C4 Radio/CD
Author
Discussion

Ian V

Original Poster:

1,817 posts

290 months

Monday 21st August 2006
quotequote all
Has anyone got a owners manual with radio info in it. My car is a 1992 fitted with the Bose Delco Gold radio/CD/cassette. Since having a flat battery whilst in for some paintwork the clock on the radio is now wrong. I have tried pushing all the buttons but can't get the clock to reset. Anyone know the secret? confused

Also the radio reception is almost non exsistent, is this normal? The previous owner had a new aerial fitted (at great expense) but still next to nothing. He told me that its something to do with different frequencies in the US and the FM band only picking up stations ending in an odd number (ie; 102.7). Is this right or just a load of bo**ocks. I,m not too fussed about the radio as I very rarely have it on, but just thought I,d ask the PH massive for their thoughts.

c4koh

735 posts

266 months

Monday 21st August 2006
quotequote all
Ian,

Yes, the american radios only tune to odd FMs, so 96.7 is fine but not 96.6.

Also, their AM is split up by 10s, so you can't get 909 or 693 for 5 live!!

(although in desperation, 910 just about tunes to 909 with a little crackle).

To reset the clock: click the 'SET' button, and then use the up/down arrows to set the time. Something like that anyway.

vetteheadracer

8,273 posts

275 months

Monday 21st August 2006
quotequote all
The Bose AC/Delco Gold unit is a strange beast as the radio module is actually located inside the jack compartment behind the passenger seat and this is where the aerial plugs into.
The head unit (bit in the dashboard) is passive, i.e. doesn't have an amplifier, each of the speakers has the amplifier on it!

I removed mine from my 1996 as it was rubbish and installed a Clarion Double Din (means it fits the hole) unit which was brilliant as it gives you excellent Radio reception, a casette player....not that I ever used it and also a single shot CD. I used a purchased electronic gizmo that allowed me to keep all of the stock Bose speakers and to step down and step up the amplification coming from the Clarion amplifier.

c4koh

735 posts

266 months

Monday 21st August 2006
quotequote all
vhr: any more info on the double-din stuff and the thing to just use the stock Delco speakers?

Is it a standard fitment on the rear of the radio thing?

Any info appreciated.

Probably thus could also tune into 5live then.

Ian V

Original Poster:

1,817 posts

290 months

Tuesday 22nd August 2006
quotequote all
Thanks for the help guys. The clock is now reset, I,d been trying to reset with the keys in the ignition. It only works with no keys in.

Still a little bemused by the radio reception. I had a dig around last night, and there appears to be some sort or gizmo bolted to the bulkhead behind the drivers seat under the carpet (aftermarket). I guess its a signal booster of some sort as it has an aerial in and out and power. where does the aerial cable go to from here? Also there is no sign of a radio module in the jack compartment behind the passinger seat. I,m trying to trace the length of the aerial cable to check for bad connections etc. The cars a 1992 if that helps.

Ian

vetteheadracer

8,273 posts

275 months

Tuesday 22nd August 2006
quotequote all
In the jack compartment there is a polystyrene block (black thing the jack sits in). Under that is where my radio module was.......this box also has a tendancy to fill up with water.....yikes

On the Clarion Double Din front the latest Clarion unit is a stonkingly cheap £260 details here

www.caraudio4less.net/index.asp?function=DISPLAYPRODUCT&productid=373

I paid about £400 for mine and it didn't have all of the features on this one.

Details of the sort of interface adapter you need is here:

www.logjamelectronics.com/liouco.html

Be aware that some of the adapters are specific to certain head units and therefore you need to ensure that this interface adapter will work with the Clarion.



Edited by vetteheadracer on Tuesday 22 August 08:43

c4koh

735 posts

266 months

Tuesday 22nd August 2006
quotequote all
vhr, thanks for the links.

One thing I was wondering: I suppose it would be fairly straightforward to re-wire the Bose speakers to be driven directly from the amp?? i.e. do away with the built-in amplification bit?

What I'm thinking of is figuring out which wires carry the line-level signal to the [speaker built-in] amp... and then basically attachign same said wires direct to the speakers (presume they're's only one speaker in each bose unit?)... and the other end to the spkr output of the head-unit?

Anybody done this or is it more complex than that?

franv8

2,212 posts

260 months

Wednesday 23rd August 2006
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I think the Bose units have an odd impedance, (it may even be on the risky side for some amps - e.g. too low).

If you're going that route, best replace the speakers (rear cutouts already suit 6X9's I think)

Alternatively, (certainly on the earlier Bose set-ups) you can drive the amps straight from line level outputs (I do this with a 7 series Kenwood single CD head unit) and switch the speaker amps via the antenna output on the back of the head unit.

Gixer

4,463 posts

270 months

Wednesday 23rd August 2006
quotequote all
For a while a ran the original speakers through a Kenwood amp and yhey worked fine. Frans is right they do have a different impedance then usual - the amp worked well as I could set what I wanted on the amp.

I would (have) bin the speakers and start over.