Author Topic: Bose Amp issue HELP!!!  (Read 4980 times)

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Offline Agentmatt

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Bose Amp issue HELP!!!
« on: April 22, 2018, 11:48:02 am »
Hi,

I know there are posts regarding this, but I’m in need of some confirmation.

As with some Mazda 6’s (2010 sport in this case), I have the Bose sound system installed and it went nuts about year ago (pops, no sound, repeated blips etc), I got so p*ssed off I pulled the fuse for the speakers.
 
From what I have read on this forum in the past, it may be down to the Amp sitting under the front passenger seat.  Is that about right? 

If so, am I looking at a straight replacement / repair? 

If repair, can any of you recommend a company/person? I've had a look around and the standard cost for repair is about £160.

If replacement, where can I get one ?  (not off of ebay).  Any one know of where I could get one for sale?  should I maybe try a scrappy?

Any help would be great.  PLEASE!!!!   

Matt

Offline aeroadster

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Re: Bose Amp issue HELP!!!
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2018, 10:27:57 am »
Hi Matt,

Your amp is definitely the cause of the problem.

I've looked into this myself and there' a few different opinions depending on what you may have researched online.

Don't believe everything ebay sellers tell you about amps being interchangeable and compatible, especially one with a lady's name based in Ireland - who also convinced me to pay for an amp and pay with paypal as a non-business payment, only to fleece me by not sending the amp to me.  I won't mention the name on this forum in case he's a member of the forum.

From personal experience, many Mazdas with Bose amp setups (including my 2nd Gen GH 6 Sport luxury model) have specific coding in place so you cannot just take an amp from a Mazda 3 with the same three physical connectors and plug it in and expect it to work.  It's annoying and no one linked to Mazda has given me a half decent explanation why.

I can only assume Bose amps can be configured (with the correct input codes/programming) to perform differently, e,g. to recognise different speaker arrangements, where the number of speakers may vary from model to model.

I've tried borrowing an amp from a 3rd gen Mazda 3 and 6 with the same connectors into my car but the volume is almost inaudible even when my volume is set to the max.  The info I got frm a repair company in Surrey and another in Scotland led me to believe this was purely down to how these amp are coded.

I've also taken similar looking amps from a Mazda 3 and checked what's on the PCB, and after I googled the components they are physically identical - so unless I've missed something, this leads me to believe the coding issue is at the heart of the matter.

IMO, the best approach is to get your amp fixed.  You'll have seen a company on eBay advertising a repair service.  I've spoken with them and they keep their cards close to their chest about what they do to fix the amp, but unless you know the exact part to source and you're great at soldering, there aren't may other options.

I think the transformer (big yellow squared component with a wire coil in the middle) is the cause of my problem, as I know it's not the capacitors.  However, I cannot source a 100% working second hand transformer and I can't source a replacement part

I wouldn't buy a used amp from ebay, for £70+ as it's not cost effective considering it won't have a warranty.  These bose amps are fragile so they will break eventually and unless its been refurbished and the warranty is transferable, it will be cheaper to send it away for repair.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2018, 10:30:15 am by aeroadster »

Offline aeroadster

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Re: Bose Amp issue HELP!!!
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2018, 10:41:24 am »
I'd also add that however the coding works, it is not linked to the headunit, as I have an aftermarket Pioneer and swapping back to my oem headunit makes no difference. 
My other posted thread - where I asked if anyone knows the hidden radio menu codes was aimed at trying to find out whether I could attempt to recode an alternative bose amp to work with my Bose speaker setups using some kind of amp refresh feature - if it existed.

My ODB software doesn't give me any features to apply any Bose related coding.

Offline Agentmatt

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Re: Bose Amp issue HELP!!!
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2018, 02:20:07 pm »
Thanks guys.

In the end I sent it off the Bose repair expects and they sorted the issue super fast and now it's back the sound system works great again. 

http://boserepairexperts.eu/

cost be about £160, but it's done and was done fast.  Would highly recommend.   ;D