John in RI

iTrader: (167)

I wanted to write this out so that I can go back to it as needed in the future; The info might be useful to others so posting it here is better than keeping it on my PC !

Background; I've got an 84 Berlinetta and the stereo options for that Thirdgen are pretty limited. Removing the original radio was never really an option for me so I decided to do something a little "different" and installed a 87 IROC BOSE speaker system into it. Not a bad upgrade,..... but a few years later I found a 91Z set-up and swapped to the BOSE Gold system. Again - better,.... but not quite good enough; so I added another 4 speakers to the system. I was running the BOSE Gold in the stock locations and placed 2 driver kick speakers in the dash using the 2 87 kick panel Amps and installed 6 Caddy 6x9's in the sail using the Amps I got with those speakers. I LOVED the sound, Looks "stock" ----> but ROCKS !!

Over time the system has given me a lot of headaches. The set-up had a LOT of parts and over the years a LOT of those parts have gone bad. A couple of the Signal Converters failed and countless Amps have gone bad. The original wiring was a bit 'hack' so it was completely re-wired - MUCH cleaner - about 3-4 years back. At that time I used the rest of the good back-up Amps I had to get the system back in action. In the past couple years I've had to replace a number of the Amps (in haste) in order to get all the speakers working again,... but recent Amps swaps made the sound quality worse by using Amps that don't match the speakers. I found out the hard way that using the right Amps is VERY important !!

After digging thru a bunch of dead BOSE Amps I've accumulated I've managed to MOST of the various type of Amps that was installed into a Thirdgen. I could be wrong on some of this,... & I WILL correct any mistakes pointed out !!


87-88 ** Found 87/88 rear amps with same PN, but different components on the board, maybe 87-to-88 year change ? )
Front Amps PN= 1228137
Rear Amps PN= 1228139


89?
Front Amps PN= 1228868
Rear Amps PN= 1228869
** 1989 AMP part numbers were found in a parts number book. I have verified the 89 AMPS in just 2 original 89 IROCs thru other TGO members & so far and they both had: Front Amps PN= 1228137 / Rear Amps PN= 1228139 .


90
Front Left PN= 16137237
Front Right PN= 16137238
Rear L&R PN= 16137239

91-92
Front Left PN= 16148741
Front Right PN= 16148742
Rear L&R PN= 16148743


Pictures of the internal components: *** I did not have any 89 specific Amps so I can not picture the internal components from those units.

Front Amps:
Top= 87-88, 89?: Bottom = 90


91-92



Rear Amps:
Top= 87-88, 89?: Mid=90, Bot=91-92



Amps from other makes and models can be made to work with a Thirdgen Camaro, but these are the amps that were made for each of the specific ThirdGen Camaro applications. I've used Amps from Cadillac, RX7, 93Z28, 95Z28 and Vetts. Got sound again, but it's not equal/balanced and I'm getting the wrong frequency playing thru some speakers.

I've JUST started to re-build the system again - this time I'm going to use only the proper amps in the proper locations. Sadly; finding working factory Amps really isn't a realistic option so I am beginning to work with a radio technician to "rebuild" the existing Amps I've got. It's not a high priority thing and rebuilding 8 Amps ain't gonna' be a "cheap" fix so it will happen slowly. As I learn more about these Amps I'll post it here.


Some reference data / Technical info:

Parts number book:
http://www.gmpartswiki.com/getpage?pageid=129959


RX7 owners BOSE AMP repair digest:
http://www.rx7club.com/interior-exte...-guide-885516/

VERY technical info regarding BOSE Amp repair: (91 ZR1 Vette)
http://ojas.net/nsx/bose


Edit: Corrected 87-88 AMP PN
Edit: Corrected 90-91 L AMP PN / added pic
Edit: Highlight 89 AMP info

B4C5.7

iTrader: (2)

Thank you John, folks like you make this sight great.......!

ev305tpi

iTrader: (3)

This is good info! Thanks!!

