Expert: Rob Painter - 2/11/2009

Question
My 91 Cadillac Seville which I purchased used came with an after market
pioneer head at first the sound system worked fine but soon my speakers
began to crack than eventually stopped working. Than they began working
agian but totally without base and horrible volume I can barely hear the music
when I drive. Do you have any idea what could be wrong. And only the back
speakers produce sound nothing from the front I removed my door panel and
noticed it was still stock wiring which with the Bose system I did not think was
possible because of the individual amps. I'm just stumped idk what to do with
my sound system

Answer
Hi Logan,

The bose speakers are amplified from the factory and are designed for the factory stereo.
Now, when you refer to the amps in the door, I am assuming you are speaking of the factory amps for the Bose speakers.

After market stereos commonly put out more than the factory systems and in turn, the factory amps will blow for the speakers with an after market stereo head unit.

I saw this a lot over the years. If you stayed at normal volume with an after market stereo, you were fine, but if you crank it like many people like to do, the factory Bose speakers are history, just like in your case.

You will get sticker shock if you go to the Caddy dealer to replace them too!! Plus, if you spend all that money and don't put the factory stereo in, you will destroy them too!

You are going to most likely install after market speakers that are the correct impendance that will stand up to the wattage that the after market stereo puts out. You will also need to install after market amp(s.

See, when the factory unit is installed, it is calibrated for the Bose speakers. Just as an example--Let's ays your factory stereo at peak puts out 25 watts per channel. The Bose speakers are amplified to maybe 35 watts per channel. In other words, the Bose speakers are matched to the factory stereo.

Now, let's say the after market head unit puts out 50 watts per channel. The stereo gets cranked and it fries the amps in the factory speakers.

After market stereos many times are better than the factory systems, however you need to look at the stereos and the speakers as a matched set.

Wish I could give you better news, but most people don't realize the rammifications of only changing part of the stereo system.

Rob