My Bose has lost its base

[stressfrees3]

Hi All,

I have symphony and bose in my S3 and only today I noticed that I lost all the base and probably the treble. When you turn the base to+6 nothing happens where previous the base is quite noticeable.

Can anyone tell me where to start to check what components are/are not working or from someone with similar experience.
Please advise and thanks in advance /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[easytease]

firstly turn the stereo on and put on a track that has a bit of everything in, then go and listen to each speaker one by one....

once you;ve narrowed down which ones arent working work from the speaker backwards. so check the speakers first (perhaps take them out and test on another connection elsewhere in the car) then the amp (if there is an amp, im not sure) then the stereo its self.

 

[AndyMac]

It'll be the sub, as it provides all the bass in the A3/S3 on the Bose system. It's in the rear left cubbyhole, but there's not a lot you can do if the amp has blown. If the speakers are blown then they should still be making some sort of noise.
The amp is inside the sub enclosure, they do come up on ebay from time to time or if the car's under warranty then get the dealer to sort it out. There aren't any fuses in the amp and I doubt it runs off its own fuse on the fusebox. It could be a bad connection on the black sub connector so I'd try jiggling all the wires, if the "remote on" is loose then could kill the amp. You could also just check it's getting both perm live and remote on on the connector with a 12v test screwdriver. Both connections are at the bottom of the connector from the pink "V" at the top.

 

[stressfrees3]

I've checked the sub and the cones appear to be moving and some sound. Does it mean the amp or the cones

 

[AndyMac]

Well if it's working then it may point to the HU, you rarely get an amp or speaker that is only half working. The sub runs off the left front and right rear pre-outs (or vice versa) from the HU and I have seen the pre-outs fail on the HU, but they normally go woolly with some background noise like a detuned radio, you said the cabin speakers lack treble?
Try fading front to rear and left to right to see if it's just one channel or all four
Is the problem definately across radio & CD?

 

[stressfrees3]

I've had another listen and get the following:
front left no base
front right good base
rear left good base
rear right no base

was listening to Queen so the track had good base:another one bits the dust.....

AndyMac any ideas whats happening here?

 

[madvw]

sounds to me like its fine, and just sucking because of the BOSE EQ settings...

 

[AndyMac]

Yep those results are what you get with a perfectly OK Bose system. The Bose sub runs off one channel in front and the alternate channel on the rear, so with those results it runs off right front and left rear, so when faded left front, you'll get no sub at all, likewise with right rear. That is how it works. The non Bose sub runs purely off the rears so if you like the sound with more front bias then you lose the sub, so the Bose method is actually preferable as you can then fade totally to the front without losing all of the sub.
Has this problem suddenly happened? i.e. did it sound great last week and now its cr@p or is this a new car to you and you just think it should sound better?
the only other thing that can dramatically effect the sound without their being a fault is that the HU has been reset to non Bose EQ settings for some bizarre reason. Does the HU still display "Bose" when you turn it on. Although if this is the case it would normally give you more responsiveness on the treble/bass controls, as madvw says the Bose EQ does seem to dumb down the amount of control you have on the tone controls.

 

[AndyMac]

Oh and BTW there is not a lot of bass on any Queen track (or anything from the 80's), try some Leftfield or Fun lovin' Criminals!

 

[stressfrees3]

'Has this problem suddenly happened? i.e. did it sound great last week and now its cr@p or is this a new car to you and you just think it should sound better?
the only other thing that can dramatically effect the sound without their being a fault is that the HU has been reset to non Bose EQ settings for some bizarre reason. Does the HU still display "Bose" when you turn it on.'

Thanks for that AndyMac. It just seem to happen overnight as I've had the car from new. The system still recognises its Bose when switched on.
Well, have to put up with this now as it appears that I cant put a new system in unless I take out the system and that with the symphony doesn't appear to be any blanking plate to reduce the big void to take the stadard size HU after a bit more surfing in this forum. Next time shall give Bose a miss

 

[AndyMac]

You can always upgrade to one my stealth subs without changing anything else!

 

[madvw]

you could always convert your double DIN console to a single DIN, i'm sure theres people out there that would kill for the opprtunity for a straight swap... or you could upgrade to an OEM SAT-NAV, or even install another double DIN head unit.

You're not limited just for having a symphony head unit.

as for the problem, i though i had a similar problem.. In the end i just put it down to the limited range in my MP3's, and the fact that the BOSE sub is only about 4", and has a really $hite frequency range, so its not exactly the thing for some dark drum'n'bass.

 

[stressfrees3]

Its that @£500 you'd expect more from BOSE seeing that they make good home surround system. I only got it so it fits with the rest of the car nicely.

I also thought about AndyMacs stealth subs but shall give that a miss as I'm thinking of going away from the Audi mark and going to a Lexus IS.

Many thanks for the advice.

 

[Halgernon]

Andy - what's the cost of a stealth sub upgrade?

I've replaced the Audi HU with an Alpine and am now wanting to change the standard speakers... not sure what to, yet, but the obvious thing to do is to get a kickass sub in there somewhere

 

[AndyMac]

Its £185 including sub, enclosure & fitting brackets, but then you need an amp 250wrms bridged, I use Alpine V12 bought off ebay for around £85. But, judging from the size of your engine, is that the new shape A3 as the enclosure is designed for the old shape.

 

[Halgernon]

Thanks for that AndyMac, it is indeed the new shape A3 (car is Feb 04). I guess this makes it less likely to fit...?

 

[AndyMac]

No idea, never tried to fit one, it may be the same but more likely to be completely different.

 

[synthdood]

I would love to have the AndyMac sub, but I own a Sportback and of course it wouldn't fit. I could always make my own sub, but I dread taking the car apart. Also, knowing dutch dealers, the warrenty would be invalidated even by having a screwdriver within 10 yards of the car.

Maybe I'll wait until the warrenty runs out (we only get 2 years!) and then rip that standard piece of tupperware out.