GASPEDDLER

iTrader: (2)

Here are the part numbers off of my rear 1989 Bose amps. They differ from the ones posted by John so I thought I would post them. I'll see if I have pics of my front Bose amps pn#'s when I get home tonight.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Thanx for posting that GASPEDDLER ! The Amp you show is in my pics too. I screwed up the part number when I wrote it out when first posting this topic. ( I was 1 # off,....... Typo !!! It's corrected now !!

At first I had assumed that the 89s used the same Amps as the 87-88 years because ( I thought ) it was exactly the same BOSE set-up - but the parts number book says different. Because I didn't have any "verified" 89 Amps in-hand, I used the part numbers as shown in the GM Parts number book reference link.

I'd really like to get a pic of the 89 Amp with the parts book PN's on the sticker it so I can see exactly what internal components were used inside of it.

Thanx again !

GASPEDDLER

iTrader: (2)

I'll see what I can do.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Just wanted to add some info ---. Not really Thirdgen specific, but might help anyone else that has converted to - or modified their original BOSE system.

I've got 2 BOSE 6x9's installed in my sail panels. I got them used from a 87-89 Cadillac Seville. The matching Amps were included and get mounted to a bracket on the speaker itself. Those Amps died long ago but I kept them for reference. In the last month I purchased another 4 of these Speakers assemblies as NOS parts with the factory Amps again included. These parts were from a 91 Seville with BOSE Gold.



Just my luck,.... ALL 4 of the (NOS) Amps were DOA !!

Back to the point...... I took a picture of the amps that match the 6x9 speakers so I had a record of the components used inside each of them. Not sure what year the system changed to from BOSE to "BOSE Gold" in the Cadillac's, but I'm sure the 91-92 system was the Gold version

86-89?
Rear Amps PN = 16124810

90?-92
Rear Amps PN= 16148740
Front Amps PN= 16148741 * not in picture - wanted to save the PN

93
Front Amps PN= 16169667 * not in picture - Wanted to save the PN
Rear Amps PN= 16193505 * not in picture - wanted to save the PN


Top Amps = 86-89? and bottom Amps = 90?-92



Once I get good amps to experiment with the plan is to try the Camaro BOSE Gold rear amps and then try the "matching" Caddy 6x9 BOSE Gold amps on the 6x9's to compare sound quality of each combination.

okfoz

One of the things that I have noticed from messing with a BOSE system in a 1990 Riviera, the receiver played as much of a factor into the sound as the Speakers and the amp on the back of the receiver.

I swapped a 1990 BOSE system into a 1995 Buick Riviera, I custom made some wires, fortunately the speaker sizes were the same IIRC, but I had to use the original 95 Riviera Head unit with the 90 amp... It worked, the volume was right and everything, but the sound was basically the same as the stock radio, but just a little bit clearer.

Amazingly after my swap, (I put the 95 Riv Amp & speakers in the 1990) my 1990 Still sounded better... Oh well, it was an exercise in whether or not I could do it... Most places say it is "Impossible" but it is not.

So John is Very Very correct when he says that everything has to match.. I also know that some cars used the 1 ohm speakers others use 2 ohm speakers.

John

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Well, I've got a little update.....

Your right, none of the BOSE amps seem to have ever used thermo paste.... It's one of the most common complaints I've read from around the web. Thanx for the heads-up about "You Do It Electronics", I'll keep them in my notes ! I've worn out a couple soldering irons and learned that while I can solder 'good enough' in a pinch, I'm not good enough for this level of work. For those that are able to solder,... I found that http://www.digikey.com/ had most of the components need to rebuild these amps

I sent the 2 rear 92 Rear Bose Amps out for rebuild. While it took a little longer than expected, I was happy with the quality of the work. I found the company online & they relatively new to E-bay. The Price was good and the quality was good, so if I have 1 more smooth transaction with them I'll start referring people to them.




You can see that all the capacitors have been replaced, I have not looked closer to see what else might have also been done to them ( the new Caps are just so obvious !)

