Bose Radio Problems...

[DollaGreen]

I posted about this a while ago, but need more technical info. On a 86 that is my fathers. We are having trouble with the bose speakers staying on and draining the bat. Also have a whistle that varies with RPM. We disconected the 2 back speakers. This helped but the front right is whinning and draining the bat also although not as bad as the back two were. Where are the relays that control whether or not these speakers are on? As I understand it, they all have their own amps, get power all the time, but are controlled as to on/off by a relay. Correct me if I am wrong? The speakers are going to be replaced, but I feel the reason they went is cuz they were on all of the time.

[_Nomad_]

That whining coming from the speakers is the Blose amps dieing on you. Get rid of the Blose system and replace it with aftermarket stereo components. Your father will be much happier with it then. :yesnod:

[92TripleBlack]

For the cost of fixing the bose, you would be well underway installing a new system that won't die and will sound better.

[jfb]

92TripleBlack, please tell me what aftermarket system won't die. Don't aftermarket systems use resistors, capacitors, transistors, IC's and other components just like are in the Bose? I don't know how it is possible to make a modern radio without them. How do they do it? I'm curious.

[jfb]

There is one amplifier relay that supplies 12v to the 4 amplifiers (2 door speakers and 2 rear hatch speakers) and it is located to the right of the radio behind the instrument panel. Most likely the whine you hear is the ripple from the alternator and there are large capacitors on the 12v line in each amplifier to prevent alternator whine from getting into the amplifier and thus into the speakers. Speakers don't normally go bad from an amplifier on all the time. With the radio off, there should be no program material supplied to the amplifiers and they should have no output. But...if the amplifier relay has contacts that are welded shut, then the amplifiers could drain your battery. The courtesy/clk fuse supplies power to the amplifiers and you can pull this fuse and put an ammeter across the fuse clips and measure the current with and without the amplifier relay plugged in to tell if the relay is stuck in the "on" position. A new relay and capacitor replacement in the amplifiers definetely would be cheaper than a whole new audio system.

[Charlutz]

A new relay and capacitor replacement in the amplifiers definitely would be cheaper than a whole new audio system.

JFb sounds like he knows what he's talking about, but I respectfully disagree with the quote above. The Bose system in the 86 is crap. Replace the faulty parts and something else will break sooner rather than later and your costs will run higher than replacing it now. Even if you get it fixed, you won't like it The speakers sounded like crap in 86 and they sound even worse now (I've been driving my 86 since new-my Dad bought it when I was 19 and gave it to me 15 years later). The paper speakers just can't last that long and the head unit and amps constantly have issues. Do yourself a favor and replace the whole thing. It can be a pain in the behind, but $500 will get you a better system than the Bose if you are willing to do the install yourself. Put the Bose in a box somewhere in case you sell the car, or sell it on ebay and recoup some of the cost of your new system if you're not concerned about resale.

[92TripleBlack]

92TripleBlack, please tell me what aftermarket system won't die. Don't aftermarket systems use resistors, capacitors, transistors, IC's and other components just like are in the Bose? I don't know how it is possible to make a modern radio without them. How do they do it? I'm curious.

Here's the reasons for my reply:
1. The bose system was designed in the early 80s with early 80s music in mind for playing. Think Led Zepplin, Boston, and Journey as the references. It was never designed to take the current dynamic ranges of music.
2. The driver's are made of paper. Modern systems and even older ones use poly drivers, made of synthetic materials that aren't susceptable to moisture and dryrot over time. Heck, a replacement driver was $5 cost in the late 80s.
3. The tech involved with the system was made cheaply. They used panisonic to build their decks for delco. Not good stuff and probably just the cheapest bidder. The systems were also built to be just good enough to work but be made as cheaply as possible, like bose does it today with their car and home stuff. Most good makers of components, while using caps and resistors in their electronics, make the stuff more sturdy and over engineer to lower how often things break.
4. When the system was new, compared to aftermarket systems of the time, it was a joke for the sound quality it had. We used to verbally berate corvette owners and go to dealerships and chastise dealers for telling the lies they were to their client's. They charged $1500 for the system in the late 80s and a $400 aftermarket system then would have toasted it. Today, the same holds true, especially with the progress 20 years of technology advances has given us.

The shop I worked at installing full time for over 3 years had a lifetime guarentee on installations. If anything failed, bring it in. We would fix it for free if it was installation related and replace it for free labor wise if it was a failed unit. We also had a full parts guarentee on everything for 2 years which was longer than most makers warrenties. This included speakers. From this I got a good handle on what broke and what didn't as the place had been installing at that point for 20+ years. Units that broke alot included Blau, JVC, Panisonic, Sony, Yamaha, Kenwood, Denon(their CD chassis were made by JVC), clarion, RF amps, and a few others. We had no failures with Pioneer decks, A/D/S anything, Alpine decks, soundstream amps, and only one quirky Nak tape deck. Speaker wise the bostons held up well. The only time we lost speakers were when an amp went, usually sony, yamaha, JVC, or fosgate. Hope this clears things up.