A friend found a Bose subwoofer at a garage sale. No cables, just a black box (literally). Anyone have experience with these, or know where to find the pinout?

It has DB9 connectors on the back and those seem like those are signal in and out to the other speakers. I have plenty of old DB9 cables I can hack but I can't find anything about the pinout of those connectors. I assume the signals are all analog?

I'm guessing at least one conductor switches the subwoofer on, since there is no switch on it. Then there should be signal common and at least two conductors for stereo. Not sure what else.

 

I took the back off the subwoofer and pulled the PCB with the connectors on it. The one on the left in the picture is the input. So far this isn't telling me much. See anything that helps?

 

Here are additional views.

 

Sorry but I can't help much but I wonder if it is a variation on this:

p.s. I really like those spark arresters. I have never seen that before.

 

Tell you friend to make it into a plant pot as that's the best use of a Bose speaker system.

 

p.s. I really like those spark arresters. I have never seen that before.

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The pointy things on a number of the pins of the left hand connector in your first picture. Just a guess on my part.

 

Oh those "teeth"! I wondered about those. Without a closeup, I thought they bridged across to ground but they do not.

 

I don't think that model had surround outputs. Just a left and right.

For audio input like from a stereo jack. Connect tip, ring and sleeve to pins 2,3 and 5.

You will not be able to use a remote to turn on and off, mute, or adjust volume without the input adapter module.
Also know that bose uses a special audio "envelope" type power output and the speakers have a unique coil and suspension. Regular speakers used in the left and right channel will sound less than ideal and if not robust enough may even burn out.

 

Not sure anymore what pin was used for remote on off. You really need that adapter unit to make it worthwhile.

 

Yeah, that's the conclusion I've come to after wasting some time on this thing. The "interface modules" sell for ~$90 on e-bay while the subwoofer (and amp) like my friend grabbed sell for half that. I think I'll advise my friend to sell the speaker on e-bay as-is for $20 and be done with it. It'd be worth more if I could determine that it works, but I don't know how to do that.

 

How to repair your Bose woofer.

 

Hi,
I saw your message and I dont found any schematic about the Acoustimass CineMat GS serie 2 Bose.
I get off the power supply easy, but I dont know for the other C.I. where I thing the problem is.

The problem : about after one hour, with no music, only the power line on, I have some pinch strong noise, so I thing it's the power supply or the other CI inside, but I need to test outside.

Does any body have ideas?

Thank's

Moderation:
Hi neck75,
This Thread is very old, you will get a better response, if you Create your own new Thread
Eric

 

Does any body have ideas?

I gave up on my friend's unit and told her to sell it on eBay. Without the head unit, it's a paperweight. Sorry. You've got to know when to fold.

 

Tell you friend to make it into a plant pot as that's the best use of a Bose speaker system.

Harsh...

 

My Bose Cinemate just died on me last week. I have been using it several times a week on my kitchen table to play music from my laptop and phone. Mine is the old type with the 2 DB9 connectors and only RCA's on the interface module, no optical input. When I plug it in, the red standby LED no longer comes on and remains dark, and does not respond to the remote. I reseated the power cord at both ends along with the DB9 connectors, no change. Then I took it apart and verified the main fuse and the surface mount fuse on the board are both good and the transformer has continuity on the primary and secondary windings, and the capacitors measure good with an ESR meter. And I do measure the low resistance of the transformer right across the power cord as well.
I'm looking for any advice on how to further troubleshoot this thing and determine if my problem is in the base unit or the interface module. And if anyone has a pinout of the 9 pin connector on the interface so I can measure for voltage, that would be very helpful as well. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

My Bose Cinemate just died on me last week. I have been using it several times a week on my kitchen table to play music from my laptop and phone. Mine is the old type with the 2 DB9 connectors and only RCA's on the interface module, no optical input. When I plug it in, the red standby LED no longer comes on and remains dark, and does not respond to the remote. I reseated the power cord at both ends along with the DB9 connectors, no change. Then I took it apart and verified the main fuse and the surface mount fuse on the board are both good and the transformer has continuity on the primary and secondary windings, and the capacitors measure good with an ESR meter. And I do measure the low resistance of the transformer right across the power cord as well.
I'm looking for any advice on how to further troubleshoot this thing and determine if my problem is in the base unit or the interface module. And if anyone has a pinout of the 9 pin connector on the interface so I can measure for voltage, that would be very helpful as well. Thanks in advance for your help!

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I found my old notes from when I workon my Cinemate. Hope you can decipher them and find something useful.(The whiteout parts are notes I worked out to be wrong in the process.)

The sketches are the top and bottom of the board inside the small IR receiver unit with the RCA input jacks on it. Also the pin out of its plug.

I also took a picture of the back of my Cinemate to show the version.

Do you happen to know the pin out of the other connector, the speaker outputs?

 

Thanks much for the info. I've taken mine all apart and determined the power supply is good. I found a 3 pin regulator on the main board and it has 5V in and 3.3V out. Neither the red or green LED's light up at all and there is no response form the remote. So I assume something died in the digital section of my main board and it's probably not going to be repairable. I haven't taken the interface module apart yet. Do you remember if the connections to the LED's are direct to the cable, or are there some control IC's inside the unit? If it's direct then I know it doesn't pay to take it apart. Thanks again.

 

Thanks much for the info. I've taken mine all apart and determined the power supply is good. I found a 3 pin regulator on the main board and it has 5V in and 3.3V out. Neither the red or green LED's light up at all and there is no response form the remote. So I assume something died in the digital section of my main board and it's probably not going to be repairable. I haven't taken the interface module apart yet. Do you remember if the connections to the LED's are direct to the cable, or are there some control IC's inside the unit? If it's direct then I know it doesn't pay to take it apart. Thanks again.

The whole IR receiving input box with the LED’s is powered through the trapezoid 9-pin plug and even that I believe goes further from that board the connector is on in the subwoofer box, through a ribbon cable to another board.
Do you have the service manual for it?
If you need it, it may be further up in this thread somewhere or I can try to post it here somehow if needed.

 

The whole IR receiving input box with the LED’s is powered through the trapezoid 9-pin plug and even that I believe goes further from that board the connector is on in the subwoofer box, through a ribbon cable to another board.
Do you have the service manual for it?
If you need it, it may be further up in this thread somewhere or I can try to post it here somehow if needed.

If you have a service manual and/or schematic, I'd very much appreciate you sharing it with me. I still haven't been able to figure out the circuit and have had no luck getting it working. I've determined that the power transformer and main power supply is working along with a voltage regulator IC. But the unit is not sending any power to the status LED on the input box, neither red for off or green for on, and the unit is unresponsive to the remote control. I assume what failed is in the power control circuit and I could probably figure it out with some documentation. I have it all apart in a corner with all the loose parts in a shoe box on top of it. It really like to get it working again because it had such a good sound. But if I don't figure it out soon, it will be making its way to the recycling center. Thanks in advance for your help!