More Bose Gold questions - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

ANDYZ28 · 09-30-2005, 06:46 AM

I recently bought a 1990 IROC-Z ex-race car. The car had been pretty much gutted when I got it, but the owner had saved nearly all of the interior parts. When I was looking through all of the parts, I discovered a Delco-Bose Gold series locking rear storage cover complete with factory wire harness. The original Radio for this system is long gone, along with the kick panel speakers (if it even used kick panel speakers). If it did use kick panel speakers, I would not be able to install them due to the 8 point chrome moly roll cage location. I want to keep the rool cage too.

My question is; how can I run the rear Bose system and also run the four speakers in the non-Bose F body locations? I know the rear speakers have their own amps.

Thanks, Andyz28

This ad is not displayed to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on ThirdGen!

cabsales1 · 10-04-2005, 06:42 PM

Im also run a Bose Gold system and as far as I know you can't mix and match Bose and non Bose speakers. The reason being Bose speakers run at a different Ohms than regular speakers. I can't remember the Ohms off hand but they are different than regular speakers. You can still run a Bose system if you go to a jumk yard and swipe speakers and the Amps for each one out of other cars (Camaro's, Firebirds, Fiero's, ECT...) and mount them in the car you have. Most people will upgrade their Bose Stereo to one out of an early 90's GM car so they have a CD Player instead of a cassette. But as for mixing the systems between Bose and non-Bose systems it just doesn't work because of the speakers being at different ohms and you will smoke the Bose Speakers which are lower Ohms than other speakers. Some people will use the bose back deck you have and install regular speakers in them and off course not use the amps and this works great. The main reason that the Bose systems sound so good is because of the good quality of the speaker boxes they have their systems and Amps in , which is basically what you have is a great speaker box to work with. Since you have a car that is obviously no longer stock I would go with a good after market system and install speakers in the Dash, Sail Panels, and back deck cover you have. To bad though you can't install speaker in the kick panels though as the dash location isn't the best. If you can try to figure out a way to get speakers in your kick panels you will be glad you did as this is a great place to get the good sound from. You could also install a set in the doors but you have to build them out to have clearance for the windows and motors. Hope this helps???? Look around on TGO in the audio section and you will see some pretty clever ways to get speakers in the doors and kick panels. And by the way if you are just surfing the audio area, make sure you check out the POST on BUCKET BASE it's well worth the time.

ANDYZ28 · 10-04-2005, 07:25 PM

Thanks, I will let you know what I eventually come up with. In the meantime I am going to look for a set of original Bose Gold kick panel sets (medium beechwood) to try and work something out.

Derek The Great · 10-04-2005, 09:26 PM

i recently put a bose gold series cd player that came out of a fiero (i dont think it was stock, cd player says 1990, fiero was like a 87) and it hasnt blown the speakers, which are stock. My bose is on the fritz, as it favors the left channel but tries and tries to power the right channel... im gettin it fixed...

f1ls1 · 10-09-2005, 02:47 PM

FYI bose rebuilds the're amps for $54.00 each. And it does not matter if the are burnt.

ANDYZ28 · 10-10-2005, 06:11 AM

I suppose that trying to find a '90-'92 Bose Gold jead unit is going to be pretty tough? I have seen the Cadillac and other units for sale on the famous auction site, but I don't believe they have the yellow lettering on the face of the Bose unit?

Derek The Great · 10-10-2005, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by f1ls1
FYI bose rebuilds the're amps for $54.00 each. And it does not matter if the are burnt.

and where can i go to have this done?

f1ls1 · 10-10-2005, 01:43 PM

The information you need to contact bose about repairing your amps.

For any questions about service, replacement parts, or warranty information for your car's Bose sound system, give us a call or send us an email.
In the U.S. call:
1-800-231-2673
Outside the U.S. call:
1-508-766-6885

Hours:
Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM EST (13:30 - 22:00 GMT)

Jeffluke · 11-23-2005, 08:21 AM

I have quite a few bose gold radios from the 90's cads there are the same radio as the f-body gold radio 90-92, less the yellow face, and a few of the earlier bose radios w/ old style plugs, and (3) 93-95 f/radios yellow face and white, one w/cd, quite a few amps relays and f-bod stuff, and more also, f-body rear 87-89 bose, and gold hatches, and front boxes all work, if you need any bose stuff 9 of 10 I have it.

