audio-snob

Just kidding about the audio-snob thing. My wife's father gave us his "old," 6 or 7 year old, Cello system w/Mark Levinson??? designed Stradivari Speakers, Audi Palette MIV, Palette pre-amp, Perf II amps and etc. Awesome! I, however, would have never purchased anything like this system. Regardless, I am accustomed to incredible sound and imaging and the Bose does not at all offend me. In fact, I had Creed's CD cranked-up at lunch and it sounded pretty darn nice.<p>My A4 is a co. car; well, leased to my business. Therefore, I believe it somewhat impractical to change out the Bose stereo.<p>I would be interested in knowing the 12 or "dozens" of stock sytems to which you are referring. I have not heard a Avalon's system; but, I have heard systems in a few Lexus' and they were not all that impressive. Just curious to hear the names of a few that are superior and in comparably priced vehicles rather than a general assertion.

PT

Wish I had your father-in-law. What in the world did he upgrade to from Cello? I've been involved with high-end audio for fifteen years--I've met Mark Levinson a couple of times--and I am convinced that his equipment is the best on the face of the Earth. Once you've heard his top system at his NYC showroom--all $300,000 worth of it--everything else sounds constricted and uninvolving. You're a lucky man, and I envy you.<p>

David

I used to be a car audio installer and have heard millions of OEM car systems. In my honest opinion, BOSE has done a pittyful job in the A4. Before I bought my A4, I listened to both the BOSE and the standard concert. To me, the standard concert has much better resolution and separation than the BOSE. How? you say, can the BOSE with better speaker and tweeters be worse than the concert? Blame it on the boomy bass, it mutters everything up. <br>Here's my recommendation to future buyers. Get the stock concert and invest in an aftermarket subwoofer to compliment the system. The sound you will get from it will be 100x better than BOSE.<br>By the way, I've also heard the bose systems in the A6 and the A8. They are actually quite acceptable. Here's my analysis why. Both the A6 and the A8 have dedicated subwoofer enclosures. The A4 on the other hand, uses two freeair speakers on the rear shelf for bass therefore the boomy and loose bass. This is also the reason why the BOSE in the A4 Avant sounds better than in the sedan.<br>One last note, The best OEM sounding system I've ever heard is the nakamichi system in the Lexus GS400. If you want good stereo from the factory, buy the Lexus :-)<p>Sorry it was so long.....<br>Hope this helped.....

AS

The guy once owned 20 something BK franchises and an insurance company. He liquidated all of his businesses and retired at around 40. He has since done pretty well in his investments.<p>He has purchased these Wilson Audio speakers that you literally cannot move. I bet they weigh about 700 or 800 pounds. The Cello amps apparently were not suitable to drive the Wilson Speakers so he gave us his old system. The guy is obsessed with putting together a system that has perfect sound. He has a small home theater that Michael Wilson took sound readings from to customize his speakers.

Kostas S

Hey David do you know the specs of the stock Concert radio?