My '92 currently has a Kenwood stereo(only the radio not the speakers) that was installed by the previous owner. Three of the four Bose amps have died by screaming. Rather than replace the amps, I was thinking of putting in new non Bose speakers. Any thoughts on this.

 

My Bose in MY '92 died yesterday - turn it on at all, the horrible loud growling noise scared hell out of me. I'm going in a bit to have it tested, they (local reputable car stereo dealer) think the speakers with their built in amps are ok, so they can just replace the dash mounted head - details, the Bose are of course weird Ohm (car stereo is 4, most home stuff 8 but some are 4, the BOSE speaker/amps take (per this guy) 1.5 OHM input. The BOSE head is just a radio, CD and 'pre-amp' much like your home stereo might be components not some big all in one.

They can put in a modern (Alpine for example) head but they bypass it's amp and just use the preamp section to feed the BOSE speakers. So for $150-$200 if it's just the radio or cd player section that died, that's the deal.

For you, it's speakers you need, probably more cost since there's 4 involved plus all that labor, and I'd guess they'd have to pull the kenwood to change how it's wired or change some jumper or something - take it from just being pre-amp to being a regular car stereo amp.

I found guys here selling entire BOSE systems from C4's for incredible bargains. I'm a little conflicted as a result about going non BOSE but I"m also in a hurry. Good luck.

 

I've got a 91 coupe, I think they're pretty close in setup...unless maybe you've got a 'vert.

A few months ago I had all 4 of my Bose speakers and the amp reconditioned and I re-installed them along with a Pioneer (I think) head unit. Knowing what I do now, would I do it again? No way! In order to install the aftermarket head unit I had to get a "Bose adapter" harness. I ordered the stereo and harness kit while the speakers/amp were being rebuilt so I would have everything I needed when they came back, and I could just do the install altogether. Well, after spending a couple of hours all bent around like a contortionist (and I'm 6'2", 230#) under the passenger side dash putting the friggin amp back in, I finally started putting the head unit in. The "Bose adapter" harness? That danged thing completely BYPASSES the amp I just paid $125 (or whatever it was) to be rebuilt!

I'm thinking since yours already has an aftermarket head unit, your under dash Bose "amp, receiver or whatever it's called" is probably already bypassed. I'd take a good look and see, and if it is go to wherever you are buying your stereo and get a plain old GM radio harness to replace the bose adapter, and just put in some "regular" vehicle speakers of your choice.



"Only a month to go till I can drive her again"

Tim

 

I have had the head unit out before and who ever put this thing in did not use an adapter. They just cut and spliced. They also cut the rear support for the factory head unit so I'm kind of stuck with what is in it now. Any one know if you can just by pass the amps in the speaker housings?

 

Yeah, I had to take out a bit of the back in order for the afatermarket head unit to fit in. In the "cut & splice" job they did, are they bypassing the amp? Or did they splice into the harness that runs between the receiver/amp and the head unit? Take a look at your receiver/amp and see if the wiring harness is still connected. On mine there were two connectors on one side (possibly siamesed, I dont remember now), between the head unit and the receiver, and I think 3 on the other to feed the speakers. If those aren't connected, you should be able to just put in aftermarket speakers and work.

If they bypassed the amp and didn't put in the gain-control box (part of the Bose bypass harness, you can see it in Crutchfields catalog), that's a very good possibility why your speakers blew...

I wouldn't bypass the speaker amps and have power go directly from the head unit. They are set up to work with different resistances (about 1 ohm for the Bose and like 4 or 8 for standards)...prolonged use can burn something up.

Also, for mine, I had to add some wire to the bypass adapter in order for it to reach the 2nd wiring harness to bypass the amp. Also had to use an antenna adapter as the stock antenna is also fed through the amp/receiver.

 

Replace the speakers with aftermarket. Running aftermarket HU into the Bose amps is probably why they died. The Bose amps take a very low-level signal input, so the line out (or worse yet speaker out) from an aftermarket HU would be bad for them.


That's quite a splice job since there are no speaker wires running to the HU in the stock system.

 

The Bose head is a CD/tape player and control interface. No radio, no preamp.