AH11980

Hey everyone! My 1991 Maxima's Bose system is acting up. Out of my four speakers i have 1 working properly, the other ones i need to play with the fader / balance and raise the volume in order to hear anything. Last owner (my uncle) said that he was changing the Head unit and might have pulled the harness. I took the HU out and checked the harness for clipped wires, and i didnt see anything wrong with it. i would like your feedback on it and if any of you have the wiring diagram for the Bose system or could direct me to one. thanks in advance.

kcidmil

www.geocities.com/craigbrace

Click on the Howto link, and it's the 4th one down. Of course that's instructions for changing out the H/U. But it does list what wires are for what.

Honestly, I would go ahead and change the H/U. It could be the fact your amps are going. If you go to change the H/U, I believe you have to change the speakers as well. If my memory is correct, the stock BOSE speakers are designed for 1 ohm and won't run off a normal H/U.

AH11980

but in your opinion a clipped harness couldnt cause the speakers to mess up like they do?

kcidmil

hmmm.... Not if you're playing with the fader and balance and the speakers come back on.

A clipped wire would cause a on/off effect, in that the speakers would cut out, then come back on.

structur8

I recently purchased a one owner 1989 Nissan Maxima with 43,000 orig. miles. I have the same exact problem with my BOSE radio. I purchased 2 new front speakers and a new head unit from eBay. I installed them both in my car. I still have a popping/whining sound coming out of my right front speaker. I only have sound coming out of my right front speaker. Does anyone know how to fix this or the cause of this? I'm upset I can't find the solution for this.

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

Bose has problems with the amps and speakers. The speakers are paper and the amps are crappy (poorly made or designed?). They also aren't very compatible with aftermarket equipment, since they are 1 ohm and most aftermarket stuff is 4 ohm. Adding an aftermarket HU is inviting speaker/amp disaster.

For you noobs that don't search or look through the stickies, each speaker has it's own amplifier. Usually the amplifiers go out (they can be repaired) or the speakers do. Occasionally, the HU craps out, as well. The HU doesn't have it's own power supply.

All-in-all, Bose sucks, at least for car stereos. Back when they were new in our cars (over 12 years ago) they were pretty good, but now they are basically crap. The system just doesn't stand up well over time. There are very few 3rd gen owners with intact Bose systems.

My advice is to save up a few hundred dollars and replace the HU, front speakers (stock = 4", you can upgrade to 6.5" easily) and rear speakers (6x9s, direct fit). You can buy a serviceable CD/MP3 HU for under $200 and decent speakers for around $50-$100 per pair. It isn't really that hard to install and you will have much better sound and reliability.

colinnwn

I would 2nd most of what Cliff said. But in my experience, when you can barely hear the stereo but it is not overly distorted, or if it just clicks and pops, the HU is out. If you can hear the stereo well, but it is very distorted sounding, its the speaker/amp combo.

I used an aftermarket stereo with my Bose speakers and a Scotche integrator and it still sounds good. Instead of replacing all the speakers for $100+, the integrator is under $20. You'll still need to get the antenna and harness adapters if you are replacing the HU regardless of what you do with the speakers. Thats about another $30.

A little more info

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

My car had an Alpine HU and a very nice Peripheral integrator ($50) and after about 2 years, pretty much everything was flucked (one speaker rotted out and three amps were blown). It even had individual gains and I had them turned way down because I didn't want to mess up the speakers.

Like I said, pretty much everyone with a 3rd gen has had some kind of problem with the Bose. Eventually, everything will be a problem or will need to be replaced. It's almost no use nickel-and-diming your way through crap with Bose.

structur8

I can't search the forum because I have under 15 posts. It's a new rule. I don't want to put alot of money into the car stereo because I am going to sell it. I just want to fix the radio and sell the car. Thanks for the tips though. Any other help would be great also.

AH11980

yesterday one of my "dead speakers" suddenly came alive with the purest most wonderful sound....then it died again after a day of easy listening. Now i really think my HU is going. worst case scenario , ill just take a walkman along lol. Its just a **** off cause i got my PSP installed in the car, and would like to listen to the sound through 4 speakers insted of two small ones on the PSP, lol.

Phoenix

You can't search the forums becuase you haven't donated. You can't post new threads because you have less than 15 posts.

Craig Brace has a writeup on replacing the headunit/speakers:http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/.

There's also a write-up somewhere on fixing the amps. Which, by the way, sounds like what you need to do. But I can't find it right now, nor do i feel like digging for you.

structur8

lol thanks Aztec!

mcle0144

Is it okay to keep the stock bose HU and replace the speakers? How does that affect musical performance?

disgruntled

iTrader: (7)

The sound output will be too low, as the stock HU does not have internal amplifier (correction anyone?), unless your original amps are still working, but in that case, the amps won't last long anyway.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

the original bose has what can best be called a line level output type signal which goes to individual amps at each speaker, each speaker is a 1 ohm speaker.
nothing is really compatible with anything besides itself

willpower101

test ...........

PovCityHustla

Ditch the BOSE crap and hook up a full aftermarket system with subs and amps ive got...
Xplod CD/MP3/WMA hu
VDO 2way fronts
Pionner 4way rears
2x 10" cadence subs @ 300w rms
400w rms kicker monoblock sub amp..
The stock system was crappy and the speakers are s*** quality!!