PSA: Bose Speakers (for those wishing to stay OEM)

[jimmy-buffett]

Have you received and installed your "new" speakers from Bose? I'm interested in hearing how these ones sound.

Received and installed, but I don't have the car back yet. It was in for a full TB/WP + Clutch service and the tech told me about the window regulator fix. Since he was already going to be in the doors I dropped the speakers off with him to install. I'll have the car back this afternoon.

 

[Speedmaster]

Have you received and installed your "new" speakers from Bose? I'm interested in hearing how these ones sound. My assumption is that these have been sitting on the shelf for a number of years and weren't recently manufactured. So the fear is that the electrolytic capacitors have been aging/drying out and will have problems associated with that. I have an a duplicate set that I got with my car because the previous owner had replaced them. Not sure if the replacement ones in the car came from Bose (probably not since it was before this thread), "new" from Acura, or used from another owner. But they are starting to crackle and have poor response at low volume. I'm thinking that even though I could get "new" ones from Bose for close to the same cost as having the old ones to refreshed, the refreshing route might be the better option as I'll know that all of the age sensitive components have been updated and the whole circuit has been aligned to spec. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

They sound like new. I drove my car today and turned up Ozzy's Crazy Train. Windows up, top on...and I am pretty sure people 20' away could hear the words clear as day.

 

[jimmy-buffett]

They sound like new. I drove my car today and turned up Ozzy's Crazy Train. Windows up, top on...and I am pretty sure people 20' away could hear the words clear as day.

+1, all the snap crackle pop from before is gone. Got the Grom bluetooth hooked up and the State of Trance podcast going and it sounds amazing.

Super super happy with how the whole deal turned out.

 

[dmo]

I just called and ordered mine and I am from Canada!

 

[Jinks]

I think I am going to order these and go back to oem. Does anyone know if the woofer comes with the kick cover plate or not? Also, does the center console speaker come with the mounting bracket? All of these were missing from my car when purchased. [MENTION=30518]Speedmaster[/MENTION], maybe you can chime in on it?

 

[Speedmaster]

I think I am going to order these and go back to oem. Does anyone know if the woofer comes with the kick cover plate or not? Also, does the center console speaker come with the mounting bracket? All of these were missing from my car when purchased. @Speedmaster, maybe you can chime in on it?

Jinks my man...you are one lucky dude. First, no they do no come with the cover plate. On to your luck. If you will PM me your address, I will send you one, no charge.

As to center console mounting bracket...find a photo and post it. If I have the part, it's yours as well.

 

[Jinks]

Jinks my man...you are one lucky dude. First, no they do no come with the cover plate. On to your luck. If you will PM me your address, I will send you one, no charge.

As to center console mounting bracket...find a photo and post it. If I have the part, it's yours as well.

Dude, you rock! Thank you so much my friend!

 

[heathbar0]

For those who have installed these speakers:
My current speakers work, but do not seem to be as clear as in the past.
Have any of you replaced working speakers and found a significant upgrade in sound quality?

 

[Speedmaster]

For those who have installed these speakers:
My current speakers work, but do not seem to be as clear as in the past.
Have any of you replaced working speakers and found a significant upgrade in sound quality?

Heathbar0 - I am no expert here and I am sure I am only repeating what Old Man or others would say...but I cannot resist. As I recall, the headunit sends out ...basically...data - an electrical impulse...it's up the speakers (rather the amps) to accept and amplify through the speakers. So, in my mind, were speakers unclear (i.e. staticky or fuzzy, etc.) that would tell me that an impulse is coming to the speakers but not being processed correctly - meaning, yes, replace the speakers.

If someone else would kindly jump in and correct me, I would appreciate it.

Good luck.

 

[Jinks]

I'm curious if anyone here runs an aftermarket head unit through these replacements? I have a double din pioneer and wanna keep that but run brand new oem amplified Bose units described here. Wouldn't that overamp the oem units?

 

[Dipstickpete]

Pretty good deal $140 for factory new vs $90-100 to get the amps repaired. Ordered both sides, thanks for the heads up!