These were rear Amps I'm starting at the back of the car and working forward. First thing was to install a factory BOSE head unit in place. I used a 4th gen head unit so that I had independent control of all 4-chanels. ( Thirdgen head-units only had Front/Rear speaker adjustment ) I also altered the head-unit harness so I can disconnect the front and rear speaker harnesses independently. The front harness was left unplugged & I pulled my 4 rear Speakers and Amps out then installed these 2 amps in the BOSE hatch box ( I found 1 BOSE GOLD amp that was fading IN/OUT and 1 working 4th gen BOSE Door Amp in the hatch box ) The Hatch box is making good even sound now thru full volume and no sound at all when volume is low.

Next will be the Rear Sail panel 6x9's. The Amps that were in place were a pair of 92 Bose Gold front Amps. They sounded fine but were removed. I replaced the 15 Year old speakers with NOS and then checked all the working Amps I had. This was not a definitive test,... just listening for general sound.

1 87 Front; Sounded weakest of all, mostly highs/mids
1 92 Rear (took a minute, but in started working): Even sound with Gold Front Amps
2 4th gen door amps (W/"flipped" 3rd gen harness) Loudest, seemed mid-range
* NOT sure if these are 93-94 or 95-96 door amps,... 95-96 were 'better' ! )
2 Gold Front; Seemed as strong as the rear, made better bass than 4th gen

Everything gets left alone now till I get some Amps repaired for the 6x9's. I'm using the Amps that came with those speakers so they are properly "matched".... but will compare them to others before moving onto the front. It's messy up there; 1 front Amp is blown and the kicks are WAYYYyyy to strong and over-powering everything !


***** Figured out 91 Front Amps !!

okfoz

The difference may be a volume, and EQ adjustment for each side. I know personally to simply set my balance and faders to center off of an aftermarket radio the sound wants to hit the middle of the car equally, typically I have to adjust the balance slightly to get it to where it sounds even on the right and the left.

BOSE in the new cars has really cheapened up over the past few years. I think the BOSE systems from the late 80's to early 90s were actually superior to the new cars. Personally the best sounding system was the one in my 90 Riviera, second to the one in my 2006 Buick Rainier, and the BOSE system in my 2007 Tahoe left me something to be desired so I ended up retrofitting a Sub-woofer and an aftermarket amp to give it what it needed.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Good observation. I've noticed that same thing in various BOSE systems. my 95 Z for example,...... NONE of the BOSE head units have a Equalizer. The Head unit in my 95 Z is a 'normal' delco and has an EQ. When the EQ is adjusted a particular way the front driver seems to weaken and the BALANCE needs to be compensated to get equal sound from each side....... and if I re-adjust the EQ the Driver side gets louder and the sound needs to be "re-balanced" again.

For the work to the Berlinetta Bose system I'm using a 95 BOSE head unit so a head-unit converter is not interfering in any way. The 95 has 4 channel control and is better for my uses here because the Thirdgen BOSE doesn't have FADE control; Just BALANCE. With the 95 BOSE head unit, when the FADE is turned from center to rear,... the front speakers still produce sound - just limited "highs". The same is true for pushing only the front speakers,..... the rear still produce sound, just no mid or high range. Pretty sure that that all just about non-BOSE units cut just about all output to speakers when they are fully adjusted to the front or rear.

I know the sound I'm getting now will not be the same as the sound I get once the Berlinetta deck is used and the signal is passed thru a converter.......but I am using as much factory stuff as possible right now so I've got a "baseline" for later changes. Once I get all the AMP and Speaker work finalized it will be interesting to see how the sound changes from head-unit to head-unit !

