Do Amplifiers Wear Out?

[swathdiver]

The stereo system in my 2009 Yukon XL sounds fine, not as much bass as I'd like but understand that's part of the system protecting the speakers. This truck has a navigation radio.

The stereo system in my 2012 Sierra sounds the same as the 2009. It has the basic Bose stereo system, no navigation, and of course, 2 fewer speakers.

The stereo system in my 2013 Sierra sounds GREAT! Much better than the other two. It has the updated navigation radio.

The part numbers for the speakers they share are the same across all three trucks, pillar, subwoofer and door speakers.

Could it be that my 4 year older and 100K more miles on the 2009 is the difference in sound between it and the 2013?

Do amplifiers degrade over time in their ability to do whatever it is they do? How about the speakers?

Is there a subwoofer that drops into the factory sub position? Doesn't seem to be many or any around anymore new.

 

[Hobert]

Yes Amplifiers can degrade over time, culprits are the electrolytic capacitors, especially the large values and large cans used in the power supply and bass amps. I have recapped home stereo equip from the 70's and 80's and brought them back to life. Florida is a tough climate on vehicles but that seems early to have those issues. You will see the capacitor bulge when they go bad (bulging CANS). Speakers will loose the surrounds that hold the cone to the frame but again seems to early for that.

 

[mikez71]

Does your 2013 have an upgraded amp as well? Someone here just did a writeup on upgrading the amp..

 

[swathdiver]

Yes Amplifiers can degrade over time, culprits are the electrolytic capacitors, especially the large values and large cans used in the power supply and bass amps. I have recapped home stereo equip from the 70's and 80's and brought them back to life. Florida is a tough climate on vehicles but that seems early to have those issues. You will see the capacitor bulge when they go bad (bulging CANS). Speakers will loose the surrounds that hold the cone to the frame but again seems to early for that.

I have replaced capacitors on motherboards before. What are the audible signs of a degraded amp?

Does your 2013 have an upgraded amp as well? Someone here just did a writeup on upgrading the amp..

No, it has the same amplifier as the other two. Only difference is the head unit.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

x2 on the power amp main (large) capacitors. Heat is the main culprit.

 

[swathdiver]

x2 on the power amp main (large) capacitors. Heat is the main culprit.

Thanks Joe. So what happens to the amp? Does it quit completely, make noise through the speakers? How do I check the health/performance of mine to determine whether it should be replaced or not?

 

[iamdub]

The stereo system in my 2009 Yukon XL sounds fine, not as much bass as I'd like but understand that's part of the system protecting the speakers. This truck has a navigation radio.

The stereo system in my 2012 Sierra sounds the same as the 2009. It has the basic Bose stereo system, no navigation, and of course, 2 fewer speakers.

The stereo system in my 2013 Sierra sounds GREAT! Much better than the other two. It has the updated navigation radio.

The part numbers for the speakers they share are the same across all three trucks, pillar, subwoofer and door speakers.

Could it be that my 4 year older and 100K more miles on the 2009 is the difference in sound between it and the 2013?

Do amplifiers degrade over time in their ability to do whatever it is they do? How about the speakers?

Is there a subwoofer that drops into the factory sub position? Doesn't seem to be many or any around anymore new.

Could it be that the '13 has more and/or better sound insulation? I'm a bit of an audiophile. Not an all-out audio snob, but I'd rather listen to silence than poor sound quality. I thought my factory Bose system was pretty darned good. This is surprising after 14+ years in a very similar climate as yours. After changing the HU and investing some time on the EQ, I'm actually hesitant to replace the door speakers and push 'em with an aftermarket amp.

 

[tom3]

One way to test that sound equipment is to just turn it up and listen closely. Distortion, buzzing on bass notes, occasional cracking or popping sounds are warnings. But about any auto sound system has it's own equalization for that particular vehicle. And auto electronics is built pretty hefty as a rule. Stuff works from 30 below to 120 degrees in the parking lot in all humidity.

 

[swathdiver]

Could it be that the '13 has more and/or better sound insulation?

Not that I can tell, doesn't look any different around the cab then my 2012 and no special RPO codes like the Escalades and Denalis for it.

One way to test that sound equipment is to just turn it up and listen closely. Distortion, buzzing on bass notes, occasional cracking or popping sounds are warnings. But about any auto sound system has it's own equalization for that particular vehicle. And auto electronics is built pretty hefty as a rule. Stuff works from 30 below to 120 degrees in the parking lot in all humidity.

No bad sounds at all, just the louder it gets the less bass you hear/feel.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Thanks Joe. So what happens to the amp? Does it quit completely, make noise through the speakers? How do I check the health/performance of mine to determine whether it should be replaced or not?