Hi guys I have just joined from the UK as you seem to have far more choice of parts and get things much cheaper than we do over here. I took out my door speakers on Sunday to try and get the amps repaired, only to find they have been ripped out by a previous owner, who had bodged up an aftermarket system. I have repaired the head and bass amp, which now work, so need a new set of door speakers to get the full effect. To get them from Germany will cost me $740 + shipping, does anyone fancy buying them from America and shipping them over to me, as I understand Patty at Bose won't send them direct, unless you can persuade her! I can do a bank transfer as necessary.

Just had the engine out and replaced the clutch, LMAs, cam belt, water pump and pulley, so she is running well and I am hoping for less expenditure over the next few years. If anyone is coming over to England, give me a shout as would love to meet up and I live near London.

Pete

 

[topolone]

I have contacted Patty at Bose and she told me to forward the request by mail to Bose service at [email protected]
this is their reply:

"thank you for your inquiry. Automotive audio systems are not available for aftermarket installations. The reason for this is that these systems are designed to work taking into account the interior of the automobile and other equations that equal a superb audio performance. If your automobile came with a Bose Audio System pre-installed at the time of manufacture you may contact your local manufacturers dealership."

so am not able to order the new speakers.
am asking some help if someone is so kind to order the speakers for me and ships it to my address in Italy
of course I will pay all the expenses and the disturb

 

[vivanshah]

Heathbar0 - I am no expert here and I am sure I am only repeating what Old Man or others would say...but I cannot resist. As I recall, the headunit sends out ...basically...data - an electrical impulse...it's up the speakers (rather the amps) to accept and amplify through the speakers. So, in my mind, were speakers unclear (i.e. staticky or fuzzy, etc.) that would tell me that an impulse is coming to the speakers but not being processed correctly - meaning, yes, replace the speakers.

If someone else would kindly jump in and correct me, I would appreciate it.

Good luck.

fuzziness or lack of clarity could be caused by component degradation in either the amps (contained within the speakers) or the audio processing circuitry/preamplification stage inside the head unit. without testing or replacing with known-good components it can be difficult to tell. Of course, there are certain "trademark" issues like the speaker crackle that are known to be caused by one component or the other.

 

[MotorMouth93]

Heathbar0 - I am no expert here and I am sure I am only repeating what Old Man or others would say...but I cannot resist. As I recall, the headunit sends out ...basically...data - an electrical impulse...it's up the speakers (rather the amps) to accept and amplify through the speakers. So, in my mind, were speakers unclear (i.e. staticky or fuzzy, etc.) that would tell me that an impulse is coming to the speakers but not being processed correctly - meaning, yes, replace the speakers.

If someone else would kindly jump in and correct me, I would appreciate it.

Good luck.

I'm not really sure what you're getting at, but the factory radio in the NSX outputs a low-voltage audio signal similar to the preamp outputs found on aftermarket radios. The amplifiers built into the speaker enclosures then amplify that signal to the level required to drive the speakers. As to why they did it this way, I don't know, possibly to reduce heat in the head unit, or so they could keep making money by selling us the same defective-from-the-factory garbage speaker boxes for 25 years.

Anyways, with that in mind....

I'm curious if anyone here runs an aftermarket head unit through these replacements? I have a double din pioneer and wanna keep that but run brand new oem amplified Bose units described here. Wouldn't that overamp the oem units?

If your Pioneer radio has preamp outputs you could try using them to drive the factory speakers. I don't know how well it would work or why you'd want to do that since the factory speakers aren't very good compared to comparably priced aftermarket parts, but theoretically you could. Depending on the crossover configuration in the factory head unit you might have to play with your crossover settings in the head unit for a while to get the best sound though.

Another option would be to use a line level to preamp level converter on the regular outputs.

 

[Speedmaster]

Bump

 

[MotorMouth93]

This thread really needs to be stickied. I see people trying to sell shitty used speaker boxes for more than new ones cost fairly regularly, and I also see people buying them...

