It should be ok, it's just like you have a blown speaker. As long as the wires aren't shorted together or to ground.
Desperate Radio Help
- Thread starter Ben Hinz
- Start date
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kbuskill
***CAUTION*** I do my own stunts!
Maybe... all I know, or think I know, is the Bose center point uses the LUX amp I am pretty sure.
swathdiver
Full Access Member
Did some googling, you're right, the Bose Centerpoint uses the Lux amp with the 10 speaker system, Y91 code. Denalis and Escalades. Bose calls it a 6000 series amp while the one in the Tahoe (according to Bose employee in article) said they have 5000 series dumb amp.
And in the wiring diagrams, only Y91 has the center speaker in the dash too. I'm pretty sure based on his RPO codes that his system has the dumb amp with 8 speakers and the sub. All his codes are the same as mine save for his radio/nav (UVB) which I think is because he has U42, the rear DVD which mine does not have. My radio/nav is U3U.
I saw a post where I guy changed the ends of the wires to RCA cables and plugged them into his radio eliminating the dumb amp and making it sound better/louder.
One recent discovery; the only smart thing the dumb amp does is lower the bass the louder the volume goes up to protect the speakers.
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iamdub
Full Access Member
I didn't mean electrical load. I meant more "stress" on the amp. Amps put out more power with lower ohms which makes them run hotter. The Bose amp runs fine at 2 Ohms so it would run cooler at 4 Ohms, just have about half the output, which means it would be working about half as hard.
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OP
OP
Ben Hinz
Full Access Member
So on the way to work, I heard 2/3 distortion pops 5-10 minutes in then nothing again. About 30-40 minutes in the sound stop completely. I turned the radio off then turned it back on and it was fine. I have a Kenwood DDX6703S. I’m starting to wonder if it’s the head unit. What’s everyone else thoughts? I got three days off coming up so I’ll pull the radio and either check the wiring or redo all the connections. I may also throw the stock one back in for a couple days and see what happens. I don’t wanna do that Bc then I’ll have to go back to AUX but I can probably survive for a few days during testing.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
If it was me, I'd put the stocker back in, just to see if it's the hu or not.
That's not right. Amps put out a set amount of power. If it has a 20 watt output audio IC on one channel that's the max output. All things being equal, like volume set at the same level,, say halfhvolume, a 2 ohm speaker will be half as loud as a 4 ohm speaker at the same output power level. That's because the double resistance decreases the efficiency of the power output. The amp is still putting out half it's rated output but the higher resistance means less sound. It's still using the same power to make half the sound. Afternarket amps are generally designed to run at different loads- like 20 watts per channel at 4 ohms/ 40 watts per channel at 2 ohms. Thats so you can use a variety of manufacturer speakers in different configurations. But OEM amps are usually designed to only run using the speakers designed for them so when they see a higher load they burn the audio ic's up. It's kind of like PC's vs Apple computers. The PC is designed to run parts made by hundreds of companies so they're forgiving where Apple computers are designed to run stuff only made by Apple so their operating tolerances are strict.You can't use a PC part in an Apple computer. Don't know if that makes sense or not.
iamdub
Full Access Member
So, the manufacturers aren't accurate (in their terminology) when they say that their amp's rated OUTPUT is "*** watts at 4 ohm, and *** watts at 2 ohm" and the reality is that the amp is ALWAYS putting out *** watts (barring input voltage and all the other variables) and it's just that the speaker "responds" half as well to that set output if it's twice the resistance?
Either way, I didn't intend to get that deep into the technicalities/off subject and I know I should've said the amp is under more stress rather than more load when the ohms are lower. I know of many people that have fried amps because they wired the voice coils or too many subs in parallel which dropped the ohm load lower than what the amp was rated to be stable at. The amp put out more power (or put out the same, but the power was more efficiently used by the speakers) and the sub(s) slammed harder until the amp got too hot and burned up. I guess since the sub(s) played louder, it was assumed that was because the amp was able to produce more power with only half the resistance. This is all inaccurate? Inversely, I've noticed that amps don't get as hot when ran at higher ohm loads. Yes, the sound produced isn't as loud, but the amps don't get hot and seem to last forever. So I sum this up as the amp being under less "stress", or, as I originally/confusingly put it, under less "load" when the electrical resistance is higher.
I don't wanna muddy up the OP's thread, so feel free to PM me if you care to explain further. I'm intrigued cuz this is all news to me. I'm gonna Google some things in the meantime.
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I was just trying to explain aftermarket amps are designed to run at different output levels/ loads and oem amps aren't, in a nutshell. Sorry to confuse you! Sometimes I'm not so great at explaining.
Meccanoble
Full Access Member
I disagree with this feedback. Up until lately where amps like Alpine PDX run same power regardless of 2 or 4 ohms, the bose amp runs different power based on ohms of speaker. This is why everyone has different experiences with speaker upgrades and there is such a focus to match the stock speaker ohms when replacing (if no amp upgrades in the future). If stock speaker is 2 ohm and you add 4 ohm aftermarket speaker, the power to the speaker will not be the same and the performance will not be as good as a speaker with same ohms as stock.
We would have to dive deeper into Ohm's Law to understand this. The power goes up and down with the volume level obviously. And when you change any two things, as in the voltage (volume level changes this) and
the resistance (changes in speaker between 2/4 ohm) , it changes the other item in the triangle which is current (amps). Watts are an expression of current multiplied by voltage. I misstated when I said amps put out a set amount of power. Explaining electrical theory is not easy sometimes lol. Here's a quick explanation of resistance though, so when you change between 2/4 ohm speakers it should help explain what happens.
"What is resistance?An analogy would be the size of the water pipes and the size of the faucet. The larger the pipe and the faucet (less resistance), the more water that comes out! The smaller the pipe and faucet, (more resistance), the less water that comes out! This can be thought of as resistance to the flow of the water current.
All three of these: voltage, current and resistance directly interact in Ohm's law.
Change any two of them and you effect the third."
the resistance (changes in speaker between 2/4 ohm) , it changes the other item in the triangle which is current (amps). Watts are an expression of current multiplied by voltage. I misstated when I said amps put out a set amount of power. Explaining electrical theory is not easy sometimes lol. Here's a quick explanation of resistance though, so when you change between 2/4 ohm speakers it should help explain what happens.
"What is resistance?An analogy would be the size of the water pipes and the size of the faucet. The larger the pipe and the faucet (less resistance), the more water that comes out! The smaller the pipe and faucet, (more resistance), the less water that comes out! This can be thought of as resistance to the flow of the water current.
All three of these: voltage, current and resistance directly interact in Ohm's law.
Change any two of them and you effect the third."
I think it's either the HU or the amp, and I'm leaning towards the amp, it's possible the 4 ohm speaker messed it up. Pops and such are often audio ic's on the way out. Whichever is easiest to swap out, that's what I'd start with.
Meccanoble
Full Access Member
From what I hear, Kenwood makes really good head units. I'm surprised to hear so many issues but I'm leaning towards HU because I dont see the amp controlling volumes like that and you also mentioned non audio issues such as back up camera problem. Could be combo of both. Its cheaper to replace speaker < amp < HU
iamdub
Full Access Member
Maybe a loose plug or otherwise loose connection(s) behind the HU, including the interface? Since it's pretty much plug-and-play, I'd throw the original HU back in for a few days to at least rule out that variable.
OP
OP
Ben Hinz
Full Access Member
Canned the Tahoe today and got this code. I’m guess it’s probably from when I unplugged the amp while trying to replace?
Most likely, especially if you turned the key on while it was unplugged.
Canned the Tahoe today and got this code. I’m guess it’s probably from when I unplugged the amp while trying to replace?
swathdiver
Full Access Member
Is that an active code or historical? Clear it, turn the car on, run the radio and see if it comes back.
I see Mark's post, that's probably what happened.
I see Mark's post, that's probably what happened.
mikeyss
Full Access Member
Now I'm confused, lol. My 09 LTZ has 10 speakers, 4 in the doors, 2 A Piller tweets, 1 center dash speaker, 2 D Piller tweets, and the sub in the console. I do not have RPO Y91 though. I have NAV and rear entertainment as well.
swathdiver
Full Access Member
You sure there's a speaker under that dash grill cover? If so, then that's a new one to me. Do you have a Tech2?
mikeyss
Full Access Member
I am 100% sure there's a speaker in the center of the dash, I removed the cover to add a piece of foam to prevent rattles. Unfortunately I do not have a tech2 though.
