I have a 2003 996tt with the fiber optic MOST bus audio system. The second day after my purchase, got into the car one day and realized there was no sound coming for the stereo. Looked down at the PCM screen and it says "amplifier not available." I've searched and found that the bose amps do go bad... but is there a way to test it before I try to find a replacement? I've tried checking the fuses, pulling and re installing the radio fuses, and I've also tried disconnecting the battery. Nothing I've tried so far worked... still no sound and same error message is still being displayed. Anyone in the San Francisco bay area that has an extra amp I can buy, or borrow to test if the amp is bad? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

This probably isn't the most technical way, but you can "look" inside the optical connector pieces to see if there's a red light coming out from the inside. I forget offhand if only one, or both, conduits light up when unplugged, but I can take a peek this weekend for you. Good luck. The MOST system in this car is garbage.

almost a 100% sure it's your amp

Hey GSR, I still have my amp available if you're interested. Another thing to note is that just because it says your amp not available it doesn't necessarily mean the amp is dead. The way the MOST/fiber system works makes it possible for another part of the system to go bad and still give you this message (ie the cd changer is broken, and breaks the connection to the amp). There could also be a snagged fiber wire breaking the connection as well. Good Luck!

Hi Jdarzi,

Thanks for offering to sell me your amp. The other day I went to start my car and the sound system came back on, and has worked normally since then with multiple starts. No more messages and the sound works just fine. I understand how the MOST system operates, but since it work just fine now, I don't think I will be able to diagnose it and condemn the amplifier being bad. I was hoping that I could swap in another amp while the malfunction was still there to narrow down the possibilities, but for now, I'll just have to wait for it to go bad again. Thanks.

GSR,

Glad its working but you may just have a loose fiber connector. I know the connector has a locking clip but it might be worth the time to remove and reinstall the fiber cable that connects to your amp and changer if you have one. Re-seating it may just work.