ANDYZ28 · 11-23-2005, 07:13 PM

Suffolk, eh?

I am still looking for 1990 front Bose kick panels (Medium Beechwood)

Jeffluke · 11-24-2005, 07:54 AM

I have a pair from an 87 iroc and they are a little lighter of a tan, almost tan, but not as tan as the 90 iroc tan color, as the color is on the label on the boxes . I will look at them later sometime today, and do you need the amps and the speakers, or just the kicker boxes. The 90 beechwood set I have is a complete gold system, I removed from my car, and finally found the parts to fix it, and I am not sure if I will part with those because I still have the car, and it is for sale on the boards: 90 L98/66k miles, but the carpet is easily obtainable and the trim from the kick panels is easy to modify. I will get bacw with you today or so, Jeff.

Derek The Great · 11-24-2005, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ANDYZ28
I suppose that trying to find a '90-'92 Bose Gold jead unit is going to be pretty tough? I have seen the Cadillac and other units for sale on the famous auction site, but I don't believe they have the yellow lettering on the face of the Bose unit?

i dunno the lettering on mine is gold...

ANDYZ28 · 11-24-2005, 10:22 PM

I did manage to get an original Bose Gold head unit from a member. It is from a 1992 with the gold lettering on the face. I also got the "tan" kick panels complete. They are from an '87, and as you say the color is not quite right for the 1990 cars. I figure I will use them until I can find better ones.

Jeffluke · 11-25-2005, 09:53 AM

good deal as the 90-92 yellow radios are tough to come by, I put a yellow 95 4th gen cd in my 90 to get it to work, the plugs are the same and work too.

Derek The Great · 11-27-2005, 12:00 AM

My radio is a lil different than id expected, it has fader controls but doesnt have the controls to adjust the sound from left to right it doesnt have an eq either, just bass and treb controls, and no clock, is this how they all were?

ANDYZ28 · 11-27-2005, 06:54 AM

Derek the Great, the Delco/Bose Gold radio I have is dated 04-22-1992 Part# 16165901. It has a warning label on top of the radio which states;" For proper operationthis radio must be connected to Delco-GM/Bose speaker/amplifier enclosures. This radio will not work with conventional speakers". It is then repeated in French.

It appears to be identical to a stock 1990 Camaro radio I have, and sounds very similar to yours. It has the usual Treble and bass controls, tune-fade, Dolby Noise Reduction, and CrO2/M buttons, and tape deck controls. But like your radio, it does not have any balance control, Apparently the Bose systems do not use balance.

Perhaps someone with an original system can give us the low down on how it is supposed to be?

Jeffluke · 11-27-2005, 08:12 AM

I believe that they all state that, as to protect you from using the wrong radio, that design has been used since the early 80's as I have an 84 cad seville bose radio too, and if you look good at the face plate it is not as the same face plate, as a lot of people try to put a standard black/yellow one on a cad radio, GM must of used the same basic design up to 92 for the bose systems, only changing the plugs, as 92 gold radios do not have balance either, and interesting to know is that all the bose radios use a blaupunct tape deck, I have switched to gold amps and foud that they work better than the pre 89 amps.

Jeffluke · 11-27-2005, 09:40 AM

Another thing to note is the speakers use a higher ohm rating, 8 I believe, whatever you do, donot put the stock radio in the bose system, most bose f cars I have found have a seperate complete harness for bose, and it supplies power to the speaker mounted amps through that harness via the relay, usually located by the r/front kicker, and the stock speaker wires are still in place, as for the power plug it looks the same.

Derek The Great · 11-27-2005, 11:14 PM

AndyZ28 - When i flipped mine over to read the underside here is what i see, 3 stickers in the middle, and one on the bottom left. Top Middle sticker is actually covering another sticker, but it has a barcode at the top of it and reads,
Model 16156686 Serial 1004158
Dept 7341
SER MAN PROD ID DELCO
CDM 1
PKG NO 12340974 Made in Kokomo
Below this sticker another one reads
SVC # 16156686
REM # 16223700 DELCO
SERIAL 1004158 ELECTRONICS
factory authorized remanufactured
module for delco electronics Corp
M
Made in USA
HNT0043062
The bottom left sticker reads,
Delco Electronics Kokomo, IN
Manufactured DEC 19 1990

Is this acutally a bose system???

