Bose Stereo Woes

[Guest]

Just a thought - but I wonder if the common theme here is the soft top... I have a C4S Cab, ditto the boxster owners have a soft top -We all like our Bose. This will have a huge effect on the accoustics of the vehicle and reflect less sound making it less 'bright'. Interestingly when I had my KN (also with Bose) I found I preferred the treble and bass controls turned down to -2 to -3. I've also had Bose in the following Audi - A6, A4, A4cab, and found it ok, but again had to fiddle with the tone controls to get a balance that I liked. The Bose is better than the Harmon kardon Logic 7 that I have in the LR3 (poor bass response, speakers rattle!). Best Hi-fi I had in a car was a custom install in a mercedes, but that cost £2.5K for the speakers and amps alone.

 

[edelschmetterling]

I have to agree with Maurice on this one full heartedly"¦

Music reproduction is a delicate debate which everybody I find gets their knickers in a profound twist about, which to me seems very contra given its inherent subjective nature.

Loewe I understand use Bose internal components & yet their signature sound is in my opinion superior & overall a better quality of product. However, I don't appreciate being told how something should sound and so avoid suppliers of this sort.

If you have heard something you like better elsewhere, then I would say go for it. "" Just remember that sound travels & bounces and so the space that it occupies will vary i.e. sound differently (albeit marginally) from one cars internal space to anothers. "" I have seen some poor looking mis-matching stereo's that produce the most amazing sounds.

 

[Chris5150]

This thread has rumbled on a little, it wasnt really meant to be a subjective discussion of this stereo vs that stereo vs power amps vs cost ratios etc etc etc.
Lets just clarify here, I am not an audiophile, I have never had any other stereo in my cars than the ones that come factory fitted, and I have no wish to interfere with it.
My whole point of the thread was to see if others that owned 996/997 cars thought of their sound systems, becuase Like I say I have never had a car with a Bose stereo that sounds any good, and as such wondered what others thought about the quality of their Bose stereo...and thats it thats all I wondered. In my opinion Porsche should offer a far better quality sound system in a £100k car than it does and should cut ties with Bose...becuase its rubbish period,( well it is in my C4S, it was in my 996TT and it was in my 350Z ) and bearing in mind Porsche makes such a big thing about quality & engineering it really is very poor that I would rather have the sound system out of my wifes BMW 320 Compact than in my car.

 

[marlin]

ORIGINAL: Chris5150

This thread has rumbled on a little, it wasnt really meant to be a subjective discussion of this stereo vs that stereo vs power amps vs cost ratios etc etc etc.
Lets just clarify here, I am not an audiophile, I have never had any other stereo in my cars than the ones that come factory fitted, and I have no wish to interfere with it.
My whole point of the thread was to see if others that owned 996/997 cars thought of their sound systems, becuase Like I say I have never had a car with a Bose stereo that sounds any good, and as such wondered what others thought about the quality of their Bose stereo...and thats it thats all I wondered. In my opinion Porsche should offer a far better quality sound system in a £100k car than it does and should cut ties with Bose...becuase its rubbish period,( well it is in my C4S, it was in my 996TT and it was in my 350Z ) and bearing in mind Porsche makes such a big thing about quality & engineering it really is very poor that I would rather have the sound system out of my wifes BMW 320 Compact than in my car.

Is this called sounding off []

 

[Chris5150]

Yep suppose it is sounding off a bit!...but its always interesting to know if other people feel the same, or wether its just me thats slowly going insane!!

 

[Guest]

Perhaps some of the problems are down to the interior space in a Porsche (KN excepted of course!). In such a confined space it's always going to be difficult to get a "decent" sound withouth having the speakers pointing directly at the occupant.
I've nearly always found the sound in "large" cars is better than "small" ones, although saying that, I find the BOSE in my 997 better than the standard system in our BMW 5-series estate.

Generally, I think the BOSE option is worthwhile as it's better than what you'd get as standard, but I don't think it's as good as it could and perhaps should be. The after-market system in my old 944 sounded better!

 

[Guest]

Apologies, I probably didn't explain my 'value for money' very well: what I really should have said was:
Is the standard stereo dire - yes
Is the Bose better - yes
Would I have regretted not ticking the Bose box for £750 - yes - this is what I meant by value for money..
Is the sound quality ok - yes
Is it good sound quality - no
Could I get an aftermarket install done that sounds better - yes -easily, but probably wouldn't have had much change from £3-4K and I would have lost the boot, plus all the associated potential warranty hassles that might happen
Is the bose therefore a reasonable compromise for the money - yes
Is Bose a good enough stereo for a £70-100K car - probably not, but we can only live with the options Porsche offer us, and they are first and foremost there to make a profit.
If Porsche weren't so gready with their profits they would provide the Bose as standard, and then give you the option of upgrading it further as a cost option.

[]

 

[Chris5150]

Camcayenne....absolutley agree, you have summarised it very nicely indeed!

 

[pvernham]

For my 2p worth, I have been very pleased with the Bose system in my 997s cab.

As a comparison, I have an X5 of the same age with the Logic 7 system that i don't think is as good, I get far more distortion and rattles with the same music.

 

[okellyt]

Hmm soft top and vote for boase again. I wonder if there is a diffrence in how/where its insalled

Porsche should really go for some one like QUAD for a basic stereo - for home systems they make good clean sysems that are quite innovatie,small and appeal to a wide range of tastes. Then they should get some one like Chord to do a proper audiphile upgrade (but at serious cost). I don't know if either manufacturer actually make in cars but they should and they both would suit prosche but for different pockets.

Back in reality looks like I'll have to choose the BOSE as the best of a bad bunch.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Don't Aston Martin use Linn for their DB9? That's a decent hifi company in keeping with the value of the car.
Maybe someone should investigate placing some Quad speakers in the doors and Strata subs, some Krell amps in the boot (or even some single ended triodes with zero negative feedback a la Audio Note Ongaku!) some Nordost Cable runnning throughout!

 

[okellyt]

Now were talking - but Junk the Lynn for Naim, far superior. Better still use the large Krells, who needs luggage space anyway![8D][8D][8D]