@RSO 34 can this happen?

 

[nis350]

there are some crazy for sale ads.... saw a car cover bag (only the bag, no car cover) for $250.

Probably not a bad deal since someone was selling the car cover for $1000

This thread really needs to be stickied. I see people trying to sell shitty used speaker boxes for more than new ones cost fairly regularly, and I also see people buying them...

@RSO 34 can this happen?

 

[Speedmaster]

Quick note that people continue to part out used speakers and asking crazy prices. Again...each complete plug and play speaker - whether it is a door or sub woofer - can be bought from Bose, brand new, for about $150 per. Which means, you can replace all three speakers in the car for under $500 delivered. No need to buy used parts.

 

[I_M_Legend]

When I read this thread I was excited to be able to get some new fresh ones from Bose, but then I started thinking that if the ones that are in my car now were essentially "new" then maybe getting them from Bose isn't the best approach. Presumably Bose hasn't been cranking these out the whole time, they are just left over stock and while they haven't had electricity running through the components, they do age and fall out of spec. I think I'm going to send my duplicate set in to be recapped and aligned so that I'll know that the capacitors are fresh and the speakers have been tested to be in spec recently. Hopefully your new Bose ones will sound great and will stay that way for many years.

Received a message today from Bose indicating they are temporarily out of stock on all NSX speakers but should be receiving new units mid Nov-18. If this is true then it would appear that there may still be enough demand for them to warrant another production build.

Has anyone that has bought some new ones recently noticed a build date sticker or stamp perhaps on their speaker or box?

 

[Speedmaster]

Received a message today from Bose indicating they are temporarily out of stock on all NSX speakers but should be receiving new units mid Nov-18. If this is true then it would appear that there may still be enough demand for them to warrant another production build.

Has anyone that has bought some new ones recently noticed a build date sticker or stamp perhaps on their speaker or box?

Yes, I have seen this. I couldn't decipher much from the sticker. I don't recall it being explicit, mostly code.

 

[Speedmaster]

Have you received and installed your "new" speakers from Bose? I'm interested in hearing how these ones sound. My assumption is that these have been sitting on the shelf for a number of years and weren't recently manufactured. So the fear is that the electrolytic capacitors have been aging/drying out and will have problems associated with that. I have an a duplicate set that I got with my car because the previous owner had replaced them. Not sure if the replacement ones in the car came from Bose (probably not since it was before this thread), "new" from Acura, or used from another owner. But they are starting to crackle and have poor response at low volume. I'm thinking that even though I could get "new" ones from Bose for close to the same cost as having the old ones to refreshed, the refreshing route might be the better option as I'll know that all of the age sensitive components have been updated and the whole circuit has been aligned to spec. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

I want to say I have bought four or five new sets from them; one set for each of my NSXs. They are still making the speakers, so I doubt there are capacitor issues (but if you do have an issue, Bose is excellent to work with.)

 

[Ruri67]

considering should I order a new one then send it to rebuild so its brand new and stronger than ever. Do they sell the head unit too? what about the bass too?

 

[I_M_Legend]

considering should I order a new one then send it to rebuild so its brand new and stronger than ever. Do they sell the head unit too? what about the bass too?

If you order new ones, there's no need to have them rebuilt.

The head unit is available new through Honda for about $2k or you can get an old one repaired by member [MENTION=13572]cmc140[/MENTION] or http://www.carstereoremoval.com/htm/stereoremovalAcuraNSXP.htm


You can also get the insides redone with new technology http://www.willmanselectronics.com/nsx.htm

You can also get a new face plate if yours is worn out https://www.oeplusdesign.com/faceplate

Lots of options.

 

[RC-DEVIL]

update on this as of 1/21/2019 Bose is still on backorder for speakers with no expected ship date. I chose to have [MENTION=13572]cmc140[/MENTION] repair my amps in my original speakers. Everything works great!

 

[TxGlenn]

Just another update...I talked to Patty and these are still on back order as of 3/26/19.