Got my bose sub working...but very quiet
 

I had a defective amp in the back (of the 2) and replaced it. I'm positive they both work now (and both subs also) but they seem really quiet...Even on full blast and bass topped off it sounds to me like most if not all the bass is actually coming from the door speakers...and it isn't much before it gets distorted. I havn't heard a 100% working system before so I have no reference as to how loud/noticeable the bass should be from the back, but from my description what do you guys think -- Should it only serve as ambiance or should it really thump?

bmp

Mine thumped pretty well on the stock system with CD player and even now with an after market Sony MD unit with a mild setup on the Scoche(spelling)interface.

BTW i've only tried with the radio, my CD player is broken :<
Could that be it?

Is the headunit you have the stock one? If so are you using the scosche(sp?) adapter? Is it just the bass thats low or are your speakers low too?

its the stock headunit. no adapters or anything, and the other speakers definitely get loud

You might have a defective sub amp. What did you replace it with? I've had good experience with carstereohelp.com. It's not too bad to remove the amp from the sub, and once you do that, you can box it up and ship it there. Their customer service is top notch and will turn it around for you with a lifetime guarantee.

I've had the sub amps and one of the door speakers fixed by them with great results.

I bought a used pair of sub amps (the whole bracket containing both) from someone here on the forums. It was for a great deal because he wasn't even sure if they worked...they'd been lying around for a while, but I tested them and got some sound from 1 of them. By some sound, I mean i took the sub wave apart, put my ear into the tube, and heard some muffled bass. It turns out only one of my own amps were dead (the other gave off just as little sound as the one I bought) so I took my dead amp out and swapped in his working one. Oh and I also tested each subwoofer individually, plugging only 1 amp in to one sub, checking sound, and plugging it into the other.

Could the amps really be bad?? Both the 'working' ones give off just as much sound, and the other two give off zero...

Probably. Again the folks at carstereohelp will diagnose before doing any work, so if they turn out okay, they'll return it for no charge.

Chances are they are blown though. I was always wary about buying used Bose equipment from other used cars...not that the seller's are bad, but these Bose units are bound to fail soon if they haven't already given that most units are coming up to 15 years now.

It'll end up being cheaper to just send the amps for servicing, and then you don't have to worry about it again.

Cool, didn't know car stereo help would do that, I guess I'll give it a shot. I was just worried about spending 160$ and getting no improvement.

Good luck! Let us all know how your experience goes.

Thanks! I just got off the phone with carstereohelp and they said I can send all 4 amps for credit on the 2 completely dead ones..20$ each! I'm also thinking of sending in my center channel, if I can find it/remove it.

Ooh nice! I believe their website has directions on how to locate the center channel.

Although you don't plan on sending the door amps, just as an FYI for everybody else on the forum - it's way easier to remove the amps from the enclosures since it's about 30 times smaller, and that's all they need to repair.

Bose repair
 

Ditto on the good service from carstereohelp.com. Most other places just want to sell you new stuff.
Ron A.

+1. they've done all my amps ('93 bose system) and the system sounds like it did new. I had forgotten what a really good sounding audio system this car came with!

When I first got the bose working on my old FD I was pleasantly surprised by the sub. It sounded like one 10" back there. It wasn't anything to bump at redlights, but it was good enough that I didn't want to add any heavy equipment such as a sub/box/amp. I just threw in an aftermarket head unit and put aftermarket mids in the front enclosures. I didn't use a bose amp convertor, I just remembered to keep the volume on the head unit pretty low so as not to overload the input on the amps. Never had an issue. My wife's millenia is set up the same way.