Me and my gf are driving cross country and just found out that one of the channels in the head unit is blown out.

It's a Bose Stereo in a '98 Jetta GLX. It has in dash cassette and 6 disc changer in the trunk.

I would like to replace the head unit with an aftermarket one that has in dash cd and will play MP3 formated songs off a cd-r and regular cd-rs.

I don't need anything with controlls for the changer in the truck because I'll just remove that with an in dash and the changer won't even play cd-rs at all so it's pretty useless to us.

Can anyone suggest a decent head unit in the $300 range?

Also can I use the stock Bose speakers with an after market head unit? I heard Bose runs at a different ohms but I don't know about this.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Me and my gf are driving cross country and just found out that one of the channels in the head unit is blown out.

It's a Bose Stereo in a '98 Jetta GLX. It has in dash cassette and 6 disc changer in the trunk.

I would like to replace the head unit with an aftermarket one that has in dash cd and will play MP3 formated songs off a cd-r and regular cd-rs.

I don't need anything with controlls for the changer in the truck because I'll just remove that with an in dash and the changer won't even play cd-rs at all so it's pretty useless to us.

Can anyone suggest a decent head unit in the $300 range?

Also can I use the stock Bose speakers with an after market head unit? I heard Bose runs at a different ohms but I don't know about this.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.</TD></TR></TABLE> If it is the Bose ampt. speakers then they are .6ohms , if it is a Bose amp running all 4 speakers then they are 4ohms and you can use them, you will have to bypass the amp.

If it is the Bose ampt. speaker,[ an amp. on each speaker] you can still use them but you will need an adpt. OEM, Soundgate and a few others make them, check at your local car audio shop. link http://www.soundgate.com 94

 

How would I know if there's an amp?

I've normal amps on stereo with people with boxes. There is no sort of amp anywhere in the trunk area. I check under the deck lid where the rear speakers are.

Is there some sort of mini amp in the head unit itself?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How would I know if there's an amp?

I've normal amps on stereo with people with boxes. There is no sort of amp anywhere in the trunk area. I check under the deck lid where the rear speakers are.

Is there some sort of mini amp in the head unit itself?</TD></TR></TABLE> Remove one of the front speakers, if its an ampt. speaker, the speaker will be in a plastic box and the amp is in the box and there are 4wires running into box, if not, you will be able to see back of speaker and tell how many ohms it is, the amp may be behind dash or consol or trim panel, I have not seen a Bose system in a VW, does it say Bose on the HU, or does it say AKTIV on the front speaker grills? 94

 

I took the speaker out early to see if it was the speaker that was blown and it looked like a normal speaker to me. It was just screwed into the speaker well like a mornal speaker with foam padding behind it.

I didn't look for the ohms at that time, I'll check tomorrow at work.

The head unit says Bose on it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I took the speaker out early to see if it was the speaker that was blown and it looked like a normal speaker to me. It was just screwed into the speaker well like a mornal speaker with foam padding behind it.

I didn't look for the ohms at that time, I'll check tomorrow at work.

The head unit says Bose on it.</TD></TR></TABLE> Then there is an amp someplace in the car, you can find the amp and bypass it or get the adpt. for it. 94

 

Yes there is an amp. I just went out and looked. Its under the trunk deck where I thought I looked. I must have looked on someone elses jetta without Bose.

The speaker says 1ohm.

How do you bypass the amp?

 

Whether or not you deck will like being run that low, the distortion from 4 - 1 will be crazy!

My suggestion, do the deck, 4 speakers and a re-wire.

 

Rewire what?

The whole car? All the speakers? Why do I have to rewire? And how much are speakers I don't have a ton of money, we're moving and have other things to spend our money on.

 

Turns out the wires under the dash going to the door jam was coming out a bit and lose. It's tight now and sounds fine, ha.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Turns out the wires under the dash going to the door jam was coming out a bit and lose. It's tight now and sounds fine, ha.</TD></TR></TABLE>LOL 94