Jeffluke · 11-28-2005, 02:46 PM

I donot have a 92 f bose radio for the serial # to check if it is, I do know the bose silver (impala ss) and all gold radios will work as long as it is a bose radio, as for the numbers I currently have a few f/bose radios I will see tonoght if any of them crosswith the numbers.

'87 IROC VERT · 11-28-2005, 11:09 PM

Jeffluke, I have seen a Delco/Bose CD player on sale recently on eBay, and I didn't buy it because it DID have the yellow 90/92 style lettering on it. You should do a search there- I know, there are a lot of matches that aren't what you need, but if you spend the time you will probably be able to find one.

Also, sometimes emailing guys selling all the ones except what you want will turn up one that just hasn't been posted yet...

f1ls1 · 11-28-2005, 11:15 PM

You could not get the bose CD player with the yellow lettering in the 90-92 Camaro. It was only available in the 93 Camaro and in 94 they went back to white.

'87 IROC VERT · 11-29-2005, 12:33 AM

Oh, then maybe I just saw the 'standard' non-Bose system... sorry about that!

Jeffluke · 11-29-2005, 11:02 AM

I donot think the 90-92 f/cars had a bose cd option. I have (2) 4th gen, white and a yellow, bose cassettes also, I think it was a 94, and the yellow being a 95, the 4thgen bose radios will plug right in an 90-92 f/gold car, and if you are creative, they have the steering wheel control outputs in them, I have in my 87 bose car, with a 4thgen yellow bose cd, (w/the adapter to the early harness), and it is a far better radio than the earlier gold radios, and has balance/fader also. But the 87 trim is white, I bought that one from the e-store for @60$. I use the e-store for some stuff, as I have a lot of contacts here for parts, and I have my
1990 l98 Iroc 66k, for sale on the boards too if you know anyone looking for a clean Iroc.

'87 IROC VERT · 11-29-2005, 12:21 PM

Jeffluke,

If you come across any really good deals for the Delco non-Bose units taht would fit my car (87 IROC) please let me know.

Thanks!

Jeffluke · 11-30-2005, 07:55 AM

I come across the pre 89 style radios once in awhile, what style plugs does your car have? there are two styles, because my 87 IROC is a bose car it has the early style plug, I am not sure of the year the f/body non bose cars switched to the later style plugs, I will look out for you for a good one w/the eq, I believe that is the better of the non bose radios, and you can buy an adapter to convert early to late plugs, or vise versa.

f1ls1 · 11-30-2005, 09:10 AM

1988 is when they switched to the Micro connectors on the radio's.

'87 IROC VERT · 11-30-2005, 01:19 PM

I think mine is the regular size puld - yes, please let me know if you come across any of those 87 style eq CD players, I would be so grateful! Thanks!

92zcamaroperson · 12-05-2005, 03:23 PM

I bought my 92 z28 a few months back and it has the bose gold options. But the car did not have the bose deck. Is there any way to test whether the speakers work or not? I tried wiring up a 4way line level converter to get a pioneer deck to work but did not even get a crackle out of it. Is there a fuse or anything that couldve popped? Or does anyone have a deck that would with my speakers?

Jeffluke · 12-05-2005, 04:56 PM

My guess is that someone tried to make it work with an aftermarket radio and did not understand the bose concept, if the plugs at the dash (where the radio plugs into it) are intact I would try a bose converter which steps down the aftermarket radio to work with the bose stuff, if thats what you already tried, and plugs into the stock harness, I have a few good gold radios if you are interested in one, from cadilacs that I know work, the easiest way is to plug in a bose gold radio, as you never will know if the amps were fried or not, thats what happened to my 90 IROC when I purchased it, the previous owner was an expert .......at frying the amps, the bose system when operating is a good system, for stock, and has very good sound, but do not expect it to pound you out of the car. It works like this : power through the radio on/off switch activates the amps via a relay under the r/front kick speaker (sometimes goes bad), sending power to the amps at each speaker, each speaker gets a signal from the radio (4 wires in each plug, 2 of these are speaker wires from the radio, the other 2 are power for amp and ground via the relay) at a stepped down rate, amps power the speakers at 8ohms which is at @ 20watts each speaker. Either way I am sure I have 4 good amps and a few bose relays, and a gold radio if you are interested in attempting to get it to work, the big thing is that the harness is not all butchered up, I like the bose system as both of my IROCS have them, and its good enough for me, let me know if you need any thing, jeff.