At this point I've had 4 BOSE AMPs sent out for repair. All have been returned in working condition and it took about 5-6 business days for them to ship back once they were accepted. Cost was about $40 each plus return shipping thru BOSE Central. ( search the web ). I've had 2 rear BOSE Gold Amps serviced and they do sound the same as the only good rear Amp I've got to compare with. I also had 2 Caddy rear 6x9's repaired ( not as much Bass as I hoped for ). My plan forward is to get a couple of Camaro front Amps serviced soon that I can compare those repaired units to the sound made by factory original Amps.

okfoz

I remember my 1990 Buick Riviera had only Fade Front to rear... The rear speakers produced most of the bass, so if I put the Fade all the way forward you could still hear the thump from the rear if you sat in the back seat, or had the trunk open and standing back there.

It is interesting that they would not have Fade, I rarely mess with Balance, only fade in my cars...

neilcase

I have an 87 IROC with the Bose system. The car sat under a redwood tree for 16 years before I saved it. But many of the electronics on the car got somewhat corroded. Not horribly bad, but enough to cause them to not work. I would like to get the head unit reconditioned. Ive found 3 shops that recondition older head units from the 70's and back but no luck finding anyone who wants to touch anything from the 80's. Anybody got a source for this?

GASPEDDLER

iTrader: (2)

Send 84TA a private message, he refurbished my entire system for me last year.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Got another update on this;

I've now had 6 BOSE Amps repaired thru BOSE Central and have nothing but good things to say about those transactions. in 1 case I questioned the performance of 1 amp and was told to return it for testing. It was re-serviced and returned to me in working order.



These Amps are all working Amps & were all compared to each other. The 5 Amps on the drive-line 'hump' are all 4th gen Amps in factory working condition. The Amp connected to the speaker is 1 of the 92 Caddy Amps. The 3 Amps directly under the speaker are 91-92 Front Amps,.... and the last Amp on the rear seat is a 91-92 Rear Amp.

The 91-92 Camaro Amps are the loudest of all these amps. This wasn't due to the repairs because the Caddy Amps were dead NOS parts that were also repaired. When comparing 91-92 front vs. rear Amps the rear Amps produced more deep tones (Bass) than the fronts did. The Caddy Amps and the 4th gen F-Body Amps all produce a lower volume and a Higher frequency sound than the 91-92 Amps. ( Frequency seemed about the same as the 91-92 fronts,.. but not nearly as loud.)

I'm going to wrap up this project for now in terms of what is getting installed for this season. Over the summer I plan to get a full set of earlier Thirdgen BOSE (87-90) serviced and will make any additional adjustments based on what I find at that time. What I've got now:

87-88 Front Amps under dash pad
91-92 Gold Amps in kick panels
92 Caddy 6x9 Amps in B pillars
91-92 Gold Amps in Hatch-Box

I decided to use the Caddy Amps for the 6x9's so they are not as loud as the rear SUBS and act in a supporting role. These might get changed to 90 rear Camaro Amps. I left the 87-88 Amps installed under the dash Pad,...... but might remove those speakers entirely once the head-unit and converter are final-installed. There's a LOT of highs at full volume and I might have to pull these speakers to get better all-around sound. (not so many high tones blasting right in my face !) I figure I should drive the car for a while before making that call !!


I gotta' get back in touch with him too,....... We were working out the details for some radio repairs last winter and I never finalized a plan of action with him; I ended up getting elbows-deep in this BOSE project instead.

P.S. For anyone that might work with these BOSE Ams: 87-89 Amps are fully enclosed in a metal case, but the later Amps (with removable harness) normally get mounted inside a plastic BOSE box. The Back of the circuit board is completely exposed on those units and they need to be covered/protected from shorting out if not mounted in their proper location. There are many ways to do this,... I simply use the mounting boxes from 4th gen front door speaker Amps.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

I had to dig around in my console for awhile so I wanted to take and post a pic of this while I had access to the BOSE converter.



I could not find any converters out there that use the early style factory radio plugs. ( 3 large plugs ) Peripheral used to make one (GMAH12) but I haven't found one anywhere in about 15 years. My 84 has the small radio plugs on the 92 body/Speaker wiring harness,.... but my Berlinetta radio still needs the early style plugs.

