the driver door woofer is only partially working.
I am trying very hard not to start pulling the door speakers, amps, and subs. I need the rear for carrying things to and from Autocross events, and for daily driving needs.
I would like to know exactly where the sound processor is located so I can determine if I want to attempt to replace it. I would be considerably cheaper than redoing the rest of the audio system.
It is outdated technology and not aging gracefully.
But the Bose processor is on the drivers side near the accelerator pedal if you are insistent on keeping the system stock.
Interesting indeed. until this very moment, I was under the impression it was located in the passenger foot well. I have looked around in that area the found nothing.
Am I insistent on keeping the stock system? Actually, I am mostly pushing against spending more money on the audio system. The head unit, Bose interface module, Installation kit, upgraded Coax door tweeters, upgraded 6.5 in rear Coax speakers, and modded console has me in for more than $800.00. With the surprise associated with the driver door woofer, it seems that I am not done.
The adjustments on your wire harness interface control the woofers. If you are 100% that it is working and adjusted properly then I would be more inclined to suspect that the door woofer would fail before the processor. I would hate to see you throw good money after bad. One way to tell for sure would be to swap out the left and right woofers.
The adjustments on your wire harness interface control the woofers. If you are 100% that it is working and adjusted properly then I would be more inclined to suspect that the door woofer would fail before the processor. I would hate to see you throw good money after bad. One way to tell for sure would be to swap out the left and right woofers.
I've already tried a replacement woofer assembly and that did not work. So, I am left with the possibility that the processor is bad. Maybe, I guess, looks like it. What do you think? I am looking for answers.
Special Note:
When the faders are centered, there are minimal bass signal (maybe only 10-20%) getting to the driver side woofer. However, when the faders are set to full front-left, there are 0% bass signal getting to the driver side woofer.
If the woofer works with the old radio then that would suggest that there is a problem with your wire harness adapter/ interface. The stock radio plugs directly into the factory wire harness.
Troubleshooting is about process of elimination which is cheaper than randomly replacing parts.
At what point in the upgrade did this problem occur BTW?
04-07-2017, 11:36 AM
C5 Bose amp location photos
It is outdated technology and not aging gracefully.