No front Bose/Rears Fine

[Chris Kennedy]

Hi! The previous owner of my '89 replaced the Bose head unit with an aftermarket radio/CD, but left in the Bose speakers. The rears sound great, but both front speakers are totally silent. Before I check for obvious things (both fronts not connected, etc.), this problem seemed sort of odd to me and way too coincidental, so I am wondering if anyone else had the same problem and can advise? I don't use the radio that much, so this isn't a big deal, but if it's something that can be easily rectified it would be good to get it fixed.

Thanks!

/s/ Chris Kennedy

 

[sriat]

Do you know if the bose amplifiers were replaced (Bypassed) and the aftermarket headunit is powering the speakers directly or if it is sending signal to the bose amplifiers.

Anyway.

1. If the aftermarket is connected directly to bose speakers (Amps bypassed) it could have blown the ouput of the headunit. The Bose speakers are about 1 ohm and standard car speakers are 4 ohms. (PS 1 ohm puts substantially more load than 4 ohm. About 200% more) Most aftermarket units have 2 internal amps 1 for front and 1 for rear.

2. While aftermarket radio may put out less than bose speakers can handle distortion and such can blow the speakers. I would find a small speaker to test if this is the case.

3. You may be using factory bose amps and they could be bad. This is simple bypass amplifiers and you should be good. (Amps are mounted inside the plastic enclosure that speakers are mounted to)

4. If previous owner purchased the conversion kit to not cut the factory wiring harness (This is good thing) then the front speakers are connected separately from the rear and the connector could have just come loose.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Many thanks!

I will do some additional research into all your suggestions. My suspicion is that it is something fairly simple, like #4, as both rears are fine yet both fronts are silent.

Thanks, again.
/s/ Chris Kennedy

 

[onedef92]

It's possible the front Bose amps have blown, too. Remember, each speaker enclosure has its own dedicated, independent amplifer. Usually a capacitor gives out in the amp and it will no longer work.