Your amp is a multi-channel amp, so if there is a bad capacitor, it would depend upon where it is located in that multi-channel circuit. Unless it is a capacitor in the power supply regulation portion of the amp, a bad capacitor could impact only one channel. It is tough to troubleshoot these mobile audio amplifiers, but if you could open up the amp's shell, you could potentially spot a bulging capacitor, but some of these amplifiers are difficult to open up.

The impact of a bad capacitor could make a noise through a speaker, but it does not have to. In the sub-woofer portion of the amp, a capacitor failure would be significant, since a sub-woofer needs a burst of power to effectively play the bass notes, and the capacitor is important in storing energy to instantaneously supply that power burst when needed.

 

[Trey Hardy]

Id

The stereo system in my 2009 Yukon XL sounds fine, not as much bass as I'd like but understand that's part of the system protecting the speakers. This truck has a navigation radio.

The stereo system in my 2012 Sierra sounds the same as the 2009. It has the basic Bose stereo system, no navigation, and of course, 2 fewer speakers.

The stereo system in my 2013 Sierra sounds GREAT! Much better than the other two. It has the updated navigation radio.

The part numbers for the speakers they share are the same across all three trucks, pillar, subwoofer and door speakers.

Could it be that my 4 year older and 100K more miles on the 2009 is the difference in sound between it and the 2013?

Do amplifiers degrade over time in their ability to do whatever it is they do? How about the speakers?

Is there a subwoofer that drops into the factory sub position? Doesn't seem to be many or any around anymore new.

just bypass that system all together and get a good head unit or double din to power the speaker over the Bose amp.
A good head unit with a built in amp would be the easiest option

They do have some upgrades but it’s hard because you have to take the whole console out to get the Bose stuff out.

If my wife kept driving it I was going to throw a kicker 10” inside the console with a 500 watt amp
Since we got her a car I opted that for 2500 watts and a 15” Memphis mojo

They got some shallow mount options you could fit behind the rear seats also that would be a lot easier to install

Idk about Amps degrading but I had a Memphis amp for 15 years and it just now quit/burned up last year. Out the blue one day but no warning signs prior. She diddnt owe me nothing though I weren’t even mad

 

[kbuskill]

You would be absolutely shocked at what changing the headunit will do for the bass output of the factory Bose sub.

My '08 sounded very flat with the stock Navigation HU. I first installed a Rosen HU, which is a dealer installed upgrade and it was night and day difference. I had problems with that HU and upgraded to a Kenwood Navi and it sounds even better.

The factory Navi kills the bass and the louder you play it, the worse it gets.

I am running the Kenwood through a Maestro to maintain all the factory features.

 

[swathdiver]

You would be absolutely shocked at what changing the headunit will do for the bass output of the factory Bose sub.

My '08 sounded very flat with the stock Navigation HU. I first installed a Rosen HU, which is a dealer installed upgrade and it was night and day difference. I had problems with that HU and upgraded to a Kenwood Navi and it sounds even better.

The factory Navi kills the bass and the louder you play it, the worse it gets.

I am running the Kenwood through a Maestro to maintain all the factory features.

At some point I'll be forced to upgrade since GM won't allow Here! to release a new navigation disc. The trouble with these aftermarket units is that they don't last and have no long term support. Maybe I'll look into having mine freshened up with the newer parts or upgrade to the 2012 Navigation unit.

I remember having the stereo in one of my Grand Nationals overhauled. The radio shop put a new Blaupunkt amp inside the radio, replaced capacitors, etc. and the new speakers of the Concert Sound II system sounded great again. That system had some nice bass if I remember right.

Well, it's time to replace the outer door handles and when we do, we're going to replace the speakers then go from there.

Keep the ideas and education coming though!

 

[kbuskill]

At some point I'll be forced to upgrade since GM won't allow Here! to release a new navigation disc. The trouble with these aftermarket units is that they don't last and have no long term support. Maybe I'll look into having mine freshened up with the newer parts or upgrade to the 2012 Navigation unit.

I remember having the stereo in one of my Grand Nationals overhauled. The radio shop put a new Blaupunkt amp inside the radio, replaced capacitors, etc. and the new speakers of the Concert Sound II system sounded great again. That system had some nice bass if I remember right.

Well, it's time to replace the outer door handles and when we do, we're going to replace the speakers then go from there.

Keep the ideas and education coming though!

Just be sure to pay attention to the Ohm rating of the factory Bose speakers if you are going with aftermarket. I replaced mine with Infinity speakers and they sound awesome on the factory "dumb" Bose amp. I can ride down the interstate at 80 mph with the windows down and crank the radio up and it sounds crystal clear. Very impressed with them.

I made a post in here somewhere years ago when I upgraded and listed the ohm ratings for the Bose door speakers. They were like 2 ohm for the front and 3 ohm for the rear or vice versa.