The GMAH21 is the converter I prefer. It's a bit simpler than the other one shown and the adjustment dials seem to have a better range of output adjustments. Sadly; the only way to get one is to get lucky and find an old NOS part somewhere.

The PAC OEM1 seems to be the only aftermarket converter still being produced for our cars. This one is "weird" in that it provides 3 output wires for each channel. The factory negative speaker wires get connected to the PAC negative out speaker wire ( with black stripe on the wire ) and I used the wire with the red stripe for the positive circuit. ( rather than the solid color wires )

* before final splicing I checked the sound from 1 speaker using the sold colored wire as positive and then used the red stripped wire as positive and the sound seemed to be exactly the same to me. The red striped wire is called the "HIGH" and the solid wires are called 'LOW'. Didn't seem to make a difference during my quick check,.... so I used the red striped wires as the positive leads for each channel.

NOTE: For some reason both companies felt the need to omit 1 of the factory wires from their "plug & play" harness. The missing wire is the GREY DIM circuit wire. This must be added in order for the DIM feature to work when the headlights are turned on.


I'm pretty sure that Soundgate makes one too but I've got no experience with that unit.

For the record; this 8-speaker system sounds FANTASTIC !! After driving the car for awhile and listening to it while on the road I will not be removing the dash speakers. Using the adjustments on the converter I've turned the fronts down and the rears up enough so that I get good equal sound from front/back. I might at some point replace the 87-88 font amps under the dash pad for 90+ amps, but that's just so that I'm using AMPS with a removable harness to make future maintenance easier

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Well,..... Time for an upgrade !

I kept the whole system as it was last described above thru the summer without any changes. I had some squeaking from the 2 87-88 front amps that were powering the dash speakers but it wasn't enough of a problem for me to dig them out. About a month ago I noticed that a 6x9 speaker was also throwing static so I started looking thru bone-yard cars for some replacement amps. About 2 weeks ago I found a set,....

1997 Cadillac Eldorado. (interesting that the front circuit board is marked "FULL" (range) and the rear is marked "WOOF".

Front AMP = PN: 182670-1137
Rear AMP = PN: 182670-1138



As the pic shows these are each 100 watt amps the amp harness can be removed and replaced with large 4-pin plug harness that matches the Thirdgen BOSE harness. These front Caddy amps powered a full range speaker exactly the same as the 91-92 BOSE right kick panel and the rear amps powered 6x9s. As described a last winter, the earlier year caddy rear amps that I had rebuilt produced a low volume and were kinda' "supporting" speakers ---> NOT ANY MORE ! The 6x9's now produce AT LEAST as much bass / sound as the rear hatch lid; a HUGE improvement !! ( Now; anything that's not properly "secured" will rattle and the all the mirrors shake ! )

After screwing around with the rear for awhile I decided to replace the 2 dash speaker amps too. Rather than using the caddy front 100 watt AMPs I decided to use the 50 watt 95Z28 front door amps I had on the shelf. (FYI: The 93 Camaro Bose system was a 3-speaker, 150 Watt set-up, but in 1995 the BOSE system was upgraded to 5 speakers and 300 Watts.)

While the factory Third Gen BOSE Gold system in my car retains the originally matched Amps for each of the 4 91-92 BOSE gold speakers on that factory designed set-up...... the 4 custom added speakers are all using other amps.

2 speakers in dash = 1994 Camaro Z28 door AMPS, PN 16180764
2 rear 6x9 in Sail Panel = 97 Caddy Eldorado 100 watt AMPS, PN= 182670-1138


The sound is truly incredible compared to a stock ThirdGen BOSE system ( even the gold stuff ! ) At the moment the whole set-up is being over-powered by the adjustable signal converter that I'm using so at some point I'll have to pull that from the center console and re-adjust the converter based on the amps that are currently installed. Till then I'll just have to keep the volume **** down so I don't blow the speaker cones to shreds !!!

