Re: the Bose Towering Inferno--still simmering?

[DeWitt Harrison <de@aztek-eng.com>]

Well, just to keep things lively, here's a different take from the bro
in Montana:

        Interesting..............I say to Mr. Rose and those hounding Audi:  Why
        risk your loved ones and your garage for a "free bee?"  Simply replace
        the silly things with new improved units (speaker cones likely blown
        anyway from their kids sneaking into the garage and blasting heavy
        metal).  Kind of like replacing worn out shocks, eh?  And while
you're at
        it, replace the funky radio unit with one from an early A6.   Pops
right in
        there (same harness) and is a better BOSE unit anyway that won't
        change stations during bumpy hillclimbs.

Aside from the odd notion of listening to music during a hillclimb, I
think it is valid to point out that you ought to correct this problem on
your car as you would any other problem. Why live with a known hazard?
Fix it now. Stew (or sue) later.

The most useful information would consist of that necessary to establish
whether his or her vehicle is effected. Perhaps you are close to that already
with the Bose lead.  As long as Audi is witholding such, then by all means
continue to beat them about the head and shoulders. (Anybody checked
the TSBs for this btw?)

DeWitt Harrison
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq

On Mon, 20 Dec 1999 17:07:07 -0500, Phil Rose wrote:

>[ ... ] This dealer/mechanic has sold and
>serviced at least a dozen (probably many more) of the  '91 200q, and he had
>finally gotten fed up with seeing  the burned (or just defective) rear
>speaker amps. He decided the statistics were not "normal" so he contacted
>Bose about it, and they sent one of their engineers (Boston to Salisbury
>NY, about 300 miles) to discuss it (this was early last month).
>
>What he learned was that Bose (if not Audi also) is well aware of "the
>problem". The Bose rep stated that for their 1990 production they received
>a batch of defective capacitors from a supplier. These were used for Audi
>Bose rear amps and _also_ in similar Bose systems installed in certain 1990
>and '91 Japanese luxo cars (I don't recall if it was Lexus, Acura, or...?).
>[ ... ]
>Bose evidently seems to take this situation more seriously than does Audi.
>Or at least they're willing to acknowledge some concern. Hence, although
>Audi needs to be prodded (to put it mildly), it could be that exerting
>pressure on Bose could be more productive--in the short term--for those
>presently with malfunctioning rear speakers or with concerns about driving
>around with an incipient incendiary device in their trunk.