 

[swathdiver]

Just be sure to pay attention to the Ohm rating of the factory Bose speakers if you are going with aftermarket. I replaced mine with Infinity speakers and they sound awesome on the factory "dumb" Bose amp. I can ride down the interstate at 80 mph with the windows down and crank the radio up and it sounds crystal clear. Very impressed with them.

I made a post in here somewhere years ago when I upgraded and listed the ohm ratings for the Bose door speakers. They were like 2 ohm for the front and 3 ohm for the rear or vice versa.

I wrote all of it down back then.

Front Door Speakers are 1.9 Ohms
Rear Door Speakers are 3.6 Ohms
Rear D-Pillar Speakers are 12.5 Ohms

Don't know the other two yet.

Several companies offered factory replacement speakers or kits over the years that popped right into place but having to drill holes and modify the area has scared me away from doing such. The confused mind says NO! LOL Also a fan of the stock appearing head units, liked your Rosen but the supply dried up and they're not a long term solution.

 

[Trey Hardy]

At some point I'll be forced to upgrade since GM won't allow Here! to release a new navigation disc. The trouble with these aftermarket units is that they don't last and have no long term support. Maybe I'll look into having mine freshened up with the newer parts or upgrade to the 2012 Navigation unit.

I remember having the stereo in one of my Grand Nationals overhauled. The radio shop put a new Blaupunkt amp inside the radio, replaced capacitors, etc. and the new speakers of the Concert Sound II system sounded great again. That system had some nice bass if I remember right.

Well, it's time to replace the outer door handles and when we do, we're going to replace the speakers then go from there.

Keep the ideas and education coming though!

The kenwood double din I got in my Tahoe came out of my 99 Silverado back in 2014
I’ve never actually used the gps and ect on there but it’s got a way to hook up serious XM gps internet and pics along with a usb and the disk
The kenwood in my Silverado is only a couple years old and honestly I like my older one better mainly for the cd player lol
Rockford t1 door speakers and tweeters fit really good and don’t break the bank if your looking to upgrade
They run great off the kenwood head unit

Check out https://www.down4soundshop.com/
I got the d4s door speakers in the Tahoe and they got some nice mono and mids amps for under 200$ a piece
I got the 2500w amp for the sub
And planning on doing a 800w for the doors with a battery delete/yinlong conversion

 

[iamdub]

+1 for upgrading the HU with an aftermarket unit. They have more power, tons more sound adjustment and no sub attenuation. I can't say I've ever had an aftermarket HU fail on me. My Pioneer is a multimedia receiver with no CD/DVD player, so no mechanicals to fail. I don't care much for the factory NAV units as they're clunky and slow compared to anything aftermarket. I guess if you're an Android phone user, you're already used to clunky and non-intuitive. If you're used to playing music with or following navigation on your phone, an HU that mirrors your phone would be super easy to operate due to the familiarity. An aftermarket HU can stream music through Bluetooth, unlike the factory Bluetooth HUs that only do phone calls. Mine has minimal buttons and the ones that are there, the backlighting color can be fine-tuned to match the factory color. It doesn't look like a factory HU, but it's still clean and doesn't clash with the rest of the center stack.

 

[2591tdj]

I recall from my younger. Audiophile days, that Bose engineers their systems for a flat, more natural, frequency response, which some listeners dislike because it, by design, does not produce a hard-kicking bass.

 

[Scott in AZ]

My experience with my 2001 is that the speakers are the weak link, and sonically testing your amp with your ears on ten-year old speakers is hard to do.

I just finished replacing all the speakers. They were all severely degraded. The subwoofer sounded so bad I THOUGHT the amp was blown but after replacing with an 8” Polk, the OEM amp is carrying the low freq’s much better. The original door speakers were not much better. I really like the Memphis Audio mids I out in the rear pillars too. Pics below.

I’m pretty impressed with the OEM amp. It’s not loud, but it’s loud enough, and clear, especially with digital music (file or CD) rather than FM Radio Signal.

The non-Bose OEM amp runs pretty cool, and is installed in a great location, gets HVAC flow.

 

[2591tdj]

My experience with my 2001 is that the speakers are the weak link, and sonically testing your amp with your ears on ten-year old speakers is hard to do.

I just finished replacing all the speakers. They were all severely degraded. The subwoofer sounded so bad I THOUGHT the amp was blown but after replacing with an 8” Polk, the OEM amp is carrying the low freq’s much better. The original door speakers were not much better. I really like the Memphis Audio mids I out in the rear pillars too. Pics below.

I’m pretty impressed with the OEM amp. It’s not loud, but it’s loud enough, and clear, especially with digital music (file or CD) rather than FM Radio Signal.

The non-Bose OEM amp runs pretty cool, and is installed in a great location, gets HVAC flow.

What’s involved in removing the door panels to replace the speakers? Any special tools needed?