While the 100 Watt rear amps described in this post are "thicker" than factory thirdgen speaker amps,..... I believe that they would mount fine on the back of the factory rear woofer speakers and should fit OK in the BOSE Gold hatch box. ( These Caddy front amps are too big to fit in the kick panels ) I highly recommend these Caddy rear amps as replacements to anyone having issues with their factory Amps. ( just re-use the original amp harness. )

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Wanted to add a little info to this thread:

I've acquired a couple 91-92 BOSE Gold front AMPs from a 91 Caddy Seville. The reason I'm posting the info here is because these AMPs power the exact same ( small - flat ) front kick panels speakers as the 87-89 Camaro BOSE set-up. The Camaro and the Caddy are the only 2 cars I've ever found that use this small flat speaker. While the Caddy AMPs aren't exactly the same as the Camaro kick panel AMPs; They power the exact same speaker and should be 'tuned' to produce sound that is very similar to the Camaro version.

** Part # shows that it was also used in 89 Seville, so might be found in 89-92 cars.

91-92 Caddy Seville front AMPS Part Number = 16124812

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Quick update for my own purposes....

Had 1 of my dash AMPs begin to SCREECH real bad at radio start-up last fall. It would self-correct after about 5 minutes, but I had to live with 5 minutes of SCREECHING first ! Yesterday I finally got around to fixing the problem.

I've been working with another member to get his factory BOSE system back-in-action and while I had everything set-up on my testing station I evaluated the AMPs I had available. I found that the 4th Gen Z28 front AMPs I had powering the dash speakers were making a lot of "highs" and the amount of high tones that were blasting me in the face were a bit overwhelming. That was why I previously didn't want to use the higher wattage Caddy AMPs. However; once a direct comparison was made on the bench the Caddy AMPs produced a bit less Treble and were significantly more powerful. I should have expected this since the front Cadillac AMPS are a 'full range' AMP. In the end the 4th gen AMPS were both pulled and both got 100 WATT replacements...... Dam things fit in the dash like they were supposed to be there.



So the set-up now is:

2 97 Caddy 100 Watt front AMPs under dash pad (PN: 182670-1137)
2 91-92 BOSE Gold AMPs in kick panels (PN: LEFT, 16148741 & PN: RIGHT, 16148742)
2 97 Caddy 100 WATT 6x9 AMPs in B pillars (PN: 182670-1138)
2 91-92 Gold AMPs in Hatch-Box (PN: 16148734)


This system as build is currently rated at about around 550 / 600 Watts thru the 8 AMPS.

scottmoyer

So you added an extra set of speakers and amps in the B pillar? How does it sound? My factory amps don't sound as clear as I think they should when the windows are down and the volume is up. If I could "fix" this, then the music might sound better. I'm questioning if what I'm hearing is just '80s tech, compared to a Harmon Kardon system from 2016, that sounds outstanding.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Yup; My vote is -------> 80's tech ! While the early BOSE stuff was cool and certainly an upgrade over the basic radio in most GMs/Thirdgens,...... it wasn't great. The "Gold" set-up in the 90-92 Camaro was far superior to the 87-89 version.

Yup,...... BOSE 6x9s in the rear "B" pillars and 2 Thirdgen kick panel BOSE speakers in the dash,... as well as the 4 speakers in the typical factory BOSE Gold system; 2 in the kicks an 2 in the hatch-box. I'm sure you probably already know this, but just in case: Unlike 87-89 BOSE set-up the BOSE Gold uses a tweeter speaker on the drivers side front but a full range speaker on the pass side front and each side has a specific AMP. 87-89 used a full range speakers in the hatch-box, but 90-92 has larger sub-woofers back there.