92zcamaroperson · 12-06-2005, 10:57 PM

How much would you sell one of the decks for? Do they have cd players? All of the harnesses are there. Are there supposed to be a total of 5 plugs? I have a black 2 blue and 2 white. Is there an actual converter made for bose stereos? I got a converter from best buy that was jsut a 4 channel line level converter. I couldnt even use all of the plugs.

Jeffluke · 12-07-2005, 01:26 PM

If the plugs were not cut or hacked there is a good chance that the radio went bad, it is a 50/50 chance that the amps are still good, I donot have a copy of the wiring diagram at the moment, the step down converter will take and split an rca output or a speaker output, to be compatible w/the needed bose signal, I donot recommend you try applying power to the speakers via the plug until you get the wiring diagram first, as it is easy to fry the amps, remember that you need to apply power to the amp at the same time you apply the speaker signal input from the converter, (if it is not the same as the bose signal, it will fry the amp), it is hard to determine whether the amps are good otherwise, I can sell you a known good bose gold radio for $70.00 to your door, I dont have a good cd one at the moment just cassette models, and I have amps as well if you need them And I have paypal. jeff. The radio fits all 90-95 bose gold systems. your plugs are gold plugs.

ANDYZ28 · 03-05-2006, 07:55 PM

What is the routing of the Bose wire harness? Is it an integral part of the instrument panel harness(s), and does it go down the left side to the rear of the car along with the rest of the rear harness?

f1ls1 · 03-05-2006, 09:01 PM

Mine was wired throught the dash conduit at the windshield and down the right side of the car.

ANDYZ28 · 03-05-2006, 09:56 PM

"The right side", this is probably the reason this portion of the harness has its' own wire loom. I am glad I asked, I just could not fathom howw the loom was going to fit inside the plastic conduit on the drivers side.

Also, I noticed that the radio only has three plugs going in to it. Is that correct?

Thanks

Derek The Great · 03-05-2006, 10:54 PM

i think now that my Bose radio was from a rivera or something similar, due to the rectangular and square buttons... Plus it doesnt have a clock. On the positive side its a Cd player

f1ls1 · 03-05-2006, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ANDYZ28
"The right side", this is probably the reason this portion of the harness has its' own wire loom. I am glad I asked, I just could not fathom howw the loom was going to fit inside the plastic conduit on the drivers side.

Also, I noticed that the radio only has three plugs going in to it. Is that correct?

Thanks

Three plugs is correct.

ANDYZ28 · 03-27-2006, 05:09 AM

I have finally gotten to the point of installing the harness into the dash/cowl area. I have installed it into the plastic conduit that runs along the top of the cowl. But the harness will not quite reach the radio now. I must be doing something wrong, as I have never seen on of these systems in and original installation. I someone has any experience with this re-installation I could use some advice.

Thanks, Andy

f1ls1 · 03-27-2006, 02:18 PM

Andy the wires follow the factory speaker wires down from the conduit to the back of the radio.. You should have plenty of wire unless the harness you are using has been repaired before.

ANDYZ28 · 03-27-2006, 07:50 PM

I will take a picture of it tomorrow, and see if I can post it. Thanks

MI ROC-Z · 05-17-2009, 11:03 PM

I know this thread is old but I have a few questions.

Where can I get new connector ends because a couple of mine are missing?

Where do I find an adapter to connect an aftermarket radio into the bose amplified system?

Darrel · 11-04-2009, 12:46 AM

I have been searching for a complete Bose Gold Series System to fit in my 3rd Gen IROC-Z I do not know what all the system includes. I did see on ebay an Iroc that Showed the speaker box in the rear hatch and that was all.. What does it all include, and cost now days, and where to get the complete system? Thanks Darrel