I basically merged the best BOSE system used in a Thirdgen (91-92) with the BOSE systems from a (96-98?..... or was it 02?) Caddy. ( then substituted the Caddy full range front speakers for the Thirdgen tweeter front speakers. ) It really sounds quite good,.... while sitting in the garage anyway ! More highs than I would ever need need and plenty of "thump" from the rear to back it up. I'm still using the factory Berlinetta Cassette head unit so I have an Equalizer for fine adjustment to all speakers. I can also adjust the output to each individual channel thru the signal converter. I was satisfied with it last season but 1 failed AMP a few months back caused me to dig-in so I made another change. By removing the 2, 50 Watt 4th gen AMPs & installing 2, 100 Watt AMPs in the dash I'm sure I'll have to "re-calibrate" after I can get some time behind the wheel and fully understand how it sounds while at cruising speed.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

As expected: Getting a bit too much power and need to dial it back a bit.

Couldn't use the EQ to it's full range because the signal converter is set too high. Gonna' have to adjust the signal converter a little. Added an external mounted AUX + USB connector outlet from a 2013 Sonic as well as the NOS Berlinetta UT4 sound system last week. Don't like the amount of FM "bleed thru" after using the Sonic AUX (3-pin ) so I'll have to remove the GM jack from the outlet and custom install my own AUX jack (5-pin).

Short video:
1986 Camaro Berlinetta Cassette / Equalizer

Mark James

I am looking for a front Bose speaker amp for an 88 IROC. PN 1228137. Would you have one or know anywhere I could find one? Thank you.

jdl71

iTrader: (1)

How are you wiring all this up? Are you cutting out the connectors of the parts cars you are harvesting the amps/speakers from, and then half tapping into your existing harness? I am wanting to try something like this myself but don't want to butcher my factory wiring any more than necessary. Thanks!

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

I wish I could give you a clear answer,... but I've had the set-up wired several different ways and I honestly can't remember how it's wired right now. My set-up is running a non-BOSE head unit thru a signal converter. IIRC I've had the wired spliced in before the converter, after the converter and even used 2 converters. At some point I installed a devoted fuse just for the BOSE & I think I've still got a power 'regulator' wired in there for all the AMPS too.

About a month back I purchased a BOSE receiver that will plug directly into my Berlinetta radio; think it was originally from an 86 skylark or something like that ( PN = . Sometime over the winter I expect to crack into the system again in order to install a replacement Power Antenna motor and plan to install that BOSE receiver and remove the signal converter to see how the system works with that set-up. Once I get some accurate info on how it's currently wired-up I'll re-post the details.

jdl71

iTrader: (1)

That's right, I forgot you did not have a Bose head unit and your car wasnt already wired for a bose setup. Where are you getting the pigtails with the connector for the bose amps to plug into? The donor cars?

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Yes. When I first install the BOSE stuff YEARS ago I had 2 full factory harnesses to work with. At this point things have changed because the newer AMPS use a different plug/harness to it's speaker. I believe I made a few custom harnesses so things were a bit more 'plug-&-play' for me. But yes; I frequent the boneyards and always grab BOSE stuff when I find it.

85-to about 89 AMPs are "hard wired" with a plug,... but the 90 (or so) AMPs have a removable harness. IIRC the early 90's Caddys had a harness with a plug that matched the Thirdgens,... but after (about) 94 the Caddy plug changed to a smaller plug. Early Corvette BOSE plugs are a match,...... 4th Gen F-Body harnesses/plugs do not match the Thirdgen harness. There are some 80's Pontiacs & Buicks that also had factory BOSE and I'm betting those would have plugs that match the Thirdgens.

** Pretty sure there were different color wires depending on the make/model,.... but IIRC all the PIN locations in the square thirdgen style plug are a plug-&-play match. ( Power, Ground, and 2 speaker wires )

konrad_meneses

Hi,
I'm from Mexico and my English is not very good, I don't want to offend anyone and I don't know if what I'm doing is correct.
I have two questions and I hope some of you can help me.
i have 2 bose 182670-1038 amps and 2 bose amps bose 182670-1037
1.- How many input ohms does each amp have and how many output ohms?
2.- Can I use the amplifiers with a stereo that is not of the BOSE brand?
I hope someone can help me and again I don't want to offend anyone.

Dylan Pfeiffer

Hey do you know where to find these amps? Or do you have any of the 